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Welcome to Pumping Iron.
My name is John Novak and I'm going to take you through this exciting weight training program.
There's two ways to this video.
Firstly, to show you the applicable exercise for the different areas that we're going to work.
And secondly, I'm going to show you the correct form.
Two people are going to make that possible and help me get through those two ways.
And they are Manny here and Lucy Lisboner.
How are you guys going? Manny, how are you going?
Not too bad, thanks John.
Are you excited?
You bet, yep.
I'm definitely excited too. Lucy, how are you feeling?
I'm feeling great, thanks John.
And you're ready to go?
Ready to go.
You're not actually just resting there, you're actually doing something.
I've just finished my warm up.
And that's exactly what you need to do before every workout.
Warming up is very, very important.
It doesn't matter if you haven't got a stationary bike.
You can do the same sort of thing just walking around your lounge room
or wherever your weights are.
Just pump the arms and pump the legs.
Do it for about three to five minutes.
You'll notice your body's ready when you get a little warm under the armpits
and a trickle of sweat just comes down your brow.
Another way to do it is get the legs firmly planted on the ground.
Pump the legs straight up.
Use the shoulders, make big movements like this.
Again, three to five minutes will do it.
After you finish that, and only after you finish that,
you need to stretch out the areas you're going to work.
So for example, if you're going to work the chest, stretch out the chest.
If you're going to work the shoulders, stretch out the shoulders.
If you're going to work the arms, etc.
After you've finished all of that, you're ready to start.
Before we go any further, let's have a look at the muscle groups
that we're going to be working.
Manny, thank you very much.
He's taking his top off to show us what areas we're working on the front of the body.
And Lucy's going to show us what we're working on the back of the body.
Firstly, coming from the top, we're working the chest, the front of the shoulders,
those carved up abdominals.
You too can have abdominals like this after this video.
The quadriceps and the anterior part of the calf here.
Thanks, Manny.
On the back we're working here the trapezius area, the latissimus dorsi,
the lower back, the gluteal area, the hamstring, and the calf.
Okay, all we have to do now is get ready.
You guys ready?
Ready.
Let's get going.
There's a lot of misunderstanding about weight training.
It's generally associated with building big muscles.
But you can use weight training for a whole range of different things,
for strength, for power, for speed, for aerobic conditioning, even for burning fat.
It's the way you develop the regime.
It's the types of things that you do with weights that determines the outcome.
Thanks, Gary, for those words of wisdom.
We're going to be hearing a lot more from our exercise physiologists throughout the program.
But let's turn to our first exercise, and that's the king of all exercises, as it's called,
and that's the squat.
Okay, Manny, so you're pushing right down and you're coming up.
Be very, very careful not to go too far down, putting too much pressure here on the patella region
and right through the ligaments and the joint, right throughout that joint.
Now he's coming as far as he can down without putting too much pressure there and pushing up.
The movement is a real careful movement all the way down and up.
He is breathing out when?
Exerting.
I'm exerting on the way up.
And breathing in when?
When I'm going down.
Right, so when he's coming down.
So it's a good basic action throughout.
You feel the whole of the quadricep working.
You feel the hamstring working.
You feel the buttocks working.
And that's why they call it the king of all exercises.
Show us a couple more.
Excellent technique.
Now the same thing can be done on free weights, and Lucy's going to show us that right over here.
Excellent technique again.
But the thing that you need to take note is you haven't got anything supporting your lower back here.
So you have to be very, very careful not to hyper extend or over arch the lower back as Lucy's showing us then.
What a flattering position Lucy.
Now you've got to work coming right down again.
The same sorts of considerations here as on the weighted machines.
How far you bend the knees.
How far you come back up.
Try not to lock on the way up.
Steady breathing throughout.
Show us a couple of good ones.
What have I been doing John?
If you find that that's just too difficult to do and you feel that your lower back is compromised doing that,
let's try another leg movement.
That's called the leg press.
The beauty of this exercise is that straight away your lower back is supported here because you're lying there.
So what you want to do is keep the lower back rounded all the time so it's supported.
That's the aim of this and that's what's so good about this exercise.
The other great feature of this exercise, it works right around the lower body region.
So that's the quadriceps, the hamstrings and the gluteal region.
Now what are the important things we have to consider here Lucy?
Really got to make sure that your back's flat, your abdominals are contracted fairly tight and the gluteal's on the way up.
And making sure that your knees are over your toes on the way down.
Right. So they're very, very important points that you need to remember when you do this exercise.
And remember if you haven't got this machine at home, that's okay.
The squats that we've shown you before will definitely help the same areas that we've talked about before.
So we're focusing on the legs here and there's different ways of doing it.
A couple more Lucy.
The leg extension machine really focuses on the muscles right around the kneecaps here.
So if you need to strengthen through that area, the VMO, the vastus medialis oblique right in the centre here,
if you need to strengthen around it, this is the exercise for you.
Show us some bad technique Manny.
Okay, bad technique. Locking?
Locking, so that's bad.
Adding your familiar swing?
Oh no, swinging. Whatever you do, dawn swing.
And what else?
Locking at the top you said.
And slamming the weights at the bottom.
In your home team at home, don't slam the weights.
You want total control through the movement.
Let's see some good ones now.
Now we were joking up to now, these are the real good ones.
Excellent technique.
All the way up, he's exhaling when he exerts, that's at the top.
Inhaling on the way down.
Smooth action throughout the whole time.
And looking very, very relaxed whilst he's doing it.
The exercise we're looking at now is called the leg curl.
And the focus of it is the hamstring right in there.
Up to now we've been looking at the quadricep, we're looking at the gluteals and the hamstrings,
which has been a compound type of movement up to now.
Now we're focusing on that region being the hammy right in there.
Things that you should take note, you've got to get the heel to the cushion
and bring it as close as you can to the buttocks.
And bring it right up as much as you can.
Don't stop half way so you want to work full extension in that area
and full length by coming all the way down.
Don't bang the weights at the bottom.
And go at that steady pace, up and down, nice and steady.
Just a few more, Matty, come on.
Good work. That's good.
Alright, that's the hamstrings.
We want to do a little bit of work now on the calves.
And Lucy's going to show us that same movement, I should say a calf movement,
here on the calf raise.
Oh, you're a long way up there, Lucy, aren't you ever?
So she's got the weight on her shoulders.
Now, it's a wonderful exercise because it focuses on this region right down here.
And she's supporting her back by tilting a little bit forward,
just a little bit forward, Lucy, if you can.
Good.
Now she's getting the heel all the way down as far as it possibly can go
and pushing all the way up.
So you're on the ball of your foot right in here
and you're coming right up.
So you're getting good work out up there
and you're lengthening the muscle at the bottom.
Okay, why don't you show us that without the weight on your shoulder.
Now, you mightn't have an elaborate machine like this at home.
What you can do is simply get on a block, a step, a stair,
or just get on some books, simply go down and up.
Your body weight alone will give you enough resistance to work that region.
Again, work about 10 or 15 repetitions depending on your ability
and work up to more and more sets as you get a little stronger.
