one thing that I'm asked on a regular basis is "what is the best exercise for..."
There is no one "best exercise;" it all depends on what outcome you'd like to achieve. Muscles do one of two things: shorten or lengthen. when a muscle shortens it generates a force to overcome whatever resistance is placed against--most often the mass of the body segment against gravity. when a muscle lengthens it is yielding to an opposing force but works to provide negative acceleration or deceleration of that opposing force.
if you're looking to develop a lean, defined look then the idea is to train all of the muscles in an integrated manner in order to develop intermuscular coordination which leads to more efficient and effective movement patterns. This means doing away with machines that isolate a specific body part such as the pec deck (for chest) or leg curl (for hamstrings) and instead use exercises like squats, lunges, wood-chops, or anything that is ground-based (requiring to stand upright on the ground). the simple fact is that the more muscles involved with anyone particular exercise, the more energy is expended (more calories burned) so it becomes an extremely effective way to exercise and maximize the energy output per training session.
more to follow....
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Hello, Pete! I came over from the link at Americablog. "Lean, defined" is exactly what I want to do. I have a gym membership with Gold's, but I've moved within the same city and Gold's won't let me transfer my membership to a closer location (one I can ride my bike to instead of having to drive 20 minutes). Anyway, I don't have access to cables or free weights very easily.
ReplyDeleteOf course, starting from the ground floor once again, the movements themselves would probably do me a lot of good, but I think I do need resistance to optimize the workouts. Well, lower body is using the body weight and gravity, but the upper body needs more, right?
Yup. But a simple way to start is with push-ups and pull-ups. If you can't do a full pull-up, no worries--find a bar or railing (like a stair rail in a park) and do a modified pull-up. keep the legs out straight with the heels on the ground, hold on the rail in an underhand grip and pull yourself right up to the bar.
ReplyDeleteOr check out the TRX suspension trainer--a great piece of home equip for less than $200 www.fitnessanywhere.com developed by a navy seal, it's a great company with some great fitness programming that anyone can do