Taking in the correct amount of protein varies on what stage of your diet you are at and gender plays a role as well. Men and women have the ability to metabolize different amounts. Men can metabolize more protein then women per hour. Men should take in around 40 grams per every three hours. To where women can only metabolize around 20 grams per hour. Now this is a good generalization and a pretty easy rule of thumb to follow. Now to be more exact for men you are going to want to consume around 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and for women is around 0.5 of a gram. This all depends on your activity level as well. I am speaking from a point of view of someone who is envovled in a weight training program. If you are not lifting weights then your body need significantly less protein. The reason is fairly simple. When lifting weight you are putting microscopic tears in the muscle. Once this is done the muscle will rebuild bigger and stronger then it was before in order to compensate for the stress you have put it through. In order for this to happen your body needs amnion acids. Amnion acids are the building blocks of protein. Now the key is to take in the correct protein such as fish, chicken, eggs and red meat. The difference between meat and plant protein is the amnion acids they contain. Plants protein is not comprised of the amnion acids needed to rebuild muscle tissue after weight training. You should still count the grams of protein from other source in the you grams of from meat to give you the proper total grams of protein. There are three specific ones that play the biggest role in building and the recovering of muscle tissue. These amnion acids are found in meat which is why I suggest consuming some form of meat. I hope this help aid you in planing a proper diet.
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Hey everyone I know its been a little while since you have heard from me. I had to take a little break from writing. This post is going to be a little different from my normal stuff. There has been so many changes in my life that I just have not had the time to write. I have recently moved into a new place and have finally gotten everything in order. There has been a few other changes in the personal life as well hopefully they are for the better. The biggest changes is that by moving to a new area has allowed me start working with another gym. I am still currently able to work at the Snap Fitness in Woodstock that I have been at but now I’m joining forces with Endless Fitness in Town Lake. We are working together to bring a friendly and fun fitness center to the area. We will have more services then any other small gym in the area. I’m looking forward to the future and everything that it holds in both the personal life and in the business world. I will be back to writing from here on out. If you guys have any topics that you would like for me to write about please feel free to leave them in the comments section and I will do my best to get to them.
MRT, a.k.a. “metabolic resistance training,” might as well be called “madman training.” It’s no-holds-barred, haul-ass, maximum-effort, build-muscle, heave-weight, torch-fat, absolutely insane huff-n-puff training. It’ll spike your metabolism, crush calories like beer cans, lift your lactate threshold, boost your ability to make muscle, and maximize your body’s capacity for change.
Whew! I’m winded just rattling off MRT’s many benefits.
No magic here – MRT is just a term covering various combinations of intense, efficient cardiovascular and muscular training. MRT can involve supersets, circuits, speed, low rest and compound movements; it almost always packs a double-punch of aerobic and anaerobic work, breaking down barriers between traditional weight training and cardio. If you’re sick of long rest periods and the sleepy treadmill slump, MRT might be for you.
MRT, WTF?
MRT works by heightening the metabolic “cost” of exercise. This might sound geeky… until you try it. Whereas traditional resistance training might tap 25 or 30% of the body’s “change capacity,” MRT can maximize your potential for change and unleash metabolic forces that work all day and night.
By maximizing your body’s change capacity, you can improve 50% – not 25 or 30% – in only 6 weeks. Even better, MRT spreads improvement across multiple desired targets. Basically, when properly integrated into a periodized-training scheme, MRT can help you build muscle, burn fat and gain strength at the same time.
MR-Tea Time
Energy expenditure over the course of an MRT workout can easily approach or exceed 600 calories, depending on the routine. Better yet, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) increases dramatically. EPOC, often referred to as afterburn, measures the energy expended to return your body to its normal, resting state after a workout. Post-workout, your body uses an immense amount of energy to go from Mr. Huff-and-Puff back to Mr. Breathe-Normal. Considering that intense training can elevate EPOC for 38 hours or more9, the total number of calories burned quickly stacks.
In addition to stoking your body’s fat-burning fire, MRT can also enhance muscle growth. It does so by increasing your lactate threshold, the point at which lactic acid rapidly begins to accumulate in your muscles. Lactic acid build-up can interfere with muscle contraction, reducing your reps.
MRT counteracts lactic acid’s negative effects by improving your ability to buffer lactic acid and shuttle it out of muscle tissue. The upshot: a greater tolerance for high volumes of work, an important component for maximizing muscle growth. What does all this crazy crap mean? If you want to build muscle, consider using MRT for a brief mesocycle (2-6 weeks) before embarking on a longer, more traditional muscle-building routine.
