Exercise intensity is one of the most important variables in any workout, because if the intensity is not correct, your workout won’t have the intended effect. Exercising at the wrong intensity level is one of the most common mistakes people make and it should definitely be avoided, if you want to experience optimal results. Intensity seems like a fairly simple concept, as it typically refers to exercise difficulty, but intensity is a little more complicated than it first appears.

The problem with intensity is that it has multiple definitions and different ways of being measured, depending on the type of exercise being performed. For example, when designing resistance training workouts (e.g. lifting weights), intensity is measured differently than when designing a traditional aerobic workout (e.g. running). Therefore, if you want to design workouts to achieve specific goals, it is important to understand how intensity is used in different situations.

Exercise intensity is a measure of difficulty, but a workout can be difficult without being considered a high intensity workout. To give you a better idea of what I mean, let’s take a closer look at resistance training workouts. When training with weights or other types of resistance where you perform sets and reps of various exercises, intensity is determined by the amount of weight used during the set, not the perceived difficulty of the set.

More specifically, intensity is measured as the percentage of your one rep max (1RM). A 1RM represents the amount of weight you can lift one time with proper form and you will have a separate 1RM for every exercise in a workout. For example, if the greatest amount of weight you can lift during the bench press bench press one time is 100 pounds and you want to train at 80% intensity, then you would use 80 pounds during your bench press sets.

Safety Note: 1RM testing can be dangerous if not conducted properly. If you need to figure out your 1RM for program design purposes, be sure to have a qualified professional conduct the tests. Another option is to use a higher repetition test, such as a 10RM test (highest amount of weight you can lift 10 times) and then find a chart to predict your 1RM from that number.

High percentages of a 1RM are consider high intensity exercises and low percentages are considered low intensity exercises, regardless of the number of reps you complete during the set. This means that performing one rep at 90% of your 1RM is technically considered higher intensity training than performing 5 reps at 85% of your 1RM, although 5 reps at 85% is actually more difficult. Factors like reps, sets, tempo, and rest periods are not considered when determining the level of intensity of a resistance training workout, although they certainly affect the difficulty of your workout.

Honestly, for most people it is not too important to know their 1RM, as programs designed from 1RM testing are mainly used with competitive athletes. However, it is important to understand what it means when someone refers to the intensity of a resistance training exercise. With resistance training, intensity is just one of many variables used to determine the overall difficulty of a workout. Therefore, by itself, intensity is always reliable for predicting workout difficulty.

Traditional aerobic training (swimming, running, etc.) also uses percentages to signify the level of exercise intensity, but the percentages represent something completely different with resistance training. With aerobic training, intensity is expressed as a percentage of your maximal heart rate. In other words, the percentage is a measure of the cardiovascular demand of the exercise. Simply put, the higher your heart rate, the higher the intensity of the exercise.

Since higher heart rates correspond to higher levels of difficulty, the intensity of aerobic training workouts are more reflective of overall difficulty than the intensity level used to describe resistance training exercises. If you want to design an aerobic workout of a specific difficulty level, all you need to do is perform the exercise at the intensity (heart rate) that corresponds with your fitness goals. Unless you are a competitive athlete or need to improve very specific physiological characteristics, you do not have to factor in many variables, as you do with resistance training.

Even though resistance training and aerobic training measure intensity in different ways, they both use a specific physiological attribute to measure intensity. Resistance training uses muscular strength to quantify intensity and aerobic training uses heart rate. The important thing to note is both types of exercise use a measure that can be numerically quantified, so specific adjustments can be made to improve the effectiveness of each exercise or workout, which ultimately improves the results of your overall training program.

When most people refer to intensity, they mean to the general feeling of difficulty, as opposed to a specific physiological measurement. Describing intensity as the overall feeling of difficulty is also an acceptable definition of intensity and if you have very general goals, such as making any type of improvement in your fitness level, then using the general feeling of difficulty as your guide can be appropriate. However, if you have more specific goals, such as improving aerobic endurance, speed, muscular strength, etc., then your workouts need to be designed to match the intensity level required to stimulate each specific improvement.

There is no single workout that will improve every aspect of fitness simultaneously, so you have to decide which fitness attributes are most important to you. Multiple fitness attributes can be improved through your overall training program, but different attributes often need to be improved by performing different types of workouts. For example, training to improve aerobic endurance requires a drastically different workout design than training for maximal strength.

