Lessons from Personal Trainer
I took up some personal trainer lessons recently, 10 sessions or so, here are some things I learnt. I also have been playing and working out with other people and this brings together all the things I feel are points to ponder on.
I have always worked out, but usually do stuff I see other people do or ask around for ideas but usually applying my own logic, this time I am going for professional help.
My goals were
1) to be able to play better i.e. jump higher, run faster, hit stronger
2) look good, good enough to remove my shirt in public
3) lose some weight to decrease pressure on my knees and ankles
4) lose fat around abs and obliques
5) learn about this whole physical training, exercising, fat calorie etc
session 1: (just testing)
found out I had 19% body fat. height 6ft weight 190 pounds. 19% is average for guys, thought for athletes 10% is better.
your body becomes used to a certain routine, so to keep seeing results you have to change routine once in a while(2 months or so).
if you dont do a complete extension of the exersise you will only have strength till the part you complete and will be weak for the last part. sometimes I used to stop at a certain point in the movement.
work two things at the same time, dont do one, sit for a while, do another, rest, goto sleep, chat and have a drink. Keep the heart rate up, alternate quickly between two exercises.
stomach and obliques are first to come and last to go. filo. you might build your ab muscles, but you need tog et rid of the fat to make them show.
eat more frequently but less portions, if you eat big but far in betweeen body thinks its in a famine and starts storing as fat.
lose more fat in weight training than aerobics, as in aerobics a different class of foods is used up and also if you do weight body keeps working next few days healing those muscles.
better not work same muscle group on consecutive days, alternate muscle groups for best results.
Session 2:(upper body, 1 set will split upper body later)
two types of strength, endurance and short burst. if you do less reps of heavy weight it builds up short term strength for that one big push. more reps implies strength for longer period. difference between hammering a nail and pulling a trunk.
more reps gives better muscle definement.
good to work out with a spot as you usually go one step further than you would alone, use them.
dumbells are better than bars as they concentrate weight on the muscle you are working, a bar spreads it out, also dumbells have better movement and deliver a better workout.
do atleast 10-15 reps first time, and decrease it to 10 if you cant do so many.
usually chest and back is the weakest part for people, make sure you work those.
session 3:(lower body)
working out legs is very important, dont want to be a conifer. Once you get injured somewhere you will never be the same again, but you will have to build strength every where else to compensate. If you get used to braces you might have to wear them the rest of the life. Its better to build strength than just use braces, sometimes braces might inhibit strength development. Recovery is always slow, dont rush it. Always maintain proper form, else you could hurt yourself.
session 4
keep changing stuff, make small changes in the routine, try doing more reps with a lesser weight for more burn, or less reps with more weight to build strength, add a twist to the end position, vary things, make it more interesting and challenge yourself.
form is very very important.
always do cardio after weights, lifting weights uses up more carbs, which is the more immediate source of energy, hence dont waste it on cardio, and after doing weights do cardio you will lose more weight that way.
allow time for muscle tears to heal, so give a 24-48 hour gap between working the same muscle strenuously.
the steam room is good, but there are conflicting thoughts to doing steam room after weights, most players ice after game or workout to decrease blood supply, thus decreasing chance of inflamation. steam room causes more blood to flow into different areas in the body, thus increasing the supply of nutrients, quicker healing but might cause inflamation. Never do steam room if you are tired or exhausted as it might put strain on the heart.
use same weights on both sides, its bad to use different weights just because one hand is stronger than the other.
session 5 (upper body)
different people have different recovery periods, some people lift weights one day and are tight rest of the week, some people 24-48 hrs thats general idea is to rest the muscle group for 24-48 hrs to allow it to recover before working it out again. In my case strangely I need about 30 mins, however much I lift, after 30 mins I am loose and ready to go again.
Change the order of the routine, do it backwards, switch the coupling between exercises.
To do exercises properly you need to strengthen all parts of your body, if your back isnt strong enough you want be able to do crunches properly, as it cannot do its bit in the exercise and that will pain.
when in pain stop, there is no glory in going further, you have the rest of your life to get where you want to be, an injury only sets you back.
abs come quick and go very slow, only way to get good abs is the shave the fat away by general exercise, just doing ab axercises wont help as this only builds the muscles inside leaving the fat outside. you have to do both. Diet is also important.
Session 6 (upper body)
ever try bending a cold piece of plastic, it will break, but if you warm it up a little bit it will bend, same with your body, warm up a little before you stretch. Stretching is important, especially if you want to retain flexibility. Stretch all times during the day. During routine do dynamic stretches (quick movements side to side) and also short duration stretches. After routine spend some time doing long stretches (count upto 15 or more).
do burn exercises during your routine, i.e. no or min weights but quick and many reps.
take sips of water to replace water lost during workout, dont gulp down a gallon as it upsets stomach, same after playing.
