GRIPAD ® Blog

The burn down approach to weightlifting, also called the drop-set method, is a lifting strategy often embraced by those in the competitive bodybuilding field. Bodybuilders like this approach since they prefer to stay focused on muscle size, definition, and other aesthetic qualities. Burn down lifting will provide bulk and support aesthetic goals, though it won’t do much to increase muscle strength.

To complete a drop set, load as much weight onto the barbell or dumbbell as you’re able to lift safely. Without a rest period, lift that amount of weight as many times as you can. When you can’t move the weight another millimeter, put it down. Professionals call this the “point of failure”.  As soon as you’re ready, take a small amount of weight off the barbell or dumbbell and lift to failure again. Keep repeating this process with incremental reductions in the amount of weight you lift.

The burn down method builds bulk because it accelerates the process of hypertrophy, or the miniscule tearing and muscle fiber damage that leads to the formation of new fibers and scar tissue. Hypertrophy should not be confused with strength, so this method isn’t ideal if your lifting goals are focused on strength training and athletic performance. For performance goals, lift lighter weights and increase your reps.

Before you decide to add drop sets to your workout plan, bear in mind that some lifters are not genetically inclined to develop huge bulk, even if they practice the burn down method every day. So as always, keep your expectations reasonable. A personal trainer can help you customize your plan to reach your goals. Also, stay safe when you’re lifting to failure. Don’t lift without a spotter, use a weight belt if you need one, and make sure you wear a pair of strong, slip-proof, moisture-wicking Gripads.

As reported recently by the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and other national news outlets, long term study results are providing new information about what red meat does to our bodies…. And the news isn’t good.

According to data gathered across a broad population and controlled for other lifestyle factors, the consumption of beef and pork appears to provide very few health benefits, and may actually increase our risk of several life threatening diseases. Rates of heart disease and certain types of cancer rise dramatically among those who consume 3 ounces of red meat a day or more, an amount about the size of a deck of cards.

What does this mean for your workout plans? And more important, what does it mean for your overall health? We all know that protein is necessary for complete nutrition and can help support muscle recovery after strenuous weight training. But it may be time to let go of the red and high fat animal protein sources and embrace lean proteins and the amino acid compounds found in plants.

Before your workout, load up on whole grain carbs, which provide a healthy, clean-burning source of energy. After your workout is over, reach for lean protein sources like poultry, fish, nuts and legumes. If you can’t cut beef and pork from your diet completely, try adopting a “meatless Monday” routine once a week. If you start feeling better, continue cutting back on the red meat as often as possible.

Your body will thank you, and the less fat you bring in with your eating habits, the less you’ll need to burn off at the gym. Remember, a healthy diet is built on a foundation of variety. Choose fresh, unprocessed foods, green vegetables, colorful fruits, and whole grain carbs. Limit your intake of fatty meats, corn syrup, and processed snacks.

When we talk about the bicep, or the upper arm, we’re actually referring to a team of three strong muscles that work together to flex the elbow: the biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis. A good bicep workout targets these three, and since no muscle in the body works independent of the others, a great bicep workout will also target muscles that support the back and strengthen the hand grip.

Here are a few simple guidelines that can help you bring out the best in your biceps:

1. First, set clear goals. Do you want huge mass with no regard for strength? Or are your ideal biceps lean and strong as iron? The answer will help you develop your workout plan.
2. Next, make a plan. Be sure you stay goal-focused and strike a balance between realism and ambition. You’ll want to challenge yourself and push your limits, but keep your expectations reasonable and prepare to be patient.
3. To build mass, choose the burn-down or drop-set method: load on the heavy weights and lift until you can’t do it anymore. Then take off a little weight and lift to failure again. Do this over and over, and you’ll generate the hypertrophy that contributes to size. If you’re looking for strength, don’t take this route. Instead, reduce the weight and increase your reps.
4. Balance your workout between preacher curls, alternate hammer curls, and barbell curls. These are three great bicep building moves that improve the handgrip and don’t place unhealthy strain on the wrist, elbow or back. Change your routine frequently, and give equal attention to both arms.
5. Pay attention to your lifestyle. Get at least six hours of sleep every night, and never skip breakfast. Load up on whole grain carbs and plant nutrients, and keep your protein sources lean. Choose poultry, fish and legumes. Steer clear of red meat, soda, and corn syrup.

