Making Every Rep Count
Yesterday morning while I was at the gym one of my friends asked me about an exercise and whether it was a good one or if there was something else he should be doing to make it better, more effective …
My first response was “well how does it feel? Do you feel it where you want to feel it?”
He replied, “yes, definitely”
I suggested adjusting the angle and anchor point to create another variation and see how it goes. He made an adjustment and tried it again. “Oh yeah, I feel that too, a little different, but really good.”
This led to him mentioning that when he used to train with his cousin (who was a pro-competitor and body building athlete), his cousin not only taught him about the exercises, but stressed the importance of feeling the muscle or body part being worked. He would even close his eyes to increase this mind-muscle connection.
He hit it right on the nail. You don’t want to just go through the motions. You want to ‘make every rep count’ to feel your muscles engage and work to execute the given exercise.
I’ve been training myself and coaching others this way for YEARS.
The thing is though, too many people don’t get this.
They believe that if they’re doing an exercise it’s working, that they are getting the most out of it. But, you can go through any movement without truly getting the effect you want or need.
Too many people believe they just need to do the sets, count the reps, and gauge the impact of their workout on whether they are sweating, out of breathe, sore or tired.
But these aren’t the only things that measure a successful effective workout. If fact they aren’t the things you want to be focusing on most times.
You WANT to focus on making every rep count. Tuning in and feeling your muscles contract to move, lift and lower yourself. Making that mind-muscle connection. Slowing down to get the MOST out of your exercises and training sessions.
Why? Because doing this will yield a much more effective session. It will benefit in numerous ways including:
building lean muscle that will transform the body and physique
Supporting a healthy metabolism that also transforms the body and helps maintain a healthy body weight
Training the neuromuscular connection so the body performs better every day and in sports, athletics or competitive pursuits
Improving strength, power, functional ability
Supporting endurance and maintaining form and pace
Lessen the chances of injury, pain, overuse or over training
Take the boredom out of workouts
Slowing down and focusing on making every rep count, creating the mind-muscle connection will yield results for various goals. Whether you want to lean out, trim down, build muscle, feel better, perform better... You won't get bulky doing this (that's what hormones and diet will do).
Learn and master this essential piece of training and exercise when you come to Fusion Fit. Contact us today.