Welcome back! We have a brand new edition of Body-Solid's Built for Life & Times for you featuring some great articles across the web, an inspirational video from EliteFTS and the Body-Solid Product of the Day.
Micro-Mod Sets For Mass
Great tips from one of the best bodybuilding websites online T-Nation.com and author Christian Thibaudeau looking at modifying your workout in-between sets for higher gains.
- Micro-mods involve making very small grip or stance changes during every rep or two of an exercise, changes that do not affect the technique or motor pattern used.
- A different grip width or a different stance allows you to lift more or less weight due to varying leverages. Start with the weakest position when you're fresher. As fatigue sets in, switch to stronger positions, allowing you to perform more work with a certain load.
- Since you'll have to change either your grip or stance width several times during a set, use the cluster approach: rack the weight after every rep and re-set.
- The training effect from using this technique is 30-40% greater than it is with exercises done in the conventional manner.
Read the full article at http://www.t-nation.com/training/micro-mod-sets-for-mass
Activity Trackers Don’t Sense Everything
New York Times blogger Gretchen Reynolds explores popular activity trackers like Fitbit and the Nike Fuel Band and looks at research on how good they are at actually tracking your activities.
To measure the accuracy of activity trackers worn on the wrist or waistband, researchers from Arizona State University conducted two studies, with equivocal results. The research, presented last summer at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, tested the devices against bulkier, high-tech masks placed over volunteers’ faces to measure oxygen consumption.
After asking participants to engage in activities like exercise, playing games and housework, the researchers found that the trackers were able to record some but not all of the subjects’ movements.
The devices reliably tracked forward motion; they counted how many steps volunteers took while walking or jogging, and accurately determined corresponding energy consumption.
But the trackers were inept at measuring volunteers’ more subtle movements, such as when they stood, played Scrabble, gently pedaled a stationary bicycle, or used a broom to sweep up around the physiology lab.
Over all, the results suggest that consumer activity monitors “do not detect light-intensity activities very well,” said Glenn Gaesser, a professor and the director of the Healthy Lifestyles Research Center at Arizona State University, who oversaw one of the studies. The devices rely on mathematical equations that “were developed using activities easy to measure, such as brisk walking or jogging,” he said.
Read the full story at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/activity-trackers-dont-sense-everything/?hpw&rref=health
It's NOT About Luck
A loosely St. Patrick's Day theme inspirational video from the guys and gals at EliteFTS. Check it out:
4 Essential Tips to Build the Perfect Workout Program
Lastly, Anthony J. Yeung CSCS of MuscleandFitness.com has a few tips for building your perfect workout program. Here's an exerpt:
1) Change Your Reps Every Few Weeks
Your repetitions are the most important part of your workout program; they control everything from your strength and size gains to how your muscles develop and look.
2) Always Do The Most Important Exercises First
The more muscles an exercise hits, the earlier you should do it in a workout. Exercises that blast every muscle in your body and demand tremendous strength and focus always come first.
3) Move In All Directions
Most of your favorite gym exercises move in just one direction.
Treadmills, stationary bikes, squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench presses, sit-ups, bicep curls, and rows all move front-to-back. In all these exercises, the primary movement is flexing your muscles forward and backward without moving side to side or twisting (called the “sagittal plane”).
4) Stay Balanced
A great workout program focuses on symmetry: making sure nothing is neglected and that nothing is too weak—or too strong—in proportion with the rest of your body.
Read the full article at http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-tips/4-essential-tips-build-perfect-workout-program
Body-Solid Product of the Day: GSRM40 Seated Row Machine
This is the tool of the trade for building depth in the middle back and training the hard to reach lower lats.
Our uniquely designed Seated Row Machine is fully adjustable to fit all size users. The extra-thick DuraFirm" seat and chest pads position you for maximum pre-stretch which is crucial for deep muscle penetration an full range-of-motion.
Four-way handgrips widen or narrow to target resistance to the middle back resulting in accelerated muscle gains.
Find out more about the GSRM40 at http://www.bodysolid.com/Home/GSRM40/Body-Solid_Seated_Row_Machine