Choose your gym and your gear with care. For safety and better results, don’t lift anything heavy without a spotter or a companion. And use your Gripads to maintain a tight, sweat-free grip on all bars and equipment.

Weight training is a great way to stay fit during pregnancy, and it provides benefits after childbirth as well. Keep in mind, though, that your fitness goals now should be geared toward maintenance and not dramatic gains. A basic program is suggested, focusing on the major muscle groups. You might want to enlist a personal trainer who has experience working with mothers-to-be.

Take these precautions:

Check in with your healthcare provider. Go over your exercise regimen with your doctor or midwife first to make sure it’s okay for you to continue at your current pace while you’re pregnant.

Use lighter weights, more reps. To avoid overloading joints already loosened by increased levels of the hormone relaxin during pregnancy, use lighter weights and do more repetitions instead. If you usually do leg presses with 30 pounds for 8 to 12 repetitions, try 15 pounds for 15 to 20 reps. Or if you typically do a chest press with 15 pounds for 8 to 12 reps, try 8 pounds for 15 to 20 reps.

Avoid walking lunges. These raise your risk of injury to connective tissue in the pelvic area.

Watch the weights. Be extremely careful with free weights to prevent them from hitting your abdomen. Or use resistance bands instead, which offer different amounts of resistance and varied ways to do your weight training and pose no risk to your belly.

Don’t lift while flat on your back. After the first trimester, lying on your back can put pressure on a major vein called the vena cava, which diminishes blood flow to your brain and uterus. An easy modification is to tilt the bench to an incline.

Listen to your body. The most important rule is to pay attention to what’s going on physically. If you’re feeling muscle strain or excessive fatigue, modify the moves you’re doing and/or reduce the frequency of your workouts. Pregnancy isn’t the time to push yourself to your limits.

As long as you follow these guidelines — doing any chest, back, leg, or shoulder lifts in a sitting or upright/inclined position, and not lifting more than 5 to 12 pounds — you should be able to safely keep weight training while you’re pregnant.

To build lean muscle fast, great body builders need to use both their body and their mind. Many reputed body builders believe that bodybuilding involves more than just sweating it out and pumping iron; they have been influenced considerably by the role played by mind power.

The importance of mind power is often ignored when trying to build lean muscle fast; the truth is, however, that mind power is extremely helpful. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has achieved great things in bodybuilding, often imagined his biceps becoming mountain peaks.

It is important for you to maintain a sharp focus and the attitude of a winner in order to achieve your dream goals; use affirmations to help tread that path to success and remind yourself of your dreams. Learning to do this right will help you set your focus on certain muscle groups to achieve more strength, and as a result, you will become stronger.

Visualizing the impact of an exercise on a targeted muscle is important in bodybuilding. By thinking in this manner, you can develop the mind/muscle link, which helps to build lean muscle fast. It takes a little bit more than just psyching yourself to begin a training session and removing all distracting thoughts in order to build lean muscle mass.

People who are pessimistic and negative are invariably unsuccessful with their goals; however, people who are optimistic often make the most out of life. Positive thinking is the key to building lean muscle fast; body builders who achieve this avoid negative thoughts or pessimism and always see themselves in a positive light.

Positive affirmations, if practiced constantly, will help you build lean muscle fast and help you better your performance at the gym. An affirmation is a positive thought that when repeated constantly stimulates your subconscious mind and thus, positively affects the outcome of all your present and future actions. While choosing affirmations keep your goal in mind; make it sound positive with triggers that will drive you towards the goal.

These days, many of us barely glance at or taste what we are eating, since we are usually either driving, working at our desks, or in front of the TV. Research suggests that our culture of quick consumption, along with poor food choices, is the reason why our waistlines keep increasing. Chances are, if you sit down at a table, you’ll most likely eat at a much slower, relaxed pace, allowing your body and brain the time to savor the food and experience the act of eating. Making time for meals is an important, yet often overlooked, aspect of healthy eating.

