| Weight Training Tips |
Proper weight training builds muscle, increases metabolism, burns fat and is the basis of a strong, firm muscular body. Listed down are some tips to help you get the strong, firm muscular body that you desire.  Warm UpA 5 – 10 minute warm-up increases blood flow and helps prevent soreness and strains in muscles, tendon and ligaments. Work Larger Muscles First The big muscle of legs, chest and back often require heavier workloads in an exercise to achieve any result. So it is best to exercise them before cumulative fatigue starts to build. Exercising these muscles first also helps your body to continue to warm up. Pair You Exercises Arrange your routines so that you work one muscle group, then its opposite. For example pair quadriceps lifts with extensions for the hamstrings, bicep curls with dips for the triceps, and push ups for the chest and shoulders with bent-over rows or chin-ups that work the latissimus. Before performing exercise in pairs, you also allow each muscle group to recover in case you want to work it in a second exercise. Use Variations Carefully In many instances, you can perform slight variations on the basic movement of an exercise. These not only afford variety, but can increase the intensity or focus of an exercise. However, during any one workout, it is better to do distinctly different exercises than several variations of one exercise. Performing three variations of a push-up is not as effective as doing on type of push up and later an overhead row. By all means take advantage of variations, but from one workout to the next. Work Slowly Slow controlled movement subjects the muscle to relatively consistent stress during both the lifting and lowering of an exercise. Quick, explosive movements make you work hard at the beginning of the repetition. But that initial thrust can then carry the muscle through the rest of its motion. As well as being less productive for shaping and toning, fast movements also make you prone to injuries. Breath Evenly You may need to hold your breath briefly during an instant of effort. But do not hold it longer than a second or two. Though your muscles may be working anaerobically, holding your breath too long can prevent blood flow from returning to the heart. Holding your breath can also cause cramping during abdominal work out. Use Full Range Motion For each repetition, move the joint through it maximum extension and flexion. A muscle that makes only a partial movement performs less work and can lose flexibility. Because range f motion can differ fro each joint and each exercise, you need to concentrate in each case on what your own maximum is. Do not flex or extend so far that the joint is suddenly bearing the workload. That should always be the job of the muscle. Rest between sets. After the first set, you need to restore energy to the muscle so that it can continues to contract during the next set. If the rest interval is too short, you will exhaust yourself; if too long, the next set will not make you work harder. For most training purposes, one to two minutes is sufficient. Cool Down Abruptly stopping a workout can cause blood to pool in the veins, creating a sudden drop in blood pressure that may produce light-headiness or fainting. An activity such as running in place or repeating a warm-up routine keeps blood circulating and helps the muscle to recover. Keep Track of Progress Record repetitions, sets and weights for each exercise each week. Some muscles will respond more quickly than others, so you will need to increase the overload of exercises at different rates. |
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