Now, these machines you might have seen in your gym
and you're a little too scared to actually jump in them
because you don't know what they actually do,
but they are very, very excellent exercises
for your inside and outside of your legs.
The first one we're working here is the inside of the legs
and that's what Manny's doing here and pointing, I might add, to the region,
working the adductors.
I like how I say that, adductors.
Again, you should be working about 8 to 15 repetitions,
have a rest, stretch out the region and get back to it again.
Now, working the outside of the leg, Lucy's working the adductors.
Again, I've said that and she's pointing also to the region.
She's working nice and steady throughout the movement,
try not to lock the legs, try not to throw them, nice and controlled
and that's what we want to do with all these exercises.
Let's see a few more.
An excellent exercise for the whole leg
and we call that a compound exercise, is lunge.
And not only is Lucy doing a lunge, she's doing a weighted lunge with dumbbells.
Now, important things to consider here, a knee placement.
Let's see a bad one firstly.
Lucy, come down.
I have to go in that way.
Oooh.
Oooh, look at all the pressure it's putting right down here in the knee.
So what we want to do instead is go straight down
and keep the leg in a right angle.
And where's the breathing happening here, Lucy?
I try and breathe out on the way up.
On the way up?
And on the way down.
So exhale when you exert and inhale on the easy part of it.
The easy part, that's the way you remember.
Easy.
Now, lower back also is an important thing to think about.
Try not to hyperextend the lower back
and that basically means to over arch the lower back
and keep the arms in a comfortable position.
After you finish 8 to 15 repetitions on one leg,
have a little bit of a rest and then shuffle to the other side.
Now, this is the beginner version, although she is,
it's the intermediate version actually because she's got the dumbbells.
Now the advanced version of this is Manny's version right here.
Good on you mate, show us the advanced version.
Alright, he's stepping, he's got a barbell across his shoulders,
he's doing excellent technique here.
You're feeling not only the quadriceps working,
you're also feeling the hamstrings working,
you're also feeling the buttocks working.
Are you feeling comfortable there Manny?
Yep.
Yep, and he's working.
Now the important thing when you go down, push back up.
It's a real steady movement, but push back up.
That's one way of doing it, show us a couple more.
Oh good work, great.
Now it's important here to note where the foot and the knee are in position.
The knee should always be over the foot, is that right Manny?
Yep.
And does that feel comfortable?
Yeah it does.
And do you notice how it works through the quadricep a little bit differently to the lunge?
Yep.
Okay, remember the quadricep is moving right around,
there's a huge band as the word quadricep means, there's four muscles in there,
so we need to change the direction of the movement.
As we are here we're moving laterally to the side,
as opposed to what we were doing before, which is a movement to the front.
Show us a couple more.
Easy for me to say isn't it?
You're doing well mate, you're doing well.
Thanks.
Okay, that's the strengthening component of our leg workout.
Let's do some stretching.
Manny's showing us a hamstring stretch right here.
Things to point out here are that he's supporting himself on the bent leg.
Please remember that because some people, Manny show us the other one,
put so much pressure on the one that's extended here,
putting all the pressure through the ligaments and the tendons behind the knee.
So we don't want to do that.
Keep the bent leg, hands on top there, and the stretch is through the hamstring region.
If you find that that's just a little too uncomfortable for you,
and you really want to relax and take it easy after all the work that you've done,
here's Lucy to show us the same sort of thing, still stretching through this region here.
If you want to get a little bit of a calf stretch out of it too,
you can flex the foot right down there.
Hold your stretches for about 10-15 seconds, then apply a little more pressure.
Now we work the gluteal area too, the glutes, the buttocks,
and this is a great stretch.
Cross one leg over the other, and the area working is right down here,
a great stretch right through there.
Hold the stretch and try and relax.
Please, please avoid bouncing.
This technique, something called ballistic stretching,
has gone out with a stone age of exercise.
Ease into it, make it a static stretch, nice and controlled.
So let's stretch the front of the legs out.
Manny's going to show us. You can rest right here.
The quadriceps stretch, and that's stretching out the front of the muscles here.
We've done a lot of work there, so we need to lengthen it out now.
Notice that the kneecap is facing straight down to the carpet.
His lower back is not hyperextended, is it?
No, that isn't.
You feel comfortable?
Yeah.
It's great to have a friend to lean on or a wall,
and if you haven't got a wall, what you can do is what Lucy's doing right down here.
Lucy's lying down on the carpet. She's got great positioning.
She's got the heel right around the buttocks.
She's lengthening this area right down from the hip flexor down to the knee,
the quadricep that we've worked,
and she wants to get a little more out of the stretch.
What do you do?
Tuck the pelvis under.
Oh, wonderful. Good technique.
Manny, you got another one for us?
Yeah, I've got two calf stretches, actually.
Okay, well show it to us.
First one is for the upper calf. Just go back on a straight leg.
You should feel a slight stretch at the top of the upper calf.
If you bend your back leg and sit back on it,
you transfer all your weight to the lower part and get the Achilles tendon and the soles.
While you're in that position, you can actually tuck the buttocks under.
Oh, I've got another stretch, too.
Work the hip flexor by tucking under.
See, you're getting all those stretches in one go.
Remember to relax through those stretches, by the way.
Nice and easy, steady breathing.
Now, throughout this video, at the end of each body section,
we're going to give you a recommended exercise schedule.
This leg exercise table points out how you should start out as a beginner.
One to three sets on each body part depending on your strength, ability, and confidence,
and then moves on to an intermediate weight training program,
which recommends three to five sets.
Note, the two exercises prescribed for the beginner, the leg press or the squat, and the leg curl,
whereas three exercises recommended for the intermediate weight trainer,
the squat or the leg press, the leg curl, and finishing off with lunges,
a good overall leg exercise.
Remember, a rep simply means the execution of an exercise once,
whereas a set means the amount of reps done in one go.
So, if you're an absolute beginner, you would normally do eight to twelve reps of an exercise,
like in this instance, the leg press, which is one set,
until you feel a little stronger at which time you would move up in the amount of sets you do.
Note, a sufficient time to rest is anything between one to two minutes.
As you develop your strength, you can apply the same schedule of sets and reps
to the leg extension machine and calf raise.
Just take your time before increasing the weight, reps and sets. There's no hurry.
Muscle is the architecture of the body. It keeps us upright.
It helps us to move. It helps us to get through the day.
Through weight training, we're able to strengthen and condition muscle
to enable us to do that much better. That's basically what it boils down to.
If we don't work muscle, we lose it. If we lose it, then we lose bodily function.
This exercise is great for developing the chest region.
It's good to develop right through that region by pushing out and pulling back in very, very gently.
Not only does it work the chest, it also works the front of the shoulder
and it also works the triceps, so we've got those three areas.
That's why we call it a compound exercise.
A variation of that would be, as Lucy has just shown here,
by changing the grip and pulling the elbows in a little closer.
By doing that, the focus then turns to the tricep region.
But we really don't want to do that, do we Lucy?
That's just a variation. What we want to do is focus on the chest.
This is a great developer for it.
If you haven't got this same machine at home, that's okay.
