Winston Salem Fitness

Copyright (c) 2008 Derek Dreger
Mixed Martial Arts is a sport that requires an athlete to be in great physical strenght. Throwing powerful strikes, and being able to manipulate your opponent’s position requires tremendous physical strength and endurance. Strength training for MMA not only involves training the muscles to produce greater effort, but also to produce that effort longer under extreme physiological conditions.
Even if you are not a mixed martial arts compettitor, training like one will have drastic beneficial effects on your body and health. We all know great cardio reduces the stresses on our heart, and having power allows us to complete physical tasks easier… But the one benefit that will be most rewarding, is looking great naked.
This workout will push you beyond your limits, and make you pray to God that it will end soon. Many athletes complete something similar to this, but as their caliber of physical conditioning increases, so does the workload they undertake with each workout.
This workout will hit all major muscle groups and should be completed about two or three times a week allowing two full days of recovery in between each session. Not only will you be getting a strength workout, but you will also be training your muscles to produce effort longer, and to push through with high levels of lactic acid present.
We will be doing 3 circuits total with 3 minutes rest after each circuit. Each exercise in the circuit is timed and your goal is to complete as many reps as possible in the alotted time. There is no rest between exercises, after one station you must move immediately to the next.
Find a weight that you can move with moderate ease, this is after all a strength training exercise and pushing a light weight will have little effect on strength gains.
Keep a log book of how many reps you completed for each exercise in the time limit, then on your next workout, try to smash that record. Always look to achieve a new personal best every time you’re in the gym.
Alright without further delay, here it is:
1 Front Squats – 1 Minute 30 Seconds
2 Military Press – 1 Minute 30 Seconds
3 Bench Press – 1 Minute 30 Seconds 4 Seated Rows – 1 Minute 30 Seconds
5 Clean and Jerk – 1 Minute 30 Seconds
After your first circuit rest three minutes, then repeat.
Like I said, this workout is hell, but the feeling of accomplishing this will give you an awesome high, you will see major improvements in strength and muscular endurance doing workouts similar to this.

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Winston Salem Fitness -Now that strength training has been validated by The American College of Sportsmedicine, US News & World Report, ABC’s “20/20,” as well as dozens of internet websites, you’re ready to pump iron, right?

If so, that’s great. But before you get started, there’s a very important concept that you need to understand.

In fact, if you understand nothing else about strength training, then this is the guideline to master and apply in all your exercise sessions—for the rest of your life.

That concept deals with the form that you use to lift and lower a weight.

In my 40 years of being associated with strength training, I’ve visited thousands of gyms and fitness centers throughout the world. With maybe two exceptions, 99% of the members of those training facilities were exhibiting poor form.

The easily observed form violation across the board was movement that was too fast. If these trainees did only one thing, their strength-training results would significantly improve. That one thing is to slow down their lifting and lowering speed. Whatever the speed of movement is, make it twice as long.

Simple, yes. But very effective.

What’s a more specific guideline to follow concerning speed of movement?

Especially for beginners, as well as for trainees whose form need attention, I recommend a 10-second lifting (positive) speed and a 5-second lowering (negative) speed.

Yes, you heard me right—that’s 15 seconds per repetition—and it doesn’t matter if you’re doing a bench press with a barbell, a curl with dumbbells, or a leg extension on a machine. Try the 10-up and 5-down style, and you’ll suddenly feel muscle fibers working that you didn’t know you had.

Such a style is similar to Ken Hutchin’s SuperSlow protocol. Ken and I are long-time friends and I appreciate the work he has done on repetition performance.

Why should you spend a longer time on the positive phase (10 seconds) than the negative phase (5 seconds) of each repetition?

Research shows that most of the cheating actions—such as twists, back arches, and slight knee bends that lead to excessive momentum‐originate during the positive stroke. Drastically slowing the lifting reduces these cheating actions. Or if they do occur, they are self-evident and instantly correctable.

The concept behind moving slowly is to remove as much of the momentum as you can from the exercise. Naturally, you have to accelerate to start the movement and decelerate to stop. Doing so requires a change in velocity and thus involves momentum. The idea is to keep the movements and the turnarounds at both ends smooth and not jerky. This keeps the momentum at a bare minimum.

