Fitness and Muscle Work

Water aerobics or "waterobics" is the performance of aerobic exercise in shallow water such as a swimming pool. In some areas it is known as AquaFit or "aqua aerobics", and is a type of resistance training. Techniques Water aerobic workouts usually combine a variety of techniques from land aerobics, including walking or running backward and forward, jumping jacks, mimicking cross-country skiing, along with various arm movements. The workout also may incorporate equipment such as flotation devices. Benefits In addition to the standard benefits of any exercise, the use of water in water aerobics supports the body and reduces the risk of muscle or joint injury. The mitigation of gravity by flotation places less stress on the joints when stretching, and can allow a greater range of motion. The mitigation of gravity makes water aerobics safe for individuals able to keep their heads out of water, including the elderly. Exercise in water can also prevent overheating throug...

By Rebecca Buffum Taylor WebMD Feature Before You Start: Safety First If you have nerve pain, get the go-ahead to start any new form of exercise from your doctor. You don't want to make diabetic neuropathy worse - and most diabetic people are at higher risk of heart and circulation problems, so your doctor may want to check your heart, eyes, and feet. Be cautious about exercising if your blood sugar is over 250, says Trence. "For some people it may be a little higher or lower," she says, "but it's an approximate number above which, clearly, we want people to watch and see what happens. See what your own body does." Check your blood glucose before and after exercise so you learn how your body and medications responds to different kinds of activity, advises the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Tip 1. Go for Low-Impact Exercise Knowing you're doing something safe -- especially if you have painful neuropathy or loss of sensation removes one barrier to ex...

Feature by: Craig Ballantyne, is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist If the development of maximal strength OR size is your goal, these techniques are not mandatory for success. Let me explain: First, a muscle "pump" is simply the result of blood and tissue fluid being forced into the muscle from the surrounding vessels and then accumulating within the muscle. While an increased blood flow to the area is beneficial, the pump lasts only for a short time (30-60 minutes). Unfortunately, this is too short of a time period to result in any significant physiological changes to the muscle, as growth and repair occur over a 24 to 48 hour (or more) time period following exercise. Therefore, we should not focus our training time on achieving this "pump", although with training of the proper intensity, it will occur regardless. Most individuals desire the pump and if they do not achieve it, they feel as if the workout has been poor, however this is not the case....

Feature by: Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist For our purposes here, a superset is the completion of consecutive sets without a rest. The sets can be for exercises of the same, opposite or completely unrelated muscle groups. When performing supersets for opposing or unrelated muscle groups, there is an opportunity for one muscle to recover while another is worked, therefore allowing a heavy weight to be used for both exercises. Because minimal rest is prescribed, try to arrange for exercises that can be performed within a close proximity of one another (i.e. a flat DB press and a One-arm DB row). Training opposing muscle groups in this manner ensures the development of balanced muscular strength. You can design an entire workout using multiple supersets OR you can add a superset at any point in the workout (i.e. such as the transition from chest to back). An example of opposing muscle groups is the chest & back. Pick a back exercise that pulls t...

feature by : bodybuilding.com Negatives are among the most powerful training techniques for rapid strength gains. Learn how to do them effectively without a training partner. Want to gain strength rapidly? Negative training is one of the absolute best ways to accomplish this quickly. But most negative training techniques require you have a partner to help you return the weight to the start position. How do you get around this? In this article, I'll show you exactly how to do it. Negative training, also known as eccentric training, involves loading a weight movement in only the down or muscle-lengthening phase. For example, if you are doing a negative bench press, you would start with the weight in the top position (the weight would be more than you could lift on your own if you had to push it back up), lower that heavy weight under control to the bottom position of the exercise, then have a partner help you return the weight back to the top position. How To Do A Negative Rep The pr...