Ready to give MRT a try? Good! Let’s nail the basics of how it’s done:
First, the essence of MRT is to pack more exercise into less time. This is best achieved by employing high repetitions (15-20 reps per set, equating to about 60-65% 1RM) with minimal rest between sets. The key to optimizing results is to train at maximal or near-maximal levels of effort. So take most sets to muscular failure or close to it (equating to a Rated Perceived Exertion [RPE] of 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10). If you aren’t sufficiently pushing yourself to complete each set, the metabolic effect and your results will suffer.
MRT should be a total-body routine that works all the major muscles each session. Since the metabolic cost of an exercise relates directly to the amount of muscle worked3, incorporate multi-joint exercises whenever possible. Involve more muscle, and you expend more energy. Opt for compound movements: squats, rows and presses will work the muscles of the torso and thighs. Reserve single-joint movements for the arms and calves. Train three, non-consecutive days per week (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday) to allow for adequate recuperation.
Repetitions should be performed at a moderately fast tempo, particularly on the concentric portion (the “positive” half) of the movement. Despite the hype that “super-slow” training optimizes metabolic effects, studies suggest otherwise5. Aim to perform concentric lifts as explosively as possible without sacrificing clean technique.
Eccentric reps – the negative motion, when you lower the weight – should be performed somewhat slower. You want your working muscles to resist gravitational pull on the negative phase of each rep. Understand that eccentric exercise has been shown to have a significant effect on MRT-induced energy expenditure2. Not lowering weights under control diminishes results. An eccentric cadence of approximately 2-3 seconds is recommended.
MRT Routines
Okay, you’ve suffered through the particulars and are sufficiently MRT-educated. Let’s get to the good stuff: three tried-and-true MRT strategies guaranteed to help strip away stubborn fat and heighten acid-buffering ability. You can stick with one strategy for a given timeframe or periodize strategies from one week to the next. Regardless of what you decide to do, it’s best to insert an “unloading microcycle” (one week of light weight) every fourth week or so to avoid the potential for overtraining. During the unloading cycle, reduce the effort expended so you’re not substantially challenging your muscles on the last few reps of each set (aim for about a 7 on an RPE scale of 1-10). As a general rule, limit metabolic training cycles to a maximum of about 8 weeks. Any longer and you risk compromising muscular gains.
Circuit Training:
Circuit training is probably the most popular MRT technique, and for good reason: it works! The energy cost of a circuit session has been estimated to be 7 kcal/kg/hr10. That equates to around 600 calories per hour for a typical 180-pound male. Not bad, huh?
Better yet, circuit training has been shown to have greater effects on the magnitude and duration of EPOC than traditional forms of strength training8. All told, you can burn hundreds and hundreds of calories in a properly-executed circuit training workout.
Set up a series of exercise stations that work muscles in a push/pull fashion, starting with the upper body and proceeding to the lower body (i.e. chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, calves and abdominals). Move from one exercise to the next with minimal rest (ideally less than 15 seconds). Perform three circuits in total. Don’t pass out. Reap the rewards.
Paired Set Training:
A superset is two exercises performed in succession without rest. One of the best metabolic supersets involves training agonist/antagonist muscle groups (i.e. back/chest, biceps/triceps, quads/hamstrings, etc). This technique, commonly known as paired-set training, has been shown to increase EPOC and result in greater total energy expenditure when compared to traditional strength training protocols7.
Better yet, paired sets can actually increase muscle force output (strength) via a phenomenon called “reciprocal inhibition,” and/or an increase in stored elastic energy in the muscle-tendon complex1,6. Bottom line: You’re better able to maintain strength capacity on subsequent sets, allowing you to train at higher levels of intensity.
Set up agonist/antagonist stations so you are able to move quickly between exercises. Perform a set of the first exercise and then go directly to the second movement. Rest for approximately 30 seconds, and then perform two additional supersets. Once you finish, quickly proceed to the next agonist/antagonist pairing (and so on) until all muscle groups have been worked.
Combo Training:
As the name implies, combo training is a combination of resistance training and aerobic exercise. This is probably the most demanding of all the MRT techniques; it’s sure to leave you physically drained by the end of your session. That said: the results are worth it. I’ve used this extensively with private clients over the years and can attest that it skyrockets fat burning.