What’s the problem behind having excessive momentum in a strength-training exercise?

Momentum usually takes some of the resistance off the working muscles and transfers it elsewhere: like to your joints, bones, and other muscles. It actually makes an exercise easier, which is what you’re trying to do in a weightlifting contest. But in a weightlifting contest, you’re demonstrating strength. In a strength-training workout, you’re building strength. Building strength efficiently requires stricter, harder exercise —not looser, easier exercise.

Excessive momentum also precipitates injuries. Instead of having only the weight of the implement, say 50 pounds on the barbell, the momentum involved in fast lifting and lowering can increase the weight of the barbell by three, four, or more times. Instead of having 50 pounds, you temporarily may have 150 to 200 pounds, or more at some phases of the range of movement. Force causes injury, and it’s to your advantage to keep the force low—and most importantly—under control.

Furthermore, excessive momentum contributes to mid-range strength development. Only the middle part of the exercise gets close to the appropriate resistance. The ends of the exercise, the bottom and the top positions, receive either too little or too much resistance. Reducing the momentum by slowing down the movement applies more full-range resistance to the involved muscles and thus elicits more thorough fiber stimulation.

At 15 seconds per repetition, your ideal repetition range is now from
4 to 6. Four to 6 repetitions require from 60 to 90 seconds, which appears to be a most appropriate guideline for maximum muscular stimulation.

Furthermore, if you are already involved in a strength-training program, then you’ll have to reduce the weight on your exercises by approximately 30% to master the 15-second protocol.

Give the 10-5 slow repetition guideline a fair trial, and you’ll reap the reward of fast results.

Winston Salem Fitness Information Source: Sally Smith and Spine Universe

Winston Salem Fitness -The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 15% of 6-19 year-old kids in the United States are overweight, often due to inactivity. On the other end of the spectrum, we see young athletes searching for ways to gain a competitive edge, often falling prey to the empty promises of steroids. Enter Strength Training for Kids. Could this be the answer for getting the couch potatoes up and moving as well as offering a healthy alternative to young athletes? Many fitness experts, physicians, and parents say “yes”.

What is Strength Training for Kids?
Strength training for kids is different than strength training for adults. This type of exercise program focuses on controlled movements and proper techniques using more repetitions and lighter weights. It can be done using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or even a child’s own body weight.

For children, the goal of strength training is not to bulk up and shouldn’t be confused with weightlifting, powerlifting, or bodybuilding, which experts agree are not healthy or safe for children. Instead the goals are to build strength, improve muscle coordination, and enhance long-term health, and can be used to rehabilitate injuries and prevent future injuries. An added benefit is that strength training may help some young athletes improve sports performance by increasing endurance.

Strength Training Guidelines
The key to safe and successful strength training for children is to find a program that is designed specifically for kids, is well supervised by a fitness professional with experience working with kids, and is fun.

There is no minimum age for strength training, however children should be able to understand and follow directions. Also, never start a child on a new fitness program without a complete check-up by his or her doctor.

Here are some guidelines on what a strength training program for children should include:

• Sessions should begin with 5-10 minutes of warm-up exercises such as stretching and low-impact aerobics. Likewise, each session should end with cool-down of stretching and relaxation of muscles.

• Children should not immediately begin using weights until proper form and techniques are mastered. They can start with their own body weight, elastics, or just a bar with no added weights.

• Start with 8-15 repetitions using 6-8 different exercises addressing all muscle groups. Each exercise should be performed through the full range of motion. If 10 repetitions are too much with a given weight, lower the weight.

• The number of repetitions and the number of sets should gradually increase over time to maintain training intensity. Only add more weight when your child masters proper form and can easily perform at least 10 repetitions.

• For maximum benefit, workouts should be at least 20 to 30 minutes long, 2 to 3 times per week. There is no additional benefit to strength training more than that. Make sure there is a day of rest between each workout day.

Winston Salem Fitness Information Source: Sally Smith and Spine Universe