Ramped Up Workout Tips
Have you ever wondered if there were any lifting tips or tricks that would increase your results and help you tone up faster? There are a few ideas out there that will help to make your strength training more effective.
1. Slow It Down
All too often you quickly go through your reps with weights. Taking a pace that is decreased will engage your muscles by keeping them under tension longer. Lowering the momentum that you are used to can have a positive effect on your results. This can make you stronger over a short series of repeating this. To try this, begin with the use of a lower weight. Take a slow 10 second raise and 10 second lower of the weights. This gives you time working without resting.
2. Lighten Your Load
Often trainers call the practice of changing out your weights during a set, doing “a drop set.” Working your muscles by doing a heavy set, then immediately doing a light set, is a method to increase muscle strength. It works to use exhaustion that increases your toning and endurance. Trying this involves the use of two sets of weights that differ by 20%. Do reps of 10 with the heavier and then switch right away to the lower set and do 10 more. You may see a decline in the number you can do with the lower weight. That is not unexpected. This is a fast-track trick.
3. Switch Up Your Count
Contracting your muscles to raise a weight is the concentric phase, while the muscle lengthening when the weight lowers is the eccentric phase. These are the two phases of strength exercise. When you are slower with the eccentric phase of your lift, you will engage and lengthen your muscles. This is a big win for your muscle goals. Count out to 5 as you lower the weight and lift it back to the start in half that time. Repeating this when you bench press, lift, or squat will have benefits.
This is great information. I haven't felt comfortable with weights before because there was so much I didn't know. Thanks!~ Rebecca