Perform a set of an exercise, follow it immediately with a short bout of moderate-intensity aerobics, and then repeat for another couple sets. For example, you may perform a set of leg presses, go straight to a 30-second set of jumping jacks, go back to a set of leg presses, then to jumping jacks, etc. Once you perform three sets of an exercise, move to the next exercise as quickly as possible. On the downside, this form of MRT has the greatest potential to lead to overtraining, so use it judiciously!
Well guys we made it through the holidays and now its time to full fill those new years resolutions. Being in the fitness industry I know that there will be a rush of people heading to the gym come January 1. By February 1 ninety percent of them will be gone. I am also betting that most of you have already done this in years past. Now the reason for this is the fact that most individuals lose their motivation. They have very little or no results. The consequence of this is that many people will then allow other things to come before making it to the gym. I am here to tell you that you don’t have to be one of these people. It takes about six week to form a habit. This is why most people fall short in achieving their new years goal. Getting in-shape is not something that 
comes over night (I PROMISE). As a personal trainer the one thing I have noticed is that most people need to be held accountable. So I encourage you to find a way to be held accountable for making it to the gym. Second is you need to have a planed out training program. You don’t want to walk into the gym and not have a plan on what you are doing. Not having a training program will cause you to not get a great workout. The key is to burn calories during your workout. When your wondering around trying to figure out what to do next your heart rate drops and this stops the the process of burning calories. You also want to build muscle which will burn more calories then fat. A proper training program will go a long ways in helping you stay focused on your goal. Last but most certainly not least is your diet. Most people go hard at the diet completely revamping their nutrition. Which is not a bad idea but you need to have cheat meals because it gets to hard eating six clean meals a day seven days a week. One cheat meal a week will help satisfy your cravings so you can stay on track. A nutrition plan will be the biggest factor in losing weight. The simplest way to explain it is calories in vs calories out. You need to burn more calories then you consume to lose weight. I hope this helps give you some ideas of how to see your New Years resolution become a reality. As always I am able to help even if you are not in the area. All my info is on my about page. Happy New Year to all!!!
It happens at the worst possible moment – everything is just hunky-dory when out of the blue, something tragic happens. Maybe you pull/tear a muscle, sprain an ankle or break a bone. You may be on the squat rack, out on the trail or just walking down the street. There is a wide range of injuries you could suffer and each takes different amounts of rest to heal. The common thread: injuries frustrate athletes. An injury can make you feel like all your progress just crumpled in the trash and your whole motivation crushed to bits.
But when you get bucked off the horse, you get back in the saddle right? Yes, yes you do!
An injury doesn’t mean quittin’ time. It means it’s time to get tough and smart, so you can heal the injury fast and keep your progress perpetual. But what’s a bombproof plan of action that will keep your results coming without risking a re-injury?
When the tough get injured, the injured get smart.
Learn From Your Mistake
If your injury was one of those freak accidents (you tear your hamstring running from a bear), that’s one thing, but if the injury occurred from your training method, exercise technique or lifestyle choices, then you need to get to the source of the issue. There’s no sense applying a solution if you don’t know the problem; that might make things worse or allow the problem to resurface.
Don’t be proud or too stingy. If you need to see a doctor or physical therapy specialist, do it. If you catch the cause early, you’ll save yourself more money and time in the long run.
Adjust The Diet Dial
Your physical ability is limited with an injury, so what does this mean for nutrition? It is not an excuse for packing on the fatty pounds. Do not wallow in couch-cushion self-pity and succumb to an alcohol binge. You can still maintain a great physique by eating a proper diet.
It’s all about adjustments. If your injury doesn’t prevent you from doing most of your training, you should be able to maintain your current intake of macronutrients. But if you’re likely to miss most of your workouts, let’s pull back a little on the food intake. As long as your diet matches your activity level, you’ll be fine!
Your body also enjoys a change of pace diet-wise every once in awhile, so don’t sweat it. Remember not to cut back too much, because your body needs macronutrients to repair your injury.
Food is fuel. The right nutrients are crucial for repair!
Tune Up Your Training
An injury means your body isn’t running at 100%, so you shouldn’t expect it to. After an injury, it’s incredibly important to make sure your training stays at the highest level possible without causing a re-injury. You must know what area you need to protect and not overstress it.
This is also the perfect time to get started on a specialized workout program to target any weaker and non-injured areas of your body that you want to bring up.
