| FREQUENCY – How often one does their workouts. Workouts are divided into exercises for various muscle groups. Sometimes you will work the entire body in one workout, a FULL BODY WORKOUT. Other times, you’ll work half the body in one workout and the other half in another, a 2-DAY SPLIT. If you work 1/3 or 1/4 of your body in a given workout, you are employing a 3-DAY SPLIT or 4-DAY SPLIT. In each workout, you perform SETS of each exercise. SETS are made up of REPETITIONS or REPS. For example, you might perform 1 SET of 15 REPS of a given exercise. Or 3 SETS of 8 REPS. REST One must rest in between SETS of exercises so that the muscles can recover and ready themselves for the next SET. Typically a one minute rest is sufficient. If muscle growth is the goal, resting less than one minute will not allow for growth. When endurance is the goal, shorter rest periods may be employed. And when one is working with very heavy weights, a longer rest may be indicated. A workout is divided into exercises that target muscle groups or individual muscles. The best exercises for developing lean muscle mass are COMPOUND EXERCISES, defined as exercises which move multiple joints and work multiple muscle groups. A prime example is the SQUAT which requires movement at the hip, knee and ankle joints and works most of the muscle of the lower body. An example for the upper body would be the Bench Press, which uses the chest muscles (pectorals), the front of the shoulder (front deltoid), the back of the arm (triceps) and other smaller muscles. Because COMPOUND EXERCISES activate several muscle groups with one movement, they are more efficient than ISOLATION EXERCISES which only require the movement of one joint and the activation of one muscle or muscle group. An example of isolation exercises that correspond with the above two examples, would be the Seated Leg Press (quadriceps) and Chest Fly (pectorals). SUPERSETS These are two SETS of exercises employing two different muscle groups (usually opposite groups) done back-to-back without resting. For example, doing a SET of Chest Press (pectorals) followed immediately by a SET of Rows (trapezius/rhomboids). Because you are working two different muscle groups, you do not need to rest in between. Pairing exercises in this way increases endurance and saves time in longer workouts. COMPOUND SETS These are two sets done back-to-back without rest in which the same muscle groups are stimulated in different ways by first performing an ISOLOATION EXERCISE and then a COMPOUND EXERCISE. For example, we perform a Chest Fly (pectorals) to pre-fatigue the muscle group and then immediately do a Chest Press (pectorals, anterior deltoid, triceps), which calls in other muscles to help the primary mover. CIRCUITS Performing a group of exercises back-to-back without resting in between. TEMPO is the speed at which the exercises are performed. Each of 4 parts of the movement may be performed at a given speed. 1) The ECCENTRIC part of the movement (also called the NEGATIVE) involves the muscle lengthening or stretching. EX. Bench Press – As you lower the bar down toward your chest, the pectoral muscles are lengthening (or stretching is you go far enough down. 2) The HOLD at the point in the exercise where the muscles are under tension. EX. Bench Press – At the bottom of the movement where the pectoral muscles are under tension or stretched. 3) The CONCENTRIC part of the movement (also called the POSITIVE) involves the shortening or contracting of the muscle. EX. Bench Press – As you push the bar back up, the pectoral muscles are contracting and shortening. 4) The HOLD at the point in the exercise where the muscles are relaxed. EX. Bench Press – At the top of the movement where the pectoral muscles are relaxed (not under tension). You will see TEMPO expressed by 4 numbers, such as 1010. In the example of the Bench Press, you would lower the bar for two seconds, and raise it for one second, with no hold at the top or the bottom. If the prescribed TEMPO were 3120, you would lower the bar for three seconds, hold at the bottom for one second, raise it for 2 seconds, with no hold at the top of the movement. For our purposes, when no TEMPO is expressed, you will simply lower the bar for one second and raise it for one second, without a hold at either end. |
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| Exercise 101: Workout Basics |
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