Understanding the different meanings and measures of intensity really comes into play when creating workouts to improve different aspects of fitness using the same type of exercise. For instance, if you perform resistance training workouts and you want to improve your maximal strength and muscular endurance, you need to train using different intensity levels (use different amounts of weight) for each task.

Training to improve maximal strength requires training with a high intensity (high percentage of 1RM), but you will not be able to perform many reps with the high amount of weight. When training for muscular endurance, you must perform a high numbers of reps, so a lower intensity weight must be used to achieve the desires results. It is important to note that though different intensities are used during each workout, both workouts may still feel equally challenging, depending on the other variables in the workout design.

If you want your workouts to result in specific improvements, it is important to have a way to quantify the intensity of your workouts. Not only will using numerical intensities help you figure out how to plan for your goals, but it also makes it easier to modify your program as your ability level and goals change over time. On the other hand, if you use the more general meaning of intensity and create workouts solely because they are a certain difficulty, then you won’t have nearly as much control over the type of results you get from your training program.

Intensity is a general concept to describe exercise difficulty, but by using the physiological numerical measures of intensity, you can take your training to the next level and really personalize your program to match your particular goals.

Gravity Edge home gym machine has a number of aspects associated with it and you need to be aware of the basic fact that amongst the various machines available across the world the Gravity Edge home gym machine is one of the most effective ones.

Since gravity Edge gym machine is designed to provide a complete workout for the entire body so as to obtain a well chiseled and muscular body that is fit as a fiddle by working out on this solo machine.

Features of Gravity Edge Home Gym Machine

One of the interesting facts about the Gravity Edge gym machine is that it is very cost effective and inexpensive. So much so that the price is quite unbelievable and if one is interested in going ahead with buying this machine then one can manage it quite easily within his/her finances and not worrying about going bankrupt.

To further enhance its use, one can think of combining this gym machine along with other machines to complete a gym set. Home or a public gym, one just needs to invest some time into carefully planning about what all machines one needs to buy once the selection is complete, one has the best gym equipment for all kinds of situations.

How to Procure Gravity Edge Home Gym Machine

A fixed budget plan has to be made and finances have to be allocated for this situation in order to ensure that one is completely convinced that the amount being spent is judiciously used and for obtaining the best possible results. One should try to have the maximum equipment available within the finances that one has allocated.

Buying the equipment straight from the Gravity Edge Manufacturer would result in a lot of savings since it cuts out the costs that one would have incurred on paying the fees which one would be required to shell out at a regular retail merchandise.

Another way of procuring the equipment is to get it through internet. However one needs to be very careful while exploring this medium of shopping lest one may get cheated through an unknown illegitimate vendor. Also one needs to cross check the prices that are being quoted for the equipments online with the prices available through a regular retail vendor since procurement of equipments online would incur additional shipping and handling charges which may increase the overall cost of the equipment.

If you are seeking to gain optimal results from the Isometrics Exercises that you are doing or thinking about doing, then you will want to check out this brief write-up. And discover the 3 top-rated tips for quick strength growth!

Almost everyone is not getting what you could consider great results from their isometrics exercises. If they were to make a few small changes to their work out, they would increase the results by at least 300%.

Within this short write up, I will give you the 3 top strategies that helped me get incredible results from my Iso workouts.

One of the key strategies is to train or workout using Isometrics exercises and Isotonics. Isometric exercises alone will help you build incredible muscle strength. One of the advantages of ISOs is that it will assist you in building greater strength than just about any other exercise or training protocol.

Furthermore, this type of training does a better job at building tendon strength than free weights, or bodyweight exercises. Bear in mind that the amount of weight or resistance that you can use has much more to do with your tendon strength than actual muscular strength. To prove my point, if you were to watch a power lifter working out you would see that he or she incorporates many different partial repetitions or static holds in their workout program.

But, one of the drawbacks of isometrics exercises is that while they help you to develop a great deal of tendon and muscular strength unfortunately, because of the lack of repetition they do not do much in shaping and building muscular size.

That is why one of the best ways to set up your strength training program is to utilize both isotonic and iso exercises into your routine. That way you get the best of both worlds, you will get greater strength gains and muscular size.

