Let’s work with simulators! (A handbook for beginners) # 3
Published April 17, 2011 | 
Rowers
They stand somewhat apart. Some specialists are inclined to enroll them into the “cardio family”. Others consider them to be strength simulators, while others consider them as universal. In the West, the famous rowing machine is Concept-II it is the machine that was invented by professional rowers for the rowing enthusiasts. Even some championships in rowing that are broadcasted on the Internet are held using these simulators. Imagine: on-line thousands of athletes are rowing racing with their virtual opponents! Dmitry Zhirnov warns the beginners from the immoderate enthusiasm for rowing simulators: “You have to have a proper technique otherwise the rowing machine becomes traumatic. If you execute the movements with bad posture – with a round back – instead of good you will get nothing but harm.” Dmitry is skeptical to the strength properties of the rowing machine. Strong and beautiful muscles are build on other machines.
Strength simulators
Harmoniously development female bodies with enough relief muscles are in fashion. So, strength simulators based on the weight lifting due to different muscle groups are also in fashion.
- From time to time, specialists start another dispute about what is better: to exercise in strength simulators or work with dumbbells and barbells. It is obvious, that for beginners it is easier and safer to deal with strength equipment, where you can easily rearrange those or other retainers to change the weight and there is no need to manually “pull” the weight wheels, spend a lot of time and effort and risk dropping a heavy projectile.
- The needed exercise intensity dealing with strength equipment in each case is established empirically. Underweight means “incomplete work”. Work with too much weight can cause pain and even a real injury.
- During the strength training it is usually advised to use weights ranging from 50 to 70 per cent of the maximum weight that you can “lift”. The heavier the weight, the smaller the number of repetitions (otherwise suffers the technique of the exercise and the risk of injury is increased).
- If the exercise is done too easily, it is time to increase the load. During the first five training the level of loads on the strength simulators should allow to perform without any strain about 12-15 repetitions of movement and to make two “sets” in each exercise. By the end of the second set the muscles must be so tired that you could do no more repetition.
- If you do not have a special program, first is recommended to perform from four to six exercises for the lower body and then from six to eight exercises for the top. They start with the larger muscles and then move to the smaller ones.
- American specialists in sports medicine Lyle Micheli and Mark Jenkins recommends the following sequence of “working out the body” during the strength training: hips – legs – back – shoulders – chest – arms – the middle body part – waist – hips – neck. After each simulator you must rest for a few minutes. Haste in this matter is for nothing.
- If before the strength training you did not do any cardio, be sure to do some stretching workout for all the muscle groups. You should perform the strength exercises intently and calmly if possible without straining the uninvolved muscles. You need to keep straight, maintaining good posture. The phase of lowering the weight should be approximately twice as long as lifting phase. If you lift the weight on two, lower it on four. Watch your breathing: exhale – on the lift, on the lowering – take a breath.
Let’s work with simulators! (A handbook for beginners) # 5
Published April 17, 2011 | The question “Which simulator is the fastest to burn calories?” can be regarded as rhetorical – it depends primarily on the intensity of the training. Although Americans have argued that for those losing weight treadmills on average 30% are more efficient than other types of cardio equipment.
Training the power of will on a simulator
Something fantastic was invented by the American company “Icon Health and Fitness” –a treadmill with a “personal trainer” function. Especially for those who are distracted from training by everything while at home. The easiest option – with the voice of the instructor. It welcomes you: “Good afternoon! Now for my signal your track will go up!” Throughout the training the “voice instructor” tells when to increase or decrease the load. An even greater illusion of the personal training is created by the video option of the program – a coach accompanies you from the screen and you run along a paradise landscape and listen to the music and singing of birds. In the third – the Internet version – the trainee communicates with a real person in the on-line regime.
Last details
1. Even pregnant can train in the gym missing only the first two months of pregnancy.
2. The visible results can be seen no earlier than after two or three months, practicing an integrated approach: exercises in the cardio area, exercises with strength equipment and a special diet. You should exercises two or three times a week for an hour and a half.
3. If you want to lose weight, the amount of food from the very beginning of the trainings is to be reduced. And slightly increased at the expense of protein products, if you want to increase the volume.
4. The ideal option – exercises with a personal trainer who will control your loads, will make and adjust to you a personal program who will monitor the implementation of the exercises, for example, proper posture and breathing.
Vain fears
Some of us are still afraid of really “sit down” on simulators because of a not very pleasant prospect to become a mountain of muscles. However, for us (unless you pump at the gym seven days a week for several hours), in contrast to men, it is not a threat – by virtue of purely women’s physiological characteristics. Our body has much less hormone testosterone than men, and this is testosterone that according to the scientists is responsible for building the muscle mass.
How to deal with boredom during the exercises at simulators
Published April 17, 2011 | It is not by chance that the English name of the run track is the “treadmill” which is translated as “boring, tedious job.” And in reality it is not a great fun to pretend to be a squirrel in a wheel. It does not matter what simulator you are working with and how many levels you have managed to pass, boredom of repetitive exercises to a greater or lesser extent, will reduce the effectiveness of your workouts. In this article we will give you several tips on how to vary the exercises so that the required 20 or 30 minutes have passed very quickly. Gradually, you will learn to get pleasure from the fatigue that is spreading through your body, and work with a simulator will no longer seem like a hard labor.
Vary your workouts
A lot of simulators have a manual mode, where you can randomly change the load. You can first reach a maximum speed then slow down the pace to get some rest. Experiment with different built-in modes that are stored in the computer memory. At least you’ll get rid of the necessity to think every time what to do next. A lot of built-in software provide the steps of warming and cooling of the muscles, between which is set the mode of periods with intense stress and relaxation. Many simulators have a random change in phases of active work and relaxation at intervals of 10-30 seconds. For example, many treadmills can simulate a 5-km journey over a rough terrain. The running surface of the track can automatically change the slope during the exercise.
Read magazines or do crosswords
This is an excellent time to read sports magazines. Choose light and entertaining articles which do not strain your brain. When for half an hour you have been overcoming the imaginary ladder on the mechanical stepper, it is better to focus on the information about new exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles than on the report from the combat zone in Iraq.
Crossword solving – another great way to make the time fly. It is not a secret that it is not always comfortable to do an exercise holding in one hand a magazine and in another one a pencil, such as on a stationary bike or stepper. However, over time you will be able to adapt and apply this method, at least in those days, when you have not planned any intensive workouts.
Do exercises in small portions
To avoid monotony, do as follows: work out for 5 or 10 minutes on the simulator, then for 5 minutes do some work with the dumbbells, then again for 5 or 10 minutes return to the same or another simulator. As was already mentioned in the previous articles, if you have planned for a day a 30 minutes work on the simulator, it does not mean that all these 30 minutes should be worked out in one step. If your aim is to improve your well-being and physical condition or to burn excess calories, it is important to work out the scheduled time during the day. There is nothing wrong if the exercises on the simulator will be interrupted by exercises with other projectiles or minutes of rest. Do not interrupt the exercise is if your aim is to develop physical stamina and build the muscles.