HOW TO LIFT WEIGHT FOR MAXIMUM DEFINITION

A lot of people want to change their bodies, we all want to burn fat, get lean and remain healthy. However, this cannot be achieced merely by jumping on the treadmill and running till kingdom come.

If you really want to lose weight and gain quality muscle, you need to tone down on the treadmill and hit the weights (and I'm not talking about those itty bitty weights). To build quality muscle, you need to use weights which are at least 25% of your body weight. This means that if you weigh 100kg, you should lift at least 25kg in weight.

 

Weight training helps speed up your metabolism, burning more calories than if you merely performed cardio. It also strengthens your bones, reducing the possibility of contracting osteoporosis in the long term. It also improves your coordination and balance, improving your strength and muscular endurance.

 

In order to build definition, you need to lift weights that weigh approximately half your one rep maximum ( This is the amount of weight which you cannot lift more than once). Thus if your one rep max is 90kg, then you need to lift about 45 kg to define your muscles.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 8-12 reps for muscular strength and 10-15 reps for muscular endurance. They also recommend training each muscle group 2 to 3 times a week. But, the number of times you lift each week will depend on your training method. In order for muscles to repair and grow, you'll need about 48 hours of rest between workout sessions. If you're training at a high intensity, take a longer rest. Perform at least 1 set of each exercise to fatigue although you'll find that most people perform about 2-3 sets of each exercise.

 

 

ARE YOU WASTING YOUR TIME????

IT IS an all too familiar warm-up routine for most gym-goers.

Slip on your trainers, stretch off  your muscles … then  choose your music, untangle your headphones, check your messages and make sure your water bottle is full.

But fitness fans will waste 21 minutes of each hour on activities that simply burn up time rather than calories, a survey has found.

Chatting and adjusting clothes are other popular procrastination tactics which help the typical gym member waste around 35 per cent of each visit - spending only 39 minutes an hour actually exercising.

The poll found that up to 55 per cent of gym members fiddle with their phone or iPod to work out the music to go with their session.

30 per cent of regulars take as long as ten minutes to sort out their headphones, according to the survey of 1000 adults.

Up to a third (32 per cent) admit they regularly interrupt their routines to chat to other gym-goers.

Other time-wasting habits to emerge from the study include the constant refilling of water bottles, adjusting clothes and trainers and checking phones.

Kevin Yates of fitness chain Harpers, which carried out the survey, said: "Your time at the gym shouldn't be spent untangling headphones, choosing music or checking your phone, and we hope this makes gym-goers more aware of the time they spend exercising and the time they spend not exercising."

 

 

WHAT SELF DEFENCE STYLE SHOULD I PRACTISE?

There are a few things to consider before choosing the martial arts style that's best for you.

Are you only interested in getting a good workout or in better shape before stepping foot in a martial arts studio? If so, then a cardio-kickboxing class might be the right choice for you. Cardio-kickboxing is a great way to introduce yourself to martial arts, and there's probably a class offered at your local gym. You won't learn intricate techniques, but you will build up the musculature and stamina needed for a lot of martial arts.  Getting in better shape and feeling stronger will definitely give you a huge boost if you decide to try a traditional form of martial arts.

You shouldn't worry about getting hurt (besides the occasional bump or bruise), but you still need to consider your comfort level when it comes to getting ‘up close and personal’ with someone you don't know. If you're ready to dive right into some hardcore fighting, then you might want to try Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, or Krav Maga. If you want to learn a martial art at a less aggressive pace, then Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or Wing Chun Kung Fu might be more to your liking.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a streamlined form of grappling designed for maximum impact that includes choke holds and limb locks. It's very intense and not for the faint of heart, but if you're looking for self-defense, it can't be beat. There are belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but you won't be learning forms or katas to advance. Advancement in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu depends on how well you spar, which means you’ll have to prove your ability on the mat.

Muay Thai kickboxing will literally kick your butt, and it's one of the best standing fighting styles out there. And like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you'll only advance by actually fighting in the ring. There are a lot of schools offering "mock" Muay Thai that's really just a blend of other fighting styles, so make sure the school you choose has certified Muay Thai instructors.