Eat mindfully. Establishing a mind-body connection while eating will improve your awareness and satisfaction of your meal. Research shows, cultures that take time to sit and eat with others have less obesity. If you look at your food, and take the time to really taste it, you will be more aware of what and how much you are actually eating.

Eating mindfully allows the body and the brain to synchronize, sending messages that you are full. When you are distracted or stressed, you eat quickly, and the stomach doesn’t have time to send the message to the brain that you are full, resulting in overeating. Even if you only have a half-hour lunch break, try to make the time to sit down, away from your desk and all distractions, and really enjoy your meal. Eating slower and with more consciousness may also improve digestion and relieve any digestive issues such as gas and bloating.

There is overwhelming evidence that unprocessed foods and organic fruits and vegetables are a means to better health. Due to the high nutritional and antioxidant content of many whole foods, this type of diet is linked with increased antioxidant activity, improved digestion, healthy inflammation response, healthy glucose metabolism, healthier lipid profiles and increased immune activity among other benefits. A whole foods diet can help support your insulin levels and metabolism, as well as support management of metabolic syndrome or diabetes.

Nutrition is one of the most confusing aspects of muscle building, and many bodybuilders achieve poor progress, specifically due to serious dietary errors. Those who aim to build muscle mass are often wondering exactly when they should consume meals, especially in relation to the weight training workout itself, with some aiming for a complete meal prior to their workout, and others avoiding food before an intense weight lifting session, with a feeling that more fat burning will occur when food is restricted prior to an exercise period.

Obviously, these wide range of opinions create much frustration for the bodybuilder who is seeking maximum muscle gain, but there is a correct answer as it pertains to eating before weight lifting, in that doing so is extremely beneficial for muscle building. In fact, intensity must remain extremely high for a workout to consistently boost muscle mass, and this becomes overwhelming for most when attempting to perform a weight lifting session on an empty stomach. For those who decide to engage in an early morning workout, this becomes especially problematic, as energy levels are low due to the overnight fast, and although performing a weight training workout in such a scenario will certainly prove possible, intensity will suffer greatly, which leads to disappointing muscle gain.

The best diet technique is to fuel the body with a properly balanced carbohydrate and protein meal prior to a weight lifting session, as protein is always used by the body for recuperation and to build new muscle mass, while carbohydrates are the primary fuel for intense workout periods, and planning a meal with ample carbohydrates preceding a weight lifting workout will allow energy levels to dramatically improve intensity, sending muscle gains to new heights.

Do not allow hunger to become the barometer for whether you consume food prior to a weight lifting session, as even those with tiny appetites are in need of nutrition before their workout, and there are a wide range of convenient, quick to prepare, and easy to consume carbohydrate and protein sources that will make a meal prior to weight lifting fun to consume, and simple to digest.

Weightlifting is a common activity amongst fitness enthusiasts, as a great addition to any workout. However, this activity can lead to problems if proper care such as the use of weight lifting gloves during workouts is not taken.

The most common problem associated with weightlifting is tendonitis. This problem occurs when you overstretch the tendons in your hands during exercise causing them to flare up and tear up. The problem can spread to other parts of the arm such as the elbow if the elbow does not get sufficient time to cool down. This is one of the reasons why people use weight lifting gloves as it protects the tendons, leaving them comfortable and relaxed.

It should be noted that gloves are only helpful when the right choice is taken. Otherwise, the wrong choice can accelerate or lead to other problems. The other problems arise from the size or type of gloves you choose. For instance, if you choose nylon gloves you will not get the best grip. A better choice would be leather or neoprene. Gloves can also build up sweat on the inside during workouts. This especially happens when you choose fingered gloves instead of the fingerless.

Lack of proper wrist wraps also causes soreness on the wrists. This means that a person should opt for gloves with adjustable wrist wraps even in case one does not suffer soreness. Problems also arise when one chooses very tight or loose gloves. Very tight gloves will obviously cut off circulation, which is dangerous. Loose fitting ones will interfere with your lifts and can also cause the weights to slip. The best choice is therefore a snug fitting glove.

In order to eliminate all of these problems, most weightlifting experts would agree that Gripads, made of neoprene and with no sizing or odour issues, provide the best support out of any other glove product.

