Tools
Search this website!
Feedback
Search the Internet:
Google
Yahoo
Find a phone number:
YellowPages or WhitePages
Web based email:
YahooMail
Hotmail
Look up
Stock Quotes
Maps and directions:
Mapquest
Useful links for
Travel, shopping & dining
and Movies
Job
resources
Website
design resources
Fitness:
Fitness and exercise information
Humor!
EHSO:
Environment, health
and safety Information
Chastain
Park:
Looking for
Chastain Park Concert tickets or directions? Click here
| |
General Tips
| 1
|
Warm
up before you lift
Take
|
| 2
|
Breathing
and movements
When you weight train, breathe deeply and rhythmically,
and lift slowly both during the upward and downward motions. According to
ACSM, participants should avoid using short, jerky movements and try to lift
smoothly through a full range of motion. Don't hold your breath. Holding your breath during the exertion movement is bad for your blood
pressure. Holding your breath makes your blood pressure rise high.
|
| 3
|
Do
a warm-up set for each exercise
Your first set of each exercise should be a lighter weight - enough so you
can do NO MORE than 12 reps. Subsequent sets can and should increase the weight and
reduce the reps.
|
| 4
|
Lift
the weight slowly
Don't go too fast when you lift the weight. You could throw yourself
off-balance and drop it on yourself. The slower the better! You've
heard of "superslows"? A good rule of thumb is to take 2 seconds
to lift the weight and 2 seconds to lower it.
|
| 5
|
Work
larger muscles first
Chest, gluts (butt) and quads (thighs) before arms, shoulders, calves
|
| 6
|
How
many workouts per week and per muscle
Work out each muscle 3 times per week - those "chest on Mondays"
legs on Wednesdays, back on Fridays" workouts are nonsense.
|
| 7
|
Use
proper form
Be careful when performing exercises. Don't swing the weight around. Use
slow, controlled movements.
|
| 8
|
Cool
down
After working out take 5 to 10 minutes to cool down with some light aerobic exercise
or simply walk around. This gives your body a change to come back down to
normal. Your blood pressure comes back down, and your breathing slows down
|
| 9
|
Stretching afterwards
After weight training, be sure to thoroughly stretch the areas you've just
worked. This increases blood flow to the area and decreases muscular
tension, which helps prevent muscle soreness and joint discomfort.
|
| 10
|
Give
yourself time to rest between workouts
After working out a muscle group, take 36 to 48 hours to recuperate. Working
out more than this, will cause overtraining so that you won't change. This
means work each muscle group 3 times per week with a day in between each
workout.
|
Back to the main Fitness page |