Krav Maga is the official self-defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and it's specifically designed to teach you effective and practical hand-to-hand combat techniques. It's an amazing workout, and most schools have great programs for women.

You'll do a whole lot of kicking in Tae Kwon Do, but you'll also have to learn about the spiritual side of the martial art. Tae Kwon Do is very popular, so you probably won’t have any problem finding a program in your area.

Karate is the term most associated with martial arts, but there are a variety of styles of Karate to choose from. Karate styles are based on striking with both hands and feet, and you can find styles that emphasize either the more philosophical or combative aspects of the art.

Wing Chun Kung Fu is a martial art that emphasizes close-range striking and combat techniques, and legend tells that it was developed by a woman. Bruce Lee originally trained in Wing Chun, and if you've ever seen a martial arts film where the star is practicing on a wooden dummy that has sticks jutting out, he was probably practicing Wing Chun.

Capoeira is fantastic way of building self defence skills, whilst gaining cardiovascular fitness and advanced muscle development. As a street based martial art, it emphasizes close quarters sparring and creative offensive and defensive techniques.

In order to advance in Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or Wing Chun, you'll have to learn forms or katas, which are a specific series of complex movements. If the idea of have to actually fight to advance doesn't appeal to you, then you might want to one of those three styles.

Everyone is a beginner at some point, so you shouldn't be nervous if you've never punched or kicked anything before. At the end of the day, a martial arts studio is a business that needs new clientele in order to thrive, and women mean big business. Most studios will offer free or low-cost introductory lessons, programs for beginners, and programs designed specifically for women, so do a little research beforehand and find a studio that has a variety of options that suit your needs

9 MYTHS ABOUT FEMALE SELF DEFENCE

Myth #6 Women who survive are fearless.
The first effect in any violent situation is emotion, and the most common one is fear. When a man steps in front of you holding a knife, your adrenaline starts pumping and your heart beats faster. These are reactions that can't be avoided—nor should they be. It's the fight-or-flight survival instinct that allows you to focus on beating your enemy or getting the hell out of there.

 

Many people fear they will freeze up or act irrationally. When you know how to respond, you'll still feel a certain amount of fear that you could be hurt, or that you're about to cause harm to another human being, but that will be tempered with confidence.

 

Myth #7 Focus on blocking his attacks.
Many self-protection classes teach you to react to an attacker's actions. This defensive thinking can make you hesitate ("What is he going to do to me?"), lose focus (waiting to get hurt makes most people freeze), and ultimately be one step behind the attacker. In a threatening situation, don't worry about what he's doing; make him worry about what you're doing.

 

Myth #8 Try to back away from your attacker.
In life-threatening conflict, if you're not injuring someone, you're getting injured. Backing up or attempting to counter his "technique" with another technique (as is typically taught in self-defense classes) only gets you in more trouble: Your body is a lot better at going forward than it is at going backward; for every two feet you move backward, he can move forward three feet.

 

Myth #9 Hit as often and as quickly as possible.
Punching and kicking are akin to slapping an attacker around. If you're in danger, you need to throw all your weight into a single target, or "strike." Imagine you're facing a giant predator and you have a big sack full of rocks. Throw a single rock and "ouch!" is the only reaction you're likely to get. But swing the entire sack at him, hitting him in the head, and he'll be out cold. That's the difference between punching and striking.

A CRAZY WORKOUT FOR A POWERFUL BACK

The back is one of the largest muscle groups in the body, composed of

 

.Sternum Chin-Ups

This variation of the chin-up involves leaning back throughout the entire movement. In this variation, the lower portion of the chest should touch the bar. As you pull yourself to the bar, have your head lean back as far away from the bar as possible and arch your spine throughout the movement.  Your hips and legs will be at about a 45-degree angle to the floor. You should keep pulling until your collarbone passes the bar and your sternum touches it.

 

 

Seated Rope Cable Rows to Neck

Most people will agree that the vast majority of trainees devote far more time to chest work than to back work. As a result, they start to look like Neanderthals. Seated cable rows to the neck will help balance the equation.

