Training Archives - Page 22 of 28 • Share It Fitness

Sport Specific Workouts

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Matt Posted in General Health, Strength Training Leave a comment

Virtually every sport on the planet, men’s or women’s, requires strength to maximize your performance. Years ago, coaches and trainers believed weight lifting added unnecessary weight to the athlete, resulting in diminished speed and agility. On the contrary, the benefits of strength training to the athlete are enormous. It is a necessity for power athletes like football players or wrestlers, as well as endurance athletes like runner’s and soccer players.

Unlike bodybuilders who are simply aiming to increase the size of every muscle, athletes need refined and detailed workouts to help them achieve their goals. An effective sport specific workout routine consists of four main parts: weight training, plyometrics, cardio, and diet. By finding the balance between these elements, you are able to unlock hidden potential you never knew you had.

Explosive power, muscular endurance, and maximized strength, or some combination of all three are found in almost every sporting event. Whether you are a high school athlete or just a guy wanting to step up his game on the pick-up basketball court, sport specific workouts are the way to go. Maximize your time in the with a detailed plan that will benefit you the most.

At Share It Fitness, we design month long sport specific workout plans for a variety of sports. The workouts are never generic, and vary month to month, to keep your body guessing what’s coming next. We target the four key points of any successful sport specific workout routine to help you achieve your goals. In addition, we have high-level athletes on staff to offer guidance. For example, NFL athletes, professional soccer players, professional UFC fighters, professional golfers, professional boxers, and MLB players, are just some of the pro’s we have available to assist our trainers in developing your most effective program yet.

5 Best Exercises for Bicep Size

Posted on March 31, 2010 by Matt Posted in Strength Training 2 Comments

These exercises are geared towards the individuals who are lifting for size and strength. While size and strength are not always mutually attainable with one routine, these exercises aim to deliver both.

1. Barbell Bicep Curl – This should be the first exercise of your bicep day. Go heavier on this one and aim for 8 reps. The majority of people can handle more weight on a barbell as opposed to a dumbbell, so this is ideal for adding strength. Use a full range of motion (raise an inch from your chest, lower an inch from your upper thighs) and keep a straight back. Far too often we see guys using too heavy a weight while doing bicep curls. They lean forward, and back, and forward….as they struggle to lift the weight. This is a waste. Use good form and proper weight to notice the biggest gains.

2. Incline Dumbbell Curls – An ideal exercise to prevent any momentum from assisting you lift the weight. This puts full stress on the biceps, resulting in greater results. This will require you to use a lighter weight, most likely. Keep your back against the bench and slowly raise and lower the weights.

3. Cable Curls – In order to fully develop a given muscle, you need to hit the deep muscle fibers as well. Cable curls are good at doing this because their pattern of movement is so unsteady. The constant pull of the cable will require all of your stabilization muscles to feel the burn. Try using a rope, straight bar, or handles when performing this move.

4. Hammer Curls – By keeping your palms facing in throughout the whole movement, you place stress on a different set of muscle fibers in the bicep. The muscle that is between the bicep and tricep comes into play here. This is great at adding size and building strength in an often over-looked aspect of the arm.

5. Concentration Curls – The classic bodybuilder move. These are performed sitting down, with your elbow just above your knee. These are sure to surge huge growth in your biceps. The nature of the exercise places a great deal of stress on the bicep and removes the aspect of momentum. Try using this one at the end of your workout to really finish off your biceps.

5 Common Mistakes of Running

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training Leave a comment

Running should be an enjoyable and stress-free activity. Many runners experience pain and discomfort because of wrong gear, form, and hydration. Read about the most common mistakes made by runners and how to fix them!

Shoes
Many runners have a favorite pair of running shoes they don’t want to give up. That comfortable, broken-in pair of shoes can be hard to give up. Running shoes need to be discarded (for running purposes) every 300-400 miles, depending on weight 2 bing1 and where you run. Heavier runners (over 160 pounds) should change earlier than lighter runners, and outside/trail runners should change shoes at an earlier mileage than treadmill runners.

Also, make sure that you are wearing shoes that fit properly. Some runners have specific wear or strike patterns that can cause pain. However, these problems can be easily addressed by ensuring your shoes are the right fit. Learn how to purchase the proper athletic shoes here. Changing and wearing the correct running shoes is essential to avoiding the most common running injuries such as knee, hip and other joint problems.

Happy Feet
There’s no doubt that races are exciting and exhilarating experiences. Almost all runners have a story about starting a race at a faster pace because of the excitement and anticipation. Inevitably, they hit a wall somewhere along the way and are zapped of their energy. The best way to prevent a runner’s crash is to be aware of your pace before the race starts and start slower than usual. This way, by the middle of the race, you will have plenty of energy to finish off strong. Also, it’s best to start off in the middle or back of the corral. This way you aren’t tempted to keep up with speed demons.

