Balanced Health Blueprint » weight lifting

Top 10 Exercise Mistakes: Number 6

Hiram — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:03:31 +0000

This is the next in a series of 10 articles based on the American Council on Exercise’s (ACE) article titled “Top 10 Mistakes People Make in the Gym.” Check the “Related Posts” links at the end of this article or use the “Search This Site” box at the top to find the other articles in this series.

Mistake Number 6: Not Enough Variety

Face it: most exercise is boring, repetitive stuff. Lift, hold, release, and then repeat over and over and over again. Mind numbing. Little wonder most people find it so hard to stick to a fitness routine.

If you’ve been doing the exact same exercise routine for so long that you don’t even have to think about it anymore, then you’re guilty of making this exercise mistake.

But getting bored with your exercise routine is only part of the problem. If your routine never changes, your body quickly gets used to performing the same routine over and over again. End result? You stop improving. Before long, you start noticing that even though you’re “exercising” as much as usual, you’re not losing any weight or getting any more fit. You’ve hit a plateau. Your body has “memorized” the routine and has optimized itself so that it expends the least amount of energy completing it.

Another problem is that constantly doing a routine that never changes can lead to injury as the exact same muscles get worked in exactly the same way every single time you exercise.

Change Up Your Routine

The obvious answer to these issues is to change up your routine. Some ways to accomplish this include:

Vary the exercises. If you’ve never done Yoga or boxing or any of the Martial Arts, try incorporating some of those moves into your routine. Try adding body-weight exercises or kettle-bells instead of using weight-machines all the time. Add in some “old school” exercises like push-ups and pull-ups. Exercise on a balance board or Bosu ball. In general, finding several different ways to work the same muscle groups will significantly improve the effectiveness of your workout in addition to making it much more fun and interesting.
Vary the sequence. Instead of starting at the same machine in the gym every single time, try doing your exercises in a different sequence. If you always start your routine doing bicep-curls, try starting with back exercises first. Do your routine in reverse and then change it up again the next time. Keep your body guessing as to what exercise is coming up next so that it never gets the chance to “optimize” the routine and reduce the amount of work your muscles do. You’ll find yourself burning a lot more calories.
Vary the intensity. Change the speed and intensity of your routine at frequent intervals. Without sacrificing form or safety, speed up – or slow down – your routine periodically. Alternate between heavier and lighter weights than you normally lift. Again, keep your body guessing as to what’s coming up next.

They say that variety is the spice of life. It’s also the key to effective workouts. Variety keeps you from getting bored with your routine in addition to significantly increasing the efficiency of your workouts. The only way to keep improving is to keep changing your routine in some way.

Give it a try. You’ll see results right away!

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S. Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.” This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time. Just click on the title to be taken to the download page. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: exercise, routine, workout, weight loss, fitness, variety, weight lifting, gym

Optimal Weight Lifting Formula

Hiram — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:12:08 +0000

Go to any gym and you’ll see a wide variety of weight-lifting techniques. There’s the guy that overloads the bar with way too much weight and then only does 1 rep. Then there’s the guy that pumps out the reps so fast his hands are a blur. Some people lift weights quickly, some slowly, some do only a few reps, others a lot more. Which combination is the most effective?

Well, according to several studies, here is the recommended technique to use in order to optimize your weight lifting sessions:

Optimal Number of Reps per Set: 8-15. In order to really work your muscles and promote the release of fat-burning hormones, you should only put enough weight on the bar so that you can perform between 8 and 15 repetitions. Doing less than 8 reps doesn’t release as many fat-burning hormones and if you can do more than 15 reps, you probably don’t have enough weight on the bar.
Optimal Number of Sets per Exercise: 2-4. Performing 2-4 sets (composed of 8-15 reps per set) will keep your hormone at a consistent, fat-burning rate.
Optimal Rest Period Between Sets: 60 seconds. You should rest no more than 60 seconds in between sets. Otherwise, your muscles begin to cool down and heart rate, as well as your level of fat-burning hormones, begins to drop.
Number of Seconds to Lower Your Weights: 3 seconds. Many people simply let gravity take over and let the weight drop down to the starting position. This is dead wrong and can actually lead to serious injury. You may not believe it but in many exercises, your muscles actually work harder on the eccentric, or lowering, phase since they’re working against the force of gravity and trying to decelerate the weight load at the same time. Take a full 3 seconds to slowly lower the weights back down to the starting position in a controlled manner.

