Recommended Sites
Archive for February, 2010
There are so many different weight training routines. Of course, it depends your fitness goals. I could also review a couple of them for you, as a refresher.
Fitness Goals:
To gain muscle strength and size: You’ll want to lift heavy with lower repetitions using the Pyramid effect. That is, start off with a weight you can execute effectively, but it’s hard for the 8th repetition. The next set would be to increase the weight and decrease the repetitions, to about 6. Again, increase the weight and reduce the reps. Keep doing that till you cannot lift, push, or pull the weight because the muscle (s) are so fatigued. Remember you have to break down the muscle fibers, so they can grow with rest.
You also want to be mindful of the amount of rest time between sets. When you are lifting heavy weights, you want to have longer rest intervals, maybe 2 or 3 minutes.
To gain muscle toning and endurance: You’ll want to use a lighter weight for a whole bunch of repetitions. Pick a weight that you can do at least 20 repetitions per set. There will be little rest in between sets, like 20 seconds. Go ahead and pick up the same weight and perform 20 more repetitions. Another 20 seconds of rest and then another set, with the same weight or lighter weight for 20 repetitions. Keep going to fatigue. Try to get as many sets and as many reps in as possible. The idea is light weights with alot of repetitions and little rest.
Circuit Training would be perfect for a weight training routine for muscle toning and endurance. Keep moving from machine to machine without rest in between. Follow the machines in an order where you perform a pushing exercise like a chest press, followed by a pulling exercise like the pullover.
I hope these 2 or 3 workout routines help you along with your training and fitness goals.
I like to say you get more bang for your buck when you do aqua aerobics class! I’ll tell you why. First of all, you have to work harder to get your heart rate up, because in the water your pulse automatically drops 10-16 beats per minute.
Secondly, when you use the tools, like aqua dumbbells, you automatically use opposing muscle groups. This happens because there is constant resistance from the water. For instance, when you are contracting your biceps and then release by extending from the elbow, you automatically have resistance for your triceps.
Another words, when you are on land, you can do bicep curls, but then also have to do a completely separate exercise for your triceps. In the water, you don’t! The eccentric move for the biceps is a concentric move for the triceps…see more bang for your buck!!
It’s the same way with deep water running, by working your quadriceps and the hamstrings, opposing muscle groups! Please think seriously about trying an aqua aerobics class. It can be quite a workout. It’s all what kind of energy you put into it.
Lower Abdominal Exercise
The following lower abdominal exercise could be considered advanced, however can always be modified. The exercise I’m talking about is hanging leg raises. That is hanging from a bar and bringing your knees to your chest. Some gyms have straps that hang on a bar, that you can put your arms into for more upper body support. The strap goes underneath each arm pit.
Fully extend your body without touching the floor. As you exhale bring your knees to your chest and inhale extend the legs down and repeat. A couple of things to watch out for, which can lead to cheating…the swing. This is a good reason to have
a spotter. When you are lowering your legs, there’s a tendency for the whole body to swing. When you start swinging, you are not isolating the lower abdominal region. A spotter will stop you from swinging.
Start out with as many as you can. Try to increase by 1 each time you do the lower abdominal exercise. If you find that the bent knees exercise is getting easy, extend the legs forward, and make it more like a pike. You’ll keep the legs straight and lift up, using the lower abs. Or you can start training the obliques by lifting your legs to one side, alternating sides.
The other day in the gym, a lady came up to me and said her doctor told her she has to lose 4 inches from her waist. What exercises can she do to help her as she pats her stomach. Well, I told her the best exercise she can do to lose inches is cardiovascular exercises. She then proceeded to say she does cardio exercises 6 days a week. I commended her on her commitment.
No matter how much cardio exercises you do, it has to be combined with watching the number of calories you consume. To be able to lose that abdominal fat, your calories in must be LESS than the calories burned! Many people fall into the category of thinking, “I exercised today, I can eat a little more.” This thinking will only sabotage you in the long run.
The best way to lose abdominal fat…cardiovascular exercises for at least 30 minutes, in combination with watching your calories, and some strength training.
Yesterday, we talked about what we have to do to get to the fat burning zone. I mentioned a sustained cardiovascular workout for 60 minutes at your target heart rate. In class when we stop to take our pulse, the question always comes up, “What is my target heart rate?”. It is a very simple math equation. My answer is always the same, it is 220-your age! The answer you will get is your MAXIMUM heart rate, a number you do not want to exceed.
Now, if you want to be more specific with a target heart rate range, there is more math involved. Let’s use me as an example:
220-40 (my age)=180 I never want to go higher than 180 beats per minute (BPM). If I want to find my range at 55% of my maximum heart rate. The equation would be as follows:
.55 x 180=99 bpm So the lowest heart rate I’d want to maintain is at least 99 beats per minute. The highest would not exceed 180 bpm. But no one should maintain a maximum heart beat at 100% the entire time you are working out. So there is another equation to find out the heart rate at 85% of maximum heart rate. That equation is as follows:
.85 x 180=153 bpm This gives me a good target working heart rate range.