Overstriding
Overstriding is when runners land on their heel, with the entire foot ahead of the body’s center of gravity. This type of stride seems to be a good way to increase speed, but in reality, it slows you down. Overstriding wastes precious energy since with each foot strike, there is a braking motion. It is also one of the leading causes of running injuries.

The best way to correct this problem is to pay close attention to your running form until the motion becomes natural. Try not to lunge forward with your feet, especially when running downhill. Keep a short, slow arm swing to help keep your stride short and close to the ground.

Hydration
Many runners don’t realize how much fluid they lose during a run and don’t drink enough fluid. Some choose not to drink because they worry about getting cramps. Getting side cramps from drinking water is a myth. Cramps can be prevented by deep mouth breathing and warming up properly.

It is important to drink before, during and after exercise. An hour before exercising, try to drink between 16-24 ounces of water or a sports drink. During a run, the general rule is to drink 6-8 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes. If you workout more than 90 minutes, you should supplement your water with a sports drink. After a run, rehydrate with 20-24 ounces of water for every pound lost.

Overtraining
Runners who are focused on training for a race or a personal goal are often extremely dedicated to the challenge, maybe even a little too much. The thought process tends to be: more miles = better performance. In fact, this is not true! Taking the time to recover is one of the most important parts of improving speed and efficiency.

Running everyday or running too many miles causes burnout and injury. If you are building up to a longer race, build your mileage incrementally. Don’t increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% to reduce your chances of overuse injuries. After a harder run, take a day off to allow your muscles to recuperate. Every 4th week, drop your weekly mileage by 50% (rest week) so that you don’t burnout. Schedule days off from running just as you would schedule a run.

Via FitAndFabLiving.com

Improving Endurance

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training Leave a comment

Every athlete wants long-lasting aerobic/anaerobic enudrance. By working together, the body is provided with ATP (energy) for exercise. Aerobic energy refers to the energy you receive when going for a light jog or brisk walk. Anaerobic energy comes into play during high intensity activities for a short period of time, such as sprinting or power lifting. To summarize, aerobic energy is produced in the presence of oxygen during low intensity activities for prolonged times. Anaerobic is for short, intense bursts, and takes place without oxygen’s presence. Improving both will have a bigger impact on overall endurance than improving only one.

Aerobic Endurance

The best way to increase aerobic endurance is by doing cardiovascular exercise, i.e. walking, jogging, swimming, biking, etc. For beginners and intermediates, try working your way up to about 25 minutes, 4 days a week of cardiovascular exercise. For the well trained individual, try implementing HIIT or Tabata training.

Anaerobic Endurance

We all know the feeling. You’ve been exercising intensely for a period of time and that dull burn starts to build in the muscle. You fight past it, but sooner or later it will become too much to bear and the muscle grows weak. This is the result of lactic acid buildup. Lactic acid is a byproduct of anaerobic energy. By training for anaerobic endurance, you increase your muscles’ tolerance to lactic acid buildup, thus giving you more time before fatigue sets in. HIIT training is excellent here as it will positively affect aerobic as well as anaerobic endurance. Essentially, you want to hit about 90% of your max heart rate for a brief period of time, then sink back to 70& of your max heart rate for a few minutes. Think: sprint all out for 30 seconds, then walk for 2 minutes…repeat for 20 total minutes. As your HIIT training advances, aim for a ratio of 2:3, or even 1:1 for the very fit.

Example HIIT training schedule below:

Week	Daily Schedule
Week 1	Day 1: Cardio session at 70% MHR for 20 mins in the a.m. Weightlifting session (upper body, chest/delts/tri’s) in the p.m.Day 2: HIIT session for 20 mins (example 1 from above). Day 3: Off. Day 4: Weightlifting session (lower body) in the p.m. Day 5: Cardio session at 70% MHR for 20 mins in the a.m. Day 6: HIIT session for 20 mins (example 1). Day 7: Cardio session at 70% MHR for 20 mins in the a.m. Weightlifting session (upper body, back/traps/bi’s) in the p.m.
Week 2	Same as week 1.
Week 3	Increase cardio sessions in the a.m. at 70% MHR for 20 mins to 30 mins.
Week 4	Same as week 3.
Week 5	Change HIIT training from example 1 to example 2.
Week 6	Same as week 5.
Week 7	Increase cardio sessions in the a.m. at 70% MHR for 30 mins to 45 mins.
Week 8	Change HIIT training from example 2 to example 3.
Week 9	Deloading week. Get off HIIT for the whole week and decrease cardio sessions in the a.m. back to 30 mins per session. Decrease weightliftin g sessions from 3 to 2 per week.