You might have a machine that you lie down, but the principles are still the same.
The breathing, exactly like this. You exhale when? When you push out.
When you're on the exertion phase, that's right.
And your lower back is always into the cushion of the seat or the bench, whatever you have at home.
You don't lock the elbows. It's all a controlled movement.
So the same principles, but you might have a machine that's just a little bit different.
Now, this is great for working the chest overall,
but if you haven't got this machine and you want to work in a free weight fashion,
we've got the one for you.
Manny's doing some excellent lifting here, actually.
What you need to notice in this exercise is that Manny is not, and I repeat, not bouncing off his chest down here.
He's just resting just above the chest, so he's getting full extension on the chest.
He's pushing all the way up, and he's not locking the elbows.
They're the things you really have to think about.
His legs are up on the bench, so he's supporting his lower back.
A version of that could be bending the legs up like so.
Now, if you've got a friend in your home gym at home,
what they can do is help you by spotting you up here.
Simply doing this, and after the load gets a little bit heavy,
towards the end of the repetitions, like about the 15th or 16th repetition,
you're slowly helping. Let's do some forced reps, which pushing at the end.
Come on, work it.
A similar type of movement to the bench press is the incline press, as Lucy is showing us right here.
Excellent movement, which focuses on the upper chest here, and it's giving also the width right through there,
and it's focusing, as I said, on the top here.
The lower back is supported with the cushion here.
Lucy, you've got that lower back in there, haven't you?
Yes, I have.
Yes, I'm just checking if you're alive and awake. Yes, you are.
And she's pressing all the way up. She's not locking the elbows in any way.
It's a nice, steady action. That's what we want to do throughout the whole movement.
Any time you do anything, it's nice and steady, not too fast and not too slow.
Let's see a couple of really, really good ones.
I thought they were good.
Oh, well, just a little better.
And that same action can be done with free weights too.
Here, Manny is showing us the same sort of action, an incline press with dumbbells,
with great technique, I might add.
He's bringing the elbows down. He's having a little smile up there.
Notice his eyes here. He's focusing on where it finishes.
He looks up to try and perform the action absolutely correctly at all times.
His lower back is into the bench.
He's not snapping the weights together at the top.
Let's show us one of those.
This is a common thing with much our sort of people,
so we want to avoid that kind of thing.
It's a steady movement throughout.
Again, you should be working 8 to 15 repetitions to start with,
depending on your ability, and then building up to a few sets of that.
Rest between 30 seconds to a minute.
Okay, if you don't want to do that kind of action,
then you can do the same sort of thing with a barbell.
But before we do that, Lucy, why don't you show us how you should pick a barbell up correctly?
Now, she bends the legs first, then she sits down,
and then she flips it up, puts it at the top of the chest,
and we're working the incline bench press right there.
Excellent work. Exhaling on the way up, inhaling on the way down.
And she's also getting a little bit of work there. Have you noticed that?
Yes, I have.
So she's getting a bit of work in the anterior part of the shoulder,
and not only the chest. Excellent form.
Her tummy's in. Oh, it's wonderfully in.
Back flat?
Yeah, her back's flat. She's feeling comfortable.
Just show us a couple more of those.
Okay, we've been focusing now on the upper portion of the chest.
What we want to do now is focus on the middle of the chest with a flat bench fly.
Now, here's Manny smiling away, having a wild time.
That's the kind of people we are here.
He's getting a great workout here for the inner region of the chest
and getting a great stretch right through here too.
He's exhaling on the way up, so when he exerts,
and he's taking the weight right down there, getting a good stretch.
Take heed, you not only want to work a muscle,
you want to stretch a muscle through the action.
We always want to go full range. Full range is important.
So we need to go through that full action all the time.
Show us a couple more.
This same movement can be shown on a machine.
The pectex is a great exercise to develop the inner chest,
right down here, the centre line,
and also to give a good stretch right through the pectoral region in here.
That's good technique.
Notice he's got his elbows just a little bit lower than his shoulders,
and he's pushing in as close as he can.
He's not slamming the weight together,
and he's taking the arms as far back to get the stretch through the region.
Let's see some bad technique, Manny.
Bad technique? High arm action?
Yep. So that's bad.
So you don't feel strong there, do you?
No.
The other one is taking the arms and elbows too low.
Right. So that's too bad.
And one, you might have the correct arm position,
but you might be hyperextending your lower back.
So watch the lower back hyperextending position here.
So we want to keep the lower back tightly right in.
Let's see some good ones again.
Okay, here we go.
Exhaling when you bring the arms together.
And the beauty of this exercise too,
there's not much tricep movement.
In fact, there's no tricep movement, so we're focusing on the chest there.
We've done heaps of work on the chest,
but if you've got a little bit of energy left,
in fact, a lot of energy left,
I've got a real challenge coming right up.
This exercise is commonly associated with this area called the tricep.
Now the dip can also work to work your chest also
by just basically leaning over.
Matty, how are you going, you there?
Yay!
He's going well.
By him leaning over a little bit more,
he's starting to focus on the area right in the middle of the chest there.
Yep.
He's working the inner layer of that chest, the pectoral region.
Have a little rest there for a second.
Good work.
So it's not just the chest that works,
we're also working the tricep, and the shoulder comes into it too.
So it's a compound exercise.
It works all those areas.
Matty, are you ready to show us a few more good ones?
Really, really good ones.
Okay, a couple of things to point out here is the lower back is in a nice position here.
He's not throwing the body around.
He's getting a great stretch through the chest, as you can see, right in there.
And he's exhaling on the way up.
Up.
Good work, Matty.
We deserve a stretch.
All the movements we've done up to now have contracted and shortened an area up.
What we need to do is exactly what Lucy's showing us to do now,
is lengthen the area out.
And here she's starting to lengthen this area out of the chest.
She noticed how she's turning her body away.
If she was to come the other way, come towards me,
she wouldn't be getting the stretch there.
So you need to press against an immovable object and turn away from her
and get a good stretch right through there.
Hold your stretches for about 10 to 15 seconds,
relieve a little bit, and then maybe go a little bit deeper
when you feel the flexibility through the range.
Let's have a look at another stretch Matty's going to show us.
Now this stretch is commonly used for two things,
not only the chest, but the shoulder.
If you want to get a little bit more out of this stretch,
what you do is you pull the arms up,
and you keep going until they go ouchie-wow-a.
Now you keep going until they feel nice and comfortable.
Now he's smiling, so I think he's nice and comfortable.
Again, hold the stretches for about 10 to 15 seconds,
and then make it a little bit harder,
try and relax and use your breathing throughout.
Now still if those two are not the ones for you,
or you want something a little bit different
and get right into the stretch, come down here,
let me just show you what Lise is doing.
Off the floor, she's using the floor as the immovable object,
she's turning her body away from it,
and she's got the arms straight out from the shoulder.
Now because we've been working the upper chest also,
what we need to do is vary the arm line.
So from straight out we need to put it straight up,
and you can even go a little bit higher up.
But take a lot of care in the shoulder region here
that you don't put too much pressure there.
