Here is an excerpt from my new book on fitting exercise into a busy schedule which will be out soon!
Guidelines
Reps:
For the lower body exercises shoot for 15-20 reps and upper body 8-12 reps.
Sets:
To maximize efficiency perform 1-2 sets per exercise. The first set may be more of a warm up and your second set can be more challenging. Most of the research says that performing one set to a point of muscular fatigue (the point at which no more reps can be performed in good form) is just as good as performing multiple sets of the exercise.
Rest:
Try to rest as little as possible in between in order to maintain an elevated heart rate for cardiovascular conditioning as well. No longer than 30 seconds. If someone is on an exercise machine keep your body warm by doing body weight squats or push ups.
Resistance:
This will depend on your level and starting strength. You can start off low and then gradually build up. Because your only doing 1-2 sets, you want the second set to be a weight that would cause you to reach muscular fatigue in that rep range. You can and should increase the weight as your strength improves.
Tempo:
How you lift the weight is more important than what weight is on the bar. Everything should be done with a slow, controlled deliberate movement with no stop –starts.
If you try for 2 seconds on the lifting phase and 4 second on the lowering phase, this will minimise the risk of injury and make sure your using your muscles to lift the weight and not momentum.
Breathing
This is one I have to remind my clients of! It’s important to breathe continuously throughout the exercise especially when it starts to get very tough, this is where a lot of people hold their breath which is the worst thing you can do as you stop the oxygen getting into the lungs!
Cardio
Theres alot of confusion about Cardiovascular exercise. Cardio and weight training doesn’t have to be 2 separate things. You don’t need to be on a treadmill or cross trainer to work your heart and lungs.
Performing circuit resistance training with little rest in between and traning to fatigue will work your cardiovascular system simultaneously.
Unless you are training for a marathon or triathlon, you don’t need to do long bouts of steady state activity on the treadmill or cross trainer.
Research indicates that shorter high intensity Cardio is better for fat burning and body composition.
Instead of spending an hour plodding along on the treadmill try something like this……………….
If you would like to book a trial workout please contact me:
E-mail: nigellyonspt@gmail.com