April2009

April 2009

Enhance Fitness Newsletter

The Two Most Common Mistakes I see in a Workout

• Lifting too much weight: Never lift more than what you can handle. This means if you are breaking form to lift the weight, the weight is too heavy. It is better to practice proper form. When the weight is too heavy, our bodies tend to jerk and sway to create momentum to raise the weight. While practicing jerky movement, our bodies are more susceptible to injury.

o Remedy: If the weight is too heavy, lower the weight and increase the reps. The goal in resistance training is to increase muscle strength and starting at a weight that will not injure the body is a good start to gaining strength. I like to say “practice form…form first then strength and speed follows”.

• Becoming the Leaning Tower: I see many people on cardio machines constantly leaning. Let’s take the elliptical for example: On the elliptical, the goal is to stand up straight in a comfortable position while moving the legs back and forth. There are two types of handles on the elliptical machine; (1) the fixed handle is there to increase stability if you don’t feel comfortable on the machine; and (2) the moving handle is there to add the arms into the scenario. Neither of the handles are used to rest elbows on or the body on top of. Leaning over cardio machines can cause more harm than good. Think about it, leaning over the elliptical while exercising is very similar to walking with your head down, shoulders forward, and the back angled at a 45 degree angle from the floor.

o Remedy: If you feel like you lean a lot during your cardio workouts, try to decrease the speed or the resistance of the cardio machine. The speed or resistance might be too high which is causing you to lean forward to feel more stable. This is a good sign that the resistance too heavy for you and you should lower the resistance.

One of my favorites from Nutrilite…Guess what it is?

• Only 20 calories per serving

• No artificial colors or flavors

• Formulated with 1,000 mg of Vitamin C

• Also formulated with a bunch of B Vitamins

• Immunity booster

NUTRILITE® Twist Tubes – Strawberry Kiwi flavor for Immunity

Burn more calories and increase your metabolism one minute at a time

For the month of April, let’s try a different approach to training. I like to add this one in with my clients and I definitely see some great results from it.

I like to call this type of training HIGH-LOW INTERVAL.

During this type of training, you are trying to involve a high intense cardiovascular activity for one minute followed by a low intense strength exercise for one minute.

The high intense cardiovascular portion is meant to physically exhaust you by involving larger muscle groups.

Examples of high intense cardiovascular exercises:

• Run/Sprint

• Jump Rope

• Ploymetrics (squats, lunges, split squats, burpees)

• Cardio Machines

• Bosu Plyometrics

• Box Routines

The low intense strength portion of the program is meant to follow the HIC portion. During this part of the program you are giving yourself an active recovery. Still moving to increase your metabolic rate, but using smaller muscles to help recover from the HIC bout.

Examples of Low Intense Strength Exercises

• Bicep Curls

• Triceps Extensions

• Delt Raises

• Shoulder Shrugs

• Calf Raises

This is a great way to increase your metabolic rate, stamina, muscular strength, endurance, and burn tons of calories in a short amount of time.

Estimate caloric burn during a 45 minute HIGH-LOW INTERVAL session (based on a 38 yr old female weighing 127lbs) = 721 calories

HIGH-LOW INTERVAL Training example program

Complete all exercises with no rest between exercises and repeat four times.

Completion time: 44 minutes

One minute – Jumping Jacks