Remember the stretch is for the chest,
so pull it back here a little bit lower.
The main function of weight training is to strengthen muscle groups,
but in doing so we shorten muscles and contract them.
Now if they're not then lengthened,
they remain short and tend to pull joints closer towards each other
so that flexibility is decreased.
We need to add stretching type movements to muscular activity
to maintain the total integrity of the muscle.
So not only have we got strength in the forward motion,
but we've got flexibility in the outward motion.
That prevents injury, prevents later damage.
In this table two exercises are prescribed for the beginner
and three for the intermediate weight trainer.
You should note that machines are preferred for the beginner
until you develop your base strength.
If this is impossible and you have only free weights at your disposal,
go for a very light weight till you have mastered the movement.
Note, the weight to start out with should seem relatively light
for the first six to eight repetitions
and feel a lot more of a challenge the last four or so reps.
If you don't find the last four reps in effort, you're working too light.
Through experimentation you'll determine the suitable weight for your standard.
As a general rule though, start light and stay with it
until your body can well and truly go up in weight, reps and sets.
Go slow and cautiously in order to prevent injury.
There's a lot of myths around about weight training,
so let's look at some of them.
Myth number one for example,
will I become muscle bound through weight training?
It's very difficult to become muscle bound.
In fact, for some people it's difficult to put on large amounts of muscle.
We're just genetically predisposed in some cases
to gain large amounts or small amounts of muscle.
And even though weight training does add muscle tone
and can add muscle size, it depends on the type of regime that's used
to develop muscle.
It's very difficult to become muscle bound.
Myth number two, will all that muscle turn to fat as soon as I stop working out?
Well, muscle and fat are like chalk and cheese.
You can't turn one to the other.
What can happen of course is that you can decrease muscle and increase fat.
Provided you maintain a certain level of activity,
even if you're not weight training,
muscle won't turn to fat.
You'll keep fat down and muscle tone will remain.
Myth number three, you'll ruin your back lifting weights.
Strangely enough, weight lifters, provided they do it the right way,
have some of the strongest backs around
because they're strengthening the lower back
against the injuries that are caused by having a weak back.
So weight training won't ruin your back.
In fact, it can make it better.
The first exercise we're looking at in the shoulders
is the shoulder press with the machines.
Now, Manny's doing an excellent job here.
He's got great technique.
He's not slamming the weights down.
He's executing the technique perfectly,
bringing the elbows down very, very slowly
and not locking on the way out.
Now, his lower back is right into the cushion.
But what's a bad technique, Manny?
Bad technique, locking the arms.
Mm-hmm.
Slamming the weight. That's an honor.
And hyperextending your lower back.
Hyperextending meaning overarching the lower back.
So let's see some good ones.
And the breathing is... Ooh, that was a nice one.
That's just a little...
When you're exerting, breathing out in the upward face
and breathing in as you come down.
Manny's doing a military press,
and that goes to the front of the face
and pushes all the way up.
Some people find that this is a little uncomfortable
because of the forward movement,
putting undue pressure on the front
and the middle part of the shoulder.
An option you can have is putting it behind the neck.
And it's the behind-the-neck press.
You're still working the medial part of the shoulder
and the front part of the shoulder,
but the downside of this exercise
is a little bit of uncomfort here in the lower back.
So what you can do to preclude that,
I'll get that one right,
is just step forward. Now, just show us.
Manny? Does that feel a little more comfortable?
Yeah, better balance.
Right. And the technique is excellent,
pulling it all the way down, pushing up.
He's not locking his elbows.
He's breathing when?
Breathing out as I go up and breathing in as I come down.
So when I'm exerting.
So show us a couple of those.
Great work.
That's the military press.
If you want to do the same sort of movement
and have the back supported throughout the whole movement,
what you do here is just sit as loose as you can
and get the dumbbells,
so you don't need to do a barbell in this position.
But you could also use a barbell
and slowly push up and slowly push down.
And again, for the people watching this show,
how would they breathe throughout this movement?
Exhale on the exertion
and inhale on the relaxation.
And notice the smile.
Now, that's the important thing. You've got to smile through your workouts.
Notice that she's not locking on the way up
and she's doing excellent technique throughout.
Look at the speed also at which she's moving.
The amount of repetitions you should probably do
about this is between 8 and 15,
but depending on your level of ability.
Let's have a look at a few more of those.
Exhale technique.
Thanks, John.
So we've been pushing here.
We've been doing a pushing motion up.
So what we want to do is work the same muscle,
the medial part and the front of the shoulder,
the anterior part, by doing something called the lateral raise.
And he's exhaling on the way up.
I want to keep going over that
because that's a very important point.
Look at the start position of the movement.
The weights are coming together at the front
and the finishing position is no higher than the shoulder.
You feeling comfortable, Manu?
You're very serious, man. That's very good.
Yeah, it's a good form.
And also you've got the option with this one to step forward
or keep the legs shoulder width apart.
Good. Let's see a few more of those ones.
Excellent technique.
That's the lateral raise.
So we've been focusing on the middle of the shoulder
and the front of the shoulder.
Why don't we now start looking at how can we get strong
here in the back of the shoulder?
Now it's very important that you don't just do
one of these type of exercises,
namely working on the front of the shoulder
and just the middle of the shoulder
and neglecting to work the back of the shoulder.
If you do that, something called imbalance will happen.
So what we need to do is work right around this area.
She's slowly coming up.
It's the bent over lateral raise.
These names will become very, very easy after a while.
And get the feel of it going up and down.
Let's see a few of those, Lucy.
You've already shown us a few.
Good work. Keep going.
Easy for you to say, he says.
Now an option for that, if you find that that's a little too uncomfortable
because you're leaning over,
what you can do is what Manny's got over here.
Note firstly here, the important thing is back is supported
because you're leaning over.
You're leaning over.
You're leaning over.
You're leaning over.
You're leaning over.
The important thing is back is supported
because he's got his hand on the bench.
He's still working the same area.
That's the posterior or the back of the shoulder.
He's exhaling on the way up
and inhaling on the way down.
Now try and avoid too much movement with that Manny on the way up.
So try and keep the centre of your face
straight down.
First check your technique.
You've got that right.
Now proceed without looking around too much.
Good job.
I always wanted to say that on camera.
So now we're going to have a look at the front of the shoulder.
What we need to do here is do
a front raise right in the front
and focus on the anterior part right here.
Lucy's showing us how you do that
alternating between one and then the other.
What you can also do is both
at the same time.
Show us that too Lucy.
Excellent.
And she's exhaling on the way up.
Yes, she's always doing it.
Or if that's a little too confusing to think about that
just do steady breathing.
Whatever comes natural.
And as you become an intermediate lifter
you'll start understanding the concept a lot better.
A great option
after you finish that one
is doing what Manny's got over here
and that's the lateral raise.
I correct myself on this one.
There's so many laterals and forward.
This is upright row.
Damn John, you get your lateral mixed up with your upright rows.
Thank you very much.
That's why you're here aren't you?
Not just a great face and a great body.
There's more to it.