 

Set the adjustable pulley so that it’s directly in front of your pecs. Use a rope—it will reduce the stress on your forearms and wrists and allow you to concentrate on the task at hand (which is upper back work, just in case you forgot).

 

Grab the ends of the rope with a pronated grip. Start with the shoulders protracted and the forearms extended. Begin the movement by retracting the shoulder blades, and immediately bend the elbows to continue the movement until the forearms make contact with the upper arms.

 

Make sure to eliminate the lower back from the equation by keeping it perpendicular to the floor at all times. If the development of your rhomboids is lacking, you may choose to pause for a moment when the shoulder blades are retracted.

 

Narrow Parallel- Grip Chin-Ups

 

Many gyms are equipped with V-handle chin-up stations that are set six to eight inches apart, and this is just about perfect. Focus on bringing your lower sternum to the handles as you pull yourself up. In other words, lean back as you near the top of the concentric range.

 

Since the grip is narrow, the inferior fibers of the latissimus are hugely recruited. These fibers have been shown to have a higher fast-twitch makeup than the superior fibers and, therefore, they should be trained using lower reps.

 

 

HOW TO EMPOWER WOMEN THROUGH SELF DEFENCE TRAINING

 

I believe it is essential for women to be fearless in order to survive in today’s world. I recently started teaching unarmed combat to a few women from my gym and they have all reported feeling more empowered to negotiate their daily lives after undergoing some sessions of self defence training.

 

Self-defence is a psychological endeavour. Unfortunately, women who come to my classes often feel that they aren't young or fit or flexible enough to defend themselves from attackers. This is the first issue that needs to be addressed, as fear is what the attacker counts on.

 

I usually start by improving the client’s fitness levels and building their confidence alongside. I then repeatedly put them in situations when they are under attack and teach them how to combat the threat. It’s an elaborate process that aims at empowering them, and more often than not, the ladies rapidly rise to the challenge, pushing themselves to levels of performance which they never believed they could achieve.

LOSE THOSE FLABBY ARMS!!! Part 1

They have many names, but they are best known as 'Christian mother' arms. Flabby triceps have been a bother to many women for centuries, irrespective of race. These arms have caused lots of embarrassment to individuals and with time, can affect a persons confidence.

 

Side plank reverse fly. This is a great exercise for building overall upper body strength. Although it doesn’t target the arms specifically, it will help build the necessary strength to do other arm-specific exercises. It is also fantastic for the oblique muscles along your side.

 

To perform the side plank reverse fly:

1. Lie down on your side on the floor and prop yourself up with either your hand or elbow. The elbow is an easier option for beginners.
2. Stack your feet one on top of the other and lift your hips off the floor so that your body form a diagonal line.
3. With your free hand, grab a dumbbell and extend your arm straight up, keeping it in line with your shoulder.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbell in front of you, until your arm is perpendicular to your body.
5. Slowly raise the dumbbell back up, forming a “T” shape with your arm and the dumbbell. You have now completed one repetition.

Variations: Instead of stopping when the dumbbell is perpendicular with your body, you can keep going, rotating your body and twisting the dumbbell underneath, before returning to the starting position.

 

Clean Push ups. The push up is a pretty basic exercise, and one that most people have attempted at some point in their lives. It’s an exercise that has stuck around for a reason – it works. Push ups target the tricep muscle in your arm, although they also strengthen your pectorals, abdominals, quads and lower back, making it a great overall exercise.

 

To perform a basic push up:

1. Lie face-down on the floor, keep your legs together and prop your feet up on your toes and the balls of your feet.
2. Place your hands palms-down on the floor, approximately a shoulder width apart.
3. Raise yourself up, using just the strength in your arms, until both arms are fully extended. Your body should be in a straight line from your head to your heels. This is the start and end position for the push up.
4. Slowly lower your body to the ground until your elbows form a 90-degree angle. Inhale as you lower down.
5. Slowly raise yourself back up into the extended arm position, exhaling as you do. You have now completed one repetition.

