Posts Tagged ‘Muscles’

PostHeaderIcon 2 Superior Runner’s Strength Exercises!



Muscle strengthening exercises for runners are an absolute must if you intend on being competitive. Whether or not you run for competition or recreation you cannot expect to do well and prolong your abilities without the implementation of smart and effective strength training. Check out the following 2 strength exercises I have included here for your running performance.

Best Exercises For Runners!

1. Kettlebell Swings: Kettlebell swings are a tremendous strength endurance lift that are great for enhancing your running ability. When it comes to the act of running you must have a strong performing lower body with strong muscles all along your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, hips, back, and calves). These are the muscles that are essential for your running performance and running strength workouts.

This is why kettlebell swings are so effective. This single exercise implements the use of all of these muscles I just mentioned and this is why it is so imperative for the task of running. To execute this lift you will need the availability of at least a single bell of moderate resistance. The exercise is done by you having to swing the bell from between your legs up to at least chest level like a pendulum. The drill is executed by you having to engage your hip and knee joints into a state of constant flexion and extension. After only a few reps of this dynamic drill you will understand why this is such a valuable muscle strengthening exercise for your running program.

2. Kettlebell Suitcase Dead Lifts: The kettlebell suitcase dead lift is an exercise that looks just like the name describes. For this particular exercise you will need the availability of at least a single bell of moderate to heavy intensity. To execute this drill you will want to stand with your feet at about shoulder width distance apart in length. Next, you will want to set the bell down beside your foot just outside of your ankle. From here you are going to squat down and grab the bell beside you in order to pick it up off of the ground like a suitcase, just like the name describes.

As you pick the bell up off of the one side you will want to try not to lean or favor the loaded side. The resistance is offset for eliminating the tendency of your stronger side to compensate for your weaker side. This is a great way to optimize your strength on each side independently. This is a tremendous strength exercise for your legs. You can also vary the lift by performing it with a pair of bells.

If you haven’t already started to implement these and other kettlebell strengthening exercises like these for your running performance then you are only holding back your progress. Take the time to learn more by accessing more of my articles on the matter for free. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart!

PostHeaderIcon Creative Strength – 2 Exercises You Can Practice to Get Huge Upper-Body Strength Without Equipment!



In order for you to make the big gains in strength without the use of any equipment you must be creative with your strength. In other words, you have to know how to distribute your body-weight to achieve optimal gains in your upper-body strength. Permit yourself a minute to learn the following 2 push up variations so you can gain ultimate upper-body power.

1. Dive Bomber Push-Ups: This is a very tough movement for someone that isn’t use to the certain movements and tensing of the muscles involved. It is a very different style of push-up that manipulates many muscles throughout its complex dynamic. To start this exercise you will want to get into the proper upright position. To do this you will want to place your hands on the ground about shoulder width distance apart in length. The next part is very important. You will want to have your feet slightly wider than shoulder width distance apart in length with your hips (or rear) pointing to the sky. Your knees should pretty much be straight (but can be slightly bent).

Basically your body should be forming the shape of an upside down “V”. From here you begin the push-up. Slowly descend by bending your arms moving your head and chest towards the ground. You want to “swoop” down and just barely scrub your chest to the ground finishing the movement with a bent or arched back. Now this is where is gets even more intense. Next you want to simply reverse the process. Swoop back just touching your chest to the ground and pushing your body up with your hips and butt pointing back to the sky. Now you are back to the start position. Repeat each rep in succession with flawless technique. Watch your push up strength explode.

2. Elevated Feet Push-Ups: This drill is very simple as far as the technique that is involved, but the exercise itself is intense. To begin, you will want to get a sturdy bench or chair of some kind. From here you will want to get into a normal upright push-up position. The only difference though is that once you get into the normal push-up position place your feet on the chair or bench that you have gotten for this drill. Now simply execute the desired number of push-ups. You will find that this drill is much more intense because of the shift and distribution of your body-weight to your upper-body. You will find that you will develop significantly more core strength and overall power from this drill.

PostHeaderIcon Strength Training is All in the Mind



What is strength training?

Strength training is performing exercises with the intention of making your muscles stronger. These exercises generally take the form of performing a movement against a resistance, for example your bodyweight or free weights.

