In the last blog I wrote, we talked about how to warm up appropriately and the 5 phases of the warm up:
1. General Warm Up
2. Soft Tissue Release
3. Taking care of your joints
4. Workout Specific Warm
5. Central Nervous System (“CNS”)
So once you are warmed up – what do you do now? For women its important they remember that no matter how heavy they lift they will not look like Arnold or a female bodybuilder – you are not going to eat enough or use the right “supplements” to grow like that. People talk all the time about “shaping the muscle”, which doesn’t exist – the muscle already exists, it’s a question of whether you have muscle or not and whether you are lean or not.
There are essentially 3 different rep ranges:
- Strength Building – 1-6 reps
- Muscle Hypertrophy (i.e. building muscle) – 8-12 reps
- Muscle Endurance – greater than 12 reps
It is important that well rounded routine involves all 3 different rep ranges. It is important that all your sets are done with “1-2 in the tank”, you never want to go to failure because it takes much longer for the CNS than your muscles.
Ok, so now since you know the basic principles, what exercises should you be doing? Well, its easier to tell you what exercises you should be doing (unless you have an injury or other medical issue, then consult with your doctor) – stay away from machines and focus on free weights (for the most part).
Machines have a set motor pattern and you will perform your rep in that range even though it may not be ideal for your body type (long/short legs, long/short arms or long/short body). I would focus on free weights (I know it can be intimidating in the free weight section with all the grunting and screaming – but it is usually guys trying remember how to spell their names – so don’t be intimidated).
The great part of free weights – it forces you to stabilize the weights (using muscles you don’t normally use) and that includes your core. Some great exercises are:
Lower Body
- Squats, deadlifts, single leg squats, step ups, weight glute/ham bridge, hyperextensions, lunges ,etc.
Upper Body
- Anything with a bar or free weights or bodyweight (pushups, dips, inverted rows, even the assisted pull up machine).
The most important thing, if you have not used free weights before, is to find a trainer (who is competent – which is hard) and work with them. Some hints on finding a good trainer is finding one who focuses on building your work capacity (GPP or your body’s ability to perform) and form.
1. General Warm Up
2. Soft Tissue Release
3. Taking care of your joints
4. Workout Specific Warm
5. Central Nervous System (“CNS”)
So once you are warmed up – what do you do now? For women its important they remember that no matter how heavy they lift they will not look like Arnold or a female bodybuilder – you are not going to eat enough or use the right “supplements” to grow like that. People talk all the time about “shaping the muscle”, which doesn’t exist – the muscle already exists, it’s a question of whether you have muscle or not and whether you are lean or not.
There are essentially 3 different rep ranges:
- Strength Building – 1-6 reps
- Muscle Hypertrophy (i.e. building muscle) – 8-12 reps
- Muscle Endurance – greater than 12 reps
It is important that well rounded routine involves all 3 different rep ranges. It is important that all your sets are done with “1-2 in the tank”, you never want to go to failure because it takes much longer for the CNS than your muscles.
Ok, so now since you know the basic principles, what exercises should you be doing? Well, its easier to tell you what exercises you should be doing (unless you have an injury or other medical issue, then consult with your doctor) – stay away from machines and focus on free weights (for the most part).
Machines have a set motor pattern and you will perform your rep in that range even though it may not be ideal for your body type (long/short legs, long/short arms or long/short body). I would focus on free weights (I know it can be intimidating in the free weight section with all the grunting and screaming – but it is usually guys trying remember how to spell their names – so don’t be intimidated).
The great part of free weights – it forces you to stabilize the weights (using muscles you don’t normally use) and that includes your core. Some great exercises are:
Lower Body
- Squats, deadlifts, single leg squats, step ups, weight glute/ham bridge, hyperextensions, lunges ,etc.
Upper Body
- Anything with a bar or free weights or bodyweight (pushups, dips, inverted rows, even the assisted pull up machine).
The most important thing, if you have not used free weights before, is to find a trainer (who is competent – which is hard) and work with them. Some hints on finding a good trainer is finding one who focuses on building your work capacity (GPP or your body’s ability to perform) and form.