Over the last few decades physical fitness has become an increasingly important tool for fighting obesity. This requires a fitness routine that includes proper diet and exercise. A good workout should be a comprehensive training program designed to focus of cardio and strength training. A strength training workout should focus on all muscle groups with sufficient recovery time built into each week.
Strength training is about creating power, not size. Power is typically developed through explosive movements with several repetitions. Some good exercises for building power include the military press and squats. Both these exercise are considered compound movements that help build core body strength.
When developing a strength training workout, it is important to remember that more repetitions are better. Developing core strength requires endurance and most exercises should include at least 10 repetitions. This allows the body to adapt to high repetitions before muscle fatigue sets in.
The strength training athlete is well balanced and well fit. He is someone who jumps rope, runs, lift weights, and perform hundreds of push-ups. This type of training requires dedication in the gym and at the dinner table. A good strength training workout should include a proper meal plan.
A good diet for strength training includes additional carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins. This provides the endurance energy that is necessary to get through the brutal workouts of an endurance athlete. Carbohydrates provide quick energy that can be used as energy during an exercise routine.
Many strength training workouts can be completed without extensive weights. They should also include a good combination of compound weight movements. Isolation exercises are designed to increase size, which is also powerful but typically slower. Compound weight movements are designed for strength training. They include bent-over rows, lunges, and cable wood choppers.
A strength training workout should include a good balance of pushing and pulling exercises. This allows the body to react to exercise with opposite muscle groups. An example of push-pull combinations would be bench press mixed with back rows as well as pull-ups with dips.
Explosive lifting is critical for creating strength. This form of lifting requires the athlete to push or pull the weight as quickly as possible. Force is a factor of speed and power. By exercising in an explosive manner the muscles learn to become adaptive to quick movements with extreme power. A good strength training workout should include squats, snatches, and clean and jerks as explosive movements.
