There is nothing more frustrating than starting a weightlifting program, working hard, and still not seeing the results you are after. It can feel like you’re really wasting your time.
But before you give up on your fitness goals, take a look at what changes you may need to make to continue working toward better health and wellness.
Maybe you are. Struggles with feeling bored When you’re doing your dumbbell exercise routine, you’ll find yourself resting longer.
Or maybe you Not really challenging yourself enough.or not performing the exercises with proper form, thus missing out on the most effective strength training exercises.
Now is the time to stop making excuses and confront whatever is holding you back from achieving your goals. The key to success is always consistency and being open to learning and improving your technique and form.
1. Learn proper weight lifting form.
With proper weight lifting form, you can actually get better results from an effective strength training workout.
In this video, you will learn:
- Avoid speed: Swinging or bouncing weights only works your joints more than your muscles. Control your weight.
- Focus on stability: Don’t let weight change your shape.
- Use full range of motion: Make sure you’re not unintentionally “shortening” the reps. It’s also good to go through a full range of motion from the top to bottom position to develop better flexibility.
- Control descent: Make sure you land in each movement with complete control. It will teach you how to maintain proper form and how to use the descent phase (eccentric) to make the exercise harder by simply slowing it down!
Nice to know:
What are the eccentric and concentric phases of a weight lifting movement?
Eccentricity is lowering the weight, lengthening and stretching the muscles while the resistance or weight remains.
Concentric is when you are lifting a weight and contracting the muscle.
Muscles actually work harder when they are being stretched.this is why slowing down the eccentric phase (eg counting down 3-4 seconds and contracting faster) can increase muscle and strength gains.
See how it’s done:
2. Make exercise harder with limited weights
Not having access to different amounts of weight shouldn’t stop you from doing your own strength training exercises. In this video, you’ll learn how to get the most out of your weight.
It’s best to use a weight that allows you to perform all of your exercises correctly, adding resistance.
- Losing weight slowly: Focus on losing weight or moving in a controlled manner ( eccentric phase) to increase muscle load, then quickly back up the weight or movement. Start with a 3-4 second count as you lower yourself, then explode.
- 1.5 Repetition: Use full range of motion + an additional half rep for each recommended rep.
- Adding a hold: Hold the bottom position for 2-3 seconds for each rep.
- Adding pulses: Pulse up and down with control, attempting 2-3 pulses or more.
See how it’s done:
Strength training with resistance bands
If you don’t have access to weights, resistance bands are a great option for strength training exercises. We suggest
- Getting a full set of looped bands and some extra mini bands: The more resistance bands you have, the better results you can get. If you’re limited to only 1-2 bands, you can’t ensure the proper progressive overload that makes the exercises hard, strong, and muscular.
- Looking for bands that are labeled with specific loads.: Resistance bands are often either labeled in kilograms or arranged by color. In general, thinner bands provide less resistance, and thicker ones more.
- Use the same tips for increasing the load with bands as you would with weights: Slow down eccentric Add phases, pulses, hold at the bottom of the rep, add half reps, and use the heaviest band you can while maintaining proper form.
Idea:
Here’s a great way to attach a resistance band to your door without buying an extra hook:
Involve your core in all strength training exercises.
When doing weight lifting exercises, it’s important to remember to engage your core, which helps keep you in good form and alignment and adds more resistance to your strength-training workout.
Learn how to add your cover.
- Focus on your breath: Avoid holding your breath while exercising. Breathe through the movements that require more effort, and breathe through the descent or reset the movement.
- Spreading tension throughout the body: The most effective exercises will activate muscles throughout the body. Use control, stability, and tension throughout the body—including the core—when performing each exercise.
- Don’t suck in your abs: The technique on how to engage your core is to inhale, brace, and pull the belly toward the spine to feel the tension without letting the air out.
- Exercise measurement and modification: If you can’t feel your core working in some core exercises, they may be too hard – causing your other muscles to overwork. Instead, choose a more accessible version and build up to a harder version of the exercise as your strength increases.
See how it’s done:
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