So what we're trying to do here is an upright row
focusing again on what Lucy just showed us a second ago
and that's the anterior part of the shoulder
and the anterior part comes into this too.
He's pulling all the way up.
See if you can pull a little bit higher up there.
Right under there.
His elbows are coming up as high as they possibly can.
He's doing a nice controlled action.
He's thinking about his lower back.
He's thinking about a lot of other things too.
No he's not, he's focusing on the technique.
Excellent technique.
So that's the upright row and I've finally got it right now.
So why don't we do some stretches now.
We've strengthened a body part, namely the shoulders.
Now what we want to do is lengthen it.
That's the opposite of contraction.
So the guys are going to show us what we need to do
and the best one to start with is...
Show us.
Good. And that gets right into the shoulder area right in here.
Good work.
Okay so how long should you hold your stretches roughly?
Ten, fifteen seconds.
At the very least ten, fifteen seconds.
But then if you want to go deeper into the stretch
you should hold it for a little bit longer after that.
So don't hold it any longer than ten, fifteen seconds.
But go a little bit deeper after that.
So you get more out of the stretch.
What's another exercise we can stretch out?
Okay.
Walk like an Egyptian.
I always wanted to say that too.
Now remember here, this is very important when you do this kind of mobility stretching for the shoulders.
You've got to save the lower back.
So what you need to do is take one leg forward,
take the other one back.
And it should feel really, really good after you finish.
Not necessarily whilst you're doing it,
but after you finish.
What's another one we can do?
Okay, good.
They are very, very close friends.
As you can see.
Okay, what we're trying to aim at here is trying to get through
and stretch this area of the deltoid.
Now it's contracted,
it's shortened,
now we're trying to lengthen it.
Hold the stretch as it was just pointed out to us,
about fifteen seconds.
Now we're going to go down deeper into the position
and getting a great stretch right through that deltoid region.
Okay, another one we can see now.
Remember the posterior work
or the back of the shoulder work we did?
That's where we're stretching right through now.
Right.
It's a great handshake that.
Alan Pease would love that, wouldn't he?
Okay, so that's the back of the shoulder.
Now this one,
we're looking at right now,
not only stretches
the chest region right through here,
what we're aiming here is the anterior part
of the shoulder, right through there.
That's the main area we're looking at.
It's also a great exercise for mobility
for the shoulders.
We're not just strengthening it, we're trying to get mobility in the shoulders.
So that's what it's about too.
And the last one we're going to have a look at.
Now this is a great test for the end
of your workout. If you can still do this,
not only have you shortened the area,
contracted it and strengthened it,
but it also shows that you have length
in the region. Lucy's showing it to you
from the front, and obviously
Manny from the back. Now another true test
Manny's pointed out to me,
haven't you? Yep. Is to show it from the other side.
And you can do that,
reach out, do this at the end
of your workout. Good work.
Now in this table
for added safety, we've recommended
the seated shoulder press for the beginner
to lower the likelihood of injury
eventuating. As pointed out,
the same exercise can be done standing,
but pay particular attention to your back
by limiting the arch in your lower back.
Note, also
that the intermediate lifter has a choice
between the lateral raise and the
shoulder press. It may be a
good idea to do the raise in one workout
and the press in the next.
By alternating these exercises,
your deltoid will get the benefits of one pulling
movement, the lateral raise, and one
pushing movement, the press.
By varying your workout regarding reps,
sets, weight, and the exercise
you choose, you'll preclude boredom,
prevent repetitive strain, and
create a motivating atmosphere for
long term success.
How do you make muscles grow?
Well you need to add resistance, progressive
resistance. This goes back to the
old Greek myth days of Milo,
the Greek god who carried a bull
on his shoulders up a hill until
the bull grew increasingly older
and of course heavier, and Milo got stronger.
The same thing happens with
weight training and strength training. By
adding progressive resistance, we're able
to develop increasing strength,
increasing size of muscle tissue.
.
.
.. There's the king of the
exercises, and that's the
squat. This is the granddaddy
of the exercises, the chin up.
This is definitely the first one
you do when you start your back off
because it's really hard. Let me just
have a little rest. This is working
the flares right in here, working the back.
Now do it first because it's
definitely the hardest one to do.
But work your way up into it.
Now if you're a beginner, don't even attempt
this one. Let me show you a couple more
exercises. Take note of a couple of things.
My back, that it's nice and
straight when I go up, and that the movement's
nice and smooth.
Here we go.
Exhale on the way
up. That's when I'm going from
home. That's when I'm doing all the hard work.
Now if you find that this
is just a little too hard for you,
take the easier option.
The lat pull down.
This exercise
focuses on this region right
here, called the latissimus dorsi
area. Now
the lat pull down
is a very, very important exercise to
develop width through the back. As you can see
Lucy, when she pulls up, she's getting a stretch.
When she comes down, she's getting
contraction. Your hair's getting in the way,
darling. Pull that down.
Now one way of doing it is to the back of the neck.
Now that's one way of really focusing
on the lats, but a lot of people do it to the front
and they're still getting benefit, you'll see,
through that region.
But the shoulder comes into it a little bit more.
Now things to remember,
try not to hyperextend the lower back.
That's what we don't want
to do. Lucy, the correct technique is
that. Now the breathing, steady
throughout the motion, and you exhale
there when you pull down,
and you inhale on the way up.
Try and rest your knees on the cushion
too, that will support yourself. And
limit the jerking movement throughout that action.
That's one exercise for the
latissimus area. But another one, if you
come over here, is Manny who's
furiously working over here,
he's working on something called the seated
row. Now this exercise
not only works on the lat area, it
also works on the posterior deltoid
area here, and the rhomboids
right through there. And this is
a very, very good technique. And take
heed of a couple of important points here.
Notice that he's not coming all the way
forward. Show us that action forward.
If he was to do that, he'd put a lot
of pressure through here, the lower
vertebrae. So we don't want to do that.
So the starting position and the finishing position
is there. So his back's nice
and straight. And see how he's
rounding with the chest?
So he's pulling the elbows as far as he can,
right back there. Okay, there's a
version of this that Manny's going to show us
with three ways.
Okay, just hop up there. And notice
how his legs down there supporting himself.
Now the exact same movement
can be replicated by working a
dumbbell. Same shoulders working,
the back of the shoulders working, the latissimus
areas working, the rhomboids
working. He's got his head in a comfortable
position, and he's going to do some
really, really good technique now.
Oh, how can it get any
better? I don't know yet, we'll
work on it. Nice and steady through the motion.
He's not throwing the back up in
any way.
Couple more.
We've looked at the upper back, we've looked at the middle
of the back. Now let's start focusing on the
lower back region.
Lucy's working on the hyperextension
machine. That's a little bit of a
unusual term for what we're actually
doing, because she doesn't want to hyperextend,
but that's the name of the machine nonetheless.
What she wants to do
is just come to a flat position
there. And the aim of this
exercise is to strengthen the lower back,
although we're also working the
buttocks here. Remember, as I'm always saying
throughout the program, that you can't isolate
just one area, you still work other muscles
in a synergist fashion, in a supportive
fashion. The technique
here is exhaling on the way up,
inhaling on the way down.