Nevertheless, you cannot follow some of the outdated training protocols that are currently being recommended for use in your isometric exercise program. Essentially, what they recommend is that you perform isometrics everyday.

Unfortunately, this type of advice is still being promoted and does not take into consideration the one critical factor that does build muscle size. And that factor is “Rest.”

1. In order to grow muscle mass you must continually strive to use more resistance

2. You must eat healthy and nourishing foods,

3. And you must get at least eight hours of sleep each night. While you are sleeping your body releases growth hormone to help, your body recuperate and build new muscle tissue.

If you work out every day is too much the strain on your body system and as a result, you will suffer a plateau.

One way to increase the results from your iso workouts is to utilize isometric exercise equipment or an iso exerciser. These types of devices will allow you to perform more exercises than you could normally do with just free hand Iso’s.

Weight training is a great way to get your whole body in shape. Many people associate weight training with your upper body and arms. However if you have the right equipment then you can easily exercise the lower part of your body, such as your chest and legs. You may think to yourself that everything about using weights is an advantage. However there are disadvantages to using weights and all the advantages and disadvantages will be described below.

One of the advantages of using weights to work out is the way that you can strengthen your whole body. We all know that weights are used by the person using them standing still and then performing an action using the weights. This action can be moving your arms up and down or side to side. If you are not the type of person that likes to partake in running, swimming or any other kind of real life sport, then weights is the perfect solution to keeping your body toned and in great shape.

Another advantage of using weights to keep fit is when you are using these weights and your body is standing still. Your bones in your body are becoming active as they are trying to support you as you are doing the exercises. So you are in effect working out the entire body every time that you use weights to exercise.

There are disadvantages to using weights for exercising and the main disadvantage is safety. You should never exercise with weights alone. You should always have a supporter with you in case the worst happens. The most common safety concern is using the barbell. There is a possibility of becoming trapped under the barbell if you are unable to do a repetition due to the amount of weight on the barbell.

Another disadvantage when using weights is causing damage to your own body. As stated before you need your whole body when you are using weights. If you cannot keep complete control of your body when you are working out, then you are going to pull or even tare a muscle in your body. Also using heavy weights when you are not ready will always cause an injury to the part of your body that you are exercising. Always remember to start off small and then move on when you feel perfectly ready to do so.

Overall weights are a good way to work out. Millions of people use weights to do a daily work out. After one or two weeks you can start to feel your body becoming more and more toned. You can also feel the muscles in your body start to bulge a bit more then before. However safety will be the major concern to remember when you are using your weights. You must remember to stretch all the muscles in your body before you attempt to exercise your body. You have to get your heart pumping and when you are done remember to warm down so that your body knows that the workout is over. Warming down will prevent trapping any Lactic Acid in your body.

A chest workout routine is one of the most important parts to an exercise program. But many guys think that push-ups are a waste of time when you could be lifting heavy weights at the gym. Don’t fall into this mentality because push-ups will get you ripped and stronger.

If you are trying to put on mass or just get stronger there is something you must try. The 7 minutes of hell push-up challenge is one of the quickest ways to get a strong chest. The workout is as simple as doing 30 push-ups each minute for 7 minutes straight. This means that you only do 30 each minute, no more and try not to do any less. If you can get all 210 push-ups in 7 minutes you are considered to be in elite fitness status.

This does not take the place of all of your normal chest workouts. You can and should substitute it for 1 of your chest workouts each week. Give yourself at least 7 days of recovery time the first time you try it because you will need a lot of rest. This goes for you even if you can bench your own body weight 20 times.

It might sound very easy but wait until you try it. Once you get your time down, you can try for 35 push-ups each minute but that won’t be for a while. Good luck on your first attempt and don’t feel bad that you can’t get all 210 in 7 minutes the first time, nobody does.

“Take Control of Your Health Naturally”

Trying Something New and Doing What You Love

On way to make your exercising fun it to try something new. If you’re just going through the motions of a workout you are bored. Chances are you’re doing the minimum and getting minimum results. Switch it up. If you’re excited about what you’re doing in the gym, on the track or on the trail, you’ll be more into it, and you’ll get more out of it. Another way to make exercising fun is to do what you love. The biggest benefit to doing something you love for exercise is that you’ll actually do it and like it. The psychological benefits suggest that “forced exercise” isn’t as helpful and voluntary exercise. Voluntary exercise attributes to well-being while forces exercise does just the opposite.