Are there exceptions to this “formula?” Of course there are. If you’re working on building strength, you should focus on lifting heavier weights for a smaller number of reps (usually 1-2 sets of 2-3 reps) and increasing the rest period in between. However, for people that are trying to build and tone muscle and lose a few pounds in the process, this combination should get you there in the least amount of time.

So what are you waiting for? Head to the gym and give it a try!

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: weight lifting, weights, exercise, fitness, gym, health, weight loss, fat-burning

Top 10 Exercise Mistakes: Number 3

Hiram — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:11:25 +0000

Mistake Number 3: Bad Form

One of the biggest and most frequent mistakes I see in the gym is to use bad form when performing an exercise. Bad form at its worst can lead to strains, sprains, or even more serious and sometimes permanent, injuries. At its least, it renders your exercise ineffective.

Some of the more common examples of bad form usually fall into two categories: (1) doing the wrong exercise and (2), doing the exercise wrong.

Doing the Wrong Exercise

Some people simply should not be doing certain types of exercises. An exercise routine should be matched to a person’s existing condition, their physical body type, and their size and weight. Some people just don’t have the physical range of motion or the muscle structure to benefit from certain types of exercises.

Others may be too big, too short, or too heavy to make proper use of the exercise machines, despite the fact that most machines can be adjusted within a wide range of settings.

I’ll give you a personal example. Years ago, I carried quite a bit more weight in my midsection resulting in a bit of a “beer belly” (even though I don’t drink beer). What did I do? Why run to the gym and jump on the LifeCycle (a stationary bike). I cycled for about an hour before going home feeling pretty good about all the calories I had burned. The next day I could hardly walk.

What happened? Well, I was pretty overweight and most of that weight was in my midsection. As soon as I got on the bike and leaned forward to grab the handlebars, all that weight kind of sagged down between my thighs. In fact, the only way to make room for my sagging belly was to push my knees out to the side — out of alignment, in other words. After an hour of cycling, my knee joints had taken a beating. It’s a wonder they weren’t damaged seriously.

In another case, I saw an instructor put a brand new student, who also smoked, through a pretty intense cardio routine. The new student almost passed out before puking their guts out. The instructor should have modified the routine to better fit the current condition of the new student (who was never seen again, by the way) instead of trying to “force-fit” the student into a cookie-cutter routine.

The point is that there are some exercises, and some exercise machines, that certain types of people shouldn’t be doing. Make sure that your exercise routine is matched to your current physical condition and your body type as well as your height and current weight.

Doing the Exercise Wrong

Most cases of bad form are, by far, people doing an exercise incorrectly. It should be obvious that doing the exercise wrong can lead to physical injury. Not so obvious is that most of your efforts are ineffectual, and that’s a real shame. You only have so much time to get to the gym so why would waste time and energy going through motions that don’t actually work your muscles correctly?

Performing an exercise incorrectly usually include the following:

Poor or Improper Alignment. In most exercises, especially those involving weights, the large muscles of the body are designed to move in more-or-less straight lines. This is what aligns the entire muscle against the load it’s trying to move. Using bad form or alignment subjects a section of the muscle to an uneven amount of force increasing the chances that the muscle will strain or tear at that point. Before you lift any kind of weight, do a quick mental check to make sure every part of your body is lined up properly.
Using Too Much Weight. This is more of a “guy thing.” Trying to lift too much weight before your body is conditioned for it can put more force on muscles and joints than they’re capable of handling. Using too much weight also leads to the last item.
Lack of Controlled Movement. If you’re trying to lift too much weight, you’re not going to be able to control the movement of your muscles through the full range of the exercise. As a result, one of two things will happen: you’ll either “sling the weight” using momentum instead of your muscles to press or push the weights ups, or you’ll shorten your movement by not extending all the way and thereby fail to execute a full rep. In both cases, you’re not working your muscles completely or effectively.

