Featured Exercise: Basketball Abdominal Super Challenge: 03/30/2012

In honor of the final four I have decided to share an abdominal exercise that I give to my basketball athletes. Truly, anyone can do it, but since medicine balls can be roughly the size of a basketball I have coined it my basketball abdominal exercise.

This exercise utilized a majority of your core musculature. You will target your rectus abdominus, obliques, transverse, erector spinae, hip flexors, and even musculature of the arm and shoulder. The most important thing with this exercise is to use your breathe to aid in your movements; thus exhaling upon contraction in inhaling upon deceleration.

Equipment:
Basketball or medicine ball (appropriate weight)
Floor mat

Sets and Reps:
3-? sets and your reps should be to fatigue - the core is full of endurance muscles, so max out their endurance

Start position: you will get to know this position very well

Utilizing a side oblique crunch bring the basketball overhead and touch the ball to one side. Make sure that you look where you are going. This will decrease neck tension. Return to starting position. 

Utilizing a side oblique crunch bring the basketball overhead and touch the ball on to the other side. Make sure that you look where you are going. This will decrease neck tension. Return to starting position.

Utilizing a forward crunch and straight leg raise bring the basketball overhead and touch the ball to your toes. Make sure that you look where you are going. This will decrease neck tension. Return to starting position.

Utilizing a forward crunch bring the basketball overhead and end in a full sit-up position so you can throw the ball to a partner, wall, or rebounder. If you are unable to throw the ball and have it returned then toss the ball overhead and catch it. Make sure that you look where you are going. This will decrease neck tension. Return to starting position.
You have done one repetition.

Have fun, and feel the burn!!!!!!!!!

A special thanks to Jayne Wilson for making these photos possible.
  

Featured Workout: Insane Home Leg Workout: 3/28/2012

Today's featured workout is brought to you by Jeff Cavaliere. This is an intense workout that can be performed with minimal equipment and in a limited time. The concept uses the shot clock from basketball as the timer for each exercise; assuming that you perform each exercise for 35 sec.

The box jumps win again!

Equipment:
Barbell
Block, stepper, or bench (for jumps)
Physioball

Exercises: Think of it like a Bracket!

Set #1                     Set #2                             Set #3


Deadlifts                  
                                              Box Jumps                          
Box Jumps              
                                                                                                         Box Jumps
Physioball Leg Curls
                                              Split Squat Jumps (Lunges)
Split Squat Jumps     


Video:

High Intensity Challenge: 03/27/2012

Reverse Burpee Ladder Workout Challenge:
Warm-up	8 min dynamic stretches
Workout:	Reverse Brupee Ladder
	12 burpees - 400 m run
	11 burpees - 400m run
	10 burpees - 400m run
	an so on, and so on…
Cool Down	800m walk
Start with the warm-up
You don't have to start with 12 burpees
Pick a number and just work your way down
Finish with the cool down
Have fun! Work hard!

App of the Week: Instant Heart Rate: 03/26/2012

Most professional, amateur, and recreational athletes have an interest in their heart rate. Mostly because they have a heart rate range in which they wish to train. Whether it is 65%, 70%, 80%, or even 90% of their heart rate max; people that have a great interest in training find it important to be able to reach a level and maintain that level. Will this app replace your heart rate monitor that you use for exercise? No, probably not., because it is a little difficult to use while running.  However, if you forget your heart rate monitor you can always use your phone to check your heart rate during rests, post exercise, during recovery, or during low intensity training.

This app is pretty accurate. I have used it at the same time I have used medical heart rate monitors and the numbers are always close, very close. The app is free for those that wish to try it out, but if you prefer your apps to be ad free then there is a $0.99 paid version with more features.

What the developer says about the app:

Turns your phone into a heart rate monitor. Quick and accurate.

★ The best Health & Fitness app on Mobile Premier Awards 2011 according to jury of industry experts ★

Instant Heart Rate is the most accurate Heart Rate Monitor app for any smartphone and it does not need any external hardware.

Use it for optimizing your exercise and to track your progress.
Install it now and keep fit.

Accuracy is constantly tested by fitness coaches, nurses, doctors, EMTs and 5 million users like you.

Place the tip of your index finger on phone’s camera and in a couple of seconds your Heart Rate will be shown. 

A real-time chart will show your every heart beat.

It uses your phones built-in camera to track color changes on the fingertip that are directly linked to your pulse. This is the same technique that medical pulse oximeters use.

