Some tips for Lifts

A few quick tips for effective strength training

1. Warm up - doing some easy dynamic movements, or a short (5-10min) cardio session will raise the heart rate slowly giving the muscles time to warm and be ready for the load to be implied. A light stretch prior to lifting is fine, but do it AFTER your brief warm up.
2. Maintain a neutral spine during all strength-training and use your core for stability. Pull the tail bone into a neutral position, and thinking of drawing the belly button back & upward into the spine.
3. Lift with CONTROL. Don't Yank and drop. Keep a smooth track of movement through the range of motion.
4. Start with a light weight. This helps with #3. Focus on proper form, and then increase the difficulty with additional load.
5. Do not hold your breath. Inhale between repetitions, exhale during the concentric phase (active/hard part) of the lift. *For extremely heavy lifts, you can perform the Valsalva manoeuver BUT again, this involves controlled breathing release, through core tightening for stability, not Breath HOLDING.
6. Do not lift a joint beyond it's maximum range of motion. This is different for everyone. Flexibility is important, and comes from challenging the ROM, but if it hurt's, stop. Period.
7. Train from Biggest to Smallest. Larger Muscles/muscles take more energy to work. Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Pecs, Lats should but first and move into smaller groups like Biceps, Triceps, Delts.
8. Save the Abs/ Core training for the end of your workout. They are used in the stability of most of your other exercises, so you need them fresh if you plan to go heavy.
9. Rest between hitting the same muscle groups again. 24-48hours is typically recommended.
10. Lift with focus & purpose. Why go heavy if it doesn't suit your goals? Why lift at all, if you refuse to challenge yourself? Set goals & WORK to achieve them! #TrainDilligently #WorkPurposefully
11. Eat Intelligently! Load up on lean protein along with your healthy fats & quality, fibrous, complex carbohydrates. If you're under-eating, your body will feed off muscle tissue first.

Use these guidelines, and make AMAZING happen!

Mia