The deadlift is a classic weight room exercise that has been practiced in its perfect form for countless decades by serious power lifters. Despite how simply the exercise seems to be (to lift the weight from the ground and then lower it again), many people have difficulty in following proper technique, and will often allow small mistakes to creep in. One of the most common is to start the set from standing, and then ‘bounce’ the weights off the ground and back up to a standing position.

A deadlift is so called because the weight must be raised from a dead stop. The trainee must break inertia and lift the weight to a locked out position where they are at a complete vertical line.

Any other problems with technique will be much harder to correct if you begin the deadlift from a standing position and count on a bounce. If your back begins to round or waver from side to side, you will be much less likely to notice it, and in such manner are bad habits created, resulting in your eventually being limited on how much you can lift without damaging yourself.

When lifting enormous loads there are few exercises that come to mind. The squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. Of these, the deadlift allows the trainee to lift the most, and in doing so the most perfect technique is required. In order to properly understand the biomechanics behind the deadlift, it is crucial to break the exercise down into its component parts.

Instead, embrace the complete stop at which you must lift the weight from the ground, since this allows you to completely and properly set yourself, allowing you to check in on your start position and ensure that the bar is over the midline of your foot, that it is touching your shins, that your scapula is directly over the bar, that your arms are straight, that your back is straight if not a little arched in the set position. Finally, you should always remember to wear protective hand gear such as Gripads to complete the technique in a safe manner.

Elbow pain from weightlifting often occurs with beginners, who intend to gain muscle quickly and therefore start lifting heavy weights. This finally lands them in elbow pain if they’re not careful. However, it also happens to experienced weightlifters after a period of continuous heavy weightlifting, as this starts affecting their elbow joints. Another cause of elbow pain is imbalance while lifting weights. Remember, whilst lifting heavy weights, you also need to maintain a proper body balance, which otherwise can result in injury to any body part - especially elbows and back muscles.

Below are some common types of elbow pain that can be experienced in different parts of the elbow.

Golfer’s elbow
Golfer’s elbow is a sort of elbow pain that occurs in the ulna side of the elbow. Most common weightlifting exercises that cause golfer’s elbow are tricep presses, dumbbell flies and bicep curls, which involve frequent up and down movements of the elbows.

Tendinitis
Tendinitis is another name for tennis elbow. This problem is experienced mostly due to the pulling and pushing movements of elbows during certain exercises. Tendinitis or tennis elbow occurs when lateral epicondyle (a bone on the radius side of the forearm) is rubbed against the tendons of the forearms and triceps.

Pain in front of the elbow
People who over train or perform more workouts on biceps are more prone towards pain in the frontal part of the elbow. Exercises such as the preacher curls, bicep curls, hammer curls and incline curls, performed either with barbells or dumbbells exert a lot of strain in the front region of the elbow.

Pain above the elbow
Most of the people who indulge in long and intense workouts of seated and standing dips can suffer from pain above the elbow region. Excessive workouts or bench press can also result into such an elbow pain.

It is important if you have experienced any of the above pain to consult a weight-lifting trainer and get a proper weightlifting workout prescribed with appropriate weights and right techniques, to avoid future elbow pain.

We know that increasing and maintaining adequate muscle mass is one of the best ways to keep body fat at bay and to improve overall fitness, particularly as we age. We also know that weight lifting is the best way to build muscle mass. Still, the number of women who actually participate in any formal or consistent weight training workout is still extremely low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are five good reasons for taking strength training seriously.

1. You will be physically stronger.
   Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.
2. You will lose body fat.
   As your lean muscle increases, so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day. That can really add up.
3. You will gain strength without bulk.
   Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don’t gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will, however, develop muscle tone and definition. This is a bonus.
4. You will reduce your risk of injury, back pain and arthritis.
   Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury.
5. It is never too late to benefit.
   Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age.

Most people begin juicing for the health benefits juicing can bring into our lives. But do you really know exactly what benefits you are getting from juicing raw fruits and vegetables?

Have you ever noticed that it takes a whole lot of carrots to make one small glass of carrot juice? The juicer discards the fibrous pulp and extracts the juice, which contains almost all of the nutritious vitamins and minerals found in vegetables or fruits. The only thing that is not extracted is dietary fiber, of which only a small amount makes its way into the juice unless you mix some of the pulp back into the juice.