Now you have a chance to track your fitness and health every-time with just your phone.
Your resting heart rate gives you a view into your hearts fitness. The fitter you get the lower your heart rate will be.

Enables:
✓ Heart rate measurements
✓ Real time PPG graph - see your every heart beat
✓ Cardio workout monitoring

NOTE: Works best on devices with flash. On other devices it has to be used with good lighting.

The app can be found at Google Play:
Instant Heart Rate

I believe that there is a version at the iTunes App Store as well. 

Featured Exercise: Kettlebell Swing to Overhead Squat: 03/22/2012

Today's featured exercise takes a little bit of all of my favorite kettlebell exercises and rolls them all into one exercise that is sure to get your muscles burning and your sweat pouring. You can do this exercise anywhere. This truly a great progression to use as a high repetition exercise, or perform with a set time frame (1 min, 2 min...).


Equipment:
One kettlebell

Steps:

Starting position: Kettlebell is held in one hand at mid-shin height. Back is straight with a slight lumbar curve 

Stand up and swing kettlebell up to shoulder or slightly above shoulder height

Come back to starting position

Bring the kettlebell directly up the front of the body into a clean with the kettlebell facing in towards the body

Return to starting position

Bringing the kettlebell into a clean with the kettlebell facing the side of the body and press overhead

While keeping the kettlebell overhead transition into an overhead squat.  Make sure that the weight remains
over the midline of your body, and that your knees stay over your feet.

Congrats: You have performed one repetition. This exercise can be performed by alternating arms or you can do a selected set with one arm. That is all up to you. Perform this exercise to maximum repetitions or time yourself. Have fun!

  

Workout Change-Up: 03/21/2012

Power Push-Ups

The workout for today or at any point this week is to set aside one hour for push-ups. For those that are really trying to up the amount of push-ups that you can accomplish, then this is for you. The goal of this workout is obviously to train your upper body by increasing the volume of push-ups that you can perform.

Exercise description:

For every minute on the minute during a 60 minute period perform 3-10 push-ups. Sounds simple, but trust me, by the time you reach 30 minutes you might be ready to quit. Watch your form, and do this with a friend if it is possible. They will be able to keep you going.

Example:

• 3 push-ups every minute for 60 minutes = 180 push-ups
• 10  push-ups every minute for 60 minutes = 600 push-ups (WOW! I know.)  

Push up performed with a barbell - adds an instability element

Options:

• Change up your grip to keep your wrists from becoming bothered.
• Use dumbbells/barbells as a platform
• Add in some sort of instability factor (medicine ball, Bosu ball, etc...) to increase the level of difficulty
• Use a pad to cushion your hands and wrists

App of the Week: 03/20/2012

The app for this week will hopefully allow you to make smarter choices when eat out at a fast/chain food restaurants. We all know that eating out can add extra calories to our diets, and that sometimes those extra calories can be relatively unhealthy calories. However, very few people can say that they never eat out at chain restaurants or fast food restaurants. This is why this app can become very helpful, especially if you catch yourself eating out more than once a week. This app is $0.99 at Google Play (formerly the Android Market), but there is a free version with ads for those that want to test it out before purchasing the app.

The developers description:

Trying to reconcile your diet with your love for fast food? With this handy guide, you can keep your diet on track when you have to eat on the run! Now with 73 restaurants and 9,141 menu items. Each item has nutritional information including calories, fat, carbs, fiber, and protein. FREE updates to come!

Can be found at Google Play by following this link:
Fast Food Calorie Counter

Might be available at the iTunes App Store as well.

Featured Workout: 03/15/2013

Today's workout is brought to you by Scott Herman.

Ultimate TRX Total CORE Destruction For 6-Pack

 Abs and V-Cu

This workout is a full body workout that will target your core. It is an intense workout that will certain give those expert trainers a challenge, but even beginners will be able to get a good workout by going at their own pace.

Equipment needed:

Suspension Straps

Exercises:

Suspended Crunch (Knees To Chest)
Suspended Crunch 2 (Pike)
Pendulum
Pendulum 2 (Knees To Elbows)
Standing Body Crunch
Standing Oblique Twist
Suspended Oblique Crunch 
Suspended Alternating Crunch

Suspended Plank 

Video:

Protein Timing: Does it Matter?

Protein Timing for Muscle Growth, Recovery, and Power:Does it Matter?