For a 40 year old person, my WORKING target heart rate range is between:
99bpm-153bpm! No matter what, I should NOT EXCEED my maximum heart rate range of 180bpm. Then you go into a different energy system and may start burning muscle for energy, and we don’t want to go there.
To keep things really simple, finding your max heart rate equation always is: 220-your age!
It is good to get a heart rate monitor to monitor your working target heart rate range!
Our bodies are so incredibly smart it never ceases to amaze me. There is a need for some fat in our diets to help regulate body temperature. Fat also acts like a shock absorber for our vital organs. We can burn fat very efficiently if you know how.
The way our bodies use energy is very important for fat burning. If you need quick energy, your body will use stored ATP, Creatine Phosphate and Glycogen up to the first 2 minutes of exercise. If there is sustained exercise for at least 20 minutes Glycolosis is the form of energy used. It is not till 60 minutes of exercise that the fatty acids, stored adipose tissue, will be used for energy.
If you can sustain your fat burning workout for an hour, then you can lose weight and burn fat. Circuit training is a great way to train your muscles and get your fat burning workout in too, just by going from machine to machine without stopping in between. Interval training will help with fat burning as well. Be sure to stay within your target heart rate.
Tomorrow we will discuss, target heart rates and how to find yours. Stay tuned!!
There are tell tale signs when you exercise too much. Your body has a way of letting you know to chill for awhile because you have been overtraining. First of all, a term used for overtraining on a short term basis is called overreaching. This happens when you may have pulled a muscle or tendon. Your body will definitely tell you not to use that body part and give it a rest.
Overtraining occurs when you hit the gym with excessive frequency, intensity, and inadequate rest and recovery for your muscles. When you exercise too much there are symptoms to look for:
- Decrease in overall performance
- Constant fatigue
- Decreased appetite
- Sleep disturbances
- Muscle soreness
- Increased risk of getting sick or infection
- Decreased desire to workout
- Decreased body weight
When this happens take a week off, so your body can fully recuperate. It is not a good idea to push through this phase as it could be more detrimental. You could end up losing muscle mass.
Our bodies are fabulously efficient machines, listen to it!
I was in the gym yesterday and I witness someone bench pressing with a huge right arm weakness. Another words, you could see how the left arm was pushing up the bar more than the right arm. That is why it is good to throw in unilateral lifts with the dumbbells. These dumbbell workouts will help to extinguish a stronger arm dominance.
The unilateral dumbbell workout is especially challenging for a chest press. By holding ONLY 1 dumbbell in one arm and pushing it up, throws off the body’s balance, so at the same time you have to hold your core stable in order to stay on the bench. Quite challenging, you might want to have a spotter close by. Yet another multi-body part exercise for your routine.
Remember to keep changing up that routine and keep challenging those muscles!!
As you know, kettlebell training has been around for years. It is an excellent way to train muscles that are hard to target with just dumbbells or weight training. Another added benefit of kettlebell training is that it can become a cardiovascular training very easily. When you are moving from exercise to exercise, your heart rate will definitely increase. So a few kettlebell exercises which can be good for strength training and muscle toning, can now insight cardiovascular endurance as well. This is very similar to a circuit training you would use with the apparatus at the gym.
Please give kettlebell training a try. It sure helps the boredom factor when training. It just might be that little nudge you need to blast that plateau in your present routine.
Lower Abdominal Exercise
When laying supine any leg lift exercises will strengthen the lower abdominal area. You have to be really careful, because if you lower your legs too low, you will arch your back and release the abs from working. So the key is to lower the legs just low enough before the arch. You can always put your hands under your butt for some low back protection.
The lower abdominal exercise I’ll talk about today is actually a Pilates move, but very effective.
- Lay supine on the mat.
- Bring your legs with bent knees to 90 degrees.
- Option, place your hands under your butt.
- Plantar flexion (point) your toes, then lower your leg so toe touches the mat. If you begin to arch your back, don’t lower so low.
- Exhale, and bring the leg back toward you.
- Alternate your legs.
After about 12 reps each leg, then:
- Keep the knees together, with toes pointed, and lower both legs and try to touch the mat with your toes. Or lower as far as possible with out arching the back.
- Do 12 reps of these.
Another option for you:
- Cross one leg over the other above the knee.
- Hands behind head, not pulling on it.
- Lift head, neck and shoulders plus the legs, contracting the ribs toward the pelvis like a crunch.
- Then lower legs and try to tap the toe on the mat, being mindful of the arch.
- Do 12 reps on each side.
This option will work the entire abdominus rectus region. Both ways are challenging. Always begin by pulling the navel to your spine.