Allow your injured area to recover, but don’t allow the rest of your body to slack off!
Rehab Sucks, But…
The worst thing you can do after an injury is to seek rehabilitative advice from a specialist, and not heed that advice. Many of us cherish an excuse to throw a pity party, but you absolutely, positively must rehabilitate your injury. Yes, it can hurt, but you’ll return to your previous fitness levels much faster if you push through the painful exercises and strict recommendations.
Just like normal training, injury recovery is a no-pain-no-gain scenario. People often do nothing after an injury and when they feel better, they just suffer another injury because their muscles were left unattended for weeks on end. Don’t let your recovery become stagnant!
No pity party! Just patient rehab and recovery.
Slow It Up, Cowboy
Yes, you need to train and do rehabilitative exercise, but don’t make the mistake of doing as much as you can in attempt to recover as fast as possible and progress at lightning speed. You are human, not lightning. Your body naturally works hard to recover, and if you ask too much of it, it will crash on you. You might risk re-injuring yourself or inhibiting your body’s ability to recover.
It’s also not smart to immediately submit your recently-recovered injured area to the intense training grinder. Work it back up to speed slowly – this prevents repeated injury and will allow for increased strength in your target area. If your body tells you that your training is too much, too fast, then listen to it.
Help your body along the whole way, and you’ll be back to normal (or even stronger) in no time!
Stretching is something that I completely believe in for overall health and betterment of your quality of life. I have a stretch routine that I do with all my clients after their workout. I thought this article might shed some light on stretching for those of you that don’t train with me. Enjoy!
Does Pre-exercise Stretching Really Prevent Injuries?
Growing up, my coaches always made me stretch before every basketball practice and game. We would try and stay interested, but it was really just a time killer until practice started. It became such a habit that before any pick-up game I would be on the side stretching a little to get ready. (I only hope that I didn’t look like Woody Harrelson in White Men Can’t Jump. At least I wasn’t wearing the knee high socks).
In the military every morning for PT (Physical Training) we would assemble, do a slow 15-20 second jog to warm up, and then start our stretching routine from head to toe. Granted, it did help me wake up because I was not, and am still not, a morning person. Why I joined a profession whose motto is “we do more before 9 a.m. than most people do all day” is beyond me.
But why did we really have to stretch? Presumably to get ready for exercise and to decrease the chance of injury, but is there any scientific evidence to support this? Does pre-exercise stretching alone actually decrease the risk of injury? A study published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine says it doesn’t.
Note: In the evidence that did show a benefit to the pre-exercise stretching routine it was almost always found to be accompanied with a warm-up before the stretching. (There was one study that found that stretching alone was associated with less groin/buttock problems in cyclists, but only in women).
Doesn’t Decrease The Risk Of Injury.
- Immobilization, or “heating-induced increases in muscle compliance”, caused tissues to rupture more easily.
- Stretching before exercise would have no effect for activities in which excessive muscle length is not an issue (e.g., jogging).
- Stretching won’t affect muscle compliance during eccentric activity (where the muscle is contracting, and an external force is trying to lengthen the muscle: negative reps), when most strains are believed to occur.
- Stretching can produce damage at the cytoskeleton level. The cytoskeleton is a dynamic structure which maintains cell shape, often protects cells, enables cellular motion, and plays important roles in both intracellular transport and cellular division.
- Stretching appears to mask muscle pain in humans.
There is limited information about when to stretch during an exercise session at this time. There was a study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine. Thirty (30) college age men and women participated (nine were highly trained, thirteen moderately trained and eight were sedentary) to see if the placement of static stretching, either before or after the workout, would effect flexibility in the hip, knee and ankle.
There were no significant differences in any of the flexibility measurements except for hip flexibility which favored stretching after the workout. Now we cannot extrapolate from this information that it is the exact same for the flexibility of every joint within the human body but research of this type has not been conducted on every joint, so we have to presume some things when looking at the data.
To Stretch During An Exercise Session.
- Passive warm-up: increase in temperature by external means. This can be done with gels, packs, heating pads, saunas, etc.
- General warm-up: increase in temperature by nonspecific body movements. Swinging of your arms, bringing knees to your chest, jumping jacks, etc.
- Specific warm-up: increase in temperature using similar body parts that will be used in the subsequent, more strenuous movements.
