Helpful Hints

 

One can never have enough “rules of thumb” at one’s disposal. In addition to having a vast assortment of exercises in one’s repertoire, it’s also good to keep in mind these handy tips:
 

Maintain symmetry:
Unless one is doing a unilateral exercise, one side of one’s body should be an exact mirror image of the other side. (Never turn your neck while you’re exerting yourself.)

What & Why:
It’s important to understand which muscles are being recruited in any given movement: WHY am I doing this particular exercise? WHAT, exactly, is it going to do for me? What ELSE could I be doing? One should always be able to answer these questions.

Resting:
For Aerobic routines: Take shorter breaks in between sets. (The key here is perpetual, on-going activity.) For Anaerobic routines: Take longer breaks in between sets. (The key here is tearing up muscle tissue in a careful, controlled, strategic way.) Remember the appropriate sequence:Compound exercises first, THEN finish off with isolation movements.

 

Special Sets:
At the end of a routine, make use of “drop sets” to “finish off” the muscle. Start heavy, then keep lowering the weight in one perpetual, multi-stage set. For full body routines, make use of “super sets”. These are multiple exercises in quick succession. (Not to be confused with “circuit training” which involves a sequence of different sets in a cycle.)

 

Variation:
Have a plethora of exercises in one’s arsenal. The name of the game is VARIETY. For any given muscle, it’s good to know several exercises that one can use for it. Change it up! Don’t get stuck in a rut—the same ol’ routine every time (boring!) Remember: “surprise” your muscles—keep ‘em guessin’. Change the angles, the sequence, the movement, and the nature of the resistance (cable, bar-bell, dumb-bell, Hammer-strength, Smith Machine, stacks, rubber bands, biometric, etc.)

And most importantly: HAVE FUN!