Variations: You can vary the basic push up exercise in a number of ways. If you’re just starting to build up strength in your arms, you can make the exercise slightly easier by keeping your knees on the ground throughout the exercise. You can also try a triangle push up, where your hands form a triangle with your forefingers and thumbs, directly below the breastbone.

 

 

THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF WEIGHT TRAINING

 

 

A little weight training may go a long way toward helping improve the heart health of black men, new research suggests.  Just six weeks of resistance exercise appears to have a positive impact on the blood levels of key indicators for inflammation, immune response and/or artery shape among black men. Such indicators, or “markers,” are known to rise in conjunction with tissue damage, infection and stress. But after weight training, levels of two of the markers dropped in these patients.

 

If you are venturing into the gym after a long hiatus, here are a few simple tips to help your return to activity be a safe and injury-free one.

 

 1. Have a goal and a plan.

 2. Remember to start slow and expect soreness, not pain.

 3. In the first two weeks back to the gym, walk away from the table hungry. That means to leave the  workout knowing you could have done more, but don’t.

 4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day 

 5. Give yourself a few minutes a day to perform some light stretching.

 

Initially, your muscles and tendons will stiffen in the early weeks of exercise.

 

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Every week, I formulate and test a total body workout to increase your arsenal of exercises. This week's workout is designed to work multiple muscle groups including your triceps, biceps, deltoids, trapezius, chest, hip flexors, abdominal, glutes(butt), quadriceps (thigh) and hamstrings.

 

The workout is designed to be executed in giant set fashion, you are meant to continue to the next workout with as little rest as possible.

 

• Rowing Machine (row 5000m as fast as possible)
• 25 Pull ups
• 25 Tricep Dips
• 4 sets of 10 Bench Presses
• 4 Sets of 10 Goblet Squats
• 4 sets of 10 Bicep Curls
• 50 Ab rollouts, using an ab roller or a barbell
• 50 Push ups
• Stretch for 5 minutes

 

Ensure that you keep yourself hydrated throughout the workout and take some rest when you feel tired. The aim of the workout is to push you to your limits, not kill you.

 

SUPER SOLDIER TRAINING

I have long wondered what it would take to build yourself into a super soldier, an individual with superior mental and physical capabilities operating well beyond what is considered humanly possible. A person with immense strength and endurance, supplemented with impressive fighting skills. I have studied the training styles of warrior civilizations whose status as Super soldiers have been respected by their bitter enemies. Civilizations such as the Zulu, Spartans, the Vikings and the Ninja (arguably the best warriors of all).

I have been working on developing the super human endurance and strength of a super soldier whilst retaining superior mental alertness.

 

Stamina

The Supersoldier needs a very high level of stamina to perform at an optimal operational level, as they are constantly on the move and must have an unending supply of energy. A shoulder should be able to march for hours and still retain the strength to deliver a good fight when he confronts his enemy.

 

Stamina can be built in two ways, by rowing and by walking. Rowing exercises in addition to working your heart and lungs, require you to pull with your arms and drive with your feet, thereby building your biceps, trapezius, hip flexors, quadriceps and calves. Try rowing 10,000 meters in 20 minutes, and I can assure you that every muscle in your body and mind will scream for respite within the first 5 minutes.

 

Brisk walking helps you build the cardiovascular and muscular endurance required to build a super soldier constitution.

 

 

 

Strength

 

 

The kind of strength required by a super soldier is not built through conventional bodybuilding. He has to haul heavy equipment for miles, whilst ensuring that it does not impede his combat abilities. His physical strength does not stand alone, it walks side by side with mental toughness.

 

You will be training 4 times per week, focusing on one of the following lifts each day: squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press (military press or seated Behind the neck press). Other important lifts include barbell rows, pullups, Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, front squats, barbell curls and the close grip bench press. Keep rest periods very short.

 

Becoming a super soldier is not a day's job, you've got to place one foot in front of the other and give 110% ON EACH REP. Within a few weeks, your hard work will manifest in a high performance body.

 

 

 

Women: Don’t Be Afraid of Bodybuilding

 

Bodybuilding is increasingly becoming popular with women, defying myths that it is a boys only sport.