Nice steady movement throughout the whole time,
and we're aiming again,
as I said, to work here in the
lower back. And lower back problem, in fact,
in Australia, is the biggest single
problem that we're having. So some of you out there
might need to strengthen it, and this is the way of doing it.
Great work. Thanks Lucy.
Now if you want to do a similar
sort of movement, and you're a little more advanced,
you could do something called a deadlift.
And Manny's showing that to us right
here. He's coming all the way up, and boy,
that's great positioning with a smile
at the top of it too. Now
we also call this a good morning exercise,
and if you're wondering why, well,
when you get to the top you say good morning.
Good morning John. A little bit of a pun
anyway. It's a great exercise for the
lower back. Please take note of trying
to get the legs nice and straight.
You might have just a little slight bend
in the knees, and
you're also feeling that in the hamstrings, aren't you Manny?
Right. It's a very, very
effective exercise, but please
remember to get your form right, and
not use the weight that's too heavy.
Go for something that you can work with.
Now if you don't like either of those two exercises,
and you still want to work the lower back,
Lucy, come in over here, let me show you.
Let's show the viewers what they can actually do
instead. And that's straight off the
ground. You can do it.
And all she's working is this region again,
not going too high,
and if you find that you haven't got the flexibility
to start with, what you can do is
what Lucy's showing you right here.
That's it, she's pushing up,
and slowly coming down
too. And when you get a little more range,
a little more strength through this lower back
region, you can come up a little higher. Let's see
that.
Great.
So she's strengthening, a little bit of a stretch
through the abdominals in that one too.
Good work. Okay, so we've worked
right through that area, we've contracted through the
upper back, the middle of the back, and the lower
back. Let's do some stretching.
This is not a tug of war.
In fact, what they're stretching here
is right through the back region, the latissimus area,
also through the top of the back,
and they're trying to relax in the movement. You can do
this holding an immovable object.
These guys are not immovable objects,
but they're using each other
to get a great stretch.
Why don't you show us another stretch, Lucy?
Now this is
a great relaxer for the lower back.
See, she's rounding the back,
and that's the opposite action that you're probably
doing through the day, which is
hyperextending, or lowering, or arching
the back excessively. So what
she's doing is she's coming up and down,
keeping the legs in one position.
A wonderful version
of that. Manny, are you going to show us something on the
ground there? Yep.
See the version of the lower back stretch?
You take both knees in, take it to one
side, and make sure you turn your head in the opposite direction.
I call this the Marilyn stretch.
You might have seen this shot in magazines.
She's looking one way gracefully, and her
legs are looking the other way on those satin sheets.
Anyway, back to the stretch.
Now this is one version you can do.
What about coming straight into the chest? Yep.
Now this is a great one.
Roll yourself up into a little, little ball.
Again, the beauty of this one is
it's relieving all the pressure through the lower
back, and that's what we want to do. A lot of
the time through the day, what we do is
hyperextend or lower the back excessively.
And this
is the one to counter that. So what you
have to do is hold that position for a while,
take it nice and easy, relax it, even
do little round motions like this,
and hopefully that'll make that area
feel a lot better.
There seems to be a little bit of controversy
as to whether you should be using a weight belt.
Well I personally don't use a weight belt,
because I feel that my form and technique is
really, really good. And I've been working
at it for a few years now.
Well a couple more years actually than that.
But if you find as a beginner, or as an
intermediate person, you need to get a weight belt
because either your lower back
is sore and you've had problems with it before,
or you find that psychologically
you feel that it would help you use one.
And if you're going to use it, use it
really, really tightly when you're working
the exercise, and relax it
in between. So in the sets, in between the
sets, just relax it by
undoing it, and then just tight it
in the set. It's really something that
depends on whether you want to do it or not.
But correct form normally
precludes the use of a weight belt.
In this back schedule,
the two exercises suggested for the beginner
target the latissimus area,
or the upper back, and the lower back by way
of the hyperextension machine, or the
good morning exercise.
Remember to do any lower back exercise
with particular caution.
For those of you with aches and pains in this
region, do not proceed with these
exercises until the pain has subsided,
and until you have sought
advice from a specialist in the field.
If you feel like you have a
weak back, it's a good idea to use
a weight belt.
For those of you who would like a challenge
in your workout, well, the chin up is just
that, a real challenge.
To start, use the assistance of a friend
to do one perfectly. Before
long, and with some practice and
tenacity, you'll be doing one, two,
and three all by yourself.
Take it from me, to lift your
entire weight is tremendously
satisfying. With time,
you'll be able to do it. Have faith.
One of the great advantages of weight training is
that it can be used for a whole range of different things.
For developing strength, power,
speed, aerobic conditioning,
depends on the regime that's used.
If you want to develop strength, for example,
we use heavy weights, but speed's
not important. If we want to develop
power, for an athletic event,
for example, we would use heavy
weights, but develop them at speed.
Work at speed to develop power.
Weight training has that enormous advantage
of being so flexible,
depending on your needs.
There's many ways to work the arms, but probably
the best one to start with is what
Lucy's doing right down here, is a
dumbbell curl. And she's alternating
with this exercise, so she's doing one
and then she's doing the other, which is a good
way maybe to start, because you want to
focus on one bicep and then the other
bicep. Notice how far she's
taking the exercise down and
up. So we're starting positions there,
finishing positions right to
the top. Now she's keeping her elbows in,
which is very, very important, and she's
exhaling when? On
the exertion phase, on the way up.
Excellent. Can you show us that
with both arms working? Yes.
Now I actually prefer doing
two arms at the same time, because I speed my work up.
So I prefer that,
but you can do it single or you can do it
double. That's great technique,
Lucy. Show us a couple of good ones.
I thought they were good
ones.
Dumbbell curls.
Good work, Lucy.
Another option you've got is
to do a barbell curl, and Manny's
showing us that. Now there's a couple
more considerations you've got here when you're standing.
Now Lucy, we're sitting, now we're seeing
the same kind of action, but we're seeing
it standing. Now you need foot position
right, you need the knees about,
shoulder width apart, you need obviously
to be thinking about your upper body.
Now we're not trying to throw the elbows up, are we
Manny? No. Which keeping the elbows nice
and tucked in all the time. Show
us a bad one, would you? That's too good. This is a
bad one. Right,
that's bad because the shoulder's coming into play
too much. And what about lower back
movement? A lot of people do this. Throw it up,
yes. Let's call it cheating
bicycle. That is a real cheating
bicycle. For starters, you don't want to
do that kind of thing. What we want to do is a nice
control movement, relax throughout
the whole movement, and the breathing
at the top. Yep.
Right through there, you're doing excellent work
there. Now barbells are
really good, but they end
right at the top of the thigh, so you can't
go any further there.
Yes.
Excellent. Show us a couple more.
You look like you're working there, Manny.
Yeah, I am today. I'm working.
Excellent.
Alright, we've done
alternating, we've done barbells.
What we want to do now is something called a concentration
curl right in here.
Now the key thing to remember here
is keeping the elbow on the inside of the thigh
as Lucy has done there.
