If you Love Your Workout it may be time to change it

If you are regularly going to the gym and have been using the same work out program for a while, it is probably time to change it . Your body will learn an exercise program the same way that your brain learns things like this 2, 4, 6, ___ . You really didn't have to work out your brain very hard to come up with the next number 8. Although when you were first learning math it wasn't so easy.

If you feel that you have reached a plateau, and you are not getting the results that you are expecting, here are a few ways that you can change your work out :

• Use a different machine to work the same muscle

• Change the order that you go through your exercises

• Change the Weight and Reps --- You can use less weight and do more reps or you can use more weight and less reps

• Use Dumbbells and Olympic Free Weights instead of machines -- When you are exercising with free weights you are not only working your core muscle but all the little stabilizer muscles that you need to hold the weights steady. When you are using the machines you are not working these muscles.

• You might even think about changing the groups of exercises that you do each day. Instead of doing Chest, Back, Legs in a day you might want to do Arms , Back, Legs

• Once a week really do a heavy work out. Increase your weight and do less reps for your whole program

How often should you change your Program ?

If you are changing your program to fast you are not giving your muscles a chance to adapt to the work out and if you don't change it enough your muscles are getting lazy and need to start thinking again. So I would say at least every month you should change something in your program. Better yet change one exercise on your work out each week that you have been doing a month or more.

Last Note:

Remember that in different times of the year you are going to be doing different activities. For example in the winter time you might like to ski, so you should incorporate some exercises that work the muscles you use during skiing. Also during the summer you are outside more playing sports so you might want to change your cardio program to match your activity.

Good Luck,

Tony

Lets Talk Negative

Negative Resistance that Is .....

In our everyday lives there is a lot of push and pulling going on, but when it comes to moving a heavy object there is more push than pull. If we need to move a dresser or refrigerator for example we push rather then pull because it is easier.

While working out with weights the principle is the same. We are using both positive and negative resistance. We all get the benefit of the positive resistance as we lift the weight stack to build muscle, but I see most lifters let gravity do the work for them on the way down. The muscles that we use for negative resistance is not being used at all. A lot of the pain we feel comes from these muscles because they haven't been toughened up like our positive muscles.

How do you work these Muscles ?

In a future article I am going to explain the different types of work out equipment and their benefits. In this case there is a fitness company call Pace Fitness ( Shown In Picture ). Pace equipment provides resistance by means of a hydraulic cylinder much like a shock absorber in your car.

The reason for using a shock absorber is that there is resistance applied in both the positive and negative direction of the exercise. Gravity can not help you out. The benefit is that you are working the muscles that are rarely used in everyday life as I explained earlier. A lot of injuries and soreness can be prevented by working these muscles.

I used Pace Fitness because it is very popular right now in the Curves Fitness Centers and they have been getting great results with their members.

What if My Gym Does Not have this type of Equipment ????

Truth is that most gym just offer your standard equipment weather it be selectorized or free weights so you have to work a negative part of your work out on your own.

This is how you do it:

It is the One - Two , One - Two - Three - Four method. When preforming the exercise count One - Two on the way up ( Positive ) and One - Two - Three - Four on the way down ( Negative ) . Now you are controlling the weight both ways and you are not letting gravity do half the work for you. You may have to lower the amount of weight you are lifting to do it properly, but you will be increasing the benefit.

Good Luck

Tony