15 secrets to a better workout: try these insider tips to get results today
Muscle & Fitness/Hers
1) TRY THE ULTIMATE WALKING LUNGE--ON A TREADMILL.
Walking lunges are excellent for sculpting your glutes, hams, quads and adductor muscles, but finding an open path in the gym can be a problem. Instead, try this version with either light dumbbells or a weighted vest, setting the treadmill (incline and speed) at fairly low intensity till you get the hang of the movement. Take a 2-3-foot stride forward and bend your lead knee to about 90 degrees. Push off your front foot to rise back up, bringing your trailing leg forward so it becomes your lead leg. Safety is critical here, so make sure you're experienced with lunging movements and know how a treadmill operates. To boost endurance and increase fat-burning, go slower for a longer period; to build muscle, work up to doing these for 2-3 minutes and then resting a minute.
2) OPPOSITES ATTRACT.
Training opposing or antagonistic muscle groups back to back can actually trigger a neural response that increases the amount of force your muscles can produce. Bottom line: Performing opposing exercises with little or no rest in between (called supersetting) may allow you to lift slightly heavier weights than in straight-set workouts. Try alternating chest presses and back rows, for example, taking almost no time between the two movements but a 60-90-second break after you finish the combination. Do the row first in the next superset, and continue this pattern for an even number of sets to maintain muscle balance. Other great muscle pairs: biceps and triceps, quads and hamstrings, low back and abs.
3) CURLS ARE FOR GIRLS.
You probably already do biceps curl movements to improve the strength and shape of your arms, but adjusting your hand position can slightly alter the stimulus on your biceps. Taking a wider grip may put more emphasis on the short (inner) head, while using a narrower grip may shift more relative stress to the long (outer) head. Alternate your grip on successive sets to work your arms in different ways, and use incline and preacher benches to alter the range of motion and the biomechanics of the movement. Don't forget to keep your elbows back when performing standing curls, and switch to an EZ-bar if the barbell overly stresses your wrists.
4) HAVE A BALL.
Like using the exercise ball? This superset strengthens your stabilizer and core muscles while still giving the targeted muscle group a good workout. Using the dumbbell bench press as an example, do a heavy set (8-10 reps) on a flat bench. Then, without resting, immediately do a set of dumbbell bench presses on the ball, using a weight with which you can get 10-12 reps. The first half prefatigues your pecs, while the light weight used on the ball will be sufficient to work your chest and train your stabilizers. Be careful on subsequent heavy sets on the flat bench. After fatiguing your stabilizers, it may be tough to handle the weight you'd normally use for 8-10 reps. For safety, always work with a partner or get someone to act as a spotter.
5) BURN MORE FAT BY DOING CARDIO FIRST.
If you do both weight training and cardio in the same session, do the activity you want to maximize first because the second one is compromised to some degree by fatigue. So if your training goal is endurance performance--running a 10k or a half marathon--do your cardio first and then weights, but flip the order if you want to maintain a high level of intensity in your weight workouts. For optimal fat loss, warm up with light cardio for 10-15 minutes, followed by resistance training, then finish with cardio. This arrangement matches the training intensity level to the most potent fuel source available to your muscles, enabling the highest level of performance--and calorie burning--possible during each minute of your workout.
6) DOING THE SAME OLD INCLINE, DECLINE AND FLAT-BENCH PRESSES FOR CHEST?
Time to work some of those intermediate angles to mix things up. Start by finding an adjustable bench that has numerous stops, and use those different settings whether you're training with dumbbells, cables or the Smith machine. For this workout, position it under a Smith machine. After a couple of warm-ups, do consecutive sets (resting 60-90 seconds between each one) from a 40-degree incline, 20-degree incline, flat, 20-degree decline and 40-degree decline, choosing a rep range to focus on building strength (4-6), muscle (8-10) or endurance (more than 12). Add a couple of sets of dumbbell flyes--starting with the incline position and moving to the decline position over the course of several sets--for a complete chest routine that works all the angles. Don't forget: As the bench angle moves from incline to flat to decline, you can typically lift a little more weight.
7) TRY THIS TWIST ON THE LEG PRESS TO FINISH UP YOUR LOWER-BODY WORKOUT.
