Why Warmup before working out?
1. Proper warmup helps prevent injuries. You need to sweat a little, but don't get fatigued by the warmup.
2. Increases the removal of lactic acid accumulated during previous workouts.
3. Increases the efficiency of contracting muscles. Some light stretching is good to get limbered up.
4. Research suggests neuromuscular coordination is enhanced by warming up.
5. Improves coordination of individual exercises. (doing a warmup set of an exercise before hitting the heavy weights)
6. Increases heart rate and speeds blood circulation.
7. Increases oxygen reserves to the muscles.
Be careful not to warm up too long because you don't want to use up your energy for warming up instead of getting an intense workout. A good rule of thumb is to elevate your heart rate, sweat lightly, and have an elevated body temperature. 10-15 minutes on the treadmill is good to get your body warmed up. Perform one light set of each exercise before you start adding heavy weight to the exercise. This will help with your form.
Stretching is another important part of warming up and cooling down. Stretching will help you get a full range of motion for the exercises that you are about to perform. Stretching also helps after the workout by stretching out the muscles that you just pumped up.
How Many Repetitions Should I do?
How many reps should you be doing?
Deciding on the amount of repetitions that you do depends upon what you are trying to accomplish.
Do you want to gain muscle mass?
If you want to gain muscle mass you should be doing 6-10 repetitions at 70-80% of your maximum weight. Find out what your maximum weight is by doing a given exercise at your one repetition maximum. Your one rep maximum weight can be determined by doing an exercise with the maximum weight that you can handle safely for one repetition. Take this one rep maximum weight and multiply the amount by 70-80% to get your workout weight. If you are just beginning a weight training program start out with light weights and work yourself up to heavier weights. You don't want to get really sore by lifting more than you are safely able to. Take 60-90 seconds between exercises in each set.
Do you want to have more endurance? Are you lifting weights for your general health and muscle tone?
If you are lifting weights for general health, muscle tone and endurance you should be doing 8 to 15 reps for an exercise. This increases the ability of the muscle to perform longer.
Deciding on the amount of repetitions that you do depends upon what you are trying to accomplish.
Do you want to gain muscle mass?
If you want to gain muscle mass you should be doing 6-10 repetitions at 70-80% of your maximum weight. Find out what your maximum weight is by doing a given exercise at your one repetition maximum. Your one rep maximum weight can be determined by doing an exercise with the maximum weight that you can handle safely for one repetition. Take this one rep maximum weight and multiply the amount by 70-80% to get your workout weight. If you are just beginning a weight training program start out with light weights and work yourself up to heavier weights. You don't want to get really sore by lifting more than you are safely able to. Take 60-90 seconds between exercises in each set.
Do you want to have more endurance? Are you lifting weights for your general health and muscle tone?
If you are lifting weights for general health, muscle tone and endurance you should be doing 8 to 15 reps for an exercise. This increases the ability of the muscle to perform longer.
Correct Exercise Order for Growth
Exercise Order for Growth
When working out it is best to train larger muscles first and smaller muscles last. Training large muscle groups (thighs, chest, and back) will take a majority of your energy; therefore you need to train your large muscle groups when you are at your strongest.
Smaller muscles (biceps, triceps, and forearms) should be trained after larger muscles because they don't require as much energy to train. If you train smaller muscles first then you will not have enough strength left to train your larger muscles.
For example: If you train your biceps first, then you will not have enough strength in your arms to train your back muscles.
Order of exercises really helps in your development of a great physique
When working out it is best to train larger muscles first and smaller muscles last. Training large muscle groups (thighs, chest, and back) will take a majority of your energy; therefore you need to train your large muscle groups when you are at your strongest.
Smaller muscles (biceps, triceps, and forearms) should be trained after larger muscles because they don't require as much energy to train. If you train smaller muscles first then you will not have enough strength left to train your larger muscles.
For example: If you train your biceps first, then you will not have enough strength in your arms to train your back muscles.
Order of exercises really helps in your development of a great physique
Stretching Techniques
Stretching is a very important part of fitness and bodybuilding. Follow these rules for stretching properly:
1. Warm up before you stretch.
2. Hold each stretch for at least 15 to 30 seconds. As you become more flexible gradually increase the time to 1 minute.
3. Don't stretch to the point of pain. You should feel tension, but not pain.
4. Don't bounce when stretching. This can cause muscle pulls, or worse yet, muscle tears.
5. Make sure you breathe. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
6. Stretch all of your muscles for best results. The muscle groups to stretch are: lower back, upper back, chest, shoulders, rear thighs, front thighs, hip flexors, calves, shins, neck, arms, and wrists.
1. Warm up before you stretch.
2. Hold each stretch for at least 15 to 30 seconds. As you become more flexible gradually increase the time to 1 minute.
3. Don't stretch to the point of pain. You should feel tension, but not pain.
4. Don't bounce when stretching. This can cause muscle pulls, or worse yet, muscle tears.
5. Make sure you breathe. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
6. Stretch all of your muscles for best results. The muscle groups to stretch are: lower back, upper back, chest, shoulders, rear thighs, front thighs, hip flexors, calves, shins, neck, arms, and wrists.
Mix It Up
If you have been training for a while, using the same routine, it is time to "Mix It Up".
* Try doing a different routine. Change the exercises around.
* Perhaps it is time to get back to basics. Hit it heavy doing those squats, deadlifts and bench presses.
* Try some drop-sets. A drop-set is when you do an exercise at a certain weight and then you peel off a little weight and keep going. Drop a little more weight and keep going until you reach total muscle failure. This makes for an awesome pump.
* Try some tri-sets. Here is an example of a tri-set for chest. Make sure your equipment is ready before starting. Start with incline barbell presses. As soon as you reach failure, between 8 and 12 reps, pickup up a pair of dumbbells and rep out as many flies as you can. From there go straight to the cable crossover machine and squeeze out 12 to 15 more reps. This makes for an awesome pump.
* If you want to grow make sure that you train with plenty of intensity. Carry those sets out to muscular failure.
* Make sure that after trying these things you get adequate rest and food if you want to grow.
* Try doing a different routine. Change the exercises around.
* Perhaps it is time to get back to basics. Hit it heavy doing those squats, deadlifts and bench presses.
* Try some drop-sets. A drop-set is when you do an exercise at a certain weight and then you peel off a little weight and keep going. Drop a little more weight and keep going until you reach total muscle failure. This makes for an awesome pump.
* Try some tri-sets. Here is an example of a tri-set for chest. Make sure your equipment is ready before starting. Start with incline barbell presses. As soon as you reach failure, between 8 and 12 reps, pickup up a pair of dumbbells and rep out as many flies as you can. From there go straight to the cable crossover machine and squeeze out 12 to 15 more reps. This makes for an awesome pump.
* If you want to grow make sure that you train with plenty of intensity. Carry those sets out to muscular failure.
* Make sure that after trying these things you get adequate rest and food if you want to grow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)