There have been a lot of conversations about protein supplementation and its effect on muscle growth and its role in muscle development in athletes and recreational athletes. Some argue that it is important to supplement prior to and immediately post exercise. Whereas, others have argued that it is best to just supplement at anytime during the day. So, does it really matter when you supplement with protein? The answer is yes and no. It is obvious that resistance athletes must consume upwards of 30% - 50% more protein than that of an endurance athlete (Hoffman et al., 2009). Also, there is evidence that exercise, particularly resistance training and lengthy endurance training, can produce a catalytic (breakdown) cycle within the muscular structure during and post exercise (Ivy & Furguson., 2010) and that this catalytic cycle can lead to reductions in force, power, and strength of future workouts. For a positive recovery to occur a shift must be made from a catalytic state to an anabolic state, and this is why it is believed that the optimal window for a post-exrecise meal is within 30 - 60 minutes (Ivy & Ferguson, 2010). Also, intense exercise enhances protein synthesis, as well as, protein degradation; for this reason it is important to have amino acid availability to mediate the balance between degradation and synthesis (Ferguson-Stegall et al., 2011). Athletes that supplement or increase their protein intake have been shown to increase muscular recovery, decrease muscle damage, and also a reduction in force decrements (Hoffman et al., 2009). So when is it considered the best time to supplement? Is there an optimal ratio between carbohydrates (CHO) and protein? What protein source seems to be the best? There is a large amount of evidence out there that supports supplementation of protein by the athlete, but the differences in the results within research  can make determining an ideal protein ingestion window challenging. 

Most studies that have researched the subject of protein supplementation explore timing, protein source, simple protein supplementation, and dosage size in relation to athlete or non-athletes. Previous studies have demonstrated that protein supplementation at or above recommended levels did not improve lean mass, strength or power in strength and power athletes, however, it is unknown what the parameters were for those studies and whether the participants were heavily observed throughout the course of the studies (Hoffman et al., 2009,). Also, of note is that in one study involving timing where male athletes ages 19 - 23 years in age reported better lean mass gains from protein supplementation when compare to elderly men whom also participated in the same study. Despite these gains it should be noted that there may have been some hormonal differences that lead to the increased gains in the younger athletes (Hoffman et al., 2009,). It was also noted that an increase in the amino acid leucine, found in milk, may have offset those negative muscle gain results in elderly men (Hulmi, Lockwood & Stout., 2010). When comparing  protein supplementation in a previous study, they found that recreational athletes ages 21 - 24 supplementing with 44g of whey protein and 43 g of glucose (1:1 ratio) immediately prior to and post exercise showed the greatest improvement in lean body mass and cross sectional type II muscle fiber size when compared to a similar group that supplemented in the morning and evening (Hoffman et al., 2009). This previous study contradicted the study by Hoffman et al., that found similar results for both the morning and evening group along with the pre & post exercise group when supplementing with 42 g of a proprietary blend of protein (whey and casein). In short both groups showed adequate increases in strength, 1RM, and power, but timing did not make a difference between the statistics between the two groups. This may be because the athletes daily intake of protein was well above the recommended 1.6 - 2.0g/kg, and that the amount of carbohydrates (CHO) in the supplement mixture could have been too low to enhance protein metabolism facilitation (Hoffman et al., 2009) and this might have caused an overload on one singular metabolic pathway (Hulmi, Lockwood & Stout., 2010).  It should be noted that for resistance training the amount of CHO should be between 1.2g and 1.5 g/kg along with 0.4g to 0.6 g/kg of protein at the time of supplementation (Ivy & Ferguson., 2010), and that protein intake should not exceed 2.0 g/kg/d. This is close to a 3:1 CHO:Protein ratio.

Another study looked at comparing the effects of carrying a 25kg backpack on a tread mill for 2 hours while comparing commercially available carbohydrate and whey protein supplements, and whether they aid in the recovery of neuromuscular function post exercise while consumed during exercise (Blacker et al., 2010). In this study Blacker et al, took ten healthy recreational athletic males and broke them into control (placebo), CHO, and protein groups. The subjects performed a muscle testing protocol involving isokinetic flexion and extension contractions of the trunk, knee, and shoulder at two different hertz intervals (20 Hz and 50 Hz), as well as, maximal voluntary isometric contractions with the subject contracting into knee extension (Blacker et al., 2010). These tests were performed prior to exercise, immediately post exercise, 24, 48, and 72 hours post exercise. The results showed that only the protein and CHO groups had a return to strength at 48 hours post exercise (Blacker et al., 2010). This study does not demonstrate the need for protein supplementation to achieve strength or muscle mass gains, however, it does clearly signal the need for increased nutrients while participating in prolonged exercise. Also, the subjects consumed whey protein based beverages. It might also be of importance to note that in a previous study subjects that showed the best development of type I and type II muscle fibers, and demonstrated a positive muscle protein balance consumed 15g of whey protein prior to and post exercise (Hulmi, Lockwood &; Stout., 2010). Also,  several other previous other studies have shown recreational athletes and previously sedentary individuals to demonstrate an increase in muscle mass when whey protein was consumed and that there were minimal differences between male and female subjects. (Hulmi, Lockwood & Stout., 2010).   