In all cases, if any exercise or exercise movement doesn’t feel comfortable, by all means stop doing it and get some help. Most gyms have trainers on staff that will be happy to show you how to use an exercise machine properly or that can help design an effective exercise routine. Telling them where it hurts or what feels uncomfortable will usually help them come up with modifications to the exercise or adjustments to the machine that you can make in order to better accommodate your specific condition or body type.

Get the most out of your time at the gym by making sure that you’re using good form – doing the right exercise and doing the exercise right.

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: form, weight lifting, weight machines, alignment, biomechanics, posture, muscle strain, injury, exercise, fitness

Top 10 Exercise Mistakes: Number 2

Hiram — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:46:11 +0000

Mistake Number 2: Unbalanced Strength Training Programs

An “unbalanced strength training program” is a weight or resistance training program that concentrates on only 1 or 2 areas of the body and ignores the rest. It’s only natural, I guess, that most people tend to focus their training on the muscles that they think will make them look younger, leaner, stronger, or sexier. These muscles most often include the biceps, abs, and legs.

Do a quick Internet search and you’ll find all kinds of “miracle-get-fit-quick” programs that supposedly “target” these specific areas. Take a close look around the gym and you’ll find people spending the majority of their time primarily working these muscles - guys trying to do 200-pound-bicep-curls and women working nothing but the leg-press and the “butt-buster.”

The results, like the guy in the picture, can sometimes look unnatural and downright freaky. However, how things look is pretty subjective (some people think looking like Popeye is cool – whatever) so let’s put looks aside for a moment and only talk about whole body health effects.

The muscles of your body are designed to work in unison, with each muscle playing an important part of whatever motion you’re engaged in. Whether it’s shooting hoops or lifting weights, for any type of movement, your muscles create the movement together by playing one or more of the following roles:

Agonist or “Prime Mover”: This is the muscle that acts directly to bring about a desired movement through contraction. If you’re performing a dumbbell bench press, for example, the agonist is the Pectoralis Major (or “pecs”) which contract (shorten) to raise the arms as you press the weights upward.
Synergist or “Assistant Mover”: As the name implies, this is the muscle (or muscles) that indirectly assists in creating the desired movement. In the dumbbell bench press, the synergist is the Anterior Deltoid (or “front delt”).
Antagonist: The antagonist is the opposite partner of the agonist. It’s job is to return the limb to the starting position by creating a force that’s directly opposite to the Prime Mover. In our bench press example, the antagonist is the Posterior Deltoid (“rear delt”).
Stabilizer: This muscle (or muscles) are responsible for stabilizing and supporting the muscle next to it. In a dumbbell bench press, the stabilizers are the Rotator Cuff muscles.
Neutralizer: Similar to the stabilizer, the neutralizer is a muscle (or muscles) responsible for eliminating or canceling out an undesired movement. In our example, the Rotator Cuff muscles also act as neutralizers acting to cancel out any sideways or unstable movement as the arms press up.

Developing one muscle to the exclusion of the other creates an imbalance between that muscle and it’s paired antagonist frequently leading to injury. For example, overdeveloping the pecs by doing dumbbell bench presses all day long can lead to muscle stain or tearing of the Posterior Deltoid, the antagonist muscle.

