[saruxanset]

Hi Jonathan
I do a weights workout twice a week as i have a bad back and i have a couple of important points for you

- Keep your stomach muscles tight (breathe in and see how they feel, this is how you should hold them when you are doing the exercises)
- A general rule is when you are exerting force (ie pulling down on a lat pull down) breath out when you are releasing breathe in
- If you are doing tricep curls or anything that uses neck muscles if you put your tongue on the roof of your mouth it takes some of the strain off (don't ask me why but it works)
- keep your back straight! so important

xx
mel

[Ccddfergt]

Keep up the great work Johnathon.. and remember.. they are building! 8)

Brian, great to see someone with helpful advice.. good on ya!

[BILBONDER]

Thanks Mel... I am getting into great breathing shape. I seem to have found that breathing in during release and out during the effort was the most logical way to go.. plus it helps you not rush thing... nice and steady motions. I'll have to remember the tongue thing. I had an excellent work out last night (lat pull downs and cable rows).. definately getting stronger.

On the other hand I'm worried that Brian may be right and I am over training my forearms more then anything. Just about every exercise that uses a grip utilizes those muscles... secondly my biceps... but i have no discomfort in them so I'm leaning to them being alright.

I think I am showing alot of improvement already all around.

[avaicavum]

Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work quickly and produce explosive power, but tire quickly. Think sprinter. Slow twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work long and hard. Think marathoner.

I am a bit worried about having you try exercises for 4-7 reps. If you've been doing very high reps previously, you will get great results with 8-12 reps. Save the lower rep work until you have your technique perfected and have made considerable strength gains. You will not get good results if you don't do the exercises with good form - and good form is much harder to develop with heavy weight. Injury is the worst thing for weight lifting!

I do not have the luxury of working out every day - wish I did. I think I'd try for 3 sets of each body part. You may also need more rest, but you will have to try and see.

Lifting weights actually breaks down the muscle fibers and causes them to regrow bigger and stronger. So muscle growth actually occurs while you are resting, not while you are working. If you don't give your muscles adequate time to recover, you will get weaker and you will be fatigued - this is called overtraining. If you start seeing this happen - take a week off and then adjust your schedule for more rest. The harder you work and the more muscle you break down, the more rest you need between workouts. Initially I could work out every other day with no problem. Now I need 4-5 days rest between exercises on the same body parts. I am just beginning to experiement with lifting on Atkins. Carbs are recommended after a workout to speed muscle recovery. It could be that you need more rest while lo-carbing than normal.

Soreness is quite common when you first start weight lifting. As your muscles get used to the exercise, it will quickly subside. After a hard workout, you may be a bit sore, but nothing like the morning after your first hard workout! It is rare that I experience anything I'd called being sore. Don't make soreness your guage of a good workout.

When people are first starting to work out, I recommend they lift very light weight for 12-15 reps (not to failure). Focus on form and control. After 2 workouts, raise the weight so you are doing 12-15 reps and starting to get tired towards the end, still not to failure. After 2 workouts, raise the weight again and go to failure. Adjust the weight to try to get near 12 reps. A perfect setup is 12 reps the first set, 10 reps the second, and 8 reps the third. Focus should always be on perfect form. This will keep soreness from hitting so hard at the beginning, and allow good form to be developed while using lighter weight.

I like to read the following forum on WebMD. Rich Weil posts lots of excellent information on fitness and weight lifting that I think you might enjoy. Problem is people ask the same questions over and over so it gets boring after a while.

http://boards.health.msn.com/topic.asp?topic_id=64

Good luck to you Jonathan. Please post your results and experiences with lifting.
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[TimoDassss]

Ahhh.... be careful with your lower back. This guy is looking pretty good, but the handgrips should touch his middle on the way back. The farther back you get your elbows, the harder it works the back. His chin is a bit low (its hard to keep your chest high and your chin low - but he seems to be doing it). He is leaning every so slightly back, which is ok, but you don't want to go any farther back than this. Its hard to get perpendicular - it helps to have a mirror (or friend) help you. It feels like you are way forward. This guy's back is nice and straight - you do not want a curved back with this exercise. A trick I use to get into position is to lean all the way back so I am laying flat, then sit up, keeping my back straight.

You say it takes a lot of arm strength to lift heavy with this exercise. Remember, this is all back - very little arms. Don't pull with your hands or arms at all! Grab the handgrips, get into position, and push your elbows straight back until your hands touch your belly. It feels completely different. I'd suggest starting this exercise at 50-60 lbs. I started at 40 lbs. If it feels too light, add 10 lbs each workout until you get in the 8-12 rep range to failure. This will let you get in a few workouts where it feels light and you can just practice and get used to the motion.

This is by far my favorite back exercise.

[lasadeykar]

Yea, I have been researching a number of different books. I probably would have bought one already, but I already have spent way to much money this month. What the heck though, Next time I'm in town I'll stop at Chapters, um but wait I need shoes too.

I kinda already understand that you do few reps with lots of weight for Overall strength building, and Lighter weights but lots of reps for endurance and weight loss. That's why I am doing 2 sets of 30's or trying. But What's stumping me is How Come I feel perfectly fine. Except my thighs. Even last night I worked the upper body, and my triceps don't even bother me in the slightest anymore. I thought, I should at least feel some sort of discomfort, other wise I must not be working them hard enough?

So what I'm trying to say, is if your exercising properly to try to loose fat and gain muscle Stamina or endurance, should I not feel discomfort and if not what should I be doing.

I'm a total newbie I guess.

[GoodLover]

Jonathan,

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. For building muscle you want to low numbers of reps and high weights. For endurance you want to do the opposite. I have a book at home on Weight Lifting that I really like. I will look up the name for you. What I like about it is that it breaks down each body area and give you a bunch of exercises to do for each area using free weights, dumbells and machines. It has great pictures and at the end of the chapter it shows pictures of various body building "celebrities" and tells you what exercises and reps they do to get their look. It has a variety of celebs and includes men and woman. It really is quite helpful as a resource. If you are interested I can get the name for you. I bought it Barnes and Noble for around $20 if I remember correctly.

[newshep]

Wow, Brian, are you a trainer?

[forebirdo]

I would if I could, but that was as far as I could go, I really had to push myself to the breaking point to hit 30 reps on a few of the exercises. So I definately couldn't do more reps unless I dropped the weight down... Do you mean I should do more sets?