Finding a Partner and Playing Games

Getting a workout partner can always add an extra spice to your workout routine. A like-minded individual to push you, offer encouragement, suffer and succeed with you will make things a lot easier and much more interesting.

You can also incorporate games while you workout such as lifting odd-shaped weights, or playing a team sport such as basketball. You can also add a little competition between the two of you which can always make things a little more riveting.

Go Outside and Make it Count

Go camping, or take in a sunset. Simply being outside has health benefits. Sunlight increases testosterone levels via vitamin D production. It also helps recharge your body and soul. There are many volunteer projects that require lots of physical efforts that will give you a workout, while contributing to the community such Habitat for Humanity for example. Not only will you get exercise while being outside, but you will be contributing to your community as well. Positive all the way around.

NordicTrack are a popular brand of exercise bike. They are popular because they come with one of the best consoles on any bike – certainly for a machine under a $1,000. But, are they a good machine overall, what sort of user do they appeal to, and what kinds of rating do customers give NordicTrack exercise bikes? The answers you get depend on the model of machine.

Most people can’t afford or justify paying more than a thousand dollars on a LifeCycle or Schwinn exercise bike. The biggest market for this type of fitness equipment is around the $500 mark and this is the niche that NordicTrack exercise bikes fall in to.

The most popular model is the AudioRider U300 bike; it’s also the cheapest, retailing for around $400. It’s an upright model and, for its price, you do get a lot of features. As you would expect it has magnetic resistance and it runs smoothly and quietly. The console really is the big plus point about this machine. It’s large, well laid out and easy to use; someone has described it as being like the dashboard of your car, which is a very good analogy. It displays the usual feedback data of time, speed, distance, resistance, pulse, RPM, carbs burned and calories burned. The handlebars have grip sensors to monitor heart rate and the seat is nicely cushioned. Another great feature is the AutoBreeze Workout Fan, which automatically adjusts the airflow to match your speed.

Getting to the more important features, you get 20 built-in workouts; 18 Personal Trainer workouts and 2 Heart Rate workouts. The personal trainer workouts will automatically adjust both pace and resistance during the workout to maintain the best optimized settings for aerobic, weight loss, or performance goals.

Many, especially first-timers, need motivation. It’s now quite common for all sorts of exercise equipment to be fitted with iFIT card technology. Each card is designed by a certified personal trainer and plugs directly into the bike’s console. During the workout, the trainer’s voice can be heard over the load speaker, helping you to achieve your specific goals. You can also download iFIT programs off the internet.

The bike also comes with Interactive Audio CrossTrainer, which is an interactive fitness coach that verbally and visually prompts you to perform a variety of strength-training and calorie burning exercises.

The AudioRider U300 is a great piece of kit however it really has been designed for casual or entry-level users. Those who are serious about bike training may find this machine lacks teeth. For instance, the position of seat and handle bars results in a sit-up-and-beg position. For more demanding training many prefer a more trapezoidal position with the hips up and shoulders down.

The AudioRider U400 is the same as the U300 except that it is a recumbent exercise bike. The features and workout programs are pretty much the same. It costs an additional $100. These bikes in which the user is in a reclined position are proving to be increasingly popular as they are more comfortable for those who have lower back problems or those who are overweight.

Lastly, there is the NordicTrack SL710 recumbent exercise bike. It retails for a little less than the U400. Personally, you are better off spending the extra and getting the U400. You only get 8 rather than 10 programs and the user weight capacity drops from 300 lbs to 250 lbs. The biggest claimed benefit of this bike is the Step-In design – this is where the center of the bike has been designed to be as near the ground as possible making it easy to get on and off the bike. The only reason to buy this model would be because you find it difficult to get on and off a more conventional recumbent.

In conclusion NordicTrack bikes are great value for money. If you’re a first time user or need something with a lot of motivational features then you should take a close look at these machines. However, if you’re a seasoned pro you should be looking at something a little more substantial like a Schwinn exercise bike.

