Fun Fitness Fridays #8

So I was rifling through the comments from last week, smiling, laughing... ya know the usual... and I noticed something. Well actually two things. First, food bloggers are hilarious and awesome :) Second, we really have quite the diverse group here. We have dancers, weight lifters, runners, swimmers, yoga-ers... it's all very cool and interesting. I'm glad that those of you who have found their exercise 'niche', have it, and for those of you still searching, don't worry, it's out there somewhere. This week I'll start to touch on exercise basics to give you a grasp on why people say "do this or do that". I'm hoping it'll answer some questions you all have also.

We're going to go super basic right here, because I think some of this stuff is cool to know (I hope that's an ok reason :) Muscles, believe it or not, move 3 different ways. They shorten, called a concentric contraction... they lengthen, called an eccentric contraction... or they can stay the same length, called an isometric contraction.

Whoa, Adam... I'm more lost than Jack Shephard... back the bus up.... Beep Beep*

Ok pick up your coffee mug. Using your bicep (it bends your elbow), bring the mug up to your face. That's a concentric contraction. Now, lower it down slowly... do you feel how the muscle lengthens and kind of resists against gravity?... eccentric. Now hold it steady so you arm is at 90*.... isometric.

Cool huh?

So why is this stuff important? Well, all of these types of muscle contractions produce force. When you lift weights, it requires force and power. These forces put your muscles under stress, and creates the little microtears that signal your body to heal itself. Now eccentric contractions, lowering a weight slowly against gravity... requires the most amount of force.

Have you ever walked down a couple flights of stairs at work, and noticed your legs are killing you? That's because your legs (mostly your gluts and quads) have to slow down and lengthen as you walk down the stairs. Walking up the stairs is harder cardiovascular wise, but muscle wise, you can probably do it a lot more of it.

Let's apply this idea to the gym, because hey, that's why we're reading :)

Let's say you're doing one of the best lower body exercises you can do... a leg press if you're a beginner, or a squat if you've been around for awhile. The best way to do this is to lower the weight down slowly for a count of 2 or 3, and then shoot it up in a count of 1. The reason we lower the weight down for a longer period of time, is because it places more stimulus to the muscle, and it teaches your brain how to use control. Stimulating the muscle to something it's not used to is the name of the game, so we are exactly doing that.

Whoa, dude... so if lowering the weight down for 2-3 seconds is good, why don't we try for like 4 or 6 or 10 seconds? More is better right?

Well, in this case, no. Lowering a weight for that amount of time would possibily create too much force on a muscle, which could either result in an injury, or force you to use too little weight to really see a result.

Weight to see a result? How much weight should I use?

This is an awesome question. It really comes down to your goals. For just about any person that wants to see results and add some muscle... lift a weight that forces you to struggle so that the last repitition is between 8-10. If you want to get stronger for a sport, the rule of thumb is 4-6, and if you want to train a muscle for endurance, shoot for 10-15. While any rep range works all three catagories, their emphasis is on one of the groups.

Whew, that was a lot of stuff... let's go over the "take home points" as my profs all say:

• Muscles contract 3 different ways - concentric, eccentric, and isometric
• Eccentric (lengthening) causes the most stimulus, force production, and therefore microdamage to the muscle
• Lift in a ratio of 2 or 3:1 in lowering vs. lifting the weight to learn control and create muscle growth
• Lift in your desired rep ranges to see the results you want

Nice, everyone with me? Finally, a few last points... your workout at the gym should look like this : Warm up... weight training, cardio work, and stretching. Now, this order is up for negotiation, and you can def change it if you'd like... but here's my reasoning:

A warm up is alwys important to get your blood moving and your muscles ready to do work. About 5 minutes on a treadmill or something will do fine. The reason cardio training after a workout is ideal is due to that crazy glycogen stuff we talked about. Weight lifting gets rid of your muscle glycogen (try to think waaaay back to the other posts) so what's the only source left? FAT. What is the primary fuel used during cardio? FAT. So, bascially if there is less glycogen in your muscle, you body will turn to using fat sooner, because hey, that's all that's left.

Whew, stick a fork in me, I'm done. I hope that wasn't too much info for today, I can just go energizer bunny on this stuff and keep going and going :) Did the dork meter just hit an all time high right there? Everyone have a safe, fantastic Labor Day weekend. I'm home with mom for a few days, and I'm sure to have some stories for you all early next week. Lator Gators :)
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