Archive for March 1st, 2010
Yesterday we kind of touched on the weight training routines. I’m continuing on that path today of weight training again today. Do you know the difference between strength and power?? Strength is the amount of weight you can push. Power is the velocity or how fast you can push the weight. I thought it was interesting to make that distinction.
To keep the muscles guessing and help reduce plateaus, it is good to keep changing your weight training routine. There are many variables with which you can do that. Yesterday we talked about Pyramid training by increasing weight and decreasing repetitions. We also talked about muscle endurance and toning by decreasing weight and increasing reps.
Another variable to vary your weight training is SPEED. The slower the movement, the more energy it requires from the muscles. The more muscle fibers are recruited to perform a task. Listen where you want to slow the movement down is on the eccentric phase of the lift. That is when you are lengthening the muscle. For a chest press it would be returning the bar down toward the chest. For a lat pull down, it would be releasing the bar up. Keep the action slow and controlled and you will see results. Remember to slow the move after the contraction!