The popular idea in the gym lies in developing a huge upper body, in order for you to be able to showcase those mighty muscles to everyone you meet. Much of the time, choices that we make earlier are the better ones. Somewhere on the way, you start to hear things like, this guy or that other guy looks silly with their huge upper body and slender legs. You start to think about developing big legs so that your physique appears more in line with the people you are hanging with in the gym.

The Times That it Is Right to Build Up Your Legs

In particular, specific points in an individual’s life, performing routine leg training does make sense. When you are a novice in weight training, this is the only point where I suggest a person perform any routine leg build up exercises. To safeguard himself from any potential harm later on in the workout lifespan, an individual who is a newbie in working out with weights might practice a little leg work regimen so that he is able to develop some trunk and quad strength. Younger kids only beginning to work out with weights also fall under this category.

If a person has very slender legs, then I would make a second exception to my personal rule. A little dead-lifting and squatting might be in order, in such cases. The two most efficient exercises for legs that will put on muscle fast are the dead lift and the squat.

I just suggest such routine training for legs on a basis of once or twice every week for no more than six months, in the two situations that I talked about.

Building up huge legs destroys your physique.

Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as bodybuilding began to be more accepted in the popular culture, this concept of developing enormous legs caught on. To have a good looking proportion, you had to develop that “hour glass” physique, but this concept was only in males’ heads.

To power up my legs, I used to pile on 315 pounds of weight on the squat rack. That turned out to be a horrible mistake. For what purpose did I really need such enormous legs?

Enormous legs causes you to look ridiculous.

When you look at a man with enormous legs nicely dressed for an evening out, have you considered that something about him does not seem exactly right? Either he wears baggy jeans which appear laughable, or his pants are worn too tightly and his legs are squeezed into them like sardines in a can. What about if you happen to see a big man wearing a suit? It simply does not appear right.

You don’t want them to think when they see you in the gym, dude that guy probably spends all of his time here; this is exactly my point that I want to get across. All that you want is to appear pleasant to look at, like a man who stays in good shape.

Then what is it that I do to hone my legs without performing heavy leg lifting work?

You will see that they have something in common, when you check out NBA players and sprinters. The majority of them all have well defined legs, but not enormous ones. In order to not over develop their legs, the majority of them steer clear of too much muscle building. Huge legs would only interfere with their natural abilities to compete effectively. Without the enormous sized legs that you see when you look at bodybuilders, these sports only develop good dense muscles in their legs.

To ensure that I do enough leg workout without performing routine heavy leg lifting, I have a certain regiment that I do; allow me to share it with you.

On Monday: Back, abs, chest

On Tuesday: Biceps, triceps, and shoulders

Repeat this regimen on Saturday and Sunday.

I pound the cardio work out hard using High Intensity Interval Training following every resistance type of workout; that is my secret. I alternate between the treadmill and the stepmill.

Remember: Yet another advantage of performing such a leg workout lies in having a good butt. Better looking than with squats, your glutes will gain that fine appearance. Sprinting toughens up the butt to give it a firm appearance. Making it appear overly large, squats build the butt up instead.

I did a post over on my blog about getting ripped legs

Want a fast way to boost your fitness level? Try a “reps for time” workout set-up. Reps for time is a concept that originated in a unique community gym, however, now more and more people are adding it into their workout protocol.

What does it entail? Let’s take a closer look…

1. What Reps For Time Is. “Reps for time” essentially means rather than aiming for a target number of reps each set, you are going to perform as many reps as you possibly can in a particular time frame. Usually, this time frame is around one minute in length, but if you are a beginner, you might just use 30 seconds instead.

You will perform the exercise in question, doing as many reps as possible in that period and if you have to stop at any point during the time frame to rest, so be it but do pick back up again as soon as possible once you are ready. Then once you have finished the time frame, jot down the number of reps you did and next workout, work at beating that number of reps.

2. The Benefits Of Reps For Time. What are the advantages of using the reps for time protocol? First, you will work your endurance level. Since you are exercising for a longer period than normal, this can cause your body to become better trained and withstand fatigue.

Second, you will also get the ultimate metabolic boost. Since you are essentially doing more work in less time, this means you will jumpstart your calorie burn, so you burn more calories both during the workout session as well as after the workout is over.

