WEIGHTLIFTING PART FIVE

WEIGHTLIFTING

PART FIVE

More things to consider when developing you program.

20) Hit your muscles from different angles. Don't get stuck on a single favorite exercise for a certain muscle or muscle group. Each exercise uses a little more or less of a particular muscle and more or less of others. The bench press is the ideal exercise for your chest but the best way to build a great chest is to also bench at different angles (say 30 degrees elevation, 60 degrees elevation and 90 degrees elevation which is a standing or military press).

21) Understand the concept of push and pull. A bench press is a push exercise. You are pushing the weight away from your body at a right angle. The corresponding pull exercise is a row. The bent-over row would be the exact opposite pull exercise. Incorporate both types of exercises in your program.

22) Think about the positive and negative parts of exercises. In the positive part of a curl you are bringing the bar or dumbbell up to your chest. In the negative part of the exercise, you are lowering the weight back to the starting position. The first part contracts the bicep and second extends it. Each part is important. In general, the pace of your lifts should be at least as slow in negative as positive. In the example above concerning the bench press and the bent-over row, the positive and the negative parts of the exercise are traded.

23) Almost any change in the way you do a lift changes how it effects your muscles. A seated concentration curl effects the muscles a little differently than a standing curl. Your brain decides which muscles to use to do a lift and in what percent to use them. Get in tuned to your body and try to feel what your body is doing to complete an exercise.