Friday, October 31, 2014

Do it Right

I am amazed at how many people I see at the gym who simply have it wrong. They are banging away on exercise equipment without the clue for how to use to correctly.
For example, doing leg raise on parallel bar type equipment. Slamming their legs up and down fast.
Really you should be raising knees to chest or doing an "L" slowly then dropping the legs back slowly afterwards.

This is just one example where you will minimize the benefits you get and make yourself frustrated.

Go for slow, smooth movements that maximize the muscle use and engage it fully.


Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Fixing sore muscles

If you work out hard enough sooner or later you will be sore. A little soreness in the muscles is good as it tells you that you have done your job well.
To build muscle you must tear it down a bit first, then in the rebuilding process it becomes stringer and possible larger as well.

To treat sore areas, people have applied heat or ice. Rested, raised the affected area..and so on.

It is advisable however to get moving again, get the blood flowing back into that area and help the body heal though it's own process.

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation  does work but is slow and can be avoided by...well read this article and see.
Inflammation which causes the soreness, is a natural event that has healing closely behind it.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Maybe you have never done this

If you have never strength trained and wan to start. Great.
This is a good move for anyone.

You can begin by using your body weight to strengthen the muscles.
An example- Curl your arms up pretending that you are raising a weight. Feel the tension in the arm muscles, don't strain.

Just apply tension and relax, then do it again. After 10 or so repetitions you should start to feel the muscle swell up and maybe tighten a bit.

Do the opposite move, push down be bending from the elbow to tighten the tricep in the back of your arm..

Next push up your arms as if lifting a weight overhead. You should feel this in your shoulders.

These moves will start your training. Later you can replace them with lifting actual weights. Body tension exercises work!
 See information on Charles Atlas. This was from his Dynamic tension routine.