 

 

LaTosha Evans is busy working out. But if you look closer, you can see she's actually in training. Training for her latest competition with the sport she has recently fell in love with one rep at a time.

 

"I've probably been working out close to 4 months prepping for this particular competition. 5-6 days a week", says Evans.

 

The Southern Natural Championships is the second event for the mother of three and she says she is glad to breakdown the stereotypes of women and bodybuilding to future generations.

 

"My particular category is bikini which is a lighter build", adds Evans. "They have other including figure for girls who have more muscle than I do. We also actually have body building women, which some people ask really? Yeah we do and they are really, really defined. Really cut and beautiful women in this competition."

 

Evans is usually accompanied by her high school daughter Alexis at the gym who has also taken interest in the sport. When it's not Alexis, it's Evans husband Antwan. Either way Evans says she's not alone in this team effort.

 

Evans explains, "It's a complete lifestyle change for the entire family including the kids. As far as prepping food, everybody has to do that. There are no cheat meals, because I will only be cheating myself. The whole family eats clean and healthy now."

 

So Evans continues to work hard in and out of the weight room for a chance at a possible trophy as well as a fitness level she can be proud of.

 

"It's not how you lift or how you look in your suit or what your hair is", explains Evans. It's your confidence on the stage and how you present that to the judges. So I have definitely worked on my stage presence. I plan to bring Tosha to the stage and hopefully this time I bring back a trophy."

3 TECHNIQUES TO TURBO CHARGE YOUR MUSCLE GAINS

I believe in squeezing out the maximum benefit from each workout session. Here are my 3 favorite training techniques to get the most from each and every exercise, in no particular order. These strategies will make your existing training routine more effective and diverse when it needs a boost.

 

Pre-exhaust training

 

Pre-exhaust training utilizes isolation movements to tire out a specific muscle group before moving on to a compound movement. For example, you could perform a chest fly before the bench press, or leg extensions before you squat. I usually carry out 100 tricep pushdowns and cable curls to warm up my arms and hit the muscles deeply.

 

 

The pre-exhaust method is one of my favorite training techniques for several reasons. First, by significantly fatiguing the isolated muscle group, it forces the fresh muscles to pick up the slack during the compound movement. The fatigued muscle gets pushed beyond what it would have been able to do without the pre-exhaust sets, and you don't have to sacrifice the full-body strength stimulus of, say, a bench press by trying to make it into a chest isolation exercise.

 

Supersets

 

A superset is two exercises performed back to back with no rest between the exercises. Supersets can increase your workout density, shorten your workout duration, spur new growth, and deliver an incredible pump. You can pair exercises for the same muscle group, like a triceps push-down and close-grip bench press, or pair movements for opposing muscle groups, like biceps curls and triceps push-downs.

 

I love to use this technique in conjunction with the pre-exhaust technique. As shown by the triceps push-down and close-grip bench press example above, I like to perform an isolation exercise to pre-exhaust a muscle and then immediately follow it with a compound move. This drives the target muscle past the point of failure and results in a killer pump.

 

Rest- Pause Training

 

Rest-pause training incorporates a brief rest period, or even a couple of rest periods, during a single set. This allows you to move a heavier weight for more reps than you could in a straight set. You allow your muscles to partially recover, but not completely, before you hammer them with another barrage of heavy reps.

For example, if you were to perform rest-pause on a set of triceps push-downs, you would first perform reps until you reach failure or a predetermined number of reps, and then you would rack or hold the weight, take an extremely brief rest period of 5-15 seconds, and rep to failure again. The brief rest allows you to extend your set and overload the working muscle.

Rest-pause sounds simple, and it is, but I would warn you to pay close attention to your form. Don't use such a heavy weight that you have to get sloppy to move it. While some people go crazy with rest-pauses and use them in multiple sets on a regular basis, I advise you limit them to a single set of each exercise you perform. Rest-pause is an overload technique, not a replacement for straight sets.

 

Incorporating these techniques into your training program will supercharge your muscle gains, building ip more muscle whilst giving you razor sharp definition.

