Many
people make the mistake of adding more exercises and sets to
their program to make it harder. To increase intensity, do not
look for ways to do more exercise, look for ways to do the same
or even less, by efficiency. Try to increase the intensity and
shorten your workout time by using the following methods.
1.
Make sure exercise is convenient: Getting to your exercise equipment
should be easy and convenient. If you have to drive a half an
hour to get to your gym, you will view working out as a chore.
If you spend more time traveling to the gym than you do in the
gym, you might want to consider a program that you can do in
your home. Muscles do not care where the resistance comes from--they
are going to respond. Resistance can be from body weight (push-ups),
Thera-bandŽ (rubber resistance), free weights, machines, or
a combination of any of these.
2.
Work several muscles in one exercise: Another way to fit weightlifting
into your busy schedule is to choose exercises that work several
major muscle groups at the same time. Squats or the Leg Press
(you can find the instructions and video demonstrations for
these and many other exercises on my site) works the quadriceps,
hamstrings, buttocks, and calves. Essentially, you will be training
four muscle groups at the same time with these exercises.
3.
Limit resting time: Skip the usual minute or so of resting time
between exercises. You can do this by doing Supersets, which
involves doing two or more successive exercises for a given
muscle group without rest in between. This can be done one of
two ways: The first is to do two or more exercises in a row
for the same muscle group without any rest in between. For example,
do a set of the Shoulder Presses and follow them immediately
with a set of Lateral Raises. This saves time and forces a lot
more blood into the shoulders and provides a more intense and
effective training stimulus for the shoulder muscles.
The
second way to do supersets is to train two opposing muscle groups
without any rest in between. You can use this superset style
of training for two different muscle groups, but only if they
have an agonist/antagonist relationship with each other. In
other words, on any given lift one muscle is contracting and
the other muscle is relaxing (such as the biceps and triceps
when performing a biceps curl). Choose muscle groups that are
physically close together such as biceps and triceps, or chest
and back, or quadriceps and hamstrings.
4.
Have alternate exercises for each muscle group: This is especially
important for those who are pressed for time. Often there will
be someone working on the piece of equipment you want to use.
You should always have a back-up plan, an alternate exercise
that trains the same muscle group.
I
hope you found this information helpful. Your greatest challenge
is not learning new exercises or the proper technique; it's
not learning how many sets or reps to do or how much weight
to use. Nor is it deciding when or how to change your routine.
The greatest challenge facing you at this moment is deciding
whether you are willing to take action and make time for yourself
and make strength training a priority.
When
you begin achieving great results, the excitement and fun you
experience will make the change and time you've spent well worth
the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck: I hope you
enjoy all the wonderful benefits of an effective strength training
program.
Chad Tackett
is President of Global Health & Fitness. Learn how you
can have your own personal online trainer, dietician and motivator
at http://www.global-fitness.com