Another important thing is
when the movement comes to the top, take the
wrist out a little bit, so you really start
focusing on the bicep belly,
the belly meaning the top of the muscle.
And she exhales on the way up,
she's supporting herself with this hand right
here, and she's focusing
all the time in the area that she's working
and contracting at the top of the muscle.
Right, at the top of the movement
she's actually going, ah!
Throw a bit of ah into your workout.
Good work.
Now another way
you can do the same sort of thing
is on something called a preacher bench.
Now if you haven't got one of these at home,
what you can do is just from
an inclined bench put your arm over and do
the same sort of thing. You can do it with dumbbells,
and it's a lot easier obviously
than doing it with a barbell
like this. And notice how he's keeping
his elbows in.
And a bad technique
would be to take the elbows out.
That was a bad one. And another bad
technique would be to start using the shoulders.
It's really difficult
for these guys actually to do bad technique
because they're so tuned in
to actually how the body should be working.
He's focusing at the top, he's
flexing at the top and contracting the muscle,
and you really see that bicep
working there.
That's excellent work. Just a couple more.
Yo, bro!
Okay, so that's enough
focus on the bicep.
What we want to do now is strengthen up the wrist.
If we come down here,
those of you playing racquet sports or golf
or any kind of movement with that
wrist, this is the one for you.
Please do it very, very lightly.
A light one is an important thing.
You notice Lucy just flicked over there really
quickly. So you want to do it both ways.
You want to do it up and then
over. And what about another one for strengthening
right through the wrist? Now golfers,
this would be great for you. Squash players,
great for you.
She's rotating right through the action
and she's working right through the forearm
there, strengthening the wrist.
Good work.
Now Manny's going to show us another one over here.
Why don't you describe this for us, Manny?
This is called the reverse bicep preacher curl
and incorporates two muscle groups. It does the bicep
but it also incorporates the forearm.
Boy, you can see that bicep
working, can't you? And the forearm, you're filling it in there too.
It's also another face because the
bar we're using is called the nisi bar
and that also changes the angles of what you're doing here.
But it's not easy, is it? No, it's not.
It's not easy at all.
That's excellent technique.
Well, that's enough of the biceps. Why don't we now move on to the
triceps?
The first of our tricep exercises
is the tricep push down.
And that's exactly what Lucy's doing right here.
She's pushing right down
and coming just as far as she can
without moving the elbows out.
And she's not locking the elbows.
She's exhaling on the way down.
She's breathing comfortably,
nice and comfortably.
She's got her legs in a comfortable position.
And the amount of repetitions you should do
of this should vary between 8
and 15.
Now when you get a little bit stronger you can do up to
3 or 4 sets of that. But start with
only one at about 8
and feel the action throughout that whole time
getting into that area called the tricep.
Show us a couple of good ones.
What have I been doing? I know, I know, I know.
I'm sorry.
The exercise that we're looking at
on the triceps is called the tricep extension
lying obviously in this position.
Now the things that you need to look out
for in this one are firstly
where the bar actually stops. Now you want it
to stop before it hits your head obviously.
I mean that's the obvious one. And you want it to come
all the way up and fully extend
the arms. Now the
other thing that you need to take note in this one
are your elbows in or out?
Ideally want them tucked in as much
as they can. Manny you're doing good.
Good. So you want to keep them nice and tight.
Now if you
find that your legs are uncomfortable in that
position, Manny show us a variation
of that. Good. Now
balance obviously is an important consideration
here. So please try and do it with the
legs down first and then take them up
in that position.
Good work. Show us a couple more.
You can
see the muscle really, really working out
there.
Great.
So we come over here and we have a look at what Lucy's doing
and she's doing something called a tricep kick
back. Now a seated
position is one option. That's one way
of doing it. The things to take
into consideration right here
are her shoulder.
Now this is great technique.
But let's see some bad technique Lucy. Just for a second.
Right. That's bad.
Why? Because it's not focusing
on the area. We want to do things strictly
and strictly isolating
this region. The outer, the
long head and the inside.
So that's what we're trying to do. Trying to get right around that
muscle. Now what's another variation
of this if you feel uncomfortable there Lucy?
Good.
Again she's supporting her back by having
the knee in that position. She's got her
forearm down. Now she's got
the elbow again in the right position. This
should not move at all through the movement.
And if you've ever got a friend helping
you, they can spot you. Spotting
means helping by just holding
you up just that little bit.
And again you can see the movement right through there.
Try and limit the movement
through the shoulder. That's the important one to remember.
Great work. The last
one we're going to work on here
is a bench press but a variation.
Just a little variation. It's called
a close grip bench press.
Now you think bench press
isn't that something that worked on the chest?
Yes it is. Your chest is still working.
But by doing it with a close
grip the tricep comes into action.
And that's what we want. We want to bring
the elbows as close as we can to
the ribs. Good work.
Right into the ribs and push straight
up. Now the speed of
which you're doing it throughout all these
exercises, nice and steady.
If you're training for different sports obviously
the speed is a little faster.
But at where
we're up to right now, don't worry about that now.
Nice and steady to get base strength.
Okay I think
we deserve a bit of a stretch now.
The first stretch we're going to do
is the tricep stretch. Lucy if
you could take your arm up there. Good
work. Okay we've strengthened
through this region so it's contracted
through there. Now we need to lengthen it.
This is the most traditional form of stretching right
here. You really need to take note of
getting that arm right down there
and pulling that elbow up. Thereby
lengthening this region through here.
Remember to hold your stretches at least 10 seconds.
And if you go on past that point
try and get into the stretch a little bit more
as you are right now.
Steady breathing throughout all your stretches.
Now Manny's going to show us a really advanced
version of that stretch.
Now please warning warning warning
a couple of important points here.
That was warning warning warning.
Lower back position here. What you
want to do is be parallel to the ground.
So the body's parallel.
What we're trying to do is lengthen this area
through here. But you could feel a little pain
through the shoulder so please take note.
You have to do this with extra
care. Again the breathing is
really steady. And you do feel
a stretch in there don't you? Yeah and if you want
to increase it then you have to do is just move your
arms. He said if you want to increase it
move your arms. If you didn't hear that I can barely
hear it too. That looks very very religious
that. Good good work.
So he's stretching right through there. Okay
that's the triceps. So we want to now do some
stretching on the bicep. And there's really
only one way you can do it.
The biceps contract like so.
So we're strengthening that way.
So what do we have to do in stretching? Is lengthen
the region as Lucy's showing us right
through there. All you have to do is
hold on to something like this. Be very
very careful not to throw the shoulder
down or twist.
As she's showing you here. Simply stay
there and the focus should be on
the hand down here.
Not on the shoulder so much. And we're
lengthening the bicep right through there.
That's the bicep.
So why don't we now do some stretching
on the wrists. Manny why don't you show us
that. So we strengthen the wrist
now. Again even the wrist you probably
neglected this completely. Those of you playing
different racket sports, playing golf
or anything that you need a strong
wrist you also need flexibility too.
