Weightview Weightloss Blog

There are numerous terms in the weightloss world that will help you on the road to your ideal body.

Frequency, Intensity and Duration:
One or two components of your fitness program will change every week.  It may be the reps, the sets, or the weight.  Some weeks it may be the order of the exercises.

Dynamic Stretch:
At the top of your weekly schedule you will see dynamic stretch in the fourth line down.  You are to choose one or two of the dynamic stretches from your stretch list.

Warm-Up:
A few minutes of a quick warm up is also included.  I selected treadmill as your mode of cardio; you can use whatever you’d like.

Weight:
It would be impossible for me to select a weight for you to use in your exercises, you need to choose your weight carefully.  In order to prevent injury and to maximize your workouts, choose a weight that allows you to complete the prescribed number of repetitions with strict proper form, while at the same time fatiguing the muscles.

Tempo:
This describes the speed or cadence in which one rep is performed. For example:  a 4-2-3-1 tempo would look like this: 4 seconds for the lift, 2 seconds pause, 3 seconds when the weight is lowered and 1 second pause before the next lift is performed.

Super-Set Training:
This simply means you will perform two exercises back to back with little or no rest.  Remember to rest before going on to the next set.

Pyramid Training:
There are many variations to this training.  You can begin with a high load decreasing to a light load or begin with a light load increasing to a high load.  You can also utilize this with reps: high reps followed by low reps, etc.

Drop Sets:
This is also called breakdown training.  You start with traditional training for a set to fatigue immediately followed by 2-4 additional repetitions using 10-20% less weight.  On a leg press start with 10 reps at 100 lbs followed immediately by 2-4 additional repetitions using 90 lbs.

Brace the Transverse Abdominals:
As you read your exercise directions, you will always see me include the phrase, “brace the transverse abdominals.”  I cannot emphasize enough to you how vital this one component is.  If I could put it succinctly, I would say, “Stick your gut in.”  However if you did that you would most likely forget to breathe and you wouldn’t think: “correct posture.”  You can practice bracing the transverse abdominals either standing, sitting, or lying down.  The proper way to brace the transverse abdominals is to:
o  Hold your lumbar spine in a neutral position and think of an air pouch behind your spine.
o  Take a deep breath in, trying not to deflate the pouch behind you.
o  Now exhale your air and simultaneously pull your navel back to your spine
o  You are to breath from this position.

It is basically holding your body in perfect alignment and strengthening the deep muscles of the abdominal wall which no amount of crunches will touch.