Category: Exercise and fitness

Want to put on some size? Keep reading.

Proper Program

Bulking up, putting size, getting big… These are all synonyms for hypertrophy or muscle growth. Training for hypertrophy requires a special type of exercise program to elicit the desired physiological adaptations. What you want is to stress the musculoskeletal system, forcing the muscle fibers grow in size and number. Keep in mind that it is different than training for strength gains for instance, which places the nervous system under stress and most adaptations happens in the brain and neurons. Therefore, a program designed to develop muscle mass relies more on training volume than on heavy lifts.

Push-up is an excelent body-weight exercise that doesn’t require any equipment and can be done anywhere. However, many people feel intimidated by it and end up missing the opportunity to work out  many muscle groups at once in a few minutes.

It is holiday time and many of us don’t have time to go to the gym. For those, I put together an exercise routine that doesn’t require any equipment, can be done anywhere (I did it barefoot on my office floor), and can be completed in 10 minutes (if this is all the time you have). It is a mini circuit composed of four exercises, challenging your whole body in a short period of time. However, if time is not an issue, feel free to repeat the circuit as many times as you’d like. Check it out.

Do you arrive at the gym and go right away to the cardio equipment? If that’s your case, you are not alone. Many women feel intimidated by the weight room and end up missing an important type of training. Strength training is a fundamental part of fitness as it builds lean muscle mass, improves bone and joint health, and gives your body that “toned” appearance you’ve always wanted. And even though, many of us still associate strength training with weight-lifting and bulky guys, that’s not the rule anymore. It is possible to gain strength without putting on a lot of muscle. Besides, there are more functional ways of training your body. In the table below I compared functional strength training with traditional weight lifting. If you are new to this type of exercise, I strongly recommend that you to find a competent trainer, who can design a balanced program to address your needs.

Are you still stuck in a training routine that is composed mostly of bilateral exercises (leg presses, leg curls, and leg extensions)? Maybe it is time to rethink your workout. The problem is that, in real life, there is not much we do with both feet on the ground. Actually, most tasks we perform on a daily basis are composed of asymmetrical movements. When walking, running, or climbing stairs, for instance, we are performing a series of single-leg movements, in which we shift our body-weight from one leg to the other.

This means that bilateral exercises are not functional. A program composed mostly of double-leg exercises misses the opportunity to train some of the most important muscles in the body: the ones responsible for body stabilization.

References

Baechle, T. et al. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 2008.

Boyle, M. Advances in Functional Training. Santa Cruz, CA: On Target Publications. 2010

Delavier, F. Strength Training Anatomy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 2006.

Gullett, J. et al. “A Biomechanical Comparison of Back and Front Squats in Healthy Trained Individuals.” Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Vella, M. Anatomy for Strength and Fitness Training. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2007.

Carla Torres is an AIF Master Trainer based in Rhodes, NSW. Her mission is to promote exercise, proper nutrition and healthy habits as a way to empower individuals to make decisions leading to better quality of life.

Did you know that Fila USA released workout pants that are supposed to increase muscle workout by 50%? The manufacturer claims that these pants were “designed to increase muscle exercise, which improves the efficiency as well as recovery of an existing workout.” These pants do offer more support which means an instant butt lift and better shaping of the hips and thighs, but do they really make you exercise harder? With this concern in mind, the American Council on Exercise commissioned a study to find out if the compression provided by the apparel could actually increase the intensity of a workout session. Unfortunately, the resistance offered by the new workout pants is not enough to provide significant results. So, if you really want more muscle tone in your legs, you are better off including more squats and lunges in your routine than simply buying an exercise outfit.

Have you ever walked around the gym wondering how much weight you should use for a particular exercise? In my experience, women tend to go for the lighter weights, while men tend to choose weights that are way too heavy. This happens because most women are afraid of getting too bulky, so they choose light loads and perform more repetitions. Men, on the other hand, seem to be too proud to admit that they are not there yet, so they compromise form in order to lift heavier weights. Even though I don’t recommend going overboard with the load, I have to admit that men usually get better results with their training mentality. This can be explained by the progressive overload principle.