The 15-minute at Home Dumbbell Workout

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Matt Posted in Strength Training Leave a comment

Workout #1

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 x 10
Incline Dumbbell Press – 3 x 10
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3 x 10
Seated Dumbbell Press – 3 x 12
Dumbbell Curls – 3 x 12

Workout #2

Dumbbell Bench Press – 3 x 10
Incline Bench Press – 3 x 10
One Arm Dumbbell Row – 4 x 12
Tricep Kickbacks – 3 x 12
Dumbbell Curls – 3 x 12

Alternate between workout #1 and #2 every other time you workout. Give yourself 2-3 days between workouts to recover.

Everything a Beginner Needs to Know

Posted on March 26, 2010 by Matt Posted in General Health, Nutrition, Strength Training Leave a comment

So, you’ve made the decision to go ahead and start a healthy living plan. You have the motivation, you have precisely determined why you want to get healthy, and you have set some realistic goals. Step 1 complete. The question, “So now what?” instantly arises. You could scour the internet for weeks and find a hundred different answers to your most basic question. This is the problem so many people have. There is so much bad information in the fitness world today. People often have to do much guess-work when it comes to determining what’s good and what isn’t. It doesn’t have to be that complicated. Getting healthy isn’t rocket science.

Below is a fantastic, tried and true healthy lifestyle plan for the beginner. This will help ease you in to fitness, while keeping things fun and engaging. You may have heard or seen people doing split routines at the gym, i.e. an intense focus on 1-2 body parts per day. This is for the more advanced lifter. We want you to use a full body workout to slowly build up your overall strength and fitness levels before moving on. As your skill levels progress, you will want to move on to more advanced workout routines. For the time being, give this a shot and let us know how it worked for you.

Starting with the largest muscles and working our way to the smallest…

Squat – Legs shoulder width apart. Slightly angle your toes outward. Keep a flat back. Squat until your thighs become parallel with the floor. Aim for 3-4 sets of 10-12.

Lat Pulldown – On the lat pulldown machine, grasp the handles so your hands are just wider than shoulder-width. With a slow, controlled movement, bring the bar down to your chest. Hold for a second before slowly bringing the bar back to starting position. Aim for 3 sets of 10.

Bench Press – Use a grip slightly wider than shoulder-width. Carefully lower the weight to your chest. Let the bar lightly touch your chest before you proceed to press the bar back to the top position. Don’t let the bar bounce off your chest. Use a spotter if necessary. 4 sets of 10.

Military Press – A great exercise for blasting the shoulder muscles. Seat yourself down so the barbell comes just slightly in front of your face. Lift the bar and lower it until it gets to about chin height. 4 sets of 10.

Calf Raises – Stand with your just your toes on the ledge of a stair. You want the rest of your foot hanging off. With speedy movements, use your calf muscles to lift your body up and down. Try 3 sets of 50.

Dumbbell Curls – Do these seated down so you can focus on using good form. Keep your back against the seat. Slowly curl a dumbbell up, one arm at a time, and lower it. 3 sets of 10.

Skull Crushers - Despite the name, this is a rather basic tricep exercise. Lie flat on a bench with a barbell in your hands. Bend your elbows at 90 degrees and have the barbell just above your forehead. While keeping your elbows in, extend your arms so the weight moves from the starting position (just above your forehead) to the end position (elevated above your chest). 3 sets of 10.

Try doing the above workout 3 times a week for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks is up, it will be time to change the routine slightly. Aim for 25 minutes of cardio 2 times a week to start. As your endurance increases, aim for 45 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week.

In addition to the workout plan, below is a sample diet plan for you to follow.

Breakfast

Oatmeal
1 piece of fruit
egg whites

Late Morning

Protein Drink
Vegetables and hummus

Lunch

Chicken caesar wrap
Brown rice
1 piece of fruit

Mid-Afternoon

Almonds
Tuna fish salad on wheat toast

Dinner

Salmon, or any other fish
Leafy green vegetable
Brown Rice

Before Bed

Cheese
Whole wheat crackers
Caffeine-free green tea

Dumbbell Snatches

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Matt Posted in Strength Training Leave a comment

Try this compound movement which benefits the entire body. Strength and power are sure to increase after extended training with the snatch. In addition, it is a great conditioner. Start with low weight and do the move slow at the beginning as not to hurt yourself.

Explosive Plyometric Circuit for Hardcore Athletes

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Strength Training Leave a comment

This is a great training routine for the serious athlete who are already training intensely but want to elevate their performance. Great for team sports players, as well as individuals, like boxers, swimmers, and tennis players.

