Choosing Your Weapon

Seeing into the heart of the matter

Workouts that get your heart pumping are known as cardio (short for cardiovascular) exercises, and these improve the health of your heart and blood vessels. Cardio workouts also burn calories, which helps you lose weight. The simplest — and, perhaps, the cheapest — cardio exercise is walking. Other popular cardio exercises include running, cycling, in-line skating, swimming, rowing, and (if you live in a snowy winter climate) snowshoeing and crosscountry skiing.  You don’t have to brave the outdoors to get a cardio workout, however.

Getting buff with weights

Many men focus heavily on weight training, while some women shy away from it. The truth is that both men and women need to do some strength training (along with some cardio workouts, discussed in the preceding section, to get the heart and blood vessels into tip-top shape) for one important reason: to help burn more calories. Strange as it seems, weightlifting improves your resting metabolism, which means you turn into a fat- and calorie-burning machine

Two for the price of one

A few activities combine cardio and strength training into one workout. One of the most popular, circuit training , combines a cardio warm-up and cooldown with a series of weight-lifting and other strength stations. Not only can circuit training save you time, but it’s also a lot of fun, because you move from station to station every 30 or 40 seconds. Two other popular strength-cardio exercises are yoga and Pilates, which tend to focus on core strength, the strength and flexibility of your midsection.

Discussed in Chapters 16 and 17, respectively, yoga and Pilates can be highenergy, revved-up workouts or soothing, mind-body workouts that leave you feeling refreshed.

Weight lifting accessories

Belts:  If the belt does all the work to keep your body stable, then your abdominal and back muscles won’t develop to their fullest potential, and you may end up with back problems down the line. Your abdominal and lower-back muscles benefit from the work they do to support you during a lift.

Clothing: women made the mistake of wearing running shorts to her firs t weight lifting session. The error became apparent when the trainer told her to hop on the outer-thigh machine, which required spreading her legs. The lesson: Wear tight shorts (or at least long ones.) On your top, wear a T-shirt or tank top.

Gloves: Weight lifting gloves have padded palms, and the tops of the fingers are cut off. Gloves prevent your hands from callusing and slipping off a bar. Wearing hand protection also increases comfort when working with bands or tubing and if you have latex allergies, gloves keep your hands from breaking out. One alternative to gloves that you may want to use is weight lifting pads — spongy rubber squares or circles (like potholders) that you place in the palm of your hands while you lift. Pads can offer better control than gloves because more of your hand is in contact with the weight. However, lifting pads aren’t as convenient as gloves because you have to carry them around as you work out. 

Shoes:Wear athletic shoes that have plenty of cushioning and ankle support to protect your feet, your joints, and your balance. On occasion, we see people wearing flip-flops or loafers when they lift weights. If you drop a weight when you’re wearing sandals, your toes have no protection. And if you wear shoes without rubber soles, your footing won’t be secure enough. Some gyms also have policies that prohibit you from training in inappropriate shoes, because it is — an accident waiting to happen.

Towel:  Use a towel frequently to wipe off your body and the equipment you use.

Water bottle: Every gym has a drinking fountain, but you’ll drink more water while weight lifting if you have a bottle by your side. If you exercise at home, a water bottle is a must.

Weight training log: Recording your workouts in a journal keeps you motivated and helps you assess your fitness goals

Analyzing your workout

Your journal gives you positive reinforcement no matter how often you choose to record your information. Watching your progress over time also gives you a big boost. If two months ago you could barely eke out 10 repetitions with 30 pounds on the leg extension machine and now you can easily perform 10 reps with 50 pounds, you know you’ve accomplished something. Not only does a diary keep you motivated, but also recording your workouts helps achieve better results. If you’re dedicating plenty of time to your weight training but aren’t getting stronger or more toned, your workout diary may offer clues as to why you’re not seeing results. Scrutinize your diary and ask yourself the following questions:

Am I getting enough rest? Maybe you’ve been lifting weights every other day, but your body actually needs two rest days between workouts. An extra day of rest may give you more oomph when you lift.