Please don't forget that. That's one
way of doing it. The second
way. Not only getting a stretch in
the wrist but the forearm region right
there. And what about
full mobility? Just a little bit of rotation
in one direction. And when you feel
like you've had enough just rotate in the opposite direction.
Great work.
Here's a recommended training
schedule for the arms. The beginner
should start with one exercise for the
bicep and one for the triceps.
Remember to employ all the variations
we have suggested. See which
options suits you. You might find
that the seated dumbbell curl suits you a lot
more than the standing version. Or
the alternating curls are preferred over
the barbell ones. Simply experiment
and note how you feel.
For the intermediate lifter
notice I've broken down the amount of sets
between the curls and the concentration
curls. Three on the curls,
a good general bicep exercise
and two sets on the concentration curls
which limits the elbow movement
and changes the angle of the action.
The triceps are also
developed by two exercises,
the push down and the kick back.
Try to split the amount of sets equally
to get the benefits of the variation
of movement. I recommend
two sets of each of these exercises
for the intermediate lifter.
On a general note remember to aim for
symmetry in your workout. To do
five sets for example on the bicep
and only two on the triceps will result
in over development of the bicep
which will result in the limitation of arm
range. Always remember to work the body
in a balanced fashion.
Do you need food supplements to help
your weight training? Vitamins, proteins,
minerals and so on? Well most of the
research shows that provided you eat
a varied and balanced diet, that is
a wide range of foods, you won't need
supplements. In fact they won't help
at all provided you've got that
good diet.
Lucy's showing us the most basic exercise
you do on the abdominals and that's the
basic sit up.
Wow, there's some instant changes here.
What she's done is the first time she had
her hands behind her neck which is an option
for you or if you feel like you want
a little more support for your neck,
what you can do is what she's done right here
now and that's supporting the neck.
Some key things you need to remember is the
lower back is into the carpet. You only
go up about 18 to 15 degrees
coming up. You don't need to go up
any further. Contrary to what we used to
do 10 or 15 years ago, we used to throw
the body up. Now it's nice and controlled
and we're focusing on the top
part here of the rectus abdominis.
That's one of the most basic
exercises and remember also to keep
the heels as close as you can to the buttocks.
Now a more difficult exercise
here is with Manny who's been working
overtime right over here
and he's doing the incline crunch.
Come on, come up.
So this is making a little bit harder
but what you should take into consideration
here is the hip flexors are coming into play
a little bit more here. So you need to do
a little bit of stretching in that region
because it's connected to the lower back so we need to
stretch that out. But this is very, very
difficult. Remember to do it very
slow and controlled. He's supporting
his neck. He's exhaling on the
way up, inhaling on the way
down. Getting a great workout for the whole
abdominal region.
Now something for a little calm, a little more relaxed
is called a crunch. If you come right over here
Lucy's showing us the crunch.
We call it the crunch. It's the same as
the sit up but we've taken completely
the hip flexor out of it by getting
the legs up in this position.
You feeling comfortable down there?
Okay and still a steady sort of movement
that we've already been looking at before.
Nice and calm and relaxed.
Feeling the lower back down. Now
after you finish the crunch we can do
an oblique crunch. That's focusing on
the sides here. This is the
beginner's version of it. The more advanced
version of that is with the elbow
up and trying to get it as far as you
can across. You should be aiming to
do about 15 to 20 repetitions
of this. Resting for a minute or two
and getting back to it. Start slow. Remember
easy to start then build up into
it. Okay now here's a
real challenge. Manny's showing us the
reverse crunch. It's focusing, if
you have a look here, right through the rectus
abdominus region, right down to the
lower abdominals.
And the thing is a lot of people do this
exercise and throw the legs out. Show us some bad
technique.
The lower back's hurting. Ouch!
We want to avoid that.
It only needs to be worked in the
short region. So you're focusing on that
lower abdominals. Are you in pain?
Just a couple more.
I've had enough. I can't. It's a hard
way to earn a living isn't it?
An easier version of
this has come over here. Lucy's showing
us an easier version. It's called a pelvic tuck.
She's just tucking up.
Even though it's quite easy, it's hard
to perform this exercise correctly.
So please take heed. It's only a short
movement. A short movement up.
She's lifting the buttocks off the carpet
and raising it very, very slowly.
I should say bringing it down very, very slowly.
The legs stay in the same position throughout
the whole time.
If you've still got some energy after
all of that, I've got a real
challenge coming right up.
Now this is a
very difficult exercise to do.
As you can see the strain on this gentleman's
face. He's focusing on
the lower abdominals right down here.
But you can see the whole abdominal region
is getting a great workout. The common
mistakes with this, show us Manny, are flicking
the legs up. Rock and rolling,
rock and rolling, rock and rolling.
But the absolute perfect technique
starts from, bring your knees up a little
bit, from there. That's when
the lower abdominals start working. From there
up.
This is a very advanced exercise
and wait till you get to the intermediate level.
But we'll show you none the less. Show us a couple more.
Ah, ah.
Now for your ab schedule,
beginners should perform the prescribed exercises
very slowly and in a
controlled fashion. The tendency
is to race through these ones because we're in
the final leg.
Give these exercises as much attention as
you have given your whole workout. Focus,
concentrate and your goals will
be fulfilled.
Regarding different methods of training, when
starting out, endeavour to do your whole body
in one session, choosing one to two
exercises on each body part.
You can afford to do three sessions a week,
resting one day, working another
day and so on. This is called
the one day on, one day off training method.
If this is too time consuming,
do half your workout in the morning
and the other half in the evening.
You should be able to complete your workout
in about one hour. Obviously this
depends on your rest periods, length of
warm up and duration of stretch.
The intermediate
lifter can employ various regimes.
One such is the two day on,
one day off, completing the whole body in two
days. The varying approaches
to weight training are too numerous to address
here. But with time you can explore
the many exciting and challenging methods
available. And here's
some final advice from Dr Gary Egger.
A comment about weight training
for special groups. Now there are
groups like the elderly for example, where
it may not seem appropriate, but weight training
can be very effective. It can even
help prevent things like osteoporosis
or bone brittleness in later
life. But there are some other groups
where more caution needs to be recommended.
Pregnant women for example,
children below
the age of about 13 or 14
where full development has occurred.
Strict supervision is required.
Weight training does have enormous advantages
but it does also bring with it some
dangers. Just be careful about those
dangers.
We've come to the last stretch of the whole program
and that's stretching out the abdominals.
And there's only really one stretch you can do
and that's just getting up in your elbows
and arching the back, keeping the head
in a relaxed position. That'll stretch
out the abdominals. What you need to
remember in your workout is to goal set.
Know what you want. Do you want a strong
body? Do you want an agile body? Do you want
a fit body? Be very clear what you want
and then go for it. It's really
important that you apply yourself mentally
for what you want to do. What else do we need
to think about, Manny? We should also incorporate
some aerobic activity. About 30 to 40
minutes maybe riding a bike or jogging
or stepping on the step machines. That'll
help as well. That's fantastic. And Lucy
anything else? Always remember, supplement
your training program with some stretching.
And smile a lot
and happy lifting.
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