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Skip It: Triceps Kickback

FitSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:30:00 -0700

Sometimes referred to as "bingo arms," the back of the upper arm can be toned and tightened by working the triceps. Unfortunately, most of us chose to do kickbacks to work the muscle group, and this might not be the most effective way to work your triceps. The body position required for the exercise - leaned over with elbow pinned to your side - not only makes it hard to overload the muscle to really work it, but you are only really working the muscle for the last quarter of the motion. Plus, you're just working one muscle when you could be saving time by challenging multiple muscles at once while working the triceps more effectively. See some alternative exercises, when you read more.

Triceps dips: This move is simple and as a full body exercise you will be working more than just one muscle. If you do this exercise on the floor, try alternating it with crab walks, by staying in table top position and walking 10 steps forward and then ten backward.
Push-ups: When you place your hands directly under your shoulders and keep your elbows in, you will effectively work your tris.
Triceps Presses: This exercise is not a full body exercise, but because of the arm position you work your triceps as you press the weights up, as well as when you lower them back to starting position due to your relationship to gravity. To make this exercise a full body move, make a tabletop position with your head and upper back on a physio ball.

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Fit Tip: Add Accelerated Reps

FitSugar — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:00:00 -0800

New evidence is out that suggests explosive - or faster - muscle contractions use more energy than slow contractions, even when the amount of weight lifted is the same.

What does this mean? Well, more energy used equals more calories burned, so you can increase weight loss from exercise by adding accelerated reps into your existing routine. For example, when doing squats, lower yourself down to the squat position slowly and then quickly raise yourself back up. Even better? Try jump squats.

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Fit Tip: Don't Lock Your Knees

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 12:30:00 -0800

It is the beginning of the year and a good time to review some fitness basics on how to treat your body when working out, specifically your knees. I am here to remind you to avoid locking your knees. When you are lifting weights, either with a machine or free weights, do not jam your knees to a fully straight position, forcing the joint to lock at its end range of movement. The sensation of a locked knee is the energy of the joint going back instead of up.

Locking your knee in this manner puts a lot of unnecessary stress on the joint, which in turn increases your risk for injury. When you lock the knee, the joint, not the muscle, is doing all the work, and the muscles were designed to do the work. The soft tissues of the joint are vulnerable and cannot regenerate, leaving your knees ripe for overuse injury if you tax them by locking the joint. When using the leg extension machine to work your quads, make sure you are just straightening the knee and not jamming the joint into a locked position. Control that last bit of straightening the knee with your muscles. Don't let momentum force you past a safe position.

Try to avoid the locked knee position when you’re lifting weights, cycling (for instance, if your seat is too high), or doing yoga or any other activity that puts extra weight on your knees. When working out at the gym or in an exercise class, ask a trainer or yoga teacher to evaluate your technique.

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Words That Move You...

FitSugar — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:45:00 -0700

Sometimes all it takes are a few good words to get you moving...

"Don't be afraid of weights. They're the quickest way to change your body."

– Valerie Waters, celebrity fitness trainer

Weight Training: Change It Up

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 10:15:00 -0700

The human body is fairly adaptable, but it also has a natural desire to maintain the status quo. Meaning that, when it comes to exercise, your work is never really done because you need to keep challenging and surprising your body. As this is true in cardio, it is true in strength training too.

You should aim to change your weight training program every four to six weeks to prevent the plateau period that comes when your body adapts to stress. You can either increase the weight or the number of reps, but you have got to change it up.

Fit's Tip: To keep your routine interesting during that 6 week period, up the weight on dumbbell and medicine ball exercises and do half as many reps. Try that every 4 to 6 workouts.

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Lifting Tips

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:30:00 -0700

Since strength training has been added to the new exercise guidelines you might be looking for a little guidance. Here are a few tips to help.

