The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (14 page)

HOW FAST SHOULD YOU LIFT THE WEIGHT?

This next section covers a fascinating topic that has caused debate among many people in the fitness industry: “Should I lift the weight fast? Should I lift the weight slow? Should I move the weight fast or slow on the positive (concentric) portion of the rep? Should I move fast or slow on the negative (eccentric) portion of the rep?” All of these are very good questions and should be researched. We have done the research and will now explain each one in detail.

We have found that slow lifting is usually only good for beginners who have never lifted a weight before. It helps them to learn and master the movement and prevents them from using bad exercise form. However, as you become more advanced, science and our own experience indicate that you should lift the weight as quickly as possible without sacrificing form and without involving momentum (jerking and bouncing of the weights). You create more force by lifting fast and therefore more muscle fibers need to be activated. By ensuring that you are not using momentum to help you move the weight, you can be sure that the force generated during the movement will be created solely by your muscles. This is what helps stimulate your muscles to grow creating the tone and shape that you desire. While some might believe that super slow lifting is beneficial because it is difficult to perform and painful, it is not the best way to stimulate muscle growth. Super-slow lifting accumulates too much lactic acid within your muscles and fatigues them before they reach real momentary muscular failure.

Science tells us that Force = Mass (in this case the weight you are lifting) times Acceleration (the increasing speed at which you lift the weight). Therefore, the best way to lift weights is to lift them fast, with total control of the weight and void of momentum. Since you won’t be jerking the weights or using ballistic movements during exercise, the risk of getting injured is not any greater than the risk of getting injured lifting super slowly.

One last point about lifting speed. If you are lifting a weight that only allows you to do eight repetitions, if you’re looking in the mirror, it will look like you are lifting the weight slowly even though you are lifting it as fast as possible. This is due to the fact that the heavier the weight, the slower you will be able to move it, even though you are trying to accelerate it as fast as you can. This is amazing! I’m sure you’ve heard people’s concerns about how lifting heavier weights is dangerous, right? It is actually the opposite. When you lift lighter weights, you have the ability to move the weights, very quickly and sloppily because little stress is put upon the muscles, tissues and joints. This creates a greater risk for injuries to occur. When you lift heavier weights, you are forced to go slower with the weights and to use controlled form during movement. Lifting heavier weights will stimulate more muscle fibers while limiting the chance for injuries (assuming that the maximum amount of weight lifted is one that allows for a minimum of eight repetitions; heavier weights may indeed cause connective tissue injury).

FAQ:

I’ve read that varying your lifting speed can actually be beneficial
.

ANSWER:

It definitely is. Just like the 14-Day Body Sculpting Program changes every 14 days, which makes sure your muscles are never expecting what’s coming, you can change your lifting speed to increase results. The speed at which you lift the weight from point A to point B can have huge effects on your muscles, as it can increase the amount of concurrent time your muscles are under tension during each set. The key here is to switch things up from time to time.

MUSCLE SORENESS

Muscle soreness is caused by micro trauma to the muscles and is a good indicator that the workout you performed was effective. If you have never exercised before, you will experience higher levels of soreness than usual at the beginning of your program. That is okay. As your body gets used to the exercise program the muscle soreness will subside to tolerable levels. You just need to persevere through those first few weeks. Do not confuse this type of soreness with overtraining.

There are several degrees of soreness.

• Delayed onset muscle soreness

• Typical mild muscle soreness

• Injury-type muscle soreness

The first type of soreness is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). The term DOMS refers to the deep muscular soreness usually experienced two days after (not the day after) the exercise has been done. DOMS prevents the total muscular contraction from occurring within a muscle. This type of severe soreness is caused when you either embark on an exercise program for the first time or when you train a body part harder than usual. It can last for a couple of days for an advanced well-conditioned athlete or for as long as a week for a beginner. If this type of soreness is affecting you and it is time to work out again, the best thing to do is not to rest but to exercise the affected body part in an active recovery routine. In active recovery routines all of the loads are reduced by 50 percent, and the sets are not taken to muscular failure. For example, if you are to perform an exercise for 10 repetitions, divide the weight that you usually use for that exercise by two and that is the weight you will use for your active recovery routine. Also, stop performing the exercise even though you may not reach muscular failure at the tenth rep. The reason for this type of workout is to restore full movement in the muscle, helping to remove the lactic acid and other waste products building up within the muscles. It also forces high concentrations of blood into the damaged area of the muscles and nourishes the muscles for repair and growth. We find that doing this is always beneficial; by the next day you will not be as sore or stiff as you ordinarily would have been if you had skipped a workout in order to wait for the pain to subside.

The second type of soreness is the typical mild muscle soreness experienced the day after a good workout. While scientists are still unable to pinpoint the true cause of such soreness, the explanation generally accepted is that it is caused by micro trauma at the muscle fiber level and by an excess of lactic acid. At any rate, what’s important is that this is good soreness considering it is of a mild nature and muscle function is not impaired as it is with DOMS. The pain generally lasts a day for advanced athletes and up to three days for a beginner. This soreness, on average, indicates that you had a good workout the day before because you created the trauma necessary to trigger adaptation (e.g. muscle growth). When you are no longer experiencing this type of soreness, it is a good indication that your body has successfully adapted to the training program. This is not one of the goals you will be striving for, as it leads to no gains. This is the reason why our program changes on a consistent basis.