Finally, you will also work your strength level. As you are still performing a strength training workout session, this means that you will still have the benefit of keeping your muscle strength and power up, despite working in an endurance related manner

All in all, if you want to get…

• great conditioning,
• improved fat loss, and see
• good strength progress,

this is a set-up for you.

3. Adding It Into Your Workout Session. To add this into your workout, choose one or two exercises you want to perform with. Usually, this will be enough when first starting and from there if you become more skilled, you can begin adding more exercises to the mix from there.

If doing this on a compound focused exercise…

• squats,
• shoulder press,
• rows, etc.,

do it at the start of the workout when you are feeling fresh. If you are doing it on an isolation move, the end of the workout will be just fine and will help to “finish you off” so to speak.

Do this once or twice each week depending on your recovery ability.

There you have some facts about the “reps per time” workout protocol. It can be an excellent way to structure your workout if you are looking for a change of pace.

The Intensity Factor article explained how in order to derive the greatest benefit from our workouts we must train with the highest intensity of effort as possible. Particularly performing each set to the point of momentary muscular failure. To quickly recap; intensity is the possible percentage of momentary muscular and volitional effort exerted. This translates to ‘how hard’ one is working or the degree of the strain one’s muscles are under at any point during an exercise. The process of building muscle begins with stimulating the muscle(s). The stronger the training stimulus–the stronger the response. With this is mind you need to place the muscles under as much strain possible during your workout.

This however is only the starting point. How much muscle development that takes place is dependent upon the total demands of the workout and the appropriate amount of recovery time. The purpose of this article is to discuss another contributing factor to the total demands of your workout…training volume. Volume is defined as: the amount of exercise performed in a workout. This refers specifically to the length of each set (Time Under Tension) and the number of sets performed. In many instances a single bout of stimulation (even a very intense bout) may not be adequate in giving the muscles a reason to grow larger or stronger, so we must then determine how much stimulation is necessary to induce growth. The ideal dose of intensity and volume (relative to each individual) is essential to introducing the muscles/body with demands that will produce results.

Anything above what is ideal or necessary to induce growth is superfluous and over time will lead to stagnation or worse, regression. Furthermore, excessive volume, in the form of too many sets, is directly responsible for joint pain, worn cartilage and tendonitis. Because of the potential negative impact of excessive volume it stands to reason that the only logical approach to training should be to perform the least amount of exercise necessary to achieve the best overall results. This is accomplished by training with a high-intensity of effort and as little volume (number of sets) as possible, as per individual needs. Another component of volume relates to the length of each set, which is known as the Time Under Tension (TUT). The time under tension is the total time (in minutes/seconds) a set last minus any rest that takes place between reps. Time under tension reflects the amount of time that the muscles are straining (under tension) during a set.

An individual’s ideal TUT is determined by their muscle fiber type. Some individual’s have muscles that are most receptive to set lengths that last over one minute while others may be more receptive to sets that last less than one minute. By receptive we mean increases in muscular size and strength. To briefly elaborate, fast twitch (FT) muscle fiber is characterized as being large in size and produces a great deal of power but has poor endurance. Stimulation of FT fibers is responsible for increased muscular size and strength. Slow twitch (ST) muscle fibers are small in size, have poor strength capabilities but excellent endurance. Most of us possess both fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers but vary in the degree or amount of each. Consequently those individuals who possess an abundance of FT fibers will find it most easy to build muscle while those who do not will find muscle development most difficult.

Understand that if a muscle or muscle group fails to reach its lower limit TUT it will not recruit and utilize as many muscle fibers as is necessary nor create the chemical/hormonal environment needed for maximum muscle stimulation . Likewise, if it is trained beyond its ideal TUT then you are not utilizing a weight heavy enough to call upon your FT muscle fibers or secrete the muscle building hormones. Similarly it is just as important that the, proper number of sets are performed so as to not over-stimulate or under-stimulate the muscles. The efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of your workout, depends upon how you balance volume with other training variables such as intensity and frequency, and is a fundamental aspect of exercise prescription. Knowing and understanding how much total volume is required and is tolerable for certain muscle groups as well as an entire workout has significant implications. Prescribing the ideal amount of volume will allow you to enjoy a training career that is productive and with a reduced risk of injury.