SUPERSETTING - PART 2

Continuing with the previous post, supersetting can also be performed with antagonist muscle approach. This is in sharp contrast to the previous methodology where we discussed about supersetting same muscle group.

When you do two exercises in a row for the same muscle group, it tends to significantly limit the amount of weight you can use because of fatigue. Pairing opposing (antagonistic) muscle groups together can help you keep your strength up because as one muscle is working, the opposite one is resting. Common examples include pairing biceps with triceps, chest with back, or hamstrings with quadriceps.

This is also an excellent technique for developing better muscle balance. For example, many people overwork the pushing exercises like bench press, while neglecting the pulling exercises like rows. By using antagonistic (push-pull) supersets. You assure a good balance between these opposing muscle groups.

Some examples:
Dumbbell Curls + Tricep extensions
Leg Press + Lying Leg Curl
Bench Press + Seated Cable Row


One thing that must be kept while performing supersets is that one might lose power and muscles might fail instantaneously in the second exercise, specially if that is a compound exercise. Hence it is advisable to have a partner or a trainer watching your back while you perform your supersets. Finally if your training program is getting stale, supersets can also help relieve your boredom. Best of all, supersetting is a legitimate way to get more results in less time.

SUPERSETTING - PART 1

For all the guys who are gym goers, they probably understand what is meant by supersetting. However, one might not have fully explored the benefits that supersetting can help you reap out of your workout. Conventional weight training invovles "straight sets." A straight set consists of a series of nonstop repetitions, usually somewhere between 6 and 12, followed by a rest interval of one to two minutes. A superset, on the other hand, is an advanced training technique where you perform two exercises in a row with virtually no rest in between exercises.

If you perform two exercises back to back, it is quite obvious that the weight in the second exercise is going to be less then if you had performed that exercise separately. Since the muscle didn't get sufficient time to recover, strength is bound to be less for te second exercise and subsequently lesser for further supersets.

Super setting can be done in more than one way, the most common among them is SUPERSETTING SAME MUSCLE GROUP. In this post, we will discuss the above mentioned type. The most common type to super set is super setting same muscle group. An example would be supersetting bench presses with dumbbell flyes.
HOwever we can further disintegrate this supersetting technique into four techniques.

1. ISOLATION + COMPOUND
2. COMPOUND + ISOLATION
3. COMPOUND + COMPOUND
4. ISOLATION + ISOLATION

Isolation exercises involves concentrating on isolated muscle groups while compound exercises involve more than one muscle group.

1. ISOLATION + COMPOUND : In this technique, you perform an isolcation exercise first followed immediately by a compound movement exercise. The idea behind is to pre exhaust the primary muscle group, and then perform the compound movement to blast the fatigues muscle with the help of other muscle group. e.g: Performing a dumble fly involved pecks, and then following it up with bench press, you can further stress your pecks with the help of shoulder muscles, and hence induce growth.
Some examples;
a. Dumbell Fly + Bench/Inclined Press
b. Leg Extension + Squat
c. D/B lateral raise + shoulder press
d. Tricep extension + bench dips

2. COMPOUND + ISOLATION: This is the exact opposite of the above technique. The benefit of this method is that you can usually go for more poundages in the compound exercise, giving more pump and a more satisfying feeling.
Some examples:
a. Squat/leg extension + Leg extension
b. B/B shoulder press + front/lateral raises
c. bench press + cable cross over

3. COMPOUND + COMPOUND: This technique is very taxing on the body and it is likely to leave one exhausted. Going with havey poundage in both the exercises, can cause faitgue pretty rapidly, and at the same time induce muscle growth like no workout before.
Some examples:
a. Bench Press + Pushups
b. Squat + Leg press
3. B/B curl + D/b curls

4. ISOLATION + ISOLATION: This technique is mainly used by proefessionals prior to a competition when they are going for definition.This is a useful technique for focusing on one particular muscle group or section of a muscle group to the exclusion of others.
some examples:
a. Dumbell fly + cable cross over
b. tricep pushdown + dumbbell kickback


More to follow on superset training.

FACE FAT

People often want to lose fat or not lose fat at specific parts of the body. e.g: while a person may want to loose belly fat, you often come across people who have chubby cheeks and want to lose fat from there. However, spot reduction/addition of fat is practically impossible. The body gains and loses in a uniform way.