How strength training is different to bodybuilding

Bodybuilding and strength training are often mistakenly thought of as being the same thing because they use similar techniques, but there are some key differences in the training methods, the end results and most importantly, the primary aim. In bodybuilding, there is one goal: aesthetics. The aim is to increase the size, definition and symmetry of muscles to build an impressively muscular physique. Bodybuilders increase in strength as they train, but this is only a side effect of their training. In strength training, the main aim is to increase the strength of the muscles. Strength training will also tend to increase the size of the muscles, but not to anywhere near the same extent as bodybuilding.

Factors affecting strength

In essence, strength is a measure of the ability of a muscle to exert a force against a resistance. Although the size of a muscle is often related to its strength, one does not always follow the other. It is possible to massively increase your strength without gaining much, if any, muscle mass and it is also possible to increase the size of your muscles without gaining much strength. Increasing muscle mass will increase your strength because you will have more muscle fibres to exert a force. However, when you lift a weight, you never actually use all the available muscle fibres at the same time. By learning to increase the number you use, you can increase your strength without increasing your muscle mass. The number of fibres activated in the muscle depends on the signal that they receive from the brain. When training specifically to gain strength, your nervous system will learn to activate a greater proportion of the muscle fibres, which increases your strength.

Training the brain

If you want to get stronger, you need to focus on the nervous system because it is this that has a greater influence on your strength than anything else. Unsurprisingly, the best way to train your nervous system is to lift heavy weights. Increasing your strength is primarily about training the connection between your mind and your muscles. By exerting large forces to lift heavy weights, your nervous system will learn to adapt to them. You need to be lifting weights such that you can only manage between two to five repetitions per set. Any more than this and the weight isn’t heavy enough. Training frequency also has a big effect. For maximum strength gains you need to train regularly and often.

Most bodybuilding routines train each body part only once per week to allow the muscles to fully recover. Strength training taxes the muscles in a different way so the recovery period needed is not so long; it is primarily the nervous system that is being trained. You should be aiming to train each body part around twice a week. Strength training workouts should be short, but intense. You should not be training to failure. Training to failure will increase the time needed to recover, which will not help you gain strength. Choosing the right exercises is also important for building strength. The most effective forms of exercise for strength are heavy compound lifts and bodyweight exercises. For example, barbell squats and pull-ups.

Summary

You can build up your muscles all you want, but if you aren’t focused on the right exercises, your nervous system won’t adapt and you won’t get stronger. Strength Training is all in the mind.

PostHeaderIcon 2 Intense Core Exercises For Super Human Strength!



If you are looking for an intense muscle building workout that will get you a drastic increase in your strength and total body power then you have got to apply the following 2 core exercises that I have included here. Intense core exercises are the only way you can significantly increase your body’s strength from head to toe. Check out the 2 that I have included here for you!

Intense Core Exercises For Super Human Strength!

1. Kettlebell Get Ups or Turkish Get Ups: Well when I say super human I may not mean strength like Super Man or the Incredible Hulk, but it can be relatively significant to your current level of body strength. If you want to look at that way then kettlebell get ups are the way for you to go.

The object of the get up is to start by lying on the ground with the kettlebell lifted up above your head with your arm perpendicular to the ground. From here you are to stand up to your feet and return back to the lying position all while keeping the kettlebell above your head and your arm perpendicular to the ground the entire time. This lift is very dynamic and engages your entire core and body by forcing you to stabilize and control the weight the entire time. This is a slow tension type of lift because it requires you to maintain the constant tension of your muscles while having to support the kettlebell throughout the entire lift. This is one extraordinary core strength lift for you to drastically improve your current level of strength and mobility.

2. Dual Kettlebell Thrusters: Dual kettlebell thrusters are a great exercise for stimulating your body’s nervous system and propelling your strength up to the next level. For this exercise you will need the availability of a pair of kettlebells of equal weight and moderate intensity.

Place the kettlebells on the ground between your feet with your stance slightly wider than shoulder width. From here simply clean and rack the bells to your chest. Next, perform a front squat lowering yourself to a depth so that your elbows touch the insides of your knees. Upon the ascent lock out and press the bells above your head. Lower the bells back to the racked position and immediately go into the next squat. Keep repeating this process in a continuous and constant motion until you have completed your designated number of reps. This is one intense muscle and core strengthening workout!