Does this mean that chocolate milk might be a great post exercise drink? According to research the answer would be yes. Whey is definitely a great source of protein for the musculoskeletal system, given that you are not lactose intolerant or have whey allergies. There have been several studies that have looked at the consumption of chocolate milk as a recovery supplement, and many studies have found it to be very promising. This subject all on its own could be a completely different article. For instance, one study that looked into the use of chocolate milk in the protein signalling, protein and CHO synthesis and recovery processes had 10 trained (5 men and 5 women) cyclist and triathletes who were physically stressed and broke the subjects into placebo, CHO, and chocolate milk groups(Ferguson-Stout et al., 2011). The athletes in this study performed both 3 doses of a time trial test, a VO2max test, and 3 doses of 1.5 hours of cycling followed by  interval testing for 10 min to exhaustion. Ferguson-Stout et al.,  found that the trained athletes whom consumed a low-fat chocolate milk beverage (1.9 g CHO, 0.6 g PRO, and 0.3 g fat per kg body weight) had a lower test time trial and had an increase in power output when compared to the CHO group. Also, they determined that their finding matched the findings of various other studies that have looked at the benefits of using a protein/CHO recovery drink post exercise (Ferguson-Stout et al., 2011). It is thought that the higher concentrations of leucine and isoleucine may make fat-free chocolate milk an ideal beverage to be consumed immediately post exercise to enhance muscle protein synthesis (Hoffman et al., 2009), also the CHO found in chocolate milk would aid in muscle glycogen restoration.

Research demonstrates the need to consume protein after exercise, but it is best to include CHO within the recovery meal to improve muscle protein synthesis, protein signaling, muscle glycogen restoration and to increase muscular endurance performance (Ferguson-Stout et al., 2011). There is substantial evidence that protein intake immediately prior to and post exercise can improve muscle protein synthesis rate and increase the accretion of muscle protein in resistance athletes looking to add mass and power when compared to similar athletes who delay their post exercise meal (or snack) for a long period of time (Hoffman et al., 2009). It has also been suggested that a CHO:protein supplement be taken immediately post exercise and then again 2 hours after to augment muscle damage, replace muscle glycogen stores, improve or protect immune function, and increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis when compared to  just providing protein or CHO on their own (Ivy & Ferguson, 2009). This statement even further justifies the need to have a post exercise snack or meal that is close to the ratios of 4:1 or 3:1 in CHO:protein. It would also stand to reason from research that whey protein may be more beneficial to an individual looking to add mass and power to their body. Despite the idea of whey being “better” for increasing the size and power of the musculoskeletal system, any protein is be good protein to add mass and permit adequate muscle protein synthesis. The evidence isn’t just for resistance athletes, even endurance athletes can benefit from a good CHO:protein supplement or meal post exercise. So the next time that you exercise don’t feel bad if you think, “What will I eat after this workout?”, and if you are looking to bulk up then go ahead and add in a CHO:protein pre-exercise meal.

References

Blacker, S. D., Williams, N. C., Fallowfield, J. L., Bilzon, J. LJ., & Willems, M., ET. (2010). Carbohydrate vs protein supplementation for recovery of neuromuscular function following prolonged load carriage. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 7:2.

Ferguson-Stout, L., McCleave, E. L., Ding, Z., Doerner III, P. G., Wang, B., Liao, Y-H., Kammer, L., Liu, Y., Hwang, J., & Dessard, B. M. (2011). Postexercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation improves subsequent exercise performance and intracellular signaling for protein synthesis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(5). 1210 - 1224.

Hoffman, J. R., Ratamess, N. A., Tranchina, C. P., Rashti, S. L., Kang, J., & Faigenbau, A. D. (2009). Effects of protein-supplement timing on strength, power, and body-composition changes in resistance-trained men. International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 19. 172 - 185.

