Posts Comments

You are here: Home / Archives for Muscle

Tips for Endurance Training

December 31, 2010 by

Athletes often spend hours in the gym, but neglect to train their cardiovascular system. While building and maintaining lean muscle mass is an essential component of the athlete’s physique, endurance training will help you play longer, harder, and stronger. Here are five tips to achieving greater endurance through cardiovascular training.

1.Hydration
Keeping hydrated is essential for optimal performance. Proper hydration maintains your essential body fluids and assists in muscle repair. You should sip small amounts of water throughout your workout, and if you are engaging in regular sessions of intense training, trainers recommend drinking one gallon of water per day.

2.Fuel Up With Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates provide your muscles with enough energy to power through long workouts. Slow digesting carbs, such as oatmeal or whey, consumed 60 minutes before a workout will provide a consistent release of nutrients into the body, keeping you energized.

3.Engage in Sport Specific Activities
Your choice of cardiovascular exercise should be closely related to your sport. If you play soccer, then running is the best choice for you. Boxers will find jump rope training increases stamina and footwork. Baseball players should incorporate sprints into their workouts to emulate base running.

4.Mix HIIT and Low Intensity Training
High intensity interval training increases the heart’s capacity to pump blood through the body, and the higher the capacity the higher your endurance level. Low intensity training allows you to go longer and get stronger. For runners, HIIT involves alternating running a lap at a normal pace for one minute, then sprinting for thirty seconds. Low intensity training involves running at a slower than normal pace for longer periods of time.

5.Recover
Digesting carbs and proteins after a strenuous workout will assist in muscle recovery and decrease muscle soreness. Recovery days with little to no activity are also essential for any athletes training program. With proper recovery, your body will perform with increased endurance and intensity.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Improve Power and Speed

December 28, 2010 by

If you want to work your fast twitch muscles and improve muscle memory, incorporating explosive sets into your weight training regimen will improve your power and speed. The goal of this program is quicker response time achieved through lifting lighter weights at a faster pace. Incorporate these techniques twice a week for optimal results.

Medicine Ball Crunch and Twist
Lie on the floor with feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Hold a medicine ball in both hands and curl your torso upwards. Quickly rotate your torso right then left, pushing the medicine ball past the side of each knee. Lower your torso back to the floor. Repeat the sequence quickly for reps as required. If you are looking for a challenge, this exercise may also be done on an incline bench.

Vertical Jumps
Building the muscle memory of your legs is essential for all athletes. Vertical jumps will help build overall leg muscle, while increasing strength and speed. To complete this exercise, stand with feet shoulder width apart. Bend your knees and lower your body into to a ninety degree angle, as if you were going to sit in a chair. Using your legs for propulsion, launch your body upwards, extend your hips, feet, and knees and reach your arms up towards the sky. Drop back to a stranding position, and repeat for reps. to increase the difficulty level, add ankle weights or wear a weighted vest.

Step-Ups
Stand in front of a step-up box designed for weight training or plyometrics. If you don’t have a step-up box you may substitute an aerobic step. Place one foot on the step, extend the working leg and bring yourself to a standing position on top of the box. Step off by bringing your non-working foot back down to the ground. As soon as your non-working foot touches the ground, extend your working leg and repeat the rep. Complete reps for each leg.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Undo the Damage

December 26, 2010 by

When a celebration, holiday, or vacation has derailed your training and fitness goals, the only thing to do is keep training. With a little planning and commitment, those caloric peaks and training dives will do minimum damage to your program and you physique.

1.Use Hit Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to burn up maximum calories and carbohydrates. Working out at maximum intensity for short bursts of time will cause your body to dip into its carbohydrate stores; using those extra carb calories before they are stored as fat.

2.Train your large muscle groups with compound exercises to burn more calories. Squats,flat bench presses, and lunges all use more than one muscle groups, which increases muscle mass and strength at a faster rate.