As you do weights, muscles are torn, and blood accumalates there to fix it, hence the stiffness, more protein diet helps repare muscles faster.
Session 7
you work muscle groups in tandem, i.e., there is always a primary muscle and a secondary muscle. When you are working your chest you also work your triceps, and when you work your back you are also working your biceps. You can play around with that theory to touch all muscles.
To lose weight cardio is the best thing, but here also you need to keep switching things around, for me though sports is the best way, playing exercises more parts of your body than runningg etc, though running, swimming etc help you maintain a more constant heart rate.
When you want to spike a volleyball, smash a sixer or kick a football, even though the primary muscle is your hand or leg the base of the power comes from your abs, lower back, basically your torso, to get a good swing you need a good torso, work on that and it will help you all round. By torso I mean, abs, back, hip joint, arm socket and chest.
Remember form is everything. Especially when playing.
Warm up all muscles before playing otherwise you will not get your form, first warm up then stretch and then play.
Sessions 8-10
I twistede my ankle badly and was out for a month and then I cought the flu and was out another month and a half, together with the holiday stuffing and partying I lost 10 pounds, became week and was back at square -10 so let it starts again
when coming back from a lay off, go easy, dont kill yourself, youa re tempted to start where you left off, even decrease reps to keep the weight up, dont do that, you have to slowly build back the strength
eating healthy is everything
when I checked my body fat index after my illness, it was still 19%, but I had lost 10-12 pounds. Its not important how much you weight, but rather how much fat you have in your body. Its better to be 200 pounds with 10% body fat, than 100 pounds with 30% body fat
When you start fresh, do a little bit of everything everyday. When the frequency of working out is good then you can target one muscle group each day, but that is difficult to maintain when you skip days etc.
Burning fat is a overall underlying process, jsut doing abs will not burn fat, its like any other muscle, if it is covered by fat tough luck, you have to burn the fat
try isolating the muscle/side when you exercise, you will actually know how strong is. Usually when ever you do something your whole body compensates for the work so you might now jsut exercising the one muscle, so islating the right hand or leg or back when you do an exercise helps push that muscle completly.
I have always worked out, but usually do stuff I see other people do or ask around for ideas but usually applying my own logic, this time I am going for professional help.
My goals were
1) to be able to play better i.e. jump higher, run faster, hit stronger
2) look good, good enough to remove my shirt in public
3) lose some weight to decrease pressure on my knees and ankles
4) lose fat around abs and obliques
5) learn about this whole physical training, exercising, fat calorie etc
session 1: (just testing)
found out I had 19% body fat. height 6ft weight 190 pounds. 19% is average for guys, thought for athletes 10% is better.
your body becomes used to a certain routine, so to keep seeing results you have to change routine once in a while(2 months or so).
if you dont do a complete extension of the exersise you will only have strength till the part you complete and will be weak for the last part. sometimes I used to stop at a certain point in the movement.
work two things at the same time, dont do one, sit for a while, do another, rest, goto sleep, chat and have a drink. Keep the heart rate up, alternate quickly between two exercises.
stomach and obliques are first to come and last to go. filo. you might build your ab muscles, but you need tog et rid of the fat to make them show.
eat more frequently but less portions, if you eat big but far in betweeen body thinks its in a famine and starts storing as fat.
lose more fat in weight training than aerobics, as in aerobics a different class of foods is used up and also if you do weight body keeps working next few days healing those muscles.
better not work same muscle group on consecutive days, alternate muscle groups for best results.
Session 2:(upper body, 1 set will split upper body later)
two types of strength, endurance and short burst. if you do less reps of heavy weight it builds up short term strength for that one big push. more reps implies strength for longer period. difference between hammering a nail and pulling a trunk.
more reps gives better muscle definement.
good to work out with a spot as you usually go one step further than you would alone, use them.
dumbells are better than bars as they concentrate weight on the muscle you are working, a bar spreads it out, also dumbells have better movement and deliver a better workout.
do atleast 10-15 reps first time, and decrease it to 10 if you cant do so many.
usually chest and back is the weakest part for people, make sure you work those.
session 3:(lower body)
working out legs is very important, dont want to be a conifer. Once you get injured somewhere you will never be the same again, but you will have to build strength every where else to compensate. If you get used to braces you might have to wear them the rest of the life. Its better to build strength than just use braces, sometimes braces might inhibit strength development. Recovery is always slow, dont rush it. Always maintain proper form, else you could hurt yourself.
