Keeping Fit is A Daily Battle

Seated Cable Rows are great for the lats muscles, and it also exercises the trapezius, rhomboids and rear deltoids. It will give you wider lats if done correctly, but may result to lower back pain if not done correctly.

Below are the steps on proper way of doing seated cable rows:

1. Sit at the pulley row machine. Anchor your feet against the foot platforms, with your knees slightly bent.
2. Keep your back straight, lean forward slightly and grasp the handles with a narrow grip.
3. Pull the handles high toward your chest, keeping your spine straight. Your elbows should point behind you. Don’t lock your knees.
4. Hold for a second, then return to the starting position.

To target more on the trapezius, pull the handles or bar through a high trajectory towards the middle chest; a low trajectory toward the abdomen works more on the latissimus dorsi.

Remember to keep your back straight and torso upright, to prevent injury to your lower back and you are contracting the right muscles (lats and traps). Squeeze the shoulder blades together to maximize muscle contraction.

Below is a video demonstrating the proper execution of seated cable row:

Your eyes benefit from strength training! From previous post, where we knew that there are sexual benefits for strength training, now another benefit is that it saves you from suffering glaucoma. Researchers at Mississippi State University report that you can reduce your risk of glaucoma with bench presses.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness, affecting more than 67 million people worldwide. It affects the optic nerve, the connection between the eyeball and the brain. It’s caused by an abnormally high internal eyeball pressure and requires lifelong treatment and monitoring.

In the study by MSU, 30 people who performed three sets of bench presses reduced the pressure within their eyes, called intraocular pressure (IOP), by 15 percent.”Anything that lowers IOP reduces the pressure on the optic nerve, thus reducing the likelihood of nerve damage and glaucoma,” says Joseph Chromiak, Ph.D., the lead study author. Exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass, such as bench presses or squats, reduce pressure best, Chromiak says.

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I was in the same boat recently when I stopped lifting weights for almost 6 months. I could not find time during those months when I shifted to a new house and took me some time to resume my previous routines. What is the best strategy when returning to lifting weights again after returning from a long layoff?

According to a study by Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, anyone returning from a layoff of six months or more should at first limit their lifting to one set per exercise. This applies too for those beginning to lift weights. The researchers reviewed 16 studies and determined that single-set programs yield gains similar to those produced by multiple-set programs at the start.

“You’re actually better off beginning with a light training regimen to acclimatise your body to additional stress”, says Linda LeMura, Ph.D., a co-author of the study. So there’s no need to break-in your body with doing multiple sets for one to 4 weeks. I actually followed this advice, and re-conditioned my body to adapt to perform more sets after 1 month of doing one set only. This would also prevent injuries or “pulled” muscles, especially when attempting to lift the weight you can do easily before.

Do one set first of approximately 65 percent of your one-repetition max, for one month. One set is 8 to 10 repetitions. After that, resume your multiple sets as you did before your layoff, 3 to 4 sets of about 80 percent of your one-rep max. Take it easy at first and you will be on your way to getting shape again.

Seated leg raise gives an overall workout for the abs. It exercises the both the main abs muscles (rectus abdominis) and the obliques - the abs muscles that passes obliquely downward from the rib cage to the pelvic bone. The obliques are also known as “love handles” to those of us who have packed a few pounds around the middle.

The rectus abdominis is only one large muscle, but can be described to consist of upper and lower abs. As the crunch or sit-up primarily exercises your upper abs, seated leg raise is great for exercising primarily the lower part of the abs. Seated leg raise also workouts secondarily your butt and hip flexors.

Proper Execution of Seated Leg Raise:

1. Keeping your knees slightly bent, extend your legs and raise them a few inches off the floor.

2. While bringing your body to an upright position, slowly pull your knees in to your chest as far as you can without losing your balance.

3. Hold for a second, then simultaneously return your upper body and legs to the starting position, keeping your back straight as you go.

A video speaks a “trillion” words Below is a workout video by Bodybuilder Frank Sepe, demonstrating how to properly do the seated leg raise.

Lat is short term for “Latissimus dorsi”, the primary upper back muscle which gives a V shape look for our trunk, and makes our waist look smaller. Our back muscles enable us to pull with power, or grab something heavy from the ground, like a heavy baggage for example.

Lat pulldown is a great upper back exercise, but I advise against pulling down behind your head. I see sometimes guys in the gym pulling behind the head; it could lead to shoulder injuries and should be avoided.

This exercise also works your rhomboids, which lie between your spine and your shoulder blades. Don’t overdo the amount of weight.

As always, a workout video showing the exercise, provides a better grasp of the workout instructions. Below is a video of bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrating the correct form of doing lat pulldown.

Muscles Involved:
Primary: Latissimus dorsi (outer section).
Secondary: Rear deltoid, lower trapezius, rhomboids.

Proper Lat Pulldown Execution:

1. Sit at a lat pulldown station. Grasp the bar overhead, placing your hands shoulder-width or farther apart. Your palms should face away from your body. Keep your upper body straight and your eyes forward.

2. Slowly pull the bar down in front of your head until it reaches the top of your shoulders and touching your upper chest, keeping your upper body fairly upright throughout the movement. Hold for a second, then slowly return your arms in the starting position.

Preacher Curls are great for isolating biceps and concentrating on them. It is called a ‘preacher’ curl since the slant board resembles a preacher podium. Instead of standing in-front giving a sermon, you will be sitting behind it and curling your arms with weights on it to focus on your biceps.

As always, it is better to see in a workout video how it is done. A video speaks a “trillion” words! Bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrates below how to properly do Preacher Curls.

Proper Way of Execution:

1. Sit with your upper arms resting on the preacher bench, and take a shoulder-width underhand grip on the bar with arms out straight.

2. Curl the bar up toward your shoulders.

3. Lower the weight back down to the arms’ extended position.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the most popular Legs exercise - lying leg curls.

Lying Leg Curl exercises primarily the hamstrings. The hamstrings, located behind the thigh, are a group of 3 muscles that originate from the ischium bone of the pelvis. (See illustration below). The hamstring muscles are biceps femoris (outer aspect of the thigh), semimembranosus (behind the inner aspect) and semitendinosus (behind the inner aspect of the thigh adjacent to semimembranosus).

Proper Execution:

1. Lie facedown on a leg curl machine with your ankles hooked behind the lifting pads and your knees just over the bench’s edge. Hold on to the machine’s handlebars for support.

2. Keeping your pelvis flush against the bench, slowly raise your heels toward your butt so that your legs bend to about a 90-degree angel.

3. Hold for a second, then slowly lower your heels to the starting position.

Note: Some leg curl machines are bent slightly at the end to relieve pressure from your pelvis. If yours is not, put a small pillow under your pelvis.

Bodybuilder Frank Sepe demonstrates in workout video how to properly do Lying Leg Curls.