3.Circuit train to get your heart rate up, and keep it elevated to increase calorie burning. Moving quickly from station to station keeps your body in cardio mode longer than traditional reps and set training. However, circuit training with weights will give you’re the double benefits of increased endurance, and muscle mass.

4.Lift heavier, with smaller rest in between sets. Lifting heavier weights will burn more calories, and limiting your rest between sets will create a cardio effect, torching even more calories. The other benefit of lifting heavier is that your body will use more calories repairing your muscles, and you will burn calories while you sleep.

5.Increase your cardio. Lengthen your cardio time to increase calorie burning, and don’t forget to use HIIT for maximum results.

6.Remember, the best time to exercise is right before a big meal or soon after. A hard workout before or after a huge calorie meal will help your body use those excess calories to power your workout. This gives you the opportunity to stay on top of your workouts, while keeping calorie damage to a minimum.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , ,

Change Up Your Routine for Maximum Results

December 24, 2010 by

The key to an effective workout is to change things up to keep your muscles guessing. It’s difficult to give up a routine you are comfortable with. And it may be hard to recognize when your routine isn’t giving you the results that you’re used to. When you’ve noticed that your skills, strength, fitness and physique have hit a plateau, it’s time to revamp the workout. The important thing to remember is that small changes can lead to big results. So you don’t have to toss your whole training program out the window, just add a little something new.

Kettle ball training is a good alternative to traditional free weights, and can give you the same benefits of barbell or dumbbell training. Used extensively in Russian weight training programs, kettle balls are relatively new to United State athletes, but have gained popularity over recent years. With a kettle ball, it’s easy to incorporate a whole new routine or just a single exercise. Whatever you choose, kettle balls are good tools for every level of athlete, and will bring variety and results to your training program.
The following is a simple kettle ball routine that you can incorporate into your workouts.
Deadlift Squat, with a Kettle Ball

This exercise will work multiple muscle groups, and engage your glutes, abs, back, biceps, and triceps.

Choose an appropriate size kettle ball for your fitness level and place it slightly in front of you. Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulders width apart. Squat down, keeping your back flat, and grab the kettle ball handle with two hands. Keep your arms extended, back flat, and straighten your legs. Push your hips forward, and bring the kettle ball up with you. Make sure to keep the kettle ball close to your body. Repeat for reps.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , ,

Stay Healthy and Injury Free

December 14, 2010 by

Athletes are notorious for pushing their bodies beyond the limits. It’s this mentality that creates athletes who are gladiators, on and off the field. But when your body is pushed to breaking, and then pushed some more you run the risk of developing serious injury. The key to athletic longevity is to train smart to keep yourself off the DL.

1.Know Yourself

If you are in the midst of an intense training program, it is your duty to pay attention to your body and recognize when pain has gone from good to bad. We all know the feeling of good pain from a hard workout, but when your pain is sharp, acute, and debilitating then you need to stop and re-asses your goals and program. Take some days off, cross train, and seek medical attention if necessary.

2.Increase Your Flexibility

Stretching is an important component to any good workout program. Tight muscles cause you to alter your body’s natural movement, causing other muscles to compensate for the lack of mobility. This could lead to further and increased tightening of the muscles and possible injury. Incorporate regular stretching at the end of your workouts and you will improve joint and muscle flexibility.

3.Cross Train

Maintain balance in your training program with cross training activities. Cross training will help keep your cardiovascular system strong, while increasing muscle strength and endurance. A good cross training program will compliment your regular activities and keep you focused on your body.

4.Strength Train

Strength training helps keep your muscles powerful and balanced. For athletes who perform a lot of lower body activities – soccer, running, basketball – upper body strength training will help you build a strong and efficient physique. In contrast, athletes who primarily perform upper body movements will benefit from a well developed and powerful lower body. If all the muscles of your body are strong, your risk for injury is diminished.

Filed Under: Sports, Training Tagged With: , , ,