Hulmi, J. J., Lockwood, C. M., & Stout, J. R. (2010). Effect of protein/essential amino acids and resistance training on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A case for whey protein. Nutrition & Metabolism, 7:51.

Ivy., J. L., & Ferguson, L. F. (2010). Optimizing resistance exercise adaptations through the timing of post-exercise carbohydrate-protein supplementation. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 32(1). 30 - 36.

Featured Exercise: Deltoid Busters 03/13/2012

The featured exercise for the week is the Deltoid Buster, which is a complete deltoid workout all in one exercise. This exercise is a combination of a forward shoulder raise, a standing back row, and deltoid extension. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, an exercise band increases the difficulty of this exercise, and the addition of the band is what makes this exercise a deltoid buster.

For those looking to modify the exercise you are in luck, I threw one into the mix. 

Equipment:

• One dumbbell
• Resistance band
• An anchor for the resistance band

How to perform the exercise:

1. Start with the weight and band in your grip, the palm facing back and at your side or just in front on your leg
2. Perform a forward shoulder raise
3. Transition into a standing back row
1. Modification
1. turn the palm up when in the end stage of the forward shoulder raise
2. Transition into a standing low row 
4. Bring the arm back to a parallel position with the floor (palm facing down)
5. Transition into shoulder extention
6. Return to the starting position
7. You have now performed one repetition

Starting Position

Forward Shoulder Raise

Standing Back Row

Shoulder Extension


Putting it all together!

Fitness Application of the Week 3/12/2012

The featured app for this weeks is the Calories Burned Calculator. This application is a quick source to determine how many calories that you may have burned during activity. Hundreds of activities are listed: from cycling to even sex. Of course this calculator isn't going to be 100% accurate since it can't determine your level of intensity, your lean mass, or even the difficulty that you may have had with the activity. However, you can get a pretty good ball park estimate for the amount of calories that you might have burned through your selected activity.

How does it work? Each activity that humans partake in has a certain level of watts. This wattage is based off of the intensity of the activity, your weight, and the activity type. Humans burn calories when performing a certain activity at a certain wattage for any length of time. This calculator has preprogrammed  information about various activities and uses your weight and duration of activity to determine the amount of calories that you burned during that period of constant movement. Again, this calculator gives estimates, so actual calories burned may be +/- 200 kcal. 

This app can be found FREE on the Android Market (now called Google Play) at:

Calories Burned Calculator

I believe that it is also available at the iTunes App Store

Featured Workout: 03/09/2012

The featured workout is brought to you by M Body Strength

Equipment needed is:
One kettlebell
Pull-up bar

Exercises:
1 swing, clean, snatch, overhead squat
switch arms
repeat for 3 minutes

Alternating 1-arm sprawl to alternating mixed grip
repeat for 2 minutes

Alternating Pistol Deck Squat
repeat for 1 minute

Rest 2-3 minutes

Perform 5 total sets.


Video:

  
Have fun, keep it safe, and break a sweat!

Exercise of the Day: Floor Wipers 03/08/2012

Everyone is looking for that perfect abdominal exercise that will do everything. Well, my friends, a perfect exercise really doesn't exist. However, there are some abdominal exercises that can work multiple areas at one time. Some are traditional abdominal exercises and some are functional. Today's exercise is a combination of both, and will leave you feeling accomplished and worked.

Floor Wipers

Floor Wipers is an advance exercise and you should have a partner to assist you if you are new to the exercise,  have any shoulder issues, or are unable to perform a bench press with weights. 

*****At no point in this exercise should you arch your back or press your back into the ground to perform the exercise. Keep your back in a neutral position.

This exercise will focus on:

• Shoulder joint stabilization
• Trunk and core stabilization
• Core strength and motion in multiple planes
• Hip flexors

Equipment needed:

• Olympic weight lifting bar
• Weight plates (45 is the desired lbs unless you are using Olympic Rubber Plates due to relative size, if using lower weighted metal weights than use blocks to life the weights of the ground)
• Platform (aerobic steppers or blocks), if desired

Set-up:

• Place desired weights on Olympic bar
• Secure the plates with a weight clamp
• Place bar with weight on blocks, if desired (desired for those with shoulder issues or concerned about safety)
• Get underneath the bar

How to do the exercise:

• Once under the bar place arms in a comfortable shoulder width position to lift the bar off of the floor or blocks
• You can also have a partner place the bar into your hands once your are on the floor
• Neutral position is with the bar place directly over your shoulders with your hands placed slightly outside the shoulders and the bar parallel to the ground
• Bring both feet to one of the weight plates
• Return to neutral
• Bring both feet to the other weight plate
• Return to neutral
• Congrats, you have performed one repetition
• When finished lower the weights to the floor or blocks
• Get out from under the bar
• If you are lifting the bar from the floor you can roll the bar back past your head with your head turned to either side.   

