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Alpha Exercise Let's
Hit the Iron! |
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Fat-to-Muscle Makeover Ocala Family Physicians' Medical Exercise Center |
Call 804-5241 Email: Terry@FloridaFitness.com |
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Standing before you like sentries posted in the hallowed chamber of a fitness palace, these weirdly configured stanchions of steel await your encounter and command. Feeling like you're at the starting line of an obstacle course, about to run the gauntlet, today is the first day of the beginning of your fitness life. If you've followed our advice, the setting is a fitness center, a company wellness facility, university rec complex, or someplace that offers commercial-grade strength equipment. Hopefully, you're our client at the Ocala Family Physicians' Medical Exercise Center, in which case we demystify the equipment for you. One way or another, with a “survival of the fittest” mentality, you are about the hit the iron! Of little comfort is the weight-room axiom "What doesn't kill you makes you strong." This gives us reason to pause. It's assumed you are reasonably healthy and physically able to endure half-hour gut-wrenching workouts two or three days per week. Please observe the obligatory disclaimer: "before beginning any exercise program, consult your doctor." If you are a club member, hopefully you've had a health-risk screening questionnaire. If there are limitations on how much you can exert, adjust accordingly, or secure qualified supervision in a medically directed facility. I am feeling like an overbearing mother about to send her child off to the first day of school. Compressed into your mind already are directives concerning machine set-up and execution of its bio-mechanical function with the attention to precision a golfer or tennis player gives each stroke. This introduces the first performance factor necessary for productive training. Concentration.
What is the demeanor of Tiger Woods' teeing off, or Venus Williams about to serve? When Tracy McGrady is eyeing a free throw is he joking with teammates, waving to the crowd, or blowing kisses to the TV cameras? These athletes are in a state of concentration. They're probably even visualizing the successful execution of their drive, serve or shot. The young man who packed on 60 pounds of muscle in one month, Casey Viator, said in a recent magazine article that he would spend a half-hour before his workouts getting into a deep state of concentration, visualizing the 10-exercise workout he would soon perform. Casey was being paid for every pound of muscle he gained, so that was probably cost-effective in his situation. I'd suggest you spend just 30 seconds to a minute establishing a high level of concentration, or what now goes by the trendier term FOCUS. The second factor to keep in mind is that mastering technique is the primary objective of your first few workouts. Besides the stroke on each machine, keep the untargeted body parts stable and still. Don't move or wiggle anything. Be sure that your hair is combed back or controlled by a head band or sweet band, especially if your hair tends to fall in front of your eyes. This also means to look straight ahead during the exercise, ignoring anything else around you. If you have an itch or a garment problem that requires the use of your hands, set the resistance down before dealing with it. Do not take one hand off or in any way corrupt the integrity of the exercise. I hear echoes of “Oh, Mom.” I wouldn't say all this stuff were it not so evident in just about any fitness center you can find. |
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Another technique issue is your breathing pattern. While exerting force, never hold your breath even though it seems a natural tendency. La Maze is ideal. If you're not familiar with it, think in terms of short, shallow, continues breaths, like a dog panting. Let's avoid possible windpipe plugs, too, and this means no gum or breath mints once you start your workout. If you carry a water bottle, a quick swig between exercises should keep you from offending anyone. Besides, there's no kissing. |
The strap against your heart activates the wrist watch to monitor heart rate during your workout. |
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| Another good idea, at least during your first several workouts, is to strap on an electronic heart-rate monitor. According to informal research by Dr. Wayne Westcott, heart rate during our type of training correlates to an estimate of systolic blood pressure, giving this little device an important dual purpose. His research subjects performed maximum repetitions with resistance loads amounting to either 70 percent or 85 percent of their 1-repetition maximum. Their heart-rate responses were almost identical, each group concluding their set at about 69 percent of their predicted heart rate maximum. (If you're not familiar with heart rate issues, there's more detail coming in a following session that deals with walking.) Dr. Westcott found that systolic blood pressure rose about 50 percent on lower-body exercises and 35 percent during upper-body exercises. This is similar to results during aerobic training, and within acceptable limits. So heart rate in the target zone indicates the temporary systolic blood pressure elevation is okay. While the two groups Dr. Westcott tested reached their target heart rate at the conclusion of their respective sets, the group using the lighter percentage of maximum load performed almost twice as many repetitions, 13 compared to 7. This means that their heart rate and blood pressure rose more gradually, which is preferred if you have any concerns about cardio conditions or blood pressure. I'll bet you didn't know something as simple as iron pumping could include so many particulars! If you've performed any circuit strength training previously, hopefully we've reprogrammed your mind. Most of my clients with prior workout experience emerged from their first session at my direction declaring "I'd been doing it wrong." |
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| "It's not a matter of right and wrong," I would tell them. "It's about degree of effectiveness." You’re
now ready to be highly effective |
 A good workout, is a good feeling! |
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