Training Tips

Combination Movements

Are you in a hurry and need to get a lot of exercising done in a short amount of time? A good way to still get your exercise in without taking up as much time is to incorporate whole body combination movements in your workout. These will help the exerciser to work a large amount of their musculoskeletal system at once helping to increase heart rate, muscular integration, coordination, balance and stamina. The adjoining video shows a mid level exercise that is called by most a man maker and is basically a burped with a one arm row, bicep curl and press. This exercise can be done with either a dumbbell or kettle bell. Be sure that your stability is very good before moving on to the kettle bell.  Be sure that you are able to do each of these movements by themselves before you put them together. Also try this movement without weight before trying it with dumbbells.

*      Warming up before you exercise intensely helps you to jump higher, run faster, lift heavier and throw further. People warm up to bring in more muscle fibers to contract at the same time. It's called recruitment. Muscles are made of millions of individual fibers. When you contract a muscle for the first time, you use less than one percent of your muscle fibers. The second time you bring in more fibers, and you keep on increasing the number of muscle fibers used in each contraction for several minutes of using that muscle. Another reason warmed up muscles move faster and generate force more effectively than "cold" muscles is because the Viscosity (thickness) of the muscle protoplasm decreases, allowing the protein filaments (actin and myosin) which make up the muscle fibers to contract easily without resistance. This all allows someone to recruit more muscles faster which is exactly what we want to do during exercise

*      Improved Range of Motion - The range of motion around a joint is increased. The body does this by distributing lubrication around joints for easier movement and adjusts the levels of enzymes and hormones responsible for energy production, such as insulin, glucagon, catacholamines and cortisone. In other words, you "get your juices flowing."

*      Blood flow increases because higher temperatures cause vasodilation (opening) of the blood vessels. During warm-up, blood travels from the body's core to the working muscles. More blood means more oxygen and nutrients to fuel exercise, and efficient removal of metabolic by-products such as lactic acid. This allows you to be more efficient during your practice or game.

*      Mental Preparation - The warm-up is also a good time to mentally prepare for an event by clearing the mind, increasing focus, reviewing skills and strategy. Positive imagery can also relax the athlete and build concentration

December 14 - Tip of the week - Bridge Series- Building Core Strength

Bridge Series - Building Core Strength

The first step in developing a strong "core" is to build integrity throughout the whole trunk region through the use of static holds or bridging. Before moving onto fancy core strengthening exercises a good way to develop this integrity is to gradually build up your stability strength through the use of a prone, lateral and supine bridge. While in each of these positions try to activate as many muscles throughout your whole body at once thinking that you have a straight line going through your body all the way from the heals to the top of the head. Once you have developed the ability to hold each of these movements for over 2 minutes it is time to start moving on to more dynamic core movements. To get a better idea of how to perform these exercises watch the following video and then get to work!

December 7 -  Tip of the week Jump Rope Skill Series #1