 

THE WAYNE WAY: TRAIN LIKE THE DARK KNIGHT

I have always wondered how hard would Bruce Wayne have had to train to perform optimally in the batsuit, especially against physically and mentally superior foes such as Ras' al Ghul (don't get me started on Bane).

 

 

Bruce Wayne is a skilled gymnast and advanced martial artist. He is 6'1", 210 pounds, and somewhere between 35-43 years old.  Lets say he has 6% body fat, which means he has about 197 pounds of lean mass.

 

He starts his week with 30 minutes of meditation and runs 20 miles in 30 minutes. He then stretches for 30 minutes and spars for 30 minutes. He then proceeds to clean and jerk a 262lb barbell 24 times and finishes off with 50 pull ups.

 

Leave me alone Catwoman, I'm benching

 

 

On Monday, he executes 5 sets on a 20ft rope climb (helpful for building upper body strength to swing on those infernal grappling hooks). 84 high box jumps, 30 minutes on gymnastic rings, and 1 hour working the heavy bag and sparring gets him into combat shape.

 

 

On Tuesday, he cranks out 3 sets of 100 pushups, followed by bench pressing 8 sets of 30 reps with 360lbs. Then he tones his arms with 3 sets of 10 renegade rows. He finishes with 1 hour of Tai jutsu.

 

Wednesday is dedicated to meditation and weapons training. Bruce practises with the rattan, the bo staff, and the katana, fully understanding that he will have to do battle against Ras al' Gul, his arch nemesis. Weapons training strengthens the mind-body link, enabling him to respond quickly and efficiently to multiple martial art styles.

 

On Thursday, he prepares for the day by meditating for 30 minutes, before loading the bar for 3 sets of 8 barbell presses. He spends time on the ring perfecting his Maltese cross and muscle ups. He them cranks out preacher curls, supersetting with tricep kickbacks. He needs strong arms to lift heavy weights off people.

 

On Friday, Bruce trains his core by flipping heavy tractor tyres. He then swings a 30lb sledgehammer against the tyre. He then proceeds to slam down 1000lbs on the leg press (yeah, that's how he builds those phenomenal quads!).

Saturday, he stays in and watches TV, even Batman needs an off day. He calls Catwoman over for some 'mutual exercise'.

Now, thats how you build a superhero!

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE EVOLUTION OF FLAVOUR

He is the uncrowned king of Highlife music.

 

 

As an exponent of the hip-hop/highlife movement, Chinedu Okoli aka Flavour N'abania is a force to be reckoned with in the Nigerian music industry. However, our interest in this talented superstar lies in his transfiguration from skinny musician to musical Sex symbol. 

 

Apparently someone told him to hit the gym. 

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4 STEPS TO BOLDER SHOULDERS

The shoulder is made up of three smaller muscle groups, the anterior, medial, and posterior deltoid (named ofter the Greek term for triangle). However, most people focus on pressing exercises which target the anterior and medial heads of the deltoids, but not the posterior head. The result: rounded shoulders that appear smaller and interfere with your arms rotation, increasing your risk of injury.

 

 

 

 

SEATED SHOULDER PRESS (Anterior and Medial deltoids, triceps, upper trapezius)

 

Sit on a bench and grab the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your feet flat on the floor. Press the bar overhead, hold for 3 seconds and gently lower the bar to the front of your chest. Concentrate on lifting and lowering in a straight line and avoid leaning forward. To increase the intensity, slow down the lowering phase.

 

The behind the neck variation is not recommended for people with shoulder problems as it can be hard on the rotator cuff due to the hyperextension created by bringing the bar behind the neck.

 

STANDING MILITARY PRESS (Anterior and Medial Deltoids, Triceps)

 

 

 

Using a squat rack and a weight you can lift for about eigth repetitions, hold the bar with an overhand grip, keeping your back straight and your face forward, slowly press the weight overhead until your arms are fully extended, elbows unlocked. Pause, lower the bar to your chest and repeat. Try keeping movements slow and deliberate to avoid injury.