Out of these three, the best appears to be the specific warm-up because this method provides a rehearsal for the activity or event. This is why a few light sets of the exercise should be performed prior to each activity. Weight lifters have been utilizing this method for years. Throw in a few warm up sets of the lift you are doing prior to the exercise. One problem that leads to injuries with this is when lifters believe that doing a few warm ups of a specific body part will be all they need for the entire routine.
I suggest doing two warm up lifts at each of the stations at the start of the body part you are working. If you are doing three chest exercises (Decline, Flat and Incline) you would only need two or three warm up lifts at the decline and one on the incline. Yes you are still utilizing the Pectoralis muscle, but the light set you do in that instance is not to warm up the muscle but to get the feeling of the lift to utilize the correct biomechanics for that lift.
You Really Only Need One Warm Up Set Per Body
Part Unless The Lifting Biomechanics Change Drastically.
Stretching Activities
There are three basic categories of stretching activities: Ballistic, Static and PNF.
- Ballistic: makes use of repetitive bouncing movements. I would advise to stay away from this type of stretching because it may tighten up repeatedly and could overload the muscle.
- Static: stretches the muscle to the point of slight discomfort and is held for an extended period of time.
- Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PFN): uses alternating contractions and stretching of the muscles.
Conclusion
So what is the conclusion and what should you do?
The basic scientific literature suggests that stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury and doesn’t help with flexibility. When stretching did offer some benefit of risk prevention it was accompanied with a warm-up routine.
In my opinion, the pre-exercise warm-up is far more important than the stretching routine, and it doesn’t really matter where you place your stretching if your goal is to increase flexibility (except for the hip which favors post-exercise).
Now, get up and go workout!
I saw this article this morning and I just had to share with you. This article gives some of the best reasons a trainer can help you if are new to training or have been training for a while needing some extra help. I hope this helps you see what a trainer can do for you.
If you are new to exercising and need motivation or instruction, hiring a trainer may put you on the proper path to fitness.
1. You Are Totally Confused
The landslide of fitness routines and diet plans on the market can flood your sensory receptors. It is tough to narrow down a program and commit to it, especially when you really don’t fully understand how to do it.
If you are having a hard time choosing or figuring out how to perform your routine, then it is time to call a trainer. A good trainer will put you on the right path to success.
2. You Have Stopped Making Gains
If you have been training for a while and you are not satisfied with the results you have achieved, then you need a trainer. A trainer can dissect your training routine like an investigator at a crime scene and make the appropriate changes to put you back on track to faster results.
3. You’re Unsure About Your Form
One of the easiest ways to stifle results is to use poor exercise form. You can work out day-in and day-out, but unless you perform your exercises correctly, you won’t see the results you long after.
Bad form can cause a serious injury. A trainer can teach you good form and exercise habits that will last you a lifetime. Many beginners should hire a trainer for the first week, so they are taught proper exercise form from the start.
When you can’t adjust the seat … you may need a personal trainer.
4. You Need To Be Challenged
Exercise plateaus are often difficult to overcome by yourself. Many people just can’t find a way to surmount a plateau without the help of a professional trainer. You can save a lot of time and wasted energy if you hire a trainer when you hit a fitness plateau.
A trainer can put together a personal workout plan that will take you over the hump and onto new results – Fast!
5. Injuries And Special Needs
If you are injured and/or have a specific illness, then your doctor and trainer can work together to make sure that your training routine is effective, but safe at the same time. Working out is supposed to create better health, not impair you further.
It is an absolute must that your doctor and trainer work together if you are injured or have a specific illness that requires medical attention.
Zen and the art of muscle maintenance, courtesy of a helping hand.
Hiring a Trainer?
Make sure you ask him/her about the following:
- References: Check with the gym he/she works out at and any past clients. You don’t want to wind up working out with Charles Manson.
- Certification: What organization did he/she get his/her certificate from? Make sure it is a reputable organization and not a $1.99 Internet certificate.
- Payment: How does he/she take payment? You might be able to get a discount on a package of 10 or 20 sessions. Just be careful; thoroughly check references before spending any money.
- Training Philosophy: Ask your trainer what he/she thinks is the best way to get you in shape. If you are not on board with their training methods, you will not be happy training with them. You also might be stuck flipping tractor tires at 6 a.m. or running up hills with a weighted vest.
- Appearance: If your trainer is out of shape, then ask them why they are not in shape. They don’t have to be cover models, but they should practice what they preach. If they are overweight or out of shape, then how are they supposed to motivate you?