The new guidelines recommend strength training 2 days a week. The days should be non-consecutive since you need to give your muscles time to recover.
Warm up with some cardio before lifting by spending 10 to 20 minutes on the treadmill, elliptical or your favorite piece of cardio equipment.
The new guidelines also recommend that you do 8 -10 lifting moves each strengthening session. You should work all your major muscle groups: legs, arms, chest, back, abs, and glutes.
Start with the larger muscles and progress to smaller muscles. So start with your legs - with hamstring curls and leg press (to get your quads) or hold free weights in your hands for some squats and lunges. Then move to your arms.
Work your chest and back before working your biceps and triceps. Every time you exhale, pull your deep abs to your spine so you are multi-tasking and supporting your spine too!
Save the abs for last. Since you do the majority of ab exercises on your back it is a nice way to end a session. And honestly, are you really going to stand back up after being on the ground.
Don't forget to stretch to cool down. You want the new muscles you are building to be flexible!

KettleBells: New Weight Training

FitSugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:00:00 -0700

Have you noticed a new funny/medieval looking dumbbell type of thing at the gym that looks like fun. Sounds like it could be Kettlebells...

What is a Kettlebell? Basically a Kettlebell is a rather old fashioned looking training tool that looks like a cannonball with a handle attached to it. They are designed to be swung (with a controlled motion of course), rather than lifted giving a more dynamic workout that is great for building functional strength. Kettlebelling (as some like to call it) is a great supplement to your current dumbbell/barbell lifting routine. You'll instantly feel like smashing something with it, but I recommend against it, those babies are meant for training only - It's fun and definitely adds variety to your workout.

I would recommend getting a book, dvd or finding an instructor rather than going at it alone. Especially since the multi planar movement, while great for muscle development, can lead to injuries if not done properly. A fun new group class (Kettlebells swung to music) led by fitness pro Keli Roberts, Total Body KB Blast, will be launched soon as well, so look for that as well as other Kettlebell classes at your local gym now. Really interested? You can always buy your own Kettlebell from Amazon.com

Fountain of Youth, Right There in Your Gym

FitSugar — Wed, 09 May 2007 13:30:00 -0700

I don't know about you, but I am dying for them to find a fountain of youth. Turns out that there is something you can do in the gym to help ward off aging: Weight lifting.

Weight lifting is not only great for keeping you looking good, but it is also great for keeping you youthful too! A new study on Prevention.com has found that women who strength-train 3 times a week have more of a type of growth hormone that counteracts age-related muscle loss and protects bone density. Producing growth hormone gets harder with age, and pumping iron is the best way to slow the decline.

So get to it and pump some iron -- You can thank me down the road. Here's a great starter arms workout video so you can begin today!!!

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When Should I do Cardio?

FitSugar — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 08:40:00 -0800

The question has been posed: When is it best to do cardio, before or after weight training?

Really there is no sure fit answer to the question. It really depends on your body, the results you are looking to get and how long (and hard) you're doing the cardio.

Before: It is best to do your cardio workout before weight training if you're training for something endurance related (such as a 5k). Putting cardio first allows your body to give the most energy and effort into the session so that it can produce the best results. However, if you're going to do a low intensity cardio workout then it can serve to warm up the muscles. Then you can move right into high-intensity weight lifting without having to do as many warm-up sets.

After: It is probably best to do your cardio after weight training if you're looking to shape your body (for bikini season, perhaps). The reason is that a high intensity cardio workout could actually take away from an effective weight-training workout. You need carbs for effective weight training and cardio burns both fat and carbs. So if you do cardio first, you may not have the carbs you need to have a beneficial weight training session. Furthermore, increasing your lean mass will help burn fat because lean mass is what will help use up calories all day long. So if you are looking to build a little muscle, and get killer arms like Cameron Diaz, then weight training should take priority in your workout.

5 Things: That Affect Your Bone Density

FitSugar — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:30:00 -0800

Taking calcium supplements might not help maintain bone density in the areas where frequent fractures occur (the head of the thigh bone or the vertebrae). Bummer. I just found this out and wanted to share with you 5 things that do affect your bone density.

Drinking more than three colas per week can decrease bone density.
Drinking more than one alcoholic drink a day also affects bone density negatively.
Gender - women are 4 times as likely as men to lose bone density and develop osteoporosis. Can't change that one, but good to be informed about your bones.
Age - around the mid 30s we begin to lose bone strength. You build bones until about 20 years of age and generally maintain that density for 15 years or so.
Weight training!!! Lifting weights helps to strengthen bones as well as muscles. Another reason to add strength training into your routine.