The third type of soreness is the one caused by injury. This soreness is entirely different in nature from the ones described above, as it is usually immobilizing and triggers very sharp pain within the muscles and/or joints. Depending on the nature of the injury, the pain might either be experienced constantly or only when the joints are moved or the muscles contract. These injuries often become apparent as soon as they happen. Other times they appear either the day after and even sometimes days after the activity. If you suddenly become injured, the first thing that you should do is apply the RICE principle (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation). After consulting a doctor, he/she might allow you to continue training, carefully working around the injury (in other words, utilizing exercises that work around the injured muscle(s), without over stepping the range of motion that triggers the pain). More serious injuries, such as a muscle tear, may involve complete rest of the injured and surrounding areas and, depending on the severity, possibly surgery. The best way to prevent this type of injury, pain and soreness, is by cycling your exercise parameters and by constantly practicing good form.

BREATHING WHILE PERFORMING AN EXERCISE

The correct way to breathe while performing an exercise is to exhale (breathe out) while you are forcing the weight up (the concentric phase or muscle contraction) and to inhale (breathe in) while you are lowering or releasing the weight (the eccentric phase or the negative portion of the exercise). For example, if you are doing a bench press, you exhale while you push the weight up away from your body and inhale while you lower the weight down towards your chest.

WARMING UP BEFORE TRAINING AND STRETCHING

People always ask us, “What is the best time for stretching?” Our answer is, the best time for stretching would be after your body temperature has increased and the blood has begun circulating within the muscles. This is achieved by performing exercise that raises your heart rate and circulates the blood at an increased rate. If you fail to adequately do this, you run the risk of tearing a muscle or causing bodily injury. Are you up for an experiment? Wet a rubber band with water and put it in the freezer. After two hours, take it out and try to stretch it to its limit. Pay attention and you will discover that the rubber band easily breaks. The same process can easily happen to your muscles if you stretch them without sufficiently warming them up. Having said that, before you begin the weight training workout, spend 15 minutes in warming up followed by light stretching.

FAQ:

I am concerned that I am not breathing correctly during exercise
.

ANSWER:

The most important thing to do is just make sure you’re breathing! Don’t hold your breath. Lots of people (especially beginners) can quickly become overwhelmed with all of this new information to retain. Stop worrying so much about what
you’re not doing right and just do the best you can. When it comes to breathing, your body has a wonderful ability to make sure you’re breathing so you don’t pass out. When you are weight training, the rule is to exhale during the exertion and inhale during the descent. If you mess up here and there, just practice!

SELECTING THE WEIGHT FOR EACH EXERCISE

The weight you select for each exercise depends on the amount of repetitions you need to do for a particular set. If you need to do between 10-12 repetitions for one set, pick a weight where you fail (the point at which completing another repetition becomes impossible) between 10-12 reps. This takes a bit of practice but after a while you will become extremely accurate when it comes to choosing the correct weight for a particular repetition range. If you pick a weight that allows you to do more than 12 repetitions, you’ll need to increase the amount of weight being lifted. If you reach failure before hitting the tenth rep, you’ll need to decrease the amount of weight being lifted. For example, if you were doing four sets of an exercise, as you continue to work through the sets, fatigue will set in and you may not be able to continue using the weight that you chose to lift during the first set. When you get to the point where you can no longer lift a particular weight for a pre-determined repetition range, simply decrease the weight and prepare yourself for the next set.

Before stretching, perform approximately six minutes worth of aerobic activity to get the blood flowing and to increase your body temperature
.

FAQ:

I am getting a lot of mixed messages about stretching: do it, don’t do it. What’s the definitive answer?

ANSWER:

Stretching is great! There is just a time and place to do it. Stretching is essential to make sure your body is flexible and mobile. If you sit for long periods of time, you know how quickly you can become stiff and achy. Stretching allows the muscles, joints, and connective tissues to remain limber and mobile. Don’t forget that weight training is itself a form of stretching. It’s false that bodybuilders aren’t flexible. We have seen lots of huge guys and girls do full Chinese splits!

It takes work to increase and maintain your flexibility. Just make sure that you are fully warmed up before stretching. You can stretch between sets or at the end of your workout.

FAQ:

What should I do to warm up my muscles before weight training?

ANSWER:

First, remember that there is a huge difference between warming up and stretching. Warming happens before you begin your weight training, and stretching should occur either after you’ve done a full body warm-up, or at the end of your weight training session.

Warming up is something that we seldom see discussed in fitness books. We’ve spoken to hundred of people who just don’t realize the benefits and safety reasons for warming up. Have you ever had a day where your body felt achy? It could be something as simple as stress that makes your lower back and neck feel tight. When you’re tense, you may have trouble squatting without any weight at all!