When a person starts getting lean, the face changes too. Your face starts to look less round and your jawline and cheekbones become more prominent. This drawn out look often gives an impression to onlookers if you actually eat something or not.

You lose face fat the same way you lose any other fat - by establishing a caloric deficit through nutrition and training and getting your overall body fat percentage down. For people, willing to lose face fat, the good news is, face fat is actually the opposite of stubborn abdominal fat - in the sense that for most people it is the first people from where fat disappears.

On the other hand, people who already have thin faces actually do not want to lose fat off their face. During my weight loss, i was often criticized that i was getting too lean and looked emaciated, including in the face. As your body fat gets very low, some people really do start to look gaunt and the cheeks look "sucked in".

To minimize this gaunt look in an extremely lean body, one should keep fluid intake high and carb intake adequate as low carb diets have a diuretic effect. One should also also avoid over training, prolonged periods of very low calorie/low carb dieting, sleep deprivation and overall life stress, because these factors will probably add to the "tired" look in the face.

At the same time, i would suggest don't get mislead by people's comments and leave your goal unfinished. It's true that in quest for a ripped mid section, we might end up looking a lot leaner in the face, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle with lot of water intake may actually work for you in the longer run.

High Intensity Training

High Intensity Training is method of resistance training where by you put in a very high level of effort and performing relatively brief and infrequent workouts, as opposed to performing a higher volume and frequency of workouts with a comparatively low to moderate effort.


High Intensity Training or HIT follows the same fundamental principle of exercise that is to overload the body stimulating it to produce an increase in muscular strength. The difference between conventional exercise and HIT is that HIT involves an all-out effort with a heavy poundage till the point you cannot make even one single repetition. This is associated with momentary failure of muscle which helps in formation of new muscles.

As obvious, there is an inverse relationship between the poundages you lift and the number of repetitions you perform. Similarly, the more effort you put in your workout, the shorter it is before your muscle strength dies and stamina gives up. Stretching your body beyond this limit can only be counter productive.
High intensity training workouts typically last less than 45 minutes, and some "consolidation routines" may take fewer than 10 minutes to complete.
The appropriate volume of exercise varies significantly between individuals based on genetics, age, and lifestyle factors such as quality and amount of nutrition and rest. Athletes or trainees with physically demanding jobs or lifestyles must also balance their workout volume against the amount of other physically demanding activities they perform to avoid over training.

HIT involves training less often. The reason behind this theory is as you had put your muscle under a lot of stress in your previous workout, it needs time to recover. Putting it under tension again before it has properly recovered can lead to muscular pulls, cramps etc.

Most trainers recommend the use of a level of resistance which allows an exercise to be performed for between 30 and 90 seconds before momentary muscular failure occurs. The most popular example of this is the traditional Nautilus recommendation to perform 8 to 12 repetitions, lifting the weight in approximately 2 seconds, and lowering in approximately 4 seconds, which results in a set duration of approximately 48 to 72 seconds.

While performing HIT, training sessions should not be too frequent, possibly limiting to 3-4 sessions per week. Poundage should be such that number or repetitions are limited to 8-12 before muscle failure sets in. Since the number of sets are going to be less, try and perform slow controlled repetitions and have a full range of motion.

The idea again is to surprise the body. If you have been long following the traditional workout plan and not getting results, this program is worth giving a try. I can assure you the body is going to feel a lot more sore if the sets are done in a proper manner.




In words of Arthur Jones - "train harder, but train briefer" or "...train harder, but train less often".

FITNESS UNARMED

Just going through fitness websites i came across this interesting profile, Barb Guerra. A lady who lost both her arms while she was 2. However that hasn't stopped her from achieving what she is today. She can do almost everything a normal person can do with his/her hands. She has worked as an aerobic instructor and participated in many fitness competitions. This is something real to get motivated.





Sharing some videos and links that i found online.

BARB GUERRA

FITNESS UNARMED








even IMPOSSIBLE says I M POSSIBLE!!!

Ebooks

Some pointers to ebooks


TheWheyItIs!

POWER-TYPE STRENGTH TRAINING IN MIDDLE-AGED MEN AND WOMEN!

MAX-OT!

BICEP TRAINING

A nice video to train your biceps effectively. For biceps it is important to get the movement right.