 

 

HANDSTAND PUSHUPS (Medial deltoids and triceps)

 

 

With your back to the wall bend at the waist and place both hands on the floor at shoulder width. Kick yourself up against the wall with your arms straight. Your body should be upside down with the arms and legs fully extended. Keep your whole body as straight as possible. Tip: If doing this for the first time, have a spotter help you. Also, make sure that you keep facing the wall with your head, rather than looking down. Slowly lower yourself to the ground as you inhale until your head almost touches the floor. Tip: It is of utmost importance that you come down slow in order to avoid head injury. Push yourself back up slowly as you exhale until your elbows are nearly locked. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Caution: Ensure that the floor surface is not slippery and also, if performing for the first time, use a spotter until you get good at this exercise.

 

BENT OVER CABLE ROWS (Posterior Deltoids)

 

 

Stand between the stacks of a cable station, cross your hands in front of you and bend down. Grab the left  low pulley handle with your right hand and the right one with your left hand. With your knees slightly bent and your back straight, bend forward until your back is almost parallel to the floor. Slowly raise your arms out to the your sides until they are parallel to the floor. Pause, then slowly lower your arms. Ensure that you keep your head and neck in line with your torso. Looking up can work the medial deltoids.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CORE EXERCISES TO PREVENT BACK PAIN

Back pain is a problem for many people, and whether it is a chronic condition or an intense flare-up of an occasional problem, finding a remedy that relieves it and prevents it can sometimes be a challenge. Instead of treating yourself with pain medications that will only wear off, requiring you to medicate again, take advantage of some exercises that might help you with your back pain. In addition to making you feel better, physical activity and basic exercises can even prevent pain from returning. If the pain is intense or does not go away, make sure you consult your doctor or a chiropractor.

 

While the common suggestion is often to “rest” when you are experiencing back pain, a little activity might actually do more for your back than bed rest. You want to train your back to function properly again, and the best way to do something simple, like walking. You will want to avoid any strenuous activities or exercises that might have triggered the pain in the first place.

 

Be cognizant of your breathing and breathe air into the lowest point of your belly. You may not think how you breathe has an impact on your core, but it makes a big difference. Most people "shoulder breathe" by elevating their shoulders and lifting their rib cages to let air in. This is erroneous because the diaphragm can't do its job effectively. It also limits the function of the inner core—the muscles affected most powerfully by breath.Breathe this way when lifting, walking, sitting, reading, and talking.

 

Think about your posture too. The nerves around your spinal column can easily get pinched or compressed if you do not have good posture, creating additional pain on top of what you are already experiencing.  Walk with your back straight, your shoulders back and your head up. This will keep your back aligned and not hunched. This will protect your back and stomach muscles from deteriorating.

 

The core is a collection of muscles which stabilize and move the spine. Purposeful core action requires understanding its function. The core stabilizes and protects the spine by creating stiffness that limits excessive movement in any direction—most notably extension, flexion, lateral flexion, and rotation. In lifting terms, the core's responsibility is to limit movement. Core training should be in the moderate rep range for best growth. No more endless reps of crunches and sit-ups like you've done in the past. Focus on sets in the 8-15 rep range. Here are some exercises to help you build the muscles that comprise your core.

 

Dumbbell Side Bend: 1 set of 30 seconds + 15 seconds rest

Exercise Ball Crunch: 1 set of 30 seconds + 15 seconds rest

 

 

Flat Bench Leg Pull-In: 1 set of 30 seconds + 15 seconds rest

 

 

 

 



CROSSFIT: MEET YOUR LIMITS

CrossFit began with Greg Glassman, a trainer and gymnast who started training clients in his garage in the 1970s. Over the past decade, CrossFit has swelled to a subculture of gyms with more than 1,500 locations worldwide. they usually contain some combination of bodyweight exercises, plyometrics, Olympic lifts, sprinting and use of implements like kettlebells. The training is intense and done for a time - workouts rarely last more than 20 to 30 minutes. Thus, while CrossFit followers typically join to improve performance, they inevitably build muscle and get leaner, too.

I scrounged around and dug up some CrossFit exercises which will spice up your workout repetoire and swiftly improve your strength and muscle definition. Perform the exercise as a circuit, completing one set of each without rest. Between circuits, rest as little as possible. Do seven reps of each move and repeat for seven total circuits. Time yourself; try to beat your time each session.