Using a very light weight on the leg press, train unilaterally--one leg at a time--and do 12 reps with each leg. (The 12th rep should be a challenge; your nonworking leg should rest under the sled.) Make sure you press through your entire foot to extend your leg. Once you finish both sides, position both feet on the sled and do up to 20 full-range reps with this same weight. Though the weight is relatively light when you use both legs, the lactic acid buildup will make this a real challenge.
8) MAKE ARM TRAINING ITS OWN WORKOUT.
If you follow a split schedule, you probably work your biceps and triceps after chest, back or shoulders. This is smart for giving the larger bodypart a full effort but probably results in a less-than-intense arm workout. Add in some variety by occasionally separating your arm workouts from other bodypart sessions; you'll see a noticeable increase in your strength and intensity, and your arms will make progress like never before.
9) YES, YOU CAN SQUAT.
Many women fear squatting movements will thicken their glutes and legs--exactly what most of us don't want--but this technique will actually help you define and sculpt your legs. At the end of any two workouts each week on nonconsecutive days, perform five sets of squats with either bodyweight or a very light weight for 25-50 reps. You'll push your metabolism into overdrive and really burn those calories. Rest for only 60 seconds between sets, then move on to your cardio workout.
10) SEE FASTER RESULTS BY CYCLING YOUR CARDIO.
Steady-state cardio in which you maintain the same pace for an extended period is fine, but you'll want to mix things up to turn up the fat loss. To cycle your cardio, go two days all-out for 30 minutes, followed by a day of easy pace activity for 30-60 minutes, followed by two days of interval training for 45 minutes. Take two consecutive days off before repeating. This routine will keep your metabolism in high gear while burning maximal calories and preventing plateaus in your fat-loss efforts.
11) ADJUST YOUR STANCE.
Most leg and glute exercises are best done by keeping your feet about hip-width apart, but you can modify the emphasis slightly by alternating between closer and wider stances on consecutive sets. A wider stance tends to work your adductor muscles (inner thighs) more strongly, and bringing your feet a little closer puts greater emphasis on the abductor muscles (outer thighs). Just make sure you always keep your knees in line with your feet and hips, and never allow your knees to travel beyond the front of your toes.
12) BE A DIPPER.
To make dip movements easier, let's focus on the negative--the portion of the exercise in which you lower your body. Using a dip station with a step, walk up to the top (arms fully extended) and count to five as you lower your body very slowly. "Walk" back up for the next rep. Don't count reps on this one, just time. Leaning forward and letting your elbows flare out works the chest more; moving straight up and down and keeping your elbows in focuses more work on your triceps.
13) ADD THIS TRICEPS TWIST TO YOUR CHEST WORKOUT.
After you complete a set of dumbbell presses or flyes, don't drop the weights just yet. With your hands facing either each other or forward at the top, dumbbells touching, lower the weights straight down to your chest with elbows tight to your body, and do as many reps of close-grip presses as you can. This not only works your inner chest, but you're performing one of the best compound exercises for triceps at the same time.
14) CYCLE YOUR SHOULDER WORKOUTS.
Delt routines typically start with a compound pressing move and then add isolation work for each of the three heads. Since you're typically stronger toward the beginning of your workout than at the end, you lose steam as you progress, and if you always do rear delts last, it'll eventually show. The solution is to rotate which of the three areas you train first after your presses: Do movements for the rear delts in workout one, exercises for the middle head in workout two, and movements that isolate the front head in workout three. This reduces the risk of injury and develops stronger, more shapely shoulders--besides adding a bit of variety to your training. Plus, if you learn how to train each delt head with a barbell, dumbbells, cables and machine, you'll be familiar with dozens of alternate routines that you can use whenever a line forms at a station in the gym.
15) USE MACHINES LAST IN YOUR ROUTINE.
Free weights most likely comprise the backbone of your workout, but machines are ideal to use at the end of your routine or a two-exercise superset. Because of the inherent stability and fixed range of motion that machines offer, you'll find it easier to push yourself to muscle failure without having to wrestle with the weights. This technique works with just about any muscle group, and you can even add high-intensity techniques like decreasing the weight after you hit muscle failure to continue your set (called drop sets) if you want to push yourself to the limit.
