adminSiba Guzha
HELLO gentle readers. I hope I find you well. This week we revisit an area that we touched some time ago.
Due to the feedback received as well as the fact that the subject is in itself an important topic — we find time to discuss it once again. Choosing only the exercises that you enjoy will hinder your progress as your body will become used to the same routine.
By the same token, working out every day is not sustainable — either physically or mentally. If you workout everyday you won’t be able to maintain a useful intensity and you’ll get bored. Weight training can then become a chore and you might lose motivation. Incorporate proper rest days into your schedule.
This will help you recover and increase long term results. Another important error is skipping body parts. How many times have you seen top heavy bodybuilders strutting around with hefty shoulders on skimpy little legs?
Choosing to work only a few muscles not only gives the body an unbalanced appearance, but sets it up for problems later through muscle imbalances.
When some muscles are worked and others ignored, muscle imbalance then occurs which can cause eventual injury from everyday activities. Always balance your workouts. For example, if you work on your quads make sure you also work on your hamstrings.
The worst thing you can do for your legs is to have unbalanced strength. If hamstrings are not trained equally with quads they will be the weaker of the leg muscles and will be susceptible to being torn when running, climbing or even walking and you can also sustain lower back injuries as well.
Another example of a balance workout are abs and lower back. Lower back exercises are just as important as ab exercises.
Failure to work one and you will create a muscle imbalance that can result in a weak lower back and potential lower back injuries.
Working the core completely, which means including your stomach muscles will improve posture, reduce the risk for back injury, and can also increases speed, increase strength and improve sports performance.
Make sure to work out all of your muscle groups to ensure the correct development of your entire body Training supporting muscles before target muscles. You do NOT want to train the smaller supporting (secondary muscles) before the target muscle.
Supporting muscles help lift the weight use for the target muscle’s growth. If supporting muscles are fatigue you will not be able to lift as much weight needed to develop the larger target muscle. An example would working triceps before chest; or working out biceps before back. Working upper abs before working lower abs.
The reason you do NOT want to work the upper abs before the lower, is because the lower ab muscles are smaller, weaker and less developed than the upper ab muscles.
If you train the upper ab muscles first, as most people do with crunches or sit-ups, then you will be too tired to train the lower ab muscles adequately. As a result, the upper ab muscles receive most of the training at the expense of the lower ab muscles. And that’s why the “pooch” below the belly button is so hard to lose.
The key to a flat tummy and sexy waistline is to train the lower abs first. Drinking water before, during, and after your workout is extremely important. Water is the most abundant nutrient in the body, not to mention the most important. Water is the most critical nutrient for health, growth, development and is the medium in which all energy reactions take place.
You need to drink a lot of water for health, stamina, fuel, and building muscle. Failure to hydrate will diminish your performance in the gym, resulting in decreased strength and endurance, potential cramping and more. Remember, if you are thirsty, you are already in dehydration mode. Poor posture is one of the main results of injuries.
The majority if not all exercises performed require correct posture but none are more relevant than in heavy weighted power exercises such as deadlift, squat and bench press.
This poor form can not only slow your results, but can result in torn or pulled muscles, torn tendons, and back problems.
These are just a few of the hazards that can result from performing exercises with less than perfect form last but certainly not least when you’re finished, make sure to stretch out each major muscle. When you don’t stretch, your body loses flexibility.
Good flexibility not only increases athletic performance but also plays an important role in helping you stay injury free as previously mentioned. Post workout stretching is an important part of preparing your muscle for your next workout. It also minimizes post exercise muscle soreness by increasing blood flow to the worked areas, which speeds up the healing process.
Exercise is enjoyable for its own sake. I hope these pointers will allow you to improve your performance and get you a step closer to your fitness goals. Remember to take care and listen to your body.
Siba Guzha is a fitness trainer at Body Focus Gym Executive. 1st Floor Meikles Mutare. Contact him on : Cell: 0772 789 110: Tel 020 64712 ext 218 or send feedback to Email: [email protected] Website:www.bodyfocusgym.com
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