Because of this process, you may only be drinking a small glass of juice but what’s in that glass is the beta-carotene (and other nutrients) of a whole lot of carrots. Most people find it a lot easier to drink a glass of carrot juice than to eat six whole raw carrots!

One of the top health benefits juicing can offer is that the higher levels of nutrients can have dramatically positive effects on health. Some people are even able to stop vitamin supplements.

Your digestive system has less work to do when you drink your fruits and vegetables as juice, allowing for quick nutrient absorption. Of all the health benefits juicing can bring into your life, the benefit to your digestive tract and to your ability to absorb nutrients is a major one. The digestive tract is so hard working, and is often susceptible to stress or food related illnesses.

By drinking your food in liquid form, you are essentially consuming pre-digested food, thereby giving your gastrointestinal tract a break from the work of digestion. In addition, this allows for very quick absorption of nutrients. Some nutrients may even absorb more easily than when consumed with solid foods.

When it comes to getting six-pack abs, doing the right abdominal exercises is important. You can spend hours doing needless sit-ups that aren’t really going to have all that much benefit and completely waste your time. Taking the time to choose smart exercises will save you not only time in the gym, but a great deal of frustration as well.

Do not neglect abdominal exercises - it is easy to leave them until the end of your workout and rush through a couple of sets of sit-ups. Your abs are just as important as any other muscle group and needs to have a specific slot in your training routine just like any other part if you want full development and those sought after six-pack abs.

People who do hundreds of sit-ups every day are just over training and will not benefit from a fully developed set of abs. The standard sit-up tends to focus on your upper abs. For full development and a chance to get six-pack abs, you need to work the abdominal muscles from all angles, upper, lower and obliques (sides).

If your diet is wrong and you are holding excess body fat, you will have more of a problem developing a six-pack. Generally, you will not see your abs if your body fat percentage is over or around 12%. The secret to getting your six-pack is to shed that excess fat around your waist and then your abdominal muscles will be allowed to shine through.

Ab training dose not need to be difficult. An exercise ball can be highly beneficial to your abdominal workout and training on an exercise ball will allow you to have a greater stretch. There are hundreds of different core exercises to choose from, and after you’ve selected the ones that work for you, and fit them into your routine 2-3 times a week, you will be brandishing six pack abs in no time.

Weight lifting mistakes like trying to lift before you are fully warmed up, or taking on weights that are heavier than the ones you need, can turn a workout session into a nightmare. The pain of a weight lifting mistake is bad enough, but the discomfort of an injury during strength training is just one part of the package. Most mistakes in the weight room cause injury or damage, which spells bad news for your health in the present and in the future. Tearing a tendon or a muscle insertion can affect the resilience of that muscle group and impact your training for years to come.

Most weight lifting mistakes result from trying to take on too much weight too early in the training process. In an effort to push harder, many beginning and even some experienced lifters try to handle the most poundage possible, a choice that often backfires. Experts agree that it is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to lifting weights, so although it is important to challenge yourself with your workout, it is better to opt for more reps with less pounds than to risk hurting yourself.

To protect yourself against weight lifting injuries, just follow these simple tips. Rather than pushing yourself to your limits by trying to lift heavy weight, try sticking with smaller weights but persevering through a couple of extra reps. Your main priority should be to achieve perfect form as you go through your weight lifting regimen, so when you set your fitness goals, focus on attaining better positions rather than on lifting more weight. To protect your muscles, make sure that they are warm from start to finish as you workout. A solid warm-up and a gentle cool down will help you make sure that your muscles are at their peak of flexibility, which will help you avoid injury. Always remember to protect your hands with professional weightlifting gloves like Gripads.

Like most activities, the number of calories you burn will depend on how much you weigh, your gender and how intensely you do your weightlifting. However, the main benefit in terms of calories burned and weightlifting, is the “afterburn” you experience, after your weightlifting is over.

On average, you can burn 7– 12 calories per minute by doing some weightlifting. This means that 40 minutes of weightlifting should burn about 280 calories at a minimum – which is comparable to just about any other kind of aerobic exercise, according to health experts.