Personal Training Certification Programs
Are you an aspiring personal trainer? Here are 5 organizations (in no particular order) that offer personal training certification programs and more. For more info, visit their respective websites.
- ISSA -International Sports Society Association: www.issaonline.com
- ACE – American Council on Exercise: www.acefitness.org
- NASM – National Academy of Sports Medicine: www.nasm.org
- IDEA Health & Fitness Association: www.ideafit.com
- AFAA – Aerobics and Fitness Association of America: www.afaa.com
Pain Has a Purpose
Although almost every one views pain as something negative, it’s important to recognize that pain serves a constructive purpose. Pain is a warning signal that you may be in danger or at risk of injury. The sensation of pain tells us that we are doing something that may cause the body damage, and in this way pain is our innate method of self-protection. Just imagine the problems that would arise if you were unable to feel pain!
There are two main types of pain: chronic and acute. Acute pain is generally short-lived and gradually disappears through the course of normal healing. Acute pain typically has an identifiable cause. Chronic pain lasts for more than six months and some chronic pain sufferers may have symptoms for months or even years. This could be the result of a specific injury or repetitive strain, or in some cases it may have no identifiable cause. This article will focus on acute pain (related to exercise) and some suggestions on how to manage it, although some of the methods I discuss may help those who suffer from chronic pain.
Good Pain vs Bad Pain
Not all pain is necessarily a bad thing. Quite often high levels of human performance are achieved by reaching outside of one’s comfort zone and testing the limits of the body’s pain tolerance. One must learn to distinguish between pain that is good or which will lead to positive physical adaptation, and pain which is bad or indicates injury.
More often than not the difference is quite obvious. Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) experienced a couple of days after a great workout could be viewed as good pain. The burning pain you might feel performing a weighted sled drag, or during the last few repetitions of a squat could be described as good pain. Good pain is often experienced as a satisfying muscle “tightness” or achy feeling. It’s that sensation of heaviness in the belly of the muscle that lets you know they’ve been working hard.
Bad pain is usually easy to recognize. It often has a sudden onset, and usually leaves you feeling weak or unstable. Even if it has a more subtle onset, it would be described as more of a sharp joint pain rather than a dull muscle ache. It might be experienced as a “pinching”, restrictive feeling that leads to a reduced range of motion and can last for several days or even weeks. This type of pain can be quite intense and could indicate an injury that requires a break from training and medical attention. We all hate this type of pain.
Learn to Deal With it
If you are training hard and heavy to get more jacked or improve athletic performance, you are likely flirting with pain a lot of the time. For most lifters, you can expect “good pain” to be a consistent part of your life. Get used to it. However, there are a few methods you can use to minimize or manage it.
Contrary to what many believe, traditional static “passive” stretching does not relieve DOMS or necessarily aid in recovery. The most effective methods for reducing DOMS are the performance of light exercise for affected areas (active recovery), or taking NSAIDS (such as ibuprofen). I’m not a big fan of taking any sort of drug for pain relief, so I usually focus on low intensity exercise for active recovery and other natural methods of reducing inflammation.
Active Recovery
The key here is to use low intensity (sub-maximal), low impact exercise to promote recovery, not to try to get a training effect. The goal is to increase blood flow in order to get more oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, as well as to flush out any lactic acid.
Oil Up
Another natural method of reducing inflammation and aiding in pain relief is to consume an adequate amount of essential fatty acids (E.F.A’s). Omega 3 fats in particular have anti-inflammatory properties as well as a slew of other health benefits.
So it just makes sense to include plenty of these Omega 3 oils in your diet. Good sources of EFA’s include fish (particularly oily fish such as salmon), nuts, seeds, avocado, flax seed oil, and other natural sources.
Cold Therapy
If you have experienced an acute injury which is causing inflammation, pain and swelling at joints in your body, apply ice rather than heat, especially for the first few days. Ice can reduce inflammation and swelling, numb the pain receptors, and speed the healing process. Heat could increase inflammation and increase blood pooling in the area, thus creating painful pressure on the nerve endings.
Although real ice will be colder, the simplest option is to put a flexible gel ice pack over the affected area for 15 to 20 minutes, a couple of times a day (especially after exercise). In the later stages of recovery vascular flushing may help to restore healthy blood flow and flush out the chemical mediators of inflammation. Vascular flushing involves alternating shorter periods of ice and heat application.