Fitness App of the Week 03/07/2012

The application of the week is the free JEFIT Body Building application for Apple and Android. This application is a must have for anyone that includes a regular resistance training program into their fitness regimen. With this application you can:

• Keep track of your workouts
• Manage the exercises that you have created or enjoy
• Set a 1RM for your exercises and view your progress
• See your current 1RM for each exercise
• Superset your workouts
• Keep a log of your measurements and set goals for your desired measurements
• Keep a picture log of your progress
• View hundreds of exercises complete with descriptions and GIF images. 
• Time your workouts
• Apply an interval timer to your workouts
• and much more

I personally use this app on my resistance training days and have found it very helpful. It is wonderful and easy to use. It is almost like a personal trainer in your pocket. For those that would like to be ad free and have some extra options, you can purchase the ads free app for $4.99.

The app can be found on the Android Market at JEFIT

The app can also be found at the Apple AppStore.

Weight Training Goals and 1 Rep Max (1RM)

Weight Training Goals and 1 Rep Max (1RM)

Do you have a weight training goal in mind? If you don’t then maybe you should. Resistance training is a great way to increase strength, maintain or increase joint range of motion, increase muscular endurance, increase your metabolism, and produce muscular tone that improve your self-esteem.

How can you apply your goal? Let’s look at the numbers.

• ·         Endurance training = high reps 12 - ?
• ·         Strength training = low reps 3 - 6
• ·         Hypertrophy training = medium reps 6 - 12 

Rest for 30 - 60 sec in between sets, unless you are really focusing on heavy weight training; then you can rest for as long as 3 min. 

Weight amount should be 60% - 85% of your 1RM.

Sets can be as few as 2 and as high as 8. It all depends on how much work you want to do. To truly train your muscles well you should do no fewer than 3 sets per exercise. Sometimes doing an exercise session as a circuit will enable you to perform more sets, so if you find that 2 is all you can do in secession then give circuit training a try.

Resistance training should be a part of your regimen at a minimum of 3 days per week.

How do you work towards your resistance training goal? Let’s look at this.

Higher 1 RM weight percentage (higher weight) = fewer reps per set (strength & hypertrophy training).

• ·         Want to bulk up then hypertrophy training is for you
• ·         Want to become stronger than strength training is for you

Lower 1RM weight percentage (lower weight) = higher reps (endurance training).

• ·         Don't want to bulk up then endurance training is for you.
• ·         Don't worry, you can still develop that beautiful muscle tone that we all find attractive

Use the following formula to determine your one rep max. Knowing your 1RM is very helpful in developing your weight training regimen. 

1RM (Rep Max) formula: Use this math formula to determine what your one rep max is for any exercise: This will help determine what amount you should lift. When lifting to determine your 1 RM follow these steps. Plan ahead: determining your 1RM can be a workout in itself and it does take time.

·         Lift what think you can lift in ten reps, but keep going until you are tired or can’t lift anymore – an adequate warm-up is helpful.

·         Rest for 3-4 minutes – this will enable your body to refuel (too short of a rest period might actually lower your 1RM weight, thus producing a false positive)

·         Increase the weight and aim for ten reps, but keep going until you are tired or can’t lift anymore

·         Rest for 3-4 minutes

·         Increase the weight and aim for ten reps, but keep going until you are tired or can’t lift anymore

·         Repeat the above steps until only ten or fewer reps can be achieved

  Then use the formula below to determine your 1 RM

Weight lifted = amount of weight you lifted for that set (wt)

# of reps =  amount of reps you lifted for that final set (reps)

1RM= (wt x reps x 0.033) + wt

Example:

• ·         1RM = (135 x 8x 0.033) + 135
• ·         1RM = 35.64 + 135
• ·         1RM = 170.64 or 171

Once you have determined your 1 RM you should determine your weight percentage for your exercise.

Assume that 65% is the percentage of your 1RM that you are to lift.

1RM x RM% = Desired weight

Example:

            Turn your desired percentage into a decimal point

171 x 0.65 = 110.9 or 111lbs is your 1RM

Pick the closest weight. Obviously 111lb weights don’t exist, so lift 110 lbs.