If you haven’t already started to included kettlebell get ups and thrusters into your intense core workouts then you are missing out. Feel free to access the rest of my articles on the subject to learn more. Remember that most anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart!

PostHeaderIcon The Best Exercise for Your Upper Body Strength and Shape



If you take a look at what makes athletes different from the rest of us physically, it is their powerful upper body that usually makes them stand out. Specifically, they have very strong shoulders which give them a great build. This can be very attractive to women because most women like a man with strong shoulders. There are many exercises that can enhance strong shoulders so that you can look great as well. If you learn even one of these exercises and use a product such as GenF20 which is a human growth hormone then you can get these strong powerful shoulders in no time.

One of the best exercises is the lateral raises. Since the back is made up of three sections, the way to get the best shoulders is by working on the main section or the lateral. These exercises can be done either by sitting or standing, so whichever way you feel more comfortable is best for you. You want to keep in mind that you need slow and deliberate motions to get the most out of this exercise. That means you need to avoid jerking the weights up and down so that you are targeting your muscles and really working them.

You start by holding a dumbbell in each hand with your knees slight bent. Your feet should be at least a shoulder width apart and you should hold your back up straight without bending over. You should choose a weight that is a little below what you normally can hold and start with a warm up set if this is your first time doing this exercise. You hold the weights in front of you with your arms straight down, with the weights in front of your pelvis area.

Take a deep breath and then raise the weights up to either side of your body. You need to keep the backs of the weights up a little higher than the fronts by slightly twisting your wrists as you life. Then you bring the weights up to a bit above your shoulder level and then hold it for a few seconds once you reach the top. You should look like the letter ‘T’ if you are in the right position. When you are done holding you can lower the weights with a controlled and slow motion, breathing out on the way down. Take a second break once you are down at the bottom before lifting again. You should do 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

If you do this consistently then pretty soon your body will be showing signs of powerful shoulders and a strong back. If you want results quicker then you may want to consider a Human Growth Hormone releaser which energizes your workout routine. It is this human growth hormone releaser that helps you to replenish the hormones that you have lost which help to build your muscles and make you stronger just as you were when you were younger. Put both the exercise and the supplement together and in no time at all you will be the person that all of the woman look at with excitement.

PostHeaderIcon The Value of Core Strength Exercises



Any fitness schedule should include a decent portion of core strength exercises. The first goal people usually have in mind when they begin working towards a stronger core is their desire to develop a set of rock hard abs. However, your body’s core has a much larger role in the overall functionality of your body than you probably realize. The next question becomes trying to figure out what the best core strength exercises are. They mostly encompass exercises designed to work on your back, sides and abdominals. Core exercises primarily are used to straighten the body’s overall line.

Ab Wheel: This is one of the simplest pieces of equipment available, yet is also one of the most effective.

Back Bridges: Back bridges are great for working the muscles in your back, while also working as a tool to help you avoid the risk of a back injury. Core strength exercises don’t have to mean just body weight exercises. There are many movements associated with weightlifting that can aid in improving your core strength.

Renegade Rows: These are one of the most demanding moves and require a people to perform dumbbell rows with one arm while they are in a standard pushup position.

Deadlift: The most important aspect of performing a deadlift is to keep the proper form, as this is a program that lends itself to injury. The best way to perform a deadlift is to stand up completely straight while lifting a large amount of weight from the floor. This is a workout that uses the entire body, while requiring the arms, backs, legs, and grip strength.

Front or Goblet Squats: A squat performed while lifting a weighted dumbbell in the front of yourself is called a goblet squat. A front squat is where a person holds a barbell at the shoulder level, and then performs the squat. These are both great core strength exercises that are sure to help you build a stronger core.

Making core strength exercises a part of your workout routine will have you well on your way to better fitness. There is a high likelihood that you may already be using the core muscles in your body in any of your weight lifting regimens. Even simple day to day activities allow you to utilize your core muscle groups. With that being said; the best core strength exercises are a few that we have already talked about here. These are the best tactics for focusing on the muscle groups in your back and midsection. They will not only increase your strength, but help you in preventing an injury of any sort.

Related Links