You train regularly, lift weights, row, run, step and swim.
In fact you consider yourself to be pretty fit compared to
most people and yet, no matter how hard you try, there are
some exercises that just never seem to get any easier.
If you're like most women, exercises like chinups,
pull-ups, dips, pushups, and lunges probably present the
biggest challenges you face during your workout.
For this reason you avoid them like the plague opting
instead for their machine-based counterparts like lat
pulldowns, chest presses and leg extensions.
After all, you're still hitting the same muscles and you
seem to handle a fair amount of resistance so you must be
getting stronger right?
Well... yes, but not in the way you think!
You see, when you're on a machine, several factors come
together to create the 'illusion' of strength.
Of particular note is the simple fact that you are not
required to stabilise the weight in your hand (the machine
does this for you) and as such you are able to generate
more force.
This is great as long as you're on your machine but try
lifting that same heavy load with free weights and you'll
find that you won't be able to move it.
This is why so many regular exercisers find that they get
stronger in the gym and yet still struggle to carry their
shopping home from the supermarket, they're simply not used
to stabilising the weight they lift and so they're not
trained for unstable lifting.
Though many exercise equipment manufacturers claim to
provide the ultimate in resistance machinery with their
space-age pulleys, cams and levers, one has to question the
benefits of any piece of equipment that may not produce
results in the 'real world'.
Many exercisers will find that their strength appears to
increase very quickly on the resistance machines but this
can cause problems outside of the gym setting when people
attempt to lift similar weights and end up injuring
themselves.
One possible answer to reducing the strength deficit
between machine training and real-life demands is to work
on developing your relative strength.
Simply put, this is how strong you are for your bodyweight
and it's a great measure of your functional potential.
In most sports for example, it is not your maximal strength
that determines how well you perform, rather it is your
ability to move your bodyweight faster, higher and longer
than your competitors.
Most gyms today spend an hour during an induction teaching
people how to push buttons and set up machines and yet pay
no attention to developing the fundamentals through
bodyweight exercises. This is a real shame as it is often
these very movements that the human body is crying out for
and responds best to.
Whenever an exercise program includes bodyweight exercises
you can always guarantee greater results in strength,
muscle tone and fat loss and with far less associated
injuries than we often see on machines.
This is not surprising when we consider that when we carry
out bodyweight exercises we mobilise some 600 muscles
concurrently creating a far greater sharing of load across
the joints and increasing the calorific demand of the
exercise by a huge amount.
Another benefit of this type of conditioning is that it is
very time efficient. A simple circuit of pushups, pull-ups
and lunges will quite literally work every muscle in your
body and burn more calories than any number of similar
exercises performed on a machine. And you don't even have
to belong to a gym to perform them!
The downside of this type of training (there's always a
downside isn't there?) is that it's hard to train this way,
at first anyway.
Many women won't attempt bodyweight training because they
get frustrated at not being able to do many pushups or
pull-ups. However, with just a little persistence,
appreciable increases in strength are possible in
relatively short time which can be very satisfying -
especially when you're able to do more pushups than the
muscle-bound guy's pressing the huge weights.
If you're serious about getting into great shape fast then
try the following circuit for a month to develop some real
relative strength. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the
results!
1. For each of the circuit exercises, perform a one minute
test and record the number of repetitions performed for
each.
2. Rest as long as you need between each exercise.
3. Now halve the number you achieved in each exercise. This
will determine your repetitions (If you got 10 pushups in
your test you'll do 5 in your circuit).
4.Perform a circuit of all four exercises without rest and
time how long it takes to complete. Record this too.
5.Your goal over the coming weeks is to cut this figure by
half. When you can, re-test and repeat.
Circuit exercises: Pushups, pull-ups (under a table if you
have no bar), lunges, sit-ups (or other abdominal
exercise), squats, dips.
----------------------------------------------------
Dax Moy is a performance enhancement specialist and master
personal trainer with studios in and around London. Voted
one of the UK's leading fitness experts, Dax is a regular
guest on TV, radio and print publications on the subject of
health, fitness and the performance mindset. To download a
free copy of Dax's Elimination Diet which has been
downloaded by over 24,000 people visit
http://www.daxmoy-pts.co.uk/elimination.asp
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