Why does that happen? Interesting story that most people don’t consider. When you’re doing a bench press, for example, most people are surprised to learn that the Posterior Deltoid is the muscle most susceptible to injury, not the Pecs. Why is that? Because when you press up (using the Pecs), you’re lifting a weight against gravity and your movement tends to be slow, measured, and controlled. However, when you go back to the start position, most people tend to simply let the weights drop back down to chest level without taking into account that gravity is now pulling in the same direction as the weights. Unless you’re careful, the movement back down tends to be faster, less controlled, and end with an abrupt stop. That puts a lot of strain on the Rear Delts. If you’re going to get injured doing this exercise, that’s where it’s going to happen.

Same scenario applies to your legs. If you spend enough time in a gym, you might have heard the advice, “strengthen the glutes and stretch the quads.” The reason is that most people are “quad dominant.” In other words, their quads are already much stronger than their glutes making it much easier to strain or tear the glutes when they try to develop their quads even further. If you’ve ever injured your legs doing a leg press, it’s almost always on the return when your glutes are straining to slow the weights quickly.

The key to building a stronger body is to make sure that your weight or resistance training program is balanced and incorporates ALL major muscles groups, not just the “sexy” ones. That means following a workout that includes the chest, the back (upper and lower) and shoulders, the arms (biceps, forearms, and hands), the core (upper and lower abs, obliques), as well as your legs and hips. It’s important to strengthen not only the big muscles, but the supporting ones as well in order to prevent injuries.

The end result is that you’ll not only look and feel better, you’ll move better with increased coordination and balance. Isn’t that why you work out in the first place?

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: fitness, weight lifting, exercise, balanced health, bench press, dumbbell, ACE, muscle, strength training, resistance training

It’s Never Too Late

Hiram — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:19:52 +0000

Have you told yourself that you’re “too old” to start an exercise program? Do you think that lifting weights or doing push-ups only benefits the “youngsters?” Have you convinced yourself that you don’t have any muscles left to build?

Well, you’re wrong on all three counts.

According to studies in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (NSCR), your age doesn’t really limit your body’s ability to build muscle in response to resistance training.

Now, it is true that the younger guys will show improvement in a shorter period of time (with seemingly less effort) and will maintain the muscles longer (again, with seemingly less effort – damn!), but the point is that there apparently is no such thing as “too old to exercise.”

It seems that most of the reasons people over 55 stop going to the gym tend to be more mental than physical. So let’s tackle them head-on:

You Need to Do It

Nothing else improves your quality of life than having a strong, healthy body. You’ll have the strength to keep up with the grand-kids in addition to having the energy to keep things up around the house.

You know the benefits: flexibility, lower blood pressure, a stronger heart, more energy, mobility, and so on and so on. You KNOW the benefits. You need to do it.

Going to the Gym

Many “seniors” don’t like going to a commercial gym. First of all, they feel really self conscious since the vast majority of people there seems to be at least 50 years younger. Couple that with the teenagers at the front desk and the heavy metal rock music constantly blaring from the gym sound system and anybody above 50 is going to feel out of place. Here’s some ideas to help you deal with that:

Get over it. Realize that most people that go to a commercial gym are there for the same reason you are – to try to improve their body. Whether that means losing weight, gaining strength or both, most people are too absorbed with their own feelings of self-consciousness to notice yours so just get over it. Your mission at a gym is not to impress anybody. Your mission is to go there, get a good workout, shower and get on with your life. So do it.
It’s actually not that bad. Once you get to the gym, you might even notice that there are other seniors there as well. In fact, the number of gym memberships to people over 55 increased 314% from 1990 to 2005 according to the International Health and Sportsclub Association – a number that’s expected to keeps increasing. You’ll find that many gyms have programs specifically designed to attract seniors. Use them.
Set up a home gym. Does the idea of going to a commercial gym bring back memories of High School gym class with all the guys on the football team laughing at how skinny your legs were? Then set up a home gym. All you need are a couple of basic pieces of equipment to get yourself started. So get them.

Start and End Slowly

Don’t make the mistake most of us make and try to transform your body overnight. Just because you could bench-press 250 pounds when you were in college doesn’t mean you can do it now — so don’t even try. Start slow and make sure you give yourself plenty of time to warm up on the front end, and plenty of time to cool off on the back end. Consistently is much more important than the weight load.

