Tag Archives: metabolic effect

In and Out Squat Jump

Posted on by
Reply

The holidays are fast approaching so get a jump start (no pun intended) and burn some calories with this plyometric Home Exercise of the Week!

The In and Out Squat Jump…talk about a leg burn!  You’ll be sweating, your heart will be pumping, and your legs will be on fire with this one.  Sounds fun doesn’t it? 🙂

Aside from all the uncomfortable side effects of this exercise you will really build some explosive strength and endurance since the In and Out Squat Jump is a plyometric exercise.  When your feet are together you will be working your outer thighs and when your feet are wide you’ll be working your inner thighs.  Your glutes and hamstrings will also be working hard too.  So overall this is a great exercise to add in to your leg or full body routine and the cardiovascular aspect to it will really rev up your metabolism and burn calories…much needed before the surplus of calories that usually come with the holidays!

Let’s take a look at the key points to doing the In and Out Squat Jump properly.

  • whether your feet are close together or apart, when you come down in to the squat make sure that your head and chest is up, back is straight, and your weight is on your heels.  Always make sure your knees are over your toes and not shooting out past them.
  • start with your feet together and explode up in to the air spreading your feet apart and landing softly in the wide stance
  • explode up again but this time bring your feet together and land softly in the close stance
  • with each squat try to get your thighs below or at least parallel to the floor

So there you have the In and Out Squat Jump.  A 12 to 15 repetition set is a good starting point and if you want an extra challenge hold on to some dumbbells!

Keep working hard and don’t forget to treat yourself over the holidays.  That being said, stay active and it will be that much easier to get right back on to your routine in the new year! 🙂

5 Exercises to Avoid – Part 5

Posted on by
Reply

If you have been following along with my series on exercises to avoid at the gym you’ll know that I have talked about all leg exercises so far.  This week though in the final part of the series, I would like to share an upper body exercise that might not be as effective as you thought.

The exercise is the Biceps Preacher Curl and although it is a good bicep builder and isolation exercise there are a few drawbacks that could lead to injury down the road.

Dr. Kareem Samhouri (a Neuro Metabolic Fitness and Rehab Expert) points out that from a muscle balance perspective, the forward shoulder position of this exercise leads to an increased stretch on the rotator cuff and biceps tendon.  The position of this exercise creates an imbalance between your pecs and lats/shoulderblade stabilizers resulting in a forward shoulder position. This leads to rotator cuff tendonitis, biceps tendonitis, and an increased risk of tears.

This is true for your shoulders and neck.  In this forward position, you are at risk for injury.  Also, like many people who perform this exercise, you may be placing excessive weight into your armpit, which is where your brachial plexus is.  This is the bundle of nerves that controls your arms.

Also, the biceps are being shortened in an over-shortened position for your pecs, reinforcing a common imbalance.

The elbow is only safe when balanced and this is achieved when all the elbow flexors are being worked.  The elbow flexors are your biceps, brachialis, and brachioradialis.  These muscles flex your elbow and allow you to rotate the palm of your hand up and down.

Second, there is no functional benefit to doing this exercise.  This is an artificial movement in an abnormal position.  The only purpose to doing the Biceps Preacher Curl is to build the biceps but they only work on elbow flexion.  The biceps is also a supinator (meaning it turns your palm up), so by doing the preacher curl you’re missing 50% of the muscles action.

Finally, the metabolic effect of this exercise is low as it is an isolation exercise using only one part of the muscle.  You aren’t going to be burning many calories by doing this exercise and if your goal is fat loss then there are far more functional bicep exercises you can do that will get your heart rate up.

So what can you do instead?

A great exercise you can do that will hit all of your elbow flexors is the Curl Up, Hammer Down.  The first half of this exercise works your biceps and the last half works your rotators and forearm muscles.

To perform this exercise properly, stand tall with your shoulders back and knees slightly bent.  Keep your elbows at your side with your palms facing out.  Curl up slowly getting a good squeeze on the biceps and then in the top position, you’ll want to turn your palms towards each other.