Am I working each muscle group hard enough? Your log may indicate that you’ve been neglecting a particular muscle group. Maybe you’re averaging only four sets per workout for your legs compared to six or seven sets for your other body parts. Perhaps that’s the reason your leg strength seems to be lagging.

Goal

When you set your training goals, check to see if they meet the following

criteria:

Specific: If you’re having a tough time with consistent workouts, set a specific goal that you want to achieve that isn’t too extreme. For example, set a specific goal to go through your weight-training program each week.

Measurable: A measurable goal is one that you can objectively determine whether or not you met the goal. For example, make a measurable goal be to train at least 2 times per week for at least 25 minutes per session.

Organizing Your Long-Term Training

After you’ve been training regularly for at least three months, you’re no longer considered a beginner.  You can now attend group exercise classes suitable for intermediate to advanced participants. More

important, if you want to avoid hitting a plateau and continue to make gains in strength, you need to progress your program.Studies show that the most effective method to progress your program is through a process called periodization. Periodization involves varying volume and training intensity and simply means organizing your program into different periods, each lasting about four to eight weeks. Each period has a different theme. For example, one month you may use weight machines, and the next month you may switch to dumbbells and barbells. Or you can change the number of sets, repetitions, and exercises you perform from one period to the next. Athletes use periodization to vary their weight lifting (and other types of training) from their off-season to their competitive season. Periodization is more than a fun diversion; this strategy gives you better results. Half the women did a typical circuit of 12 weight machines , performing one set of 8 to 10 repetitions per machine. They

continued this workout three times a week for nine months. The second group engaged in periodized training, systematically changing the number of sets, reps, and exercises they performed. Initially, the groups showed comparable strength gains. But after four months, the circuit group hit a plateau. The periodization group continued to make steady progress throughout the nine months. Recommend that an introductory periodization program include five distinct phases, each lasting about a month. 

When it comes to building muscle, change gets gains. In fact, trying a new workout every 4-8 weeks and taking rest weeks is a time-honored practice among lifters. This periodized approach is the key to long-term exercise success and avoiding overtraining. No matter how much you switch up your training, there's often a program that works best for your particular body type. The Hodges' physiques are no exception.

"No matter how much you switch up your training, there's often a program that works best for your particular body type."

Training Concepts

Key Weight Training

Weight training has its fair share of gobbledygook. You don’t need to be fluent in the language spoken at  bodybuilding competitions and physiology conferences; but to design an effective workout, you do need to know the basics to better understand your trainer or training materials. In this section, key strength training terminology and training principles are defined.

Strength:

Muscular strength is the maximum amount of weight that youcan lift one time — also called your one-rep max. For example, if you can squeeze out only one shoulder press with 45 pounds, that’s your one-rep max for that exercise.

Endurance:

Muscular endurance refers to how many times you can lift a sub-maximal weight over a period of time. Muscular strength and endurance are related, but aren’t the same. Muscular endurance is handy for everyday tasks like carrying a heavy box from your house to the car. Don’t confuse muscular endurance with cardiovascular endurance, which is the stamina of your heart and lungs. Muscular endurance affects only the muscle in question and lasts only a minute or two; you improve the staying power of one muscle rather than the stamina of your entire body.

Specificity:

Your muscles develop specifically in response to how you train them. For example, if you want to get stronger hips and legs, you should do squats, not push-ups. Similarly, if you want to become a better runner, ultimately you need to practice running. Weight training can complement your running program, but can’t replace the hours you

need to spend at the track.

Overload:

To increase your strength or endurance, you need to train by pushing your muscles to do more than what they’re used to. You can overload your muscles by lifting a challenging weight load, doing a lot of reps and sets, or increasing how many times per week that you train.

Repetition:

This term, often shortened to rep, refers to a single rendition of an exercise.

Recovery:

When your muscles reach failure at the end of a set, you needto recover or rest before you can challenge that muscle to work again. This is also referred to as the rest period. Similarly, after you’ve worked a muscle group in your workout, you need to allow it to recover for at least 48 hours before you train it again.

Routine:

This term encompasses virtually every aspect of what you do in one weight lifting session, including the type of equipment you use; the number of exercises, sets, and repetitions you perform; the order in which you do your exercises; and how much rest you take between sets. By varying the elements of your routine