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Strength isn't just for the boys in the gym. It's an essential component of a woman's quest for a leaner, attractive figure and optimized overall wellness. Your goal may be to lose fat, but you're only going to achieve that result if you have the muscle required to burn it. And building muscle is a product of maximized output. In this way, fitness correlates directly to output. If your capacity for work is limited by lack of strength, your rewards will be correspondingly small.
All of which is to say, you're never going to get anywhere with that pink, vinyl-covered, 3-pound dumbbell. So let's get strong!
Create Torque
Before we initiate
any movement our nervous system sets out to accomplish
two goals: find balance and protect the spine. Without the stability
that these two functions promote, our brain enacts its governor
function, limiting the neural drive to our muscles and killing power
output. That's what makes torque so important; creating torque at the
hips and shoulders generates balance and fashions tension that protects
the spine.
Before starting any lift (curl, bench, row, etc.), create torque at the hips by "screwing" the feet
into the ground with external rotation. No matter the exercise, "break
the bar" with the hands to create external torque at the
shoulders.
Breathe Well
Without exaggerating,
I'll state that I have to coach every client on breathing. It's the
most automated bodily process and everyone messes it up. Before this
gets confusing, let me clarify. The problem isn't getting the air in and
back out again. Everyone seems to do that without any hiccups. The
problem is where the air goes when it enters the
body.
Most people shoulder breathe. Rather than
sending air into the lower lobes of their lungs, and subsequently
filling their belly with air, they elevate their shoulders and breathe
shallowly. This elicits a stress response, resulting in the unnecessary
use of adrenaline that puts a high load on the autonomic nervous system.
Remember the CNS governor we talked about in the previous tip? Well,
that comes into play here too.
Deep belly breaths
activate the diaphragm and the muscles of the pelvic floor. When these
muscles activate it takes your brain off the brakes and puts your
neurons on the gas. So to
keep
your stress levels low, and to put more weight on the bar,
get your air low and into your belly.
Build the Deadlift Before the
Squat
Now it's time to join the big boys! If you've always felt the squat machine or the deadlift area in the free weights section of your gym were the province of manly men, it's time to reconsider. Your quads and glutes and calves are the foundation upon which a strong and sturdy (and shapely) figure reside. If you're a little shy about facing the long bar (or piling weights on the squat machine) get a partner or trainer to help you. Try to start at a weight that's comfortable for you (see Tip #4). And use the deadlift to enhance your squat.
Many proclaim with vigor the squat is the king of
all lifts. An equal sum hold the deadlift as their champion. It's a
futile war.
In reality, it's inconsequential. Both
build muscle and strength at fantastic rates when programmed well.
Sequencing, however, is of some consequence. A strong squat rests
solidly on a strong posterior chain. The bricks and mortar that solidify
the posterior chain are laid by the deadlift.
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Most
often, women squat poorly because they don't have the hamstrings,
glutes, spinal erectors and lats to support the movement. A powerful
squat rests on a pillar of posterior chain. Build the pillar first with
deadlifting while working on squatting skill.
Start Too Light
We're all
overzealous. We want progress and we want it fast. In the past this
drove me to exercise the logic that more weight is always better. Keep
stacking plates on; if the bar moves it's not too heavy. Out of all the
points I'll make in this article, this is the most important. It's
always better to start too light and stay too
light.
Training with near max weights all of the time
puts a severe load on the central nervous system--one that's hard to
recover from. I
learned this lesson the hard way in 2010 when I decided it would be a
great idea to pull 440 for 10 reps. I was only supposed to pull it for
three. When in doubt, leave a few reps in the tank and move the weight
fast. You'll live to train another day.
Pick One Goal
A lot of women clients tell
me that they want to be slim and slender. I get it. Hey, that's what we all want. Well, I like to toss the word strong
somewhere in the sentence, too.
Because it takes muscle to burn fat.
Training becomes a problem when too many goals are
worked towards concurrently. I'm not saying that human physiology isn't
capable of the task; but human psychology is an issue.
It's the common story of too many pokers in the
fire. Trying to accomplish everything at once won't accomplish anything;
focus is lost and a discouraging view waits in the mirror. Narrow the
goal list down and set priorities.
I'll tell you,
though, I believe there is a progression that sets lifters up for
success.
Start by setting strength goals and
accomplishing them. Make sure the weights seem slightly unreasonable
when you're viewing them on paper. Once the strength goals are
accomplished, the fat will flee. Trust me. You'll have the base of strength necessary
get lean and look great. Finish with body
comp goals; they take the most dedication and
discipline.
You're climbing a ladder. There's no
sense in worrying about the second rung if you haven't taken care of
business on the first.
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Use Recovery Methods
Exercising productively
requires active recovery planning. It starts with sound nutrition and
sleep, but there are a few more elements that are necessary for
allostasis -- the process of adaptation. Here's my short
list:
-
Epsom salt baths: The
magnesium promotes muscle relaxation and healthy function. The warmth
feels nice.
-
Ice baths: Cold works too. The cold
water promotes microtrauma healing and will promote blood flow after
you're done with tubbing. Water temperatures in the fifties work well
and it only takes five to ten minutes. It may seem like an eternity once
you're sitting in frigid water; but trust me, you'll go
numb.
-
Contrast showers: If hot and cold work well on
their own, they must work well together. The process is simple: turn
the water up as warm as you can stand it for a minute and contrast that
with as cold as you can stand it for a minute. Do this for five
cycles-ten total minutes. Cold water pushes blood out of the muscles-the
hot water that follows immediately after rushes oxygen and nutrients
into the muscles.
Supplement Suggestions
It's no secret that getting stronger requires appropriate nutritional support for your muscles. An excellent option for women is
ProSource's Vectron. Vectron contains Prolibra, a weight-management system that
has been validated in independent clinical testing. Indeed, in a
randomized, double-blind, 12-week clinical trial published in the
Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism,
test subjects showed significant improvements in the ratio of lean mass
to fat while taking just 24.4 grams of Prolibra per day compared to a
control group taking an isocaloric placebo.. The subjects taking
Prolibra retained twice as much lean muscle with 79% fat loss compared
to the control group at 51% fat loss. Not too shabby!
Another supplement you might not think of too often is glutamine. Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that your body depletes rapidly during exercise. this is unfortunate because depleted glutamine stores in muscle tissue cause muscle recovery and growth to stall post-workout. So you're actually losing the gains you worked so hard to achieve! ProSource makes a potent and highly quality
Glutamine Powder that is well worth looking into, as well.
Conclusion
It's always the simple things
that make us better. Simple tips lead to simple training that's simply
productive.
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