 

When your hands are in this position it will kind of look like a hammer.  Maintain this position as you slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

So there you have it.  Another exercise to avoid next time you hit the gym and what you can do instead for a more functional, safe, and effective workout.  I hope you have enjoyed this series over the past 5 weeks and I hope that the next time you workout, the more effective exercises I have shown you will bring you one step closer to reaching your fitness goals!

 

5 Exercises to Avoid – Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

Over the next several weeks I would like to talk about five popular exercises that can actually be doing more harm than good and offer some alternatives.

According to Dr. Kareem Samhouri, a Neuro Metabolic Fitness and Rehab expert, these exercises create muscle imbalances, have no functional benefit, and wind up your joints in to unsafe positions.

Dr. Samhouri says that if an exercise creates muscle imbalances, this can lead to joint deterioration all over your body and even blunt fat loss.  Once your joints are out of position, your body has sub-sensory pain signals taking place all over the body.  These pain signals tell your brain to shut down the muscles in the area in order to avoid “pulling on the injury” and causing more damage.  The end result is no muscle contraction and weaker muscles.

“Winding up your joint” into an unsafe position involves increased pressure on the labrum or capsule of a joint while performing an exercise.  At the same time, it’s likely that a muscle is being overstretched while being recruited to contract.  Instead, find a position of rest for the joint and then exercise it.  This will assist the natural delivery of nutrients to the joint and joint capsule.

So what are these exercises?

The first exercise I am going to talk about this week is the Leg Press.

The Leg Press is a very popular exercise at the gym and I have done it myself many times over the years.  It may seem like it works all the muscles of the lower body but it really only focuses on your quadriceps (your upper thigh muscles on the front of your leg).

First of all, from a muscle balance perspective, the quadriceps are generally stronger than the hamstrings (the muscles on the back of your upper leg).  At the bottom of the leg press movement, where your knees are bent and close to your upper body, there is increased torsion placed into the meniscus which is the cartilaginous tissue in your knee joint.  This will increase the likelihood of knee injury such as patellofemoral (kneecap) and meniscus damage.

Also, your quadriceps and glutes (the butt muscles) should be used together but in this exercise the glutes aren’t being used effectively.  When you use your quads with a good deal of force and your glutes aren’t activated then you increase the risk of a low back injury.

Another reason why the Leg Press is an exercise to avoid is that it doesn’t have any real functional benefit to it.  Most people who are doing the leg press don’t bend their knees to at least 90 degrees which is needed for getting in and out of a chair.  Also, your abdominal and lower back muscles are taken out of the exercise because you are just sitting and moving the machine with your legs.  Any time you stand up, sit down, kneel and get back up again, your abdominal and lower back muscles are engaged so you will lose a lot of the functional benefit by sitting on a machine instead of using your whole body.

Finally, the Leg Press has very little metabolic effect.  The reason for this is that the amount of muscles involved in the leg press is much less than other lower body exercises.  By using more muscles and joints in an exercise you will increase the metabolic rate during and after your workout.  Your metabolic rate or metabolism is the amount of calories your body burns while at rest.  The higher your metabolic rate, the higher the amount of calories you burn which will ultimately lead to a leaner body.

So what can you do instead of a Leg Press?

A barbell squat or dumbbell squat is a much more effective exercise than the leg press.  Even just standing up from a sitting position on a chair and sitting back down has a very functional benefit to it.

With these exercises you are engaging your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes as well as your stabilizers including the abdominal and lower back muscles.  This makes it much more functional and since you are engaging many muscle groups at once, your metabolic rate will increase during and after your workout.

The key to making this exercise safe and effective is to use proper form throughout.  Make sure you push up through your heels, keep your knees in line with your toes and arch your back up slightly to stay upright.  Start with no weight until you get comfortable with the movement.

So there you have the first exercise to avoid next time you hit the gym.  Try adding a body weight or weighted squat instead for a much more effective workout!

Next week I will talk about another exercise to avoid and it’s more effective alternative!