Contrast showers are a form of vascular flushing that I enjoy regularly. This involves showering with hot water then rinsing with cold or very cool water before getting out. Some claim that this aids in recovery by flushing out the lactic acid. It also improves blood flow to your central organs and you feel great after!
Prevention
If you experiencing pain that won’t resolve, don’t ignore it… see a professional. I just think it’s a good idea to set high standards for the therapist you choose.
It is obviously preferable to prevent these injuries before they even occur. Warming up properly, such as performing a dynamic warm up before training, is one simple action you can take which will help prevent injury. Using proper lifting technique is another. Using intelligent training principles such as micro-progression (increasing resistance with small increments over time) also helps. You should also take necessary safety precautions, such as getting a spotter when needed.
Finally, incorporate “prehab” exercises for your weak areas, which could include external rotator cuff, rear delts, mid back, core, etc. It’s better to spend a little extra time now correcting your muscle imbalances, rather than missing training altogether because of an injury.
Conclusion
This article introduced methods of handling “good pain”, managing “bad pain”, improving recovery, and injury prevention. If you become familiar with the different types of pain and how to properly manage them, you will be able to continue to train, compete, and achieve your fitness and performance goals.
How many times have you heard this question: “How much can you bench?” For most women, the answer is probably never. Considering that we were only given the right to vote 91 years ago, change comes slowly for the majority of women–especially changing minds about fitness, lifting weights, and the right and wrong things women do at the gym.
So chest training–various forms of bench press and chest flyes–usually falls to the bottom of the list for women. Or it falls off entirely. Who wants to look manly with a big chest anyway? That’s the prevailing myth about women and weight training.
But–and now I’m talking directly to the women out there–to completely avoid chest training is simply a bad idea. And this article will tell you why.
Honestly, does that look like a
manly chest to you?
On top of that, I’m going to help you out and try to ease your fears of chest training. I’ll give you a basic chest workout that will get your heart rate up, help you build overall upper-body strength, and flesh out your training program so that you can achieve the bombshell bod of your dreams.
Avoid Injury and Balance Out Upper-Body Strength
Let’s say you decide to forgo chest training entirely, but you still train your back, arms, core, and legs. Such an off-balance training routine could end up developing muscular imbalances in your body. This could lead to bad posture, a stringy or bony looking chest, and inability to perform other exercises correctly. You might even seriously injure yourself one day trying to do an exercise that involves some chest muscles that can’t pull–or in this case, push–their own weight.
I’m not arguing for benching near your max every time you hit the gym. In fact, I prefer a chest workout that is tailored for females–basically it’s going to be closer to full-body training or using compound movements that hit the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Whether you want to be strong enough to move into your new apartment on your own, develop athletic skills for a specific sport, or sculpt a cover-model physique–your chest muscles will play a part in your training schedule.
Don’t be a dip. Bench pressing can help you
build up those triceps too.
In fact, if you’ve ever coveted beautiful, round shoulders on other women or kick-butt triceps, you might be surprised to find out that chest workouts really help develop those body parts! Often you can lift a lot more weight when doing chest exercises than when doing triceps or shoulder isolation moves alone.
Plus, there’s a bonus calorie burn! Since the chest is such a large muscle area, training it will burn more calories than training smaller muscle groups. Chest exercises lead to a better rate ofburning fat! Now, how is that not convincing?
The 3 Classic Chest Exercises
The exercises that every women should incorporate for chest training are:
Only three exercises? I wrote this whole plan and mention only 3 exercises?! Yeah, yeah–I admit it; chest training can be basic and highly effective. But isn’t that the beauty of it? You probably don’t have to change your routine very much to add in these exercises, and your body will reap the benefits.
If basic push-ups are too easy, there are many ways to increase the intensity. You can do decline push-ups, one-handed push-ups, or push-ups on an exercise ball-for just a few ideas.
Note on rep range: For bench press on flat, incline, or decline, challenge yourself with a rep range of 6 to 8. Always start with a warm-up set of 15 reps before hitting a heavier set. For chest flyes and close-grip bench press, do 10 to 12 reps. Do push-ups failure, meaning going until you can’t complete one more push-up.
You can train chest once or twice a week. You don’t need to train chest more than twice in one week, unless you’re doing a full-body workout three times a week. And if you’re doing full-body workouts, no need to do all three chest exercises. Pick one or two to round out your workout. From bodybuilding.com
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