 

 Renegade Rows:

 

Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell and get into push-up position while balancing on the weights. Keeping your shoulders squared, press one dumbbell into the floor while rowing the other bell to your ribs. Lower the weight and repeat on the other side.  Aim for 100 reps on each side.

 

 

Burpee
 

Stand with feet at hip width and arms at your sides. Dip your hips and knees and swing your arms back to gather momentum. Jump as high as you can and then land with control. Immediately lower your body into a squat. Then touch the floor in front of you and shoot your legs back so you end up in push-up position. Perform a push-up. Then jump your legs back under your chest and stand up.

 

 

Overhead Medicine Ball Slam
 

Hold a medicine ball (use one that bounces) with both hands. Push your hips back and bend forward, lowering the ball almost to the floor between your legs with arms extended. Then explosively, swing the ball overhead, extending your legs and back so you come up onto the balls of your feet. Push your weight back into your hips and throw the ball down towards the floor as hard as you can and catch the ball as it bounces back up. This workout builds your rear delts, traps and shoulder muscles while increasing your heart rate.

 

Try out these few exercises and tell me how it feels in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 SECRETS TO BUILDING A BIGGER BENCH

The barbell bench press remains the king of exercises, and the bigger your bench, the greater your bragging rights within the gym. Bodybuilders and people with physique-oriented goals know that a bigger bench equates to a larger, rounder, fuller chest as well as bigger shoulder and triceps muscles. Improving your bench press has the added benefit of building your mental muscle, as it requires a significant amount of fortitude to lift a wright capable of crushing you into the ground.

 

 

 

1. Accelerate

 

Compensatory acceleration training, or CAT, is lifting sub-maximal weight with maximal force, which teaches the nervous system how to recruit more muscle every time you lift. The speed creates the illusion that the weight is lighter than it really is, thus enabling your body to handle greater amounts of weight.

 

2. Add Dead Benches to your routine

 

A dead bench is done in a power rack with the weight resting on the pins set just above your chest. The weight starts at chest level—not in the arms-extended position—and is pressed up as explosively as possible. Because of this, you'll develop tremendous starting strength at the bottom of each rep. 

 

3. Do more sets with Fewer reps

 

Since you're training for a one-rep max, the first rep of every set is extremely important. Even when training with loads as light as 50 percent of max, most powerlifters keep the repetitions low, opting to do more sets to achieve volume when it's needed.

 

4. Build your Arms

You can't press huge weights with spindly arms. in order to avoid injury, you have to build your triceps and deltoids. However, don't forget the biceps because they help stabilize the joints (as an antagonist muscle to the triceps), and strong forearms help you squeeze the bar tightly. This will make the weight feel lighter in your hands.

 

5 Meditate

 

Few people realise that bodybuilders actually need to meditate. Your central nervous system isn't adept in differentiating between a real experience and an imagined one. Set some time aside every day to visualize blasting through maximal weights.

 

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GYM BELLE: ABBYE 'PUDGY' STOCKTON

 

Abbye “Pudgy” Stockton was a pioneer of women’s body-building, and she did much to increase interest in weight training among women.

 

Pudgy was anything but pudgy. She had a strong looking, well-proportioned and athletic build, and she radiated good health and vitality. She was one of the first body-builders to show that weight training can help women look and feel better. She first lifted weights to help tone her body and improve her self image after a period of weight gain lowered her self esteem and reduced her natural beauty. After taking up weight training, Pudgy won the nationwide “Miss Venus” contest.

 

 

Following her victory, she helped women across the world improve their figures through her “Barbelles” column in Strength and Health, a monthly column which debuted in the July, 1944 issue of the magazine. Pudgy also opened and operated a health studio in Santa Monica, California with her husband Les, a former lifting star.

 

On June 26, 2006 Pudgy passed away. How many of the hundreds of thousands of women today who engage in weight lifting, power lifting, bodybuilding or other form of exercise for health and vitality realize the debt of gratitude owed to Pudgy Stockton? She was a true trailblazer and a woman of strength