Source: www.trainwiser.com
Muscle & Fitness/Hers
1) TRY THE ULTIMATE WALKING LUNGE--ON A TREADMILL.
Walking lunges are excellent for sculpting your glutes, hams, quads and adductor muscles, but finding an open path in the gym can be a problem. Instead, try this version with either light dumbbells or a weighted vest, setting the treadmill (incline and speed) at fairly low intensity till you get the hang of the movement. Take a 2-3-foot stride forward and bend your lead knee to about 90 degrees. Push off your front foot to rise back up, bringing your trailing leg forward so it becomes your lead leg. Safety is critical here, so make sure you're experienced with lunging movements and know how a treadmill operates. To boost endurance and increase fat-burning, go slower for a longer period; to build muscle, work up to doing these for 2-3 minutes and then resting a minute.
2) OPPOSITES ATTRACT.
Training opposing or antagonistic muscle groups back to back can actually trigger a neural response that increases the amount of force your muscles can produce. Bottom line: Performing opposing exercises with little or no rest in between (called supersetting) may allow you to lift slightly heavier weights than in straight-set workouts. Try alternating chest presses and back rows, for example, taking almost no time between the two movements but a 60-90-second break after you finish the combination. Do the row first in the next superset, and continue this pattern for an even number of sets to maintain muscle balance. Other great muscle pairs: biceps and triceps, quads and hamstrings, low back and abs.
3) CURLS ARE FOR GIRLS.
You probably already do biceps curl movements to improve the strength and shape of your arms, but adjusting your hand position can slightly alter the stimulus on your biceps. Taking a wider grip may put more emphasis on the short (inner) head, while using a narrower grip may shift more relative stress to the long (outer) head. Alternate your grip on successive sets to work your arms in different ways, and use incline and preacher benches to alter the range of motion and the biomechanics of the movement. Don't forget to keep your elbows back when performing standing curls, and switch to an EZ-bar if the barbell overly stresses your wrists.
4) HAVE A BALL.
Like using the exercise ball? This superset strengthens your stabilizer and core muscles while still giving the targeted muscle group a good workout. Using the dumbbell bench press as an example, do a heavy set (8-10 reps) on a flat bench. Then, without resting, immediately do a set of dumbbell bench presses on the ball, using a weight with which you can get 10-12 reps. The first half prefatigues your pecs, while the light weight used on the ball will be sufficient to work your chest and train your stabilizers. Be careful on subsequent heavy sets on the flat bench. After fatiguing your stabilizers, it may be tough to handle the weight you'd normally use for 8-10 reps. For safety, always work with a partner or get someone to act as a spotter.
5) BURN MORE FAT BY DOING CARDIO FIRST.
If you do both weight training and cardio in the same session, do the activity you want to maximize first because the second one is compromised to some degree by fatigue. So if your training goal is endurance performance--running a 10k or a half marathon--do your cardio first and then weights, but flip the order if you want to maintain a high level of intensity in your weight workouts. For optimal fat loss, warm up with light cardio for 10-15 minutes, followed by resistance training, then finish with cardio. This arrangement matches the training intensity level to the most potent fuel source available to your muscles, enabling the highest level of performance--and calorie burning--possible during each minute of your workout.
6) DOING THE SAME OLD INCLINE, DECLINE AND FLAT-BENCH PRESSES FOR CHEST?
Time to work some of those intermediate angles to mix things up. Start by finding an adjustable bench that has numerous stops, and use those different settings whether you're training with dumbbells, cables or the Smith machine. For this workout, position it under a Smith machine. After a couple of warm-ups, do consecutive sets (resting 60-90 seconds between each one) from a 40-degree incline, 20-degree incline, flat, 20-degree decline and 40-degree decline, choosing a rep range to focus on building strength (4-6), muscle (8-10) or endurance (more than 12). Add a couple of sets of dumbbell flyes--starting with the incline position and moving to the decline position over the course of several sets--for a complete chest routine that works all the angles. Don't forget: As the bench angle moves from incline to flat to decline, you can typically lift a little more weight.
7) TRY THIS TWIST ON THE LEG PRESS TO FINISH UP YOUR LOWER-BODY WORKOUT.
