Hot answers tagged exercise-technique
32
A proper squat involves the hip joint ending up below the knee joint as seen from the side (see the image above). This is called squatting "below parallel". Many studies indicate that "squats, when performed correctly and with appropriate supervision, are not only safe, but may be a significant deterrent to knee injuries". A look at weight training injury ...
29
There is no "best" exercise to lose belly fat. In fact, there is no exercise that will specifically target weight loss in any part of your body. The only way to lose fat in your belly is to lose fat overall.
The number one thing you can do to lose weight is look at your diet. Losing weight is as simple as burning more calories than you consume. The easiest ...
26
I stumbled onto a great resource of swimming information: Swimsmooth.com that happened to have a couple of great tips I'd like to share:
1. Focus on exhaling rather than inhaling.
The reason you want to breathe is not because you have a lack of oxygen. You only consume a couple percent of the 20% oxygen you breathe in, no the reason you breathe is to get ...
16
Mouth vs nose
Some exhale through the nose, some through the mouth and some through both at the same time. Both is somewhat better (it's faster, deeper and prevents water coming in) but maybe needs more practice to be done properly.
Rhythm
Anything from 1:1 to 5:1 is very common but 3:1 is considered the most efficient* (3:1 is 3 strokes for 1 breath). ...
16
Unfortunately this is a landmine... You never know how the other person is going to take it, and more often than not it is not well received. I know of people lifting much longer than I, and when they mentioned something to someone else about technique, the recipient of the constructive criticism got very angry.
Here is the problem: you are not affiliated ...
15
It's not about anyone's personal "take" on the subject. It's about what your knees can handle. People who hurt themselves doing deep knee bend squats are either not flexible enough to do them, or are using bad technique. As a blanket rule, we just say not to go past 90 degrees because just about anyone's knee will bend to 90 degrees with weight without risk ...
15
Livestrong.com has a great article about variations in push ups:
Regular push-ups
Plyometric push-ups, the goal is to push yourself off the ground to develop power. Careful, it's tough on the wrists
Diamong push-ups, involves making a diamond shape with both hands. Pushing up like this focuses on the triceps.
Staggered push-ups, basically ...
14
Many muscle groups are involved, including hand, arm, chest, shoulder, back strength... it really depends on where your weak link happens to be.
I would suggest first making sure that you can do regular flat-hand pushups with good form. Once you can do that, then try raising up onto all five fingers. Once you have those down, you can start taking fingers ...
12
Start with cardio and progress to weights
Start by targeting a 'moderate' heart rate to burn the fat you already have. By moderate I mean Aerobic on the chart below.
Note: Image taken from [Wikipedia][4] and falls under CC-SA license.
Ignore the 'Weight Control' region for a minute and bear with me. What you're targeting here is the Aerobic Zone. Why, ...
12
She's probably just not as developed neurologically as some of the other kids. Drills for quick foot work is what she'll need to work on the most. She'll need to practice with lots of repetition on a daily basis to show marked improvement if other girls her age seem to be preforming above her skill set right now.
If you have a wall she can kick the soccer ...
12
Bruised shins and knees are probably more of a sign of good technique than bad technique. For most deadlifters, scraping is the big nuissance, and it's when you start altering your form to avoid the scraping that you start getting into problems.
Perfect form could lead to a bit of bruising, but the bruising shouldn't be too severe, because you shouldn't be ...
11
This is an example of a Weight-Assist Machine. The woman in the photo is using it for dips, but this particular machine also supports Chin-Ups. Some Gyms and Fitness Centers have these. The one where I work out has one, and with it, I'm able to get 10 reps instead of my normal 3.
11
Mehdi wrote a nice article about this question.
Always start with the bar on the floor. Pulling from the safety pins is a Rack Pull. Deadlifting top down is a Romanian Deadlift. With conventional DEADlifts the bar must always start on the floor. Here’s how to Deadlift in 5 easy steps:
1 . Stand with the bar above the
center of your feet – your ...
10
It's all about presentation really. Before I officially became a personal trainer I started out randomly helping people at the gym. Out of the hundreds I've given advice to only a handful took it negatively and even then we just didn't see eye to eye and life goes on.
First thing is to weigh how helpful your advice against the fact that you are going to ...
9
According to Physiology of Sports and Exercise:
Every endurance exercise session should conclude with a cool-down period. Cool-down is best accomplished by slowly reducing the intensity of the endurance activity during the last several minutes of your workout. After running, for example, a slow, restful walk for several minutes helps prevent blood from ...