This routine will lead to serious increases in explosive strength and speed. You will surely be jumping higher and further while running faster and more effortlessly. Strength will undoubtedly increase in addition.

The great thing about this routine is you don’t need much space and can perform this at home with very little equipment.

Take no rests between each exercise. Rest 2 minutes at the end of each circuit

Circuit 1

Depth jumps: 5 jumps.
Chest Pass (Medicine Ball): 15 passes
Explosive Medicine Ball Sit up: 12 reps

Circuit 2

Explosive jumping squats: 10 reps
Lying bench press throw (Medicine Ball): 15 throws
Explosive Medicine Ball leg raises: 15 raises

Circuit 3

Jump on and between two benches: 15 jumps
Overhead pass with Medicine Ball: 15 passes
Jump rope quickly for 1 minute

Repeat for a total of 2-4 more times.

Make cardio enjoyable

Posted on March 23, 2010 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training Leave a comment

With the warm weather approaching, we’re going to take a look at ways to mix up your cardio routine. Simply running or using an elliptical machine multiple times a week is going to sap even the most discipline of their motivation, sooner or later.

Try these 10 ideas for some fun ways to keep getting your cardio, while enjoying the outdoors.

1. Running Stairs – Fantastic for the glutes, hamstrings, and calves. High intensity.

2. Rollerblading – Similar to running in terms of calories burned. Most would agree more enjoyable, however.

3. Swimming – Start with 15 minutes of straight swimming, add 5 minutes per week until you swim for 45 minutes straight.

4. Hiking – Great for those who simply hate running. Use hike poles to up the caloric expenditure.

5. Running on the beach – Running barefoot on the beach is sure to make you sore the next day. Highly taxing on the body. Plus, you get a great view your entire run.

6. Uphill running – Great for doing interval training. Sprint to the top, walk to the bottom. Repeat.

7. Kayaking/Canoeing – A fun activity that really works the upper body while providing great caloric expenditure.

8. Biking – One of the best forms of cardio out there. Distance biking allows you to see the country around you while getting a great workout.

9. Basketball – Pickup games are found everywhere, just join in. Won’t even seem like doing cardio once you start playing.

10. Tennis – Fantastic exercise given the nature of the sport. Lots of hard sprints, stopping on a dime, and sprinting the opposite way.

Develop a Lagging Chest

Posted on March 17, 2010 by Matt Posted in Strength Training Leave a comment

For the majority of the male population, a well-defined and chiseled chest is the most frequently sought after aspect of the human figure. At the beach, almost every guy is going to suck in and stick out his chest when that hot girl walks by. Unforunately, their chest deflates when they inevitably have to breath again. Why do so many people want a great chest, but so few actually have one? Simply, they have no idea what is required to work it out properly. Below are so ideas to really activate your pectoral muscle fibers and give you a chest you can be proud of!

First off, we we will look at the anatomy of the chest. It is formed by two muscles – the pecotralis major and pectoralis minor. Each muscle needs to be worked equally to develop a well-rounded chest.

The key to any successful training routine has a lot to do with variation. Muscle fibers quickly adapt to resistance training, which makes each subsequent training session that less beneficial to you if you do the same movements. Use program 1 for the first week’s workout. Use program 2 for the following week. Do this for a combined 6 weeks then overhaul the two workouts completely and start over for another 6 weeks.

Workout 1

Flat Bench Press: 4 sets x 10

Incline Dumbbell Flys: 3 x10

Flat Dumbbell Press: 3 x 10

Decline Bench Press: 3 x 10

Workout 2

Incline Bench Press: 4 x 10

Cable Crossovers: 3 x 10

Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 x 10

Flat Dumbbell Flys: 3 x 10

The problem with so much of the health and fitness instruction available on the internet is that it assumes one solution for all body types. It is very possible the above workout plan doesn’t work for you as well as you would like it to. Each body is different, and different things will work better for different bodies. It is your responsibility to try our a variety of exercises to see which produces the best gains. In the event the above workout routine doesn’t work the way you want, try substituting some of the exercises below into your routine.

Pec Deck
Clap Pushups
Pullovers
Incline Cable Flys
Chest Dips
Depth Pushups

If for whatever the reason, these additional exercises aren’t doing the trick, check your form. Make sure you are employing a full range of motion, moving the weight slowly up AND down, holding for a full second, and repeating until it hurts (the good kind of hurt from lactic acid buildup in a worked muscle!). Keep in mind you want to focus almost all of the stress on the chest muscle. Elimate supporting muscles (triceps, delts, etc.) whenever possible and focus solely on your chest.