However, your average cardio workout probably leaves you dripping with sweat and completely exhausted, as opposed to your weightlifting. There is a very good reason for this. Your average cardio workout is just you, working out non-stop. But when it comes to weights, you will usually rest for a bit between sets. Plus, there is no reason to do 40 minutes of weightlifting! Even the most avid weightlifters don’t pump iron for more than 30 minutes in a row, and you definitely get a break to catch your breath. Which is why your weightlifting sessions don’t burn as much calories as your cardio sessions.

The real benefit of weightlifting is the afterburn, which is the amount of calories that your body burns while at rest. For every pound of fat, you burn 2 calories a day, but for every pound of muscle, you burn 35 – 50 calories extra per day. This means that with weight training, you will start to burn more calories during the day, even when you’re just sitting around watching the television!

Knowing this makes it easy to understand why weight lifting should be included in a weight loss plan.  And no matter what your weight lifting goals are, it is a good idea to keep a journal of your progress as you increase your weight load, otherwise you just may be working sporadically.

Music can enhance performance or it can detract from it, radically. If you’re the sort who prefers music while training, here are a few ideas to keep in mind before you slip in your ear buds and get busy.

Know What Works

Like everyone, you have a favored style of music to get pumped up. Some people like hard rock, the whole time. Some people prefer indie rock. Classical music really fires some people up. Experiment, find what’s right for you, and if you don’t find it right away, keep listening and being attentive until you do.

Set the Mood

What emotions do you like to tap into when you train? Do you like to feel empowered? Angry? Mad? Tranquil? Blissed out? Think about what state of mind you find to be most useful when you enter the zone, and select songs that help you to slip into this mental space. Again, experimentation will help you find the right mood for your training music, and your preferences may vary from week to week or month to month.

Keep Time in Mind

You can also use your playlist to keep track of time during your workout. If you’re doing five-minute rounds, select songs that are five minutes long. If you’re using a sets and reps scheme and don’t want to break your flow, think about a continuous DJ mix that will give you wall-to-wall music without any breaks during the course of your session.

Remember Your Cool Down

You should know roughly how long your workout will be before you start. Keeping this in mind, the end of your playlist should have music that will help wind you down while you engage in some low intensity movement and stretching.

If you have a playlist you’ve been using for a long time and have grown tired of it, budget time before your next workout to sit down at the computer and draw up a new, more inspiring playlist. Like fitness and everything else in life, our musical preferences and what motivates us musically are not unchanging things etched in stone.

With an ageing baby boomer population, joint pain and joint problems such as arthritis are rapidly becoming major health concerns. Knee, hip and other “load bearing” joint surgeries are becoming increasingly more common. Unknown to many is the fact that a regimen of exercise that includes weightlifting has actually helped some people avoid surgery?

First up we need to dispel the myth that working out with weights can cause joint pain. If you experience joint pain caused by a weightlifting routine, you are probably doing something wrong. Chances are you are not warming up properly prior to weightlifting, lifting with poor technique, or too much weight, or are not allowing enough time for your joints to recuperate after sets. Proper weight training has been found to actually improve joint health, return functionality and decrease this pain.

Regular exercise of the joints replenishes joint lubricants and builds cartilage. Weightlifting increases the muscles around joints. Stronger muscles from weightlifting exercises offer more support to the joints. From the process of weightlifting you become physically stronger. This means you can participate in more activities, which make your joints healthier. We already know how weight training builds muscle and how that can improve your overall health and help you lose weight. All orthopedic specialists agree a sure way to reduce joint pain and improve joint health is to lose weight, and ease some of the burden on those weight-bearing joints like the hip or knees.

Simple common weight training exercises have been found to be the best to reduce joint pain of the hips and lower extremities, such as squats and leg extensions. If you are not already weightlifting just as a matter of course to improve health, and are experiencing knee or hip pain, now is a great time to start. Using proper equipment – not forgetting hand protection with your Gripads – will make a huge difference. Once you have eliminated your joint pain and start to realize all the other benefits from working out with weights, you can be well on your way on the road to better health and better fitness all around.

There are known to be many mental health benefits associated with regular involvement in weight lifting programs. Sticking to a weight lifting program on a regular basis helps to overcome depression and reduce mood fluctuations significantly according to many health experts. The intense exercises involved in weight lifting increases the dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin levels, effecting in turn mood improvements.