Also, don’t spend all your time lifting weights or doing resistance training. Although building muscle and developing strength is important, so is balance, flexibility, and endurance. So don’t forget to add some stretching and cardio work to your routine as well.

Take Long Walks

As you begin working your muscles, stay active. Don’t fall for the “I-exercised-for-15-minutes-this-morning-so-now-I-can-sit-and-watch-TV-all-day-to-rest” excuse. Best way to stay active and slowly cool off after a workout? Take long walks — especially with your spouse or with a friend. You’ll be surprised what comes up in conversation as well as quickly time passes.

You Need to Do It (Again)

According to the AARP (if you’re over 55, you know what this organization is – if you’re not, don’t worry about it – yet ), over 90% of seniors want to stay in their homes as they age. How are you going to do that if you don’t have the strength to open a jar of pickles or climb up a flight of stairs? You need an exercise program that will build and maintain muscle.

So Get Started Now

As they say, “We’re not getting any younger” so get started now.

By the way, I’ve changed that old saying to “I may not be getting any younger – but I am getting better.” It’s what I tell myself as I push myself to do one more push-up.

Quick story: I took my grandson rollerskating last month. First of all, the young lady at the counter was shocked when I asked for 2 tickets. She asked me TWICE if I was going to actually get out on the floor and skate!

After my grandson and I had skated for over an hour, we were getting ready to leave. There was a group of teens near the counter where you turned in your skates. As I passed by, one of them said I skated pretty good and gave me a “high 5.” How cool was that?

So get started now. Yes, I know it’s hard work. Yes, I know it hurts sometimes. But being able to embarrass your grand-kids every once in a while is worth the effort!

Hiram
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: exercise, fitness, health, senior, elderly, gym, resistance training, weight lifting, home gym

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Combining Weight Lifting with Isometrics

Hiram — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:02:51 +0000

I’ve found a way to really supercharge my weight workouts that I think you’re going to really love. If you’ve been lifting weights for some time and seem to have hit a plateau, this will help you get back on track building and shaping muscle.

The Problem with Lifting Weights

Here’s the main problem with traditional weight lifting…

The main problem with traditional weight lifting is that during most of the range of motion, the weight is being carried upward by momentum, not by your muscles. Most of us were taught to lift the weights in a smooth, controlled motion. However, once the weight begins to move, most of your muscles take a back seat and are no longer working as hard as they were when you were first trying to get the weight to move from a static position.

Watch most people at the gym and you’ll see what I mean. When most people do a chest press, for example, they’ll push the weight up as far as they can and essentially lock their arms to hold the weight there for a second or two before bringing the weight back down to the starting position. Once you get the weight moving, pushing it the rest of the way up actually requires less force with momentum making up the difference. When you bring the weight down, gravity is doing most of the work and your muscles are simply guiding it down in a controlled manner.

So basically, your muscles are actually working (or “loaded”) for only a short period and not during the entire technique, like many people think. That’s why most of us tend to reach a plateau where you just don’t seem to build any more muscle even though you might be lifting regularly.

How to Really Build Muscle

We all know that to really build muscle, you have to keep the muscle “loaded,” or under a constant strain, throughout the entire range of motion, not just at the beginning. Unfortunately, most weight training routines are performed way too quickly pretty much guaranteeing this doesn’t happen.

The solution I found is to combine Isometrics with my weight routines. Isometrics are static strength-building techniques where a muscle is required to hold a weight load for a period of time without moving. Here’s a great video that shows how isometrics work:

How Isometric Training Works

www.animal-kingdom-workouts.com – This video explains how isometric exercises are able to build muscle and strength so effectively in so little time.

