Workout Tidbits

Proper Warm Up  If you do stretching, even brief stretching, before high-intensity workouts it may actually inhibit the ability to achieve full intensity during your workout.  This is attributed to the fact that stretching improves muscle elasticity (decreasing tissue viscosity), which lowers the force-generating capacity of the contractile proteins of the muscle.  Moreover, the practice of stretching before performing any warm-up is not justified either and may potentially be harmful.  The warm up may be subdivided into a more general cardiovascular warm-up followed by a more exercise or event specific dynamic warm-up based on unique muscular elements that are to be performed during the workout session.  For these reasons is why you want to do Spiderman Crawls or Squats or Lunges or Jumping Jacks or a handful of exercise specific dynamic moves before workouts as opposed to static stretches…..Save the Static stretches for your cool downs and in between workout days.
 

Proper Cool Down  The cool down post workout should be of approximately the same duration and intensity as the warm-up (i.e., five to 10 minutes of low to moderate intensity activity).  As opposed to the warm up, the cool down is an excellent time for stretching of your worked muscles.  The cool down is directed primarily toward preventing the tendency for blood to pool in the extremities, which may occur when exercise ends.  An active cool down also helps remove metabolic waste from the muscles so that it can be metabolized by other tissues as well as reduce the potential for muscle soreness and stiffness. (American Council On Exercise 2010)

  

Count Your Tempo  Your muscle gain is in the eccentric movement and not as much in the concentric movement.  The concentric movement is away from the pull of gravity and moving the joints closer together (e.g., in a bicep curl the concentric movement is when the wrist moves towards the shoulder joint).  The eccentric movement is toward the pull of gravity and moving the joints further apart (e.g., in a bicep curl the eccentric movement is when the wrist moves from the shoulder joint back towards the floor).  Note, that delayed onset muscle soreness (the soreness you feel a day or two following exercise) is mostly associated with eccentric actions, especially during higher-intensity exercises (e.g., deadlifts).  You should never just let your eccentric movements fall, meaning you should never let gravity do the pulling without you controlling the movement.  Rather, eccentric contractions should control the rate of motion, slowing the downward movement against the pull of gravity.  There are numerous reasons for this, not the least of which is prevention of joint and muscular injury.  During your next workout, see if you can focus on your control of both the concentric and eccentric contractions by counting your tempo.  The commonly recommended movement speed of six seconds per repetition is broken out as 2-3 seconds for the concentric muscle action and 3-5 seconds for the eccentric muscle action.  How on track have you been between contractions?  What have you noticed in focusing on this? 

  

Rest Intervals  You should have very little to no rest between repetitions within a set.  However, rest between sets allows your anaerobic energy stores to replenish, but you need to be careful with how much of a rest between sets as this affects both the workout itself as well as the outcome of the workout.  For the types of workouts we do, the ideal length of rest between sets is 30-90 seconds and no more.  With 30 seconds being an ideal target.  Shorter rest intervals increase cardiovascular and metabolic responses both during and after the exercise session.  

  

Law of Facilitation  The body subscribes to the law of facilitation, meaning that the body will achieve the desired movement following the path of least resistance.  If your body has any mobility-stability compromises, you will end up with dysfunctional movement causing inevitable breakdowns at your weakest link.  This is corrected by focusing on moving correctly as opposed to just moving.  A great example is the squat and the push up.  If you just move through either of these movements regardless of incorrect movement just to say you got the move done, you are actually causing layers of damage to muscular and joint function which will impede your progress to moving correctly in those and other movements.  An excellent way to get in touch, stay in touch, as well as improve your mobility-stability issues is to STRETCH.  Yoga is an excellent way to accomplish this.  When you are stretching, regardless of what modality you use, pay attention to what is tight and what is overcompensating for your “weak links” and communicate those findings to me during our sessions.  We can work together to improve your movements so your body doesn’t have to “compromise” to move.

Post Links on Proper Form and Technique:
Training Guidelines
Best Time Of Day
Take A Deep Breath --- Diaphragmatic Breathing
Practice Makes???
Importance of a Proper Squat
For the Love of Push Ups!
Sore Wrists During Push Ups Lets Fix That
Core Sense
Go INTERVALS Go
How Effective Is HIIT?
Low Intensity Fact Or Fiction
Active Rest
Rest Reminder
Principle Of Specificity
Cycle Check
Just Tongue It
Ab Facts

Post Links on Muscles/Energy Sources & How it all Works:

{Just by training to increase muscle mass, you increase your RMR (resting metabolic rate). 75-80% of your RMR is determined by your muscle mass. Only 15-30% of your total daily calorie burn is based on your activity level}.

Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism
Muscle Fiber Types
Metabolic Conditioning
Energy Systems
ATP
Consistent Rest
Stress Hormone Response
Yet Another Article On Metabolic Truth

Post Links on Injuries/Issues:
Ligaments & Tendons
Is Tendinitis Your 'Achilles'?
Knowing Achilles Tendinitis From Plantar Fasciitis
Tennis or Golfers Elbow?
Runner's v Jumper's Knee
Knee Pain
Joints a Poppin'
Muscle Cramps

Trigger Point Series:
Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Hip & Knee Trigger Points
Final Word On Trigger Points

Other Workout Tidbits Post Links: 
How Long Should You Wait To Exercise after Eating?
Good Reason Not To Quit
Heart Size  
Decreased Insulin Resistance  
Interval Ideas
Proper Footwear  
Running Shoe Lacing Techniques
Tight & Don't Know Why? 
Are You Neat?  
If Nothing Else Be NEAT
Just Sitting Around?
Move n Move n Move
Take A Stand
Couch to Half Marathon Plan  
Can't Do Yoga?   
Free Streaming Yoga Videos
Yoga Styles
Your Brain on Yoga
How To Use Cardio Machines
Discerning Good From Bad Fad


~You should see your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program.  You should have a complete physical examination if you are sedentary, if you have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, if you are overweight, or if you are over 35 years old.  Please discuss all nutritional changes with your physician or a registered dietician.~