When you were a kid, how many times did you hear “if you are going to do it… do it right”? How many times have you said this to your own child?
Working out is no different. If you are going to make the effort to show up and exercise, you should do it right so you get the best results and maximum benefit. I am talking about form when you lift weights. The correct form is the most important component in lifting weights and many other exercises that use your own body weight. If you are lifting a weight that causes you to compromise your form, the weight is too heavy and you are wasting your time. Chances are you are barely working the muscle that you want to work, and you can really risk injuring yourself.
One of the easiest things to correct is momentum. Momentum is great for a lot of things.
**When you are cleaning your house.
**When you are playing with the kids.
**When you are working on a project at work.
**When you are doing cardio.
But, when you are lifting weights, momentum (or swinging your weights) is not your friend. Sure it makes the exercise easier, but it also makes it a waste of time.
One of the guys at the gym uses so much momentum to do his leg extensions, he looks like he should be on a playground swing somewhere. I actually feel sorry for a lot of men at the gym. They seem to workout to impress one another and lose sight of actually getting an effective workout.
When proper technique is followed, weight lifting not only increases your muscle strength but also:
Helps to burn body fat
Improves muscle tone
Increases bone density
In order to maximize the benefits of your weight training program, you’ll want to start with the right amount of weight. To determine this amount for your personal routine, find a weight you are comfortable with. The rule of thumb is that you should be able to lift it 12-15 times. As your strength increases, gradually up the amount of weight you lift. If the amount of weight you’re lifting affects your form, decrease it, or reduce the number of repetitions.
Breathe
While lifting, people are often tempted to hold their breath on the exertion. In fact, you may not even realize your doing it. My trainer used to tell me to breath all the time. I never realized how often I would hold my breath. Proper breathing is part of proper form. It’s important not to hold breath because doing so can dangerously raise your blood pressure. Breathe out when you lift and in as you lower the weight. I you find it too hard to concentrate on when to breath out and when to breath in, just concentrate on your breathing so that you are taking consistent, deliberate breaths.
Basics of Proper Technique
Lift weights from the floor with your legs, not your back
Use a smooth full range of motion
Keep knees slightly bent
Don’t hyperextend or flex your back
Tips for Safety
The more you focus on proper weight lifting techniques, the more you’ll benefit from your weight training program. If you’re unsure of the right form to follow when lifting after speaking with a trainer, you can always look at weight lifting pictures or even videos on You Tube used to teach proper form. Here are a few more tips to keep you safe and maximize your strength training benefit:
1. As you become familiar with your routine, don’t be tempted to skip your warm up because it will leave you more prone to injury. I will always do a set of 10-15 reps with 2 lb weights, just to get the motion down and the blood pumping. I do this warm up for the first exercise per muscle group.
2. Before lifting, warm up for 5-10 minutes with cardio activity like walking.
3. Don’t hurry through your routine. Keep movements controlled and slow, isolating the muscles you’re working. Keeping it slow prevents you from using momentum to lift the weight.
4. And lastly, don’t overdo it. If an exercise causes pain, stop immediately. Don’t try it for a few days or reduce the about of weight you’re lifting.
The Realistic Victory
27 04 2010You’ve been cutting carbs, lifting weights, and doing cardio till you are soaked. You’ve actually dropped two sizes. You feel fabulous. You look fit. Now if only you could lose those last five pounds…
Sound familiar? Welcome to the infamous Diet Plateau. After making a mountainous effort to exercise and eat right, you find your weight loss results have come to a halt. Diet plateaus are very real, usually occurring four weeks to two months into a diet.
I have a friend who I see about every six months. For the last three years, every time I see her she is complaining about losing that last five pounds. Talk about a diet plateau. We all know it doesn’t take three years to lose five pounds. She seems to be doing the right things, but just can’t seem to get those last few pounds off.
To lean down for my bodybuilding competition I lost around 20 pounds. This was not a sustainable weight, and it was purely for the competition. However, I did want to equalize at around a 10 pound net loss after the competition. I was able to keep my weight there for about five months, but then it started to creep up.
I have never been a fan of scales, and I even recommend that people put their scales away and just go by the fit of their clothes, and how they look and feel. When I was training, though, it was important to keep track of my weight loss and fat loss, so I started weighing myself every few days. This continued after my competition was over, and that is how I noticed this creep. I really couldn’t understand it. I was eating about the same as I had been eating the past five months, yet my weight was five pounds higher, and I couldn’t seem to get it off. I even bought a scale (for the first time in 30 years) because I thought that there MUST be something wrong with the scale at the gym. I know… a little obsessive.
(Below are some tips to help with a plateau.) However, I have been considering some other things. As I really look at how much exercise I am doing, I realize that I have not decreased the amount of time or intensity. I also know in my heart of hearts that it is not realistic to do more exercise than I am already doing. I also took a look at my diet. I am averaging 1400 calories a day. That is sustainable for me. I do not feel deprived or hungry, but if I start to cut a few hundred calories, it is not realistic. I have decided that I have reached my ideal weight. My sustainable weight. Yes, I would like to be five pounds lighter, but it is not realistic, so I am okay with it. I think my friend has also reached her ideal weight, and she just needs to be okay with it.
Anyway, on to the tips…
A diet plateau can result from several factors. It may be a question of what, exactly, you’re losing. Seventy percent of the weight you lose in the first two to three weeks of a diet is water. By the end of the third week, water loss will account for only about twenty percent of weight loss. Once you begin burning body fat rather than merely shedding water, you have to work harder. Most people can lose a pound of water weight a week by cutting their daily intake by 200 to 300 calories. Losing a pound of fat a week requires cutting about 500 calories a day.
Beware though… consuming too few calories also can waylay weight loss. You need a certain amount of calories for everyday functioning. If you try to lose weight too quickly by radically reducing calories, your body will slow your metabolism to compensate, creating a weight-loss plateau.
Other ways that diets are unintentionally sabotaged include underestimating portions—essentially overeating without realizing it—and consuming hidden sources of calories, such as excess fat used in meal preparation. You also may not be working out at the right exercise intensity, thereby overestimating the calories you’re burning at the gym.
Consume the Correct Number of Calories
Eat enough to maintain weight loss at a pace of one to two pounds per week. If you’re losing more than two pounds of body fat a week, some of that weight loss is coming from muscle. When you lose muscle mass, you slow down your metabolism. Check out the links to the right. The Calorie Need Calculator link and Activity Calorie Calculator link can help you to figure out the perfect number for you.
Exercise
Add some exercise. Do some form of extra aerobic exercise three to five days a week and strength training two to three times a week. Strength training maintains and/or increases muscle mass, helping boost your metabolism.
Start a Food Journal
Recording what you eat make you aware of extra calories. The numbers don’t lie and they can add up fast. That handful of Doritos will affect your body, even if it came from a bag on someone else’s desk.
Be Patient
Sometimes we need to allow the body a period of time to adjust, and then weight loss will resume.
The Bottom Line: Take time to congratulate yourself on having come this far. Then adjust your routine to carry you to weight-loss victory. But make sure that your victory is realistic and sustainable.
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