Tag Archives: Workout

Fitness

14 Secrets To Avoiding Workout Injuries

Do you go all out in the gym? Does this sometimes lead to an injury that keeps you at home for a week or two, and then you injure something else when you return?

Or perhaps you are like many people who have been stuck at home while their gym was closed by the Government. Returning to the gym after 2 months and trying to pick right back up from where you were can lead to some injuries. Take your time and listen to your body.

Channel Dad Bryon Lape reads an article by Jenn Sinrich on the Muscle and Fitness site. Jenn’s topic is 14 secrets of people who never get exercise injuries. In the controlled environment of the gym or training facility, it is very important to not do things that lead to injuries. Use these 14 secrets and stay health post training.

Want to read Jenn’s article for yourself? Here is the link to the Muscle and Fitness site: https://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/14-secrets-people-who-never-get-exercise-injuries/

Thanks for subscribing to Bryon Lape’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/bryonlape

Fitness

Exercise. Workout. Train.

There are three types of mindsets that can be found in the gym. The ones who exercise. The ones who workout. The ones who train. These are not individuals, they are motivation, goals, and style. They are a mindset that drives, controls, contributes to the individual. Some will see these are the same, but they are very different.

Gotta Exercise

Those entering the gym with a mindset to exercise are there against their will. Perhaps a doctor has told them to lose weight or get in shape for health. These individuals walk on the treadmill and talk or read. There is no focus on what they are doing.

Results?

Even when they exercise for years, there is little to no change. They may lose a few pounds, have slight improvements in their blood pressure, or a better endurance system, but overall nothing really happens and they may get fatter. Drugs will become a permanent part of their lives to control the health issues they have. Filled with processed wheat products and sugar, their diets also reflect their lack of commitment. Eventually they stop going to the gym, but keep paying because “one day” they will return.

Wanna Workout

When a bit more commitment and focus is applied to the Exercise Mindset it grows into Workout mode. These individuals come in two varieties: the Fearful and the Crazy.

It is an interesting consequence of the modern world that the Fearful Workout Mindset is dominated by women. Though it has been demonstrated for decades that it takes incredible genetics and drugs to get bulky, these women believe the myth and fear the free weights. They will do their cardio for a long time and then do some like work with weights. Depending on where they start, they will see some results then hit a plateau and stay there. Why? Because they are afraid of lifting heavy like they should. “Don’t want to be bulky.”

And the Crazy?

These are the men and women who flock into CrossFit and WOD/WOW. They will do cardio to warm up, stretch, and then start slinging weights around like they are toys. Injuries start the arrive when they really push through barriers. Their routines are either always in flux or are long and filled with everything. If 10 sets of curls are good, doing 20 sets must be better. Right broh?

The Workout crowd also have interesting diets. No carb. Low carb. No carbs after 6. All carbs for breakfast. Paleo. Veg. Whatever is popular this week. Read articles in four different magazines and combine them. The over analysis can become addictive. What are the goals? Hard to tell. Each week brings a new idea, challenge, goal, level, etc.

Must Train

The last mindset is the most intense and consuming. Every action is calculated to a particular goal. There is no waste or time for fooling around. Some will measure every meal; others will just listen to their needs. Routines come in a variety of flavors: low rep/long rest/heavy weight, high rep/short rest, 4x, pyramiding, 5×5, German Volume Training, speed reps, partial reps. It matters not what they use, they all get results.

The Training mindset keeps records of every routine, daily measurements of weight and body fat, and self reflection (sometimes quite literally in the mirror). Everything is reviewed to see if it is pushing toward the goal. Doesn’t matter if the goal is one rep max improvement, new personal record, bodybuilding, power lifting, reduced run distance time, jump higher or further, or fitting into a particular clothing size. The goals are as various as the individuals with the Mindset, but the drive is the same. It is not something they have to do. It is something they must do. Nothing else matters but reaching the goal.

One might conclude that the Training mindset would burn an individual out due to the intensity. A few do. A very few. The mindset to Train, to be Better, to reach Goals, to go Further, becomes a lifelong companion. Once a goal is reached, another is set. Some goals have urgency, while others are more long term. The Train mindset is all consuming, but it empowers the Individual to keep Succeeding, to keep Reaching, to keep Going. It is the best Mindset to have. It is the only Mindset to have.

Want to be Better? Want to have More? Want to do More? Want to Reach? Let the Training Mindset in.

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Fitness

Blasting The Arms

English: PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb. 17, 2008) Store K...
English: PACIFIC OCEAN (Feb. 17, 2008) Store Keeper 2nd Class Rafael Alexander, a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, lifts weights using the bicep curl machine in the weight room of the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70). Lake Erie is operating off the coast of Hawaii in preparation for a ship’s Board of Inspection and Survey. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Hight (Released) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In my current round of workouts has my triceps getting hit on two different cycles: on chest day and on arm day. When these days fall one after the other without more than 24 hours of rest, the triceps fail fast and the biceps get bored. Today was such a day.

The chest routine performed yesterday has the following exercises for the triceps at as the last two:

  • Pushdowns 3×10, 8, 6
  • Weighted Dips 3×6-8

Doesn’t seem like much, but coming after flat bench presses, inclined presses, pec-deck, standing military press, upright barbell rows and barbell shrugs, it doesn’t take much to finish off the triceps.

And now, here’s arm day.

The exercises for arm day are meant to compliment the rest of the week. They are here to finish off and stimulate more directly the triceps and biceps. Sometimes the forearms are coaxed to come out and play. Some sets are done in a 1 second positive, 3 second negative cadence. Others are in a more conventional 1 second, 1.5-2 second. After warmup and stretching, the routine is this.

  • Triceps
    • Bar pushdowns 3×30, 20, 15
    • One-arm dumbbell extensions 3×30, 20, 15
    • Rope pushdowns 3×30, 20, 15
  • Biceps
    • Dumbbell Hammer Curl 2×10, 12
    • Rope Hammer Curl 3×30, 20, 15
    • Dumbbell Curl 1×15-20
    • Preacher Curl 1×8-10, 8, 8

There you go. That looks good, doesn’t it? The triceps, being tired from yesterday, didn’t take much to reach lactic acid buildup and fail. Ok, bicep time. Warm up. Stretch. Go. The rope hammer curls were hard. Had to pause a few seconds to get to 30 and 20 reps. Perhaps the 45 pounds is too much. Keep pushing.

Preacher curls are odd for me. With my long arms and short muscle bellies, I have a great deal of bone with no support. The weights are way out there on the lever and the bar plus a total of 30 pounds is more than enough. I squeezed out each rep required. Cool. Done.

But wait. My biceps are not burning. They are not cramped like my tris. They are also not getting hit directly on other days, so they need a burn out set. What to add? What to use as a speed set to really work the biceps and finish them off for the day?

Ah, the bicep curl machine. Yes! I sat down and did two sets of 15 reps, 1.5 seconds for each rep at 40 pounds, keeping form good. Just because a set is done at speed doesn’t mean the form is allowed to be sloppy.

The result? Holy cow, yes! This exercise has been added as the last one for the arms. Can’t wait for next time.

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