9
You do have the right basic concept that low weight exercises can help build smaller muscles. However, it does require a better understanding of kinesiology (exercise science) to know which small muscles need help, how often, and when.
For example, lifters who focus on bench press and rows will have the major muscle groups exercised. However, the rotator ...
9
First, congrats on your progress. I bet you look much better than before, and your looks will continue to improve while you lose more weight.
Getting abs to show though, is rather hard. In fact, surprisingly hard.
As a comparison, I am 176cm also. I got my weight down to 68kg before all abs started showing when contracting them. In order for me (and you) ...
9
The basics of getting abs
Abs come from low body fat and large core muscles. Ultimately weight doesn't matter, though checking your weight can help with achieving the low body fat.
To get abs, you need to first need to cut enough fat that your muscle tone becomes visible. This is best achieved through the combination of healthy, disciplined, and ...
9
Don't "Stretch"
Doing static stretches before working out is not good. It cools you down and relaxes you, which is the opposite of what you want while you're exerting yourself. What's worse is that by stretching your muscles, you decrease the amount of force that your muscles can exert, and make yourself vulnerable to injuries like muscle pulls.
Static ...
8
There is no "timing" for consuming protein. There is not a single study that demonstrates eating protein at a specific time will somehow boost recovery or muscle gain. What's far more important is just your protein intake on average, over time. Your body is actually quite adept at regulating your protein metabolism. You have something called an amino acid ...
8
Your knee is designed to squat low. Babies learning to stand squat well below parallel.
Usually the problem from squat depth is not the knees but the lower back. As you get lower, your hamstrings stretch to the point that your hips are pulled. The first thing noticed is that your lower back is losing concavity.
So I would say that you can go deep until ...
8
Bench press
Can use a lot more weight, so it's ideal for the low rep anaerobic range. It's for mass building.
Can be assisted by a spotter, so you can go to failure. This is good for breaking plateaus and stimulating growth.
More dangerous if you don't have a spotter. The bar can fall on your chest if you have no more strength to get it back up.
You can do ...
8
The Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST) put out a good book called Run Less Run Faster. You can find a lot of information contained in the book at the original article in Runner's World.
Basically, the FIRST program outlines 3 types of training runs. The three FIRST workouts are a long run, a tempo run, and a speed workout that are ...
8
It sounds like you want to start incorporating muscle-ups and weighted pull-ups whenever possible. I don't think kipping pull-ups are really appropriate for a number of reasons, but if they float your boat (and you have a healthy, strong, flexible shoulder girdle), rock 'em.
Upper-Body Pulling Power
Power is not a common goal for upper body pulls, though ...
7
Hands facing away tends to focus on your back and lats. Hands facing toward you emphasizes the biceps.
As far as which to use when... that depends on what you are trying to accomplish with that workout. Obviously, the two still use a lot of the same muscle groups so take that into account if you're going to use both.
7
[I will treat this from a purely mechanical point of view, as this is my area of expertise -- the actual body mechanics are much more complex, but the effect is similar.]
From a mechanical point of view, the most efficient way to propel yourself on the bike is to step on the pedal so that the distance between your heel and the pedal is maximized. Ideally ...
7
Here's my exercise routine:
Wake up after a good nights rest
Walk myself into the kitchen and
cook a healthy breakfast
Pack a healthy lunch to eat while at
work
Hit the gym/dojo on the way home
from work
Eat a healthy dinner and don't snack
too much before going to bed
Get to bed early enough to get a
good night's rest
Success! Notice that my exercise ...
7
Not knowing your age, fitness level and type of amputation, I'll just recommend you some exercises that don't really depend on those factors.
Swimming
As a swimmer with relatively poor leg technique I can assure you, you can swim perfectly fine without legs. Technically speaking you should even float easier, due to the reduced weight, so if you know how to ...
7
I've been to the FIRST running camp (two years when I was in high school). They do have a lot of good information; however, I have anecdotal experience that will help you in particular with the half marathon or marathon.
I would avoid any sorts of interval or short speedwork stuff. Weldon Johnson (co-founder of Letsrun) dropped his 10,000m time to 28:06 ...
7
Berin brought up the gym's personal trainers, which presumably you are not - but if there are trainers around, why don't you casually ask them if the person is doing something wrong? Maybe they'll tell you it's correct (in which case you either learn something - or decide the trainers aren't very well trained :) Or maybe they'll agree that it's wrong, and ...
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