The “Power-64″ Workout

So here’s what I call my “Power-64″ Workout (yes folks, you heard it here first!) that combines Isometrics with traditional weight training techniques. Ready? Here it is:

First, take the length of an exercise’s full range of motion and divide it into 4 parts or stops. For example, if you can lift a barbell off your chest and fully extend it for about 2 feet, then your 4 stops are going to be about 6″ apart. Do NOT get too hung up on exact measurements. Just observe how much distance a single rep covers and divide it into 4 parts by eyeballing it.

Second, lift your weight to the first stop and hold it there for a count of 8 before proceeding to the next stop where you’ll do the same thing. So during a full rep, you’ll press to each of the 4 stops and hold for a count of 8 at each stop, and then you’ll lower the weights the same way – lower to each stop and hold there for an 8 count before lowering to the next stop.

That’s it! You’ve got a total of 8 intermediate stops and you’ll hold the weight for a count of 8 at each stop. 8 times 8 equals 64. Power-64. Get it?

OK, maybe an example would help. Let’s take a basic chest press.

In the diagram, I’ve noted the approximate location of the 4 stops between the rest position ( 0) and full extension. From the starting position (0), press the bar to position 1 (note that this is also position 8 on the way down) and hold for a count of 8. Next, press to position 2 and hold for an 8 count before pressing to position 3 and holding for another 8. Finally, press to position 4 and hold for an 8 count.

Now begin the concentric phase by noting that you’re already at position 5 so you’ll hold for another 8 counts. Yes, that means that you’ll hold the same position (4 and 5) at the top of the exercise for a total of 16 counts.

Next, lower the bar to position 6 and hold for 8. Then lower to position 2 and hold for 8 before lowering to position 8 and holding for a final 8. Take the bar back to the position 0. That’s 1 complete rep. Try to work up to a set of 10 reps.

Holding the bar at each stop for an 8 count means that 1 rep should take you around 64 seconds to complete. Your arm and chest muscles should be vibrating at this point. Because performing 1 rep this way is roughly equivalent to performing 1 SET of chest presses the traditional way. You’ll be shocked how exhausted your muscles will feel – which means you’ll also be shocked at how much muscle your body will build in response!

Helpful Hints

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

You can apply this technique to all weight lifting exercises. Once you get the idea behind this, it’s really easy to apply it to any other type of exercise. Whether you’re exercising arms or legs, simply divide the full range of motion into 4 stops. Then start your exercise and pause at each stop for an 8 count (remember that positions 4 and 5 are the same). The same applies to bodyweight exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, or pull-ups.
Hold the top of the technique (positions 4 and 5) for a total of 16 counts (8 for position 4 and 8 for position 5). If this is too difficult, then combine the two positions into one 8 count and work up from there.
Use light weights to begin with. I know all you guys (and some gals) can bench-press several hundred pounds — but not this way. Reduce the amount of weights you normally train with by at least half and work up from there. Remember, lifting weights this way will work your muscles 2 to 3 times harder so start out easy.
Shoot for one set of 10 reps. I know it doesn’t sound like much but I guarantee that it will take everything you’ve got to complete 1 set. If you need to rest between reps, take no more than 1 minute.

Try this for a couple of weeks and let me know what you think by leaving a comment. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: weight training, weights, isometrics, exercise, fitness, muscle, health, building muscle, strength, power, power-64

Using FITT to get Fitter

Hiram — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:34:56 +0000

Ever notice how some of the regulars at the gym never seem to improve? They come in, sometimes daily, and like clockwork go through their workout routine exactly the way every time. Sure, theyre working hard and they really do work up a sweat. They just never seem to build any muscle or drop any fat. Ever wonder why that is?

Well, Ive got the answer and as it turns out, the cure to this problem is pretty simple. If you pay attention to this one principle, your workouts will be much more effective and youll begin to notice significant changes in your physique within 3-4 weeks.

Anyone in the medical profession can tell you that the human body is extremely adaptable. It will usually respond to any kind of physical demand or stress, like a warehouse worker lifting heavy crates for example, by building additional muscle as well as by learning how to use those muscles more efficiently. Eventually, the warehouse worker can lift heavy crates all day long without tiring and develops an impressive set of biceps to prove it.

