Even with everything we think we know about fitness it never hurts to seek out other opinions. At then end of the day different things do work for different people. Although, I do firmly believe that diet is universal. I wanted to share some fitness tips I came across on
http://www.livestrong.com. Some of these things I already do but there were a few of them I do not and am willing to start trying. Who knows? Maybe even today!
1.
Trade slow cardio for interval training
The road to a leaner body isn't a long, slow march. It's bursts of
high-intensity effort paired with slower, recovery efforts. 15 to
20 minutes of interval training performed can burn as many
calories as an hour of traditional, steady-state cardio. And unlike the
slow stuff, intervals can keep your body burning long after the workout
ends.
2.
Brace your core before every exercise
Your core's much more than a six-pack of muscles hiding beneath your gut
-- it's a system of muscles that wraps around your entire torso,
stabilizing your body, protecting your spine from injury and keeping you
upright. Fire these muscles before every exercise to keep your back
healthy, steady your balance and maintain a rigid body position. You'll
get the added bonus of isometric exercise for your middle, which could
reveal the muscles in your core you'd like everyone to see.
3. Trade machine exercises for free weights
Machines are built with a specific path the weight has to travel -- one
that wasn't designed for you. If you're too tall, too short, or your
arms or legs aren't the same length, that fixed path won't match your
physiology and you'll increase the likelihood of injury and develop
weaknesses. Trade your machine exercises for dumbbells, barbells and
medicine balls to build strength in ways more specific to your body,
while also working all the smaller stabilizing muscles that machines
miss.
4. Tuck your shoulder blades down and back
This tip is great for chinups, but it's more than that. By sliding your
shoulder blades down and back before an exercise -- like you're tucking
them into your back pockets -- can improve your results and protect from
injury. It helps activate your lats for pulling exercises, work your
pecs more completely in pushing exercises, keeps your chest up during a
squat, and can reduce painful impingement on your rotator cuff during
biceps curls.
5. Increase your range of motion
Add more work to each rep and increase the efficiency of your workout by
increasing the range of motion -- the distance the main motion of the
exercise travels to complete the rep. Squat deeper. Drop the weight
until it's an inch or two above your chest. Raise the step for stepups.
Elevate your front or back foot on lunges. Get more from each move and
your body will thank you.
6. Explode through every rep
The "slow lifting" trend should be confined to the eccentric, or
"lowering" portion of any exercise. During the concentric portion, where
you push, pull, press or jump, move the weight (or your body) as
quickly as possible. Even if the weight doesn't move that fast, the
intention of moving the weight quickly will turn on your fast-twitch
muscle fibers, which will make your body more athletic and train it to
use more fat as fuel.
7.
Use multiple joints with every move
Single-joint exercises like biceps curls and triceps push-downs will
build your muscles, but slowly. Unless you're a bodybuilder with hours
to spend in the gym, get more done in less time: Trade these inefficient
moves for exercises that work multiple muscles and joints -- squats
will build your legs and back, a bent-over row will build your biceps
and your back, and a narrow-grip bench press will train your triceps
while it sculpts your chest
8. Mix your grip to do more reps
If your hands and forearms give out before your back or legs when doing dead lifts, chin ups, inverted rows or bent-over barbell rows, mix your
grip: With one palm facing towards you and one facing away, grab the bar
and do the exercise. For the next set, switch both hands. Keep
alternating and you can rest your grip while working with the hand the
opposite way, meaning your back and legs will determine when you're done
with the set.
9. Load one side to work your core
Since your core stabilizes your body, creating instability means it has
to work that much harder. That means you can work your abs without ever
doing a crunch. Here's how: Load one side of your body. Hold a weight on
one shoulder during a lunge, press just one dumbbell overhead during a
shoulder press, or perform a standing, single-arm cable chest press.
10. Do push-ups
The pushup is one of the world's greatest exercises, and doing it with
proper form is as simple as this cue: Maintain a rigid body line from
the top of your head to your heels throughout the push. With this in
mind, you won't sag your hips, hump your back, or bubble up your butt.
Keep your elbows tucked in towards your sides as you lower your body,
and push back up, strong as steel from head to heels.
11. Lift heavier weights
Packing more weight on the bar won't make you "bulky." It will make you
stronger and protect you from osteoporosis by increasing bone density.
To get the greatest benefits, lift at least 60 to 70 percent of your
one-rep maximum for each exercise. Instead of going for complicated
calculations, choose a weight with which you can perform 8 to 12 reps,
with the last rep being a struggle but no impossible.
12. Master the hip hinge
When lowering your body into a squat or
dead lift variation, exercise instructions often say to "push your hips
back" to lower your body. To do this right, imagine that you need to
open a door with your butt. This helps you activate the muscles in your
lower body without rounding your back.
13. Drink chocolate milk after you work out
A post-workout mix of carbs, fat, and protein will help your body build
muscle, reduce soreness, and recover faster so you can work out again
sooner. If your rushed for time or normally skip eating after your
workout, a tall glass of chocolate milk has the ideal mix of nutrients
you're looking for.
14. Lift then run
If you perform your strength training before your cardio work, you'll
burn more fat while you pound the pavement. In a Japanese study, men who
did the workout in this order burned twice as much fat as those who
didn't lift at all.
15. Run to hills burn fat faster and reduce injury
More muscle means more results, and uphill running activates 9 percent
more muscle per stride than trotting at the same pace on level ground.
It can also save your knees: increasing the grade to just 3 percent can
reduce the shock on your legs by up to 24 percent.
16. Don't stretch, warm up
Static stretching done just before activity can reduce your power output
and increase your risk of certain injuries. Instead, perform an active
warmup that gets your body ready for exercise with exercise, increasing
your heart rate, firing up your nervous system, and getting your muscles
used to moving. For an easy routine, perform a 5-minute warmup of
basic, body weight moves -- lateral slides, pushups, squats and lunges.
17. Get explosive to add more strength
Explosive exercises involve flight -- your body leaving the ground (as
in a jump) or the weight flying out of your hands, as in a bench press
throw. These moves also increase strength significantly. In a study, men
who included explosive chest exercises benched 5 percent more than
those who performed a similar routine without the ballistic moves.
18. Write it down
When it comes to increasing strength, you might hear the phrase
"progressive resistance." This means "do more work as time goes on" --
lift heavier weights or do more reps of the same exercise to see
results. Keep yourself on the path to success with a workout journal.
Research shows that those who record their progress are more compliant
and see better results than those who wing it.
19. Reduce soreness with active recovery
Bed rest is not the best prescription for sore muscles -- you'll
actually reduce pain with a little activity. Metabolites in your sore
areas that cause pain are dispersed and diffused by activity, and blood
flow is increased to the muscle tissue, speeding recovery by up to 40
percent. Play a light game of basketball, perform some foam rolling, or
do a few simple rounds of calisthenics at home the day after a workout.
20. Take a week off
You can actually gain more strength and muscle by periodically and
strategically dialing down your strength training routine. In a study,
men who cut their training volume the last week of each month increased
strength by 29 percent.
Over the next few days I will go over each step in more detail to encourage you to incorporate these techniques into your work out regime.
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