Using a very light weight on the leg press, train unilaterally--one leg at a time--and do 12 reps with each leg. (The 12th rep should be a challenge; your nonworking leg should rest under the sled.) Make sure you press through your entire foot to extend your leg. Once you finish both sides, position both feet on the sled and do up to 20 full-range reps with this same weight. Though the weight is relatively light when you use both legs, the lactic acid buildup will make this a real challenge.
8) MAKE ARM TRAINING ITS OWN WORKOUT.
If you follow a split schedule, you probably work your biceps and triceps after chest, back or shoulders. This is smart for giving the larger bodypart a full effort but probably results in a less-than-intense arm workout. Add in some variety by occasionally separating your arm workouts from other bodypart sessions; you'll see a noticeable increase in your strength and intensity, and your arms will make progress like never before.
9) YES, YOU CAN SQUAT.
Many women fear squatting movements will thicken their glutes and legs--exactly what most of us don't want--but this technique will actually help you define and sculpt your legs. At the end of any two workouts each week on nonconsecutive days, perform five sets of squats with either bodyweight or a very light weight for 25-50 reps. You'll push your metabolism into overdrive and really burn those calories. Rest for only 60 seconds between sets, then move on to your cardio workout.
10) SEE FASTER RESULTS BY CYCLING YOUR CARDIO.
Steady-state cardio in which you maintain the same pace for an extended period is fine, but you'll want to mix things up to turn up the fat loss. To cycle your cardio, go two days all-out for 30 minutes, followed by a day of easy pace activity for 30-60 minutes, followed by two days of interval training for 45 minutes. Take two consecutive days off before repeating. This routine will keep your metabolism in high gear while burning maximal calories and preventing plateaus in your fat-loss efforts.
11) ADJUST YOUR STANCE.
Most leg and glute exercises are best done by keeping your feet about hip-width apart, but you can modify the emphasis slightly by alternating between closer and wider stances on consecutive sets. A wider stance tends to work your adductor muscles (inner thighs) more strongly, and bringing your feet a little closer puts greater emphasis on the abductor muscles (outer thighs). Just make sure you always keep your knees in line with your feet and hips, and never allow your knees to travel beyond the front of your toes.
12) BE A DIPPER.
To make dip movements easier, let's focus on the negative--the portion of the exercise in which you lower your body. Using a dip station with a step, walk up to the top (arms fully extended) and count to five as you lower your body very slowly. "Walk" back up for the next rep. Don't count reps on this one, just time. Leaning forward and letting your elbows flare out works the chest more; moving straight up and down and keeping your elbows in focuses more work on your triceps.
13) ADD THIS TRICEPS TWIST TO YOUR CHEST WORKOUT.
After you complete a set of dumbbell presses or flyes, don't drop the weights just yet. With your hands facing either each other or forward at the top, dumbbells touching, lower the weights straight down to your chest with elbows tight to your body, and do as many reps of close-grip presses as you can. This not only works your inner chest, but you're performing one of the best compound exercises for triceps at the same time.
14) CYCLE YOUR SHOULDER WORKOUTS.
Delt routines typically start with a compound pressing move and then add isolation work for each of the three heads. Since you're typically stronger toward the beginning of your workout than at the end, you lose steam as you progress, and if you always do rear delts last, it'll eventually show. The solution is to rotate which of the three areas you train first after your presses: Do movements for the rear delts in workout one, exercises for the middle head in workout two, and movements that isolate the front head in workout three. This reduces the risk of injury and develops stronger, more shapely shoulders--besides adding a bit of variety to your training. Plus, if you learn how to train each delt head with a barbell, dumbbells, cables and machine, you'll be familiar with dozens of alternate routines that you can use whenever a line forms at a station in the gym.
15) USE MACHINES LAST IN YOUR ROUTINE.
Free weights most likely comprise the backbone of your workout, but machines are ideal to use at the end of your routine or a two-exercise superset. Because of the inherent stability and fixed range of motion that machines offer, you'll find it easier to push yourself to muscle failure without having to wrestle with the weights. This technique works with just about any muscle group, and you can even add high-intensity techniques like decreasing the weight after you hit muscle failure to continue your set (called drop sets) if you want to push yourself to the limit.
Source: www.trainwiser.com
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