session 4
keep changing stuff, make small changes in the routine, try doing more reps with a lesser weight for more burn, or less reps with more weight to build strength, add a twist to the end position, vary things, make it more interesting and challenge yourself.
form is very very important.
always do cardio after weights, lifting weights uses up more carbs, which is the more immediate source of energy, hence dont waste it on cardio, and after doing weights do cardio you will lose more weight that way.
allow time for muscle tears to heal, so give a 24-48 hour gap between working the same muscle strenuously.
the steam room is good, but there are conflicting thoughts to doing steam room after weights, most players ice after game or workout to decrease blood supply, thus decreasing chance of inflamation. steam room causes more blood to flow into different areas in the body, thus increasing the supply of nutrients, quicker healing but might cause inflamation. Never do steam room if you are tired or exhausted as it might put strain on the heart.
use same weights on both sides, its bad to use different weights just because one hand is stronger than the other.
session 5 (upper body)
different people have different recovery periods, some people lift weights one day and are tight rest of the week, some people 24-48 hrs thats general idea is to rest the muscle group for 24-48 hrs to allow it to recover before working it out again. In my case strangely I need about 30 mins, however much I lift, after 30 mins I am loose and ready to go again.
Change the order of the routine, do it backwards, switch the coupling between exercises.
To do exercises properly you need to strengthen all parts of your body, if your back isnt strong enough you want be able to do crunches properly, as it cannot do its bit in the exercise and that will pain.
when in pain stop, there is no glory in going further, you have the rest of your life to get where you want to be, an injury only sets you back.
abs come quick and go very slow, only way to get good abs is the shave the fat away by general exercise, just doing ab axercises wont help as this only builds the muscles inside leaving the fat outside. you have to do both. Diet is also important.
Session 6 (upper body)
ever try bending a cold piece of plastic, it will break, but if you warm it up a little bit it will bend, same with your body, warm up a little before you stretch. Stretching is important, especially if you want to retain flexibility. Stretch all times during the day. During routine do dynamic stretches (quick movements side to side) and also short duration stretches. After routine spend some time doing long stretches (count upto 15 or more).
do burn exercises during your routine, i.e. no or min weights but quick and many reps.
take sips of water to replace water lost during workout, dont gulp down a gallon as it upsets stomach, same after playing.
As you do weights, muscles are torn, and blood accumalates there to fix it, hence the stiffness, more protein diet helps repare muscles faster.
Session 7
you work muscle groups in tandem, i.e., there is always a primary muscle and a secondary muscle. When you are working your chest you also work your triceps, and when you work your back you are also working your biceps. You can play around with that theory to touch all muscles.
To lose weight cardio is the best thing, but here also you need to keep switching things around, for me though sports is the best way, playing exercises more parts of your body than runningg etc, though running, swimming etc help you maintain a more constant heart rate.
When you want to spike a volleyball, smash a sixer or kick a football, even though the primary muscle is your hand or leg the base of the power comes from your abs, lower back, basically your torso, to get a good swing you need a good torso, work on that and it will help you all round. By torso I mean, abs, back, hip joint, arm socket and chest.
Remember form is everything. Especially when playing.
Warm up all muscles before playing otherwise you will not get your form, first warm up then stretch and then play.
Sessions 8-10
I twistede my ankle badly and was out for a month and then I cought the flu and was out another month and a half, together with the holiday stuffing and partying I lost 10 pounds, became week and was back at square -10 so let it starts again
when coming back from a lay off, go easy, dont kill yourself, youa re tempted to start where you left off, even decrease reps to keep the weight up, dont do that, you have to slowly build back the strength
eating healthy is everything
when I checked my body fat index after my illness, it was still 19%, but I had lost 10-12 pounds. Its not important how much you weight, but rather how much fat you have in your body. Its better to be 200 pounds with 10% body fat, than 100 pounds with 30% body fat
When you start fresh, do a little bit of everything everyday. When the frequency of working out is good then you can target one muscle group each day, but that is difficult to maintain when you skip days etc.
Burning fat is a overall underlying process, jsut doing abs will not burn fat, its like any other muscle, if it is covered by fat tough luck, you have to burn the fat
try isolating the muscle/side when you exercise, you will actually know how strong is. Usually when ever you do something your whole body compensates for the work so you might now jsut exercising the one muscle, so islating the right hand or leg or back when you do an exercise helps push that muscle completly.
posted by adarsh adarsh at 12:30 AM
1 Comments:
That must be some personal trainer you have ; )
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