14 DAY TRIAL // One of the first things the trainer tells us when we go to the gym for the first time is that, no matter the type of exercise we’re doing, or the muscles it works, it must be repeated at least three times in batches of 13-15. These repetitions represent a great way to strength train, as well as to better define the muscles, but continuous motions might actually place us at a distance from our goal, FitSugar says.
A suggestion we could all try on our next gym session is to pause halfway during repetitions. So, as we’re lifting a dumbbell or our own body weight, instead of going through the routine in one single motion, we could try to stop midway, hold the position for a few seconds, and then finish the move. This, it is believed, would help us build stronger muscles in about half the time it would take if we just did continuous motions, because we’re no longer using momentum to perform them.
“If you’re looking to maximize your time and increase your strength though, give this a try. Instead of raising and lowering a weight (or your body weight) in one continuous motion, pause halfway in the middle of your repetitions. Pause halfway up, and then halfway down. It will actually save you time in your strength training sessions because it’s an effective way to exhaust your muscles.” FitSugar explains.
Exhausting our muscles sooner also means we’d have to do less repetitions of the same exercise, for results to become visible. Granted, pausing midway during a repetition can prove a bit hard at first, but with plenty of concentration and attention to still perform the exercise correctly, it can be done, the e-zine assures us.
Another method to strength train, which can be easily applied if pausing simply doesn’t work for us, is to willingly eliminate momentum altogether. What this means is that, if we’re doing weight lifting (again, either dumbbells, or our own body), we should concentrate really hard to perform the moves in a swift, controlled manner. Speed is not the solution, as many of us might be tempted to believe, because getting work done faster doesn’t mean better results. Quite on the contrary, trainers uphold.