However, when we try to get those same warehouse worker arms in the gym, the results are usually not the same, even with all the fancy machines. Why not? Well, the human body can adapt pretty quickly to any change in demand placed upon it but once it has adapted, it kind of takes it easy expending only enough energy to meet the new demand. Its like taking your car out on the highway. When youre just starting out and accelerating, your engine is working really hard. But once youve reached highway speeds, the engine settles down to a more constant level.

So why can the warehouse worker build massive muscle just by doing his or her job (hope you appreciate the gender neutrality )and we cant seem to do the same in the gym? Mainly because of the way the warehouse workers job is structured, which in turn is related to how often and when their body is subjected to increased physical activity. For example, they may be sweeping the warehouse first thing in the morning until the first truck comes in to be unloaded. Then theyre working hard for a solid hour unloading the truck before going back to the office to complete the paperwork. An hour later, another truck comes in, only this time, the crates are different sizes and weights.

The point is that a warehouse workers body does not know when it will be subjected to increased demands since the trucks come in at different times. It also gets subjected to different loads since some trucks contain crates of breakfast cereal and others contain crates of auto brake pads. Their body is being subjected to a variety of physical demands and therefore, has to build a strength reserve (in other words, more muscle) in order to be able to meet the wide range of demands.

On the other hand, when we go to the gym to do our usual workout, our body knows that were going to do 3 sets of 10 reps using 30 pound weights. How predictable. So of course the body only develops enough muscle to handle exactly 3 sets of 10 reps with 30 pounds. Once its done that, theres no reason to develop any more muscle.

Changing up your routine and subjecting your body to a variety of activities so that it continues to develop is the whole idea of the FITT principle. Developed by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), FITT stands for:

Frequency how often you exercise, which includes how often you rest between exercise sessions.
Intensity how hard you exercise.
Time how long you exercise.
Type the type of exercise you choose to do.

If you consider a typical workout routine, most of us have unconsciously kept most, if not all, of these variables constant. We tend to go through our workout without thinking and that means we do exactly 10 minutes on the treadmill followed by exactly 10 reps on the leg curl machine set at the exact same weight we did the last time, followed by exactly (yawn!)

So even though we finish our workout really tired, we really didnt build any muscle or drop any fat. Sure, we worked some cardio so the heart and lungs might have improved, but little else. The real key to success is to change your routine so that its anything but routine.

You do that by taking any of the FITT variables and changing them from one routine to the next. For example:

Frequency instead of doing 2 hard workouts a week, do 4 easy or medium ones; or instead of going in the evening, go in the morning.
Intensity vary the weight or resistance from one workout to another.
Time slow or increase your tempo when you workout.
Type change the type of exercises from one workout to another. If you always do shoulders followed by arms, switch the order.

In other words, keep your body guessing as to what kind of activity youre going to ask it to do on every workout. Not only will you feel like you got a more intense workout (because you did), but your body will begin to change in exactly the way you want it to change: more tone and muscle mass in the arms and legs in addition to dropping fat around the waist and thighs.

Although you can change any of the FITT variables from workout to workout, Id recommend changing them from week to week. For example, focus one week on strength with heavy weights, low reps, slow concentration tempo, and using compound exercises. The following week, focus on power with lighter weights, high reps, faster tempo, and using isolation exercises. The next week, focus on endurance. After 4-6 weeks of this, increase the amount of weight on each exercise by 5-10 pounds and then repeat the entire cycle.

Just as your body starts getting used to one type of routine, bam! Hit it with a different one! Before long, youll not only have the body you want, youll have the gym regulars coming by asking how in the world you did it!

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy
Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Coach (NESTA)

Technorati Tags: FITT, FITTR, ACSM, NESTA, exercise, weight lifting, weights, gym, routine, workout, physical, cardio

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