YOUR GYM TIME IS PRECIOUS. HERE’S HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
YOUR GYM TIME IS PRECIOUS. HERE’S HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT.
GO HARD AND FAST IN SPIN CLASS
I often get asked if riding faster or with more resistance is better. Really, you need both to get lean and firm. Here’s how to do it right.
NAIL YOUR FORM
Look between the handlebars so your neck is in a neutral position. Drop your shoulders, lift your chest, soften those elbows towards your sides, and roll any creases out of your wrists. Engage your abs to lift your torso and power your stroke. Point your knees ahead; drop your heels. When seated, pull your butt to the back of the saddle to activate more muscles. When riding out of the saddle with your hands on the end of the handlebars, your hips should be over the seat.
CLIMB BETTER
When riding with heavy resistance, push flat feet forward and then down, “scraping” them along the floor. Then pull the knees back and up towards the handlebars. This divides the work between the front and back of your legs. Keep it smooth. If your stroke gets choppy, move a little faster or dial down the resistance.
SPRINT SMARTER
To pick up speed, stay centred on or over the saddle, and squeeze your abs to eliminate most of any bounce. If you exceed 105rpm, add resistance.
QUIT THE EXTREME PLANKING
You know that guy in California who held a plank for more than five hours? Don’t try to emulate him. Unless you’re doing it for bragging rights rather than fitness gains, most studies and experts say that you don’t need to hold a plank for more than two minutes. In fact, researchers at the American Council on Exercise have reported that going beyond 30 seconds doesn’t offer extra benefits. That’s because it’s more likely that your form will go to crap before you can eke out any more sculpting. Instead, bang out those planks with these ideas to get firmer faster.
KEEP ’EM SUPER SHORT
As in just do them for 10 seconds at a time. Ironically, that’s the sweet spot when it comes to training for endurance compared with doing dynamic exercises like crunches, according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. These quick, repeated holds eventually build a stronger and more powerful core. Do five sets daily or on alternate days.
PLANK IN MOTION
Jaclyn Emerick is a personal trainer, a spinning instructor, and a kettlebell instructor, as well as a sports and exercise nutrition coach.
If I could only use one piece of exercise equipment for the rest of my life, it would be a kettlebell. Its unique cannonball shape and off set handle, which puts its centre of mass outside of your hand, allow you to use it in extremely diverse ways. Here’s what that means for your workout and your body.
Hold the handle (top) or horns (sides just above the cannonball) and use it as you would a dumbbell for strength exercises to fi rm muscles. Or do fast, explosive exercises such as swings, which skyrocket your heart rate – and thus your burn.
The instability of the kettlebell means more muscles need to chip in to keep you in control of your movements. For example, in a study done at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, researchers found that an overhead kettlebell press required more chest muscles to pitch in versus a dumbbell press. All of this extra effort per rep adds up to better results in less training time.
Recently I was spending eight hours a day hunkered over a keyboard, and then two more on a bike during a cycling workshop. All that extra rounding forward had given me some gnarly knots in my mid-back, but I didn’t realise it until I was in Crossfi t, powering through snatches (in which you lift a barbell from the floor to overhead in one fl uid movement). Just 20 minutes into the hour-long class, I felt on the verge of tweaking my neck, so I unloaded the barbell and headed home. I think that discipline saved me from an injury. Here’s what to watch out for so you can do the same.
Fatigue, burning muscles, and breathlessness during a workout are typically results of exercising intensely and are perfectly normal. But sharp, shooting, or unusual pain means stop what you’re doing stat.
Just because someone is leading a class or training clients, it doesn’t mean he or she is a stickler for form or safety. If an instructor or trainer is asking you to do things that don’t seem good for your body or aren’t tuned in to your form, trust your instincts and politely excuse yourself.
I’ve been teaching group classes for 10 years. One thing I can always count on? Watching people leave immediately after the last song. I get it: you need to shower, grab coffee, get to work. But skipping your cool-down dulls the benefits you worked so hard for. Stopping short can stunt muscle repair, boost your chance of being super sore, and even be a little dangerous because the blood that sped to your legs during exercise can pool there if you stop abruptly, and cause you to become dizzy or faint. Instead, do these quick and simple reboots.
To decrease your heart rate gradually, spend about three minutes doing an easier version of your workout. If you ran, jog and then walk. At the end of spinning class, lower your resistance and your pedal speed. If you did a strength workout, wind down with a few dynamic stretches. Just keep moving.
Take another three minutes or so to move through some easy yoga poses, such as downward dog, runner’s lunge, and child’s pose. Now is also the time to do static stretches, where you hold for 30 seconds or longer. Your muscles are warm after exercise, so they’re more pliable.
Drink water to replace fluid lost through sweat, and eat easily digestible food that has protein and carbs in it to repair muscle damage while you cool down. You’ll need more of both if your workout was lengthy and intense.
Some sweaty things are worth celebrating, like crossing a finish line or smashing a WOD. But building up every workout in your mind as a big challenge that requires a huge amount of effort can make getting through it harder than it has to be. Instead, reframe a class, a lift, or an interval with expressions like these so it seems like something your mind and body can handle.
When building up for an aggressive sprint, I remind my spinners: “You’re just riding a bike. It’s not that big a deal.” When you realise all you have to do is pedal harder or run faster or lift heavier – and that you’re not fighting for your life – you can free your mind to handle it.