However, some people may become dependent on this emotional boost, in the same way as a jogger’s high, and may turn to an intensive workout whenever they are feeling low.

When weight lifting is practiced in a proper manner it can increase energy levels. A person will get used to the routine after the first few weeks and later will try and find more time to exercise. Over the course of time the benefits of weight lifting grow constantly as the exercises strengthen joints and relieve knee, shoulder and other joint pains, strains and problems.

More importantly, people who build muscle strength through biceps curls, leg lifts, squats and the like show much greater improvement in mental focus and the ability to make decisions and resolve conflicts than people who do only balance and toning exercises.

Weight training increases the capacity to work and lead an active life. The fitter you are, the more active you can be. There are so many more opportunities available to people who are healthier and fitter.

Exercise can give you both physical and mental joy, so long you do not exhaust yourself! When weight lifting is done correctly, and comfortably with the use of your Gripads you will actually feel less tired after you have finished your workout than before you began. You may even start to enjoy the feelings in your muscles during the sets as well as afterwards.

Weight lifting is a great way of getting away from your usual daily environment. While lifting iron, some people also experience an euphoric mental feeling! Enjoy the experience!

The word “overtraining” seems to be thrown about all over the place these days. There are so many different muscle building and weight training programs on offer, and many of them appear to totally contradict each other.

So how do you know if you’re overtraining? The truth is, everyone is different and everyone responds to weight training differently. One definition of overtraining is where you train your body above its capacity, meaning it cannot recover and adapt quickly enough to be prepared for the following training session.

You may or may not experience the following symptoms when you’re overtraining. With some people you only have to look at them before they start training and you know they’re overtraining. Here are some common symptoms you may feel:

· You can’t seem to get any bigger (lack of weight or muscle gain)

· You don’t have enough energy at the beginning of your workout

· Your target muscles are still sore from the previous workout when you work them again.

· You find it hard to get to sleep and have a good night’s rest

· You have a general lack of energy throughout the day

· And in extreme cases you may feel depression and anxiety

If this sounds like you, before you start thinking about your routine, you should take a week off. Don’t train at all for one week. Your body needs the rest and recuperation time. You will find that the week after your rest week your body will be fired up and ready to go!

Now you have to look at your daily life and plan a routine to fit in. When you look at your daily life you need to consider things you can change, like your fitness, diet and rest time. What you do in your every day life really affects your workout.

Overtraining prevention is up to you. All you need to do is follow a few of the basic principals in muscle building. Quality over quantity, eat big including lots of carbs and protein and rest up between workouts. Good luck with your training!

These days, there is a lot of confusion about how many sets and reps to perform to build strength vs. muscle mass.  There is an antiquated notion that exists stating that you should do a lot of reps to increase your muscle tone and a low number of reps to increase muscle size.  Oddly enough, this is exactly opposite from the reality.

The best way to increase strength is by doing low rep sets with heavy weights.  You don’t want your muscles to feel fatigued at the end of your workout.  Always keep one rep in the tank.  This type of training allows you to tone your muscles, making them tighter and less soft looking.  Usually 3-5 reps provide a good range for building strength.  You could easily perform 5-10 sets for this type of workout.

The best way to increase the size of your muscles is through high rep training to fatigue.  By exhausting your muscles, you force them to grow larger.  However, with the increased size comes a tendency for muscles to look a bit softer and bulkier.  A good range for muscle mass training is 12-15 reps. Muscle mass reps provide a softer but bulkier look.

An additional consideration when training for strength vs. mass is how long it takes to complete reps and how long to rest between sets.  When performing strength reps, it’s best to take a controlled approach, nearly pausing between each rep to give your nervous system a brief instant to recharge.  For mass reps, training to fatigue is the goal so you can perform a faster set of reps to really torch your muscles.

Needless to say, the best muscle building approach incorporates both muscle mass reps and strength reps. You can build bigger muscles with mass reps and then tighten those muscles with strength reps. Additionally, you can use different rep schemes for different parts of your body.  Just remember to always take your Gripads along so that your hands don’t get fatigued!