One of the biggest mistakes I see as a trainer is that people do not do their strength training from Day #1. That’s a big mistake. They say things like, “I’ll do cardio first and when I start to lose weight I will do some strength training to tone up”. Well, let me tell you, it does not work like that!
STRENGTH TRAINING IS CRITICAL IN WEIGHT MANAGEMENT- think of it this way- MUSCLE equals METABOLISM! And we are not talking about the kind of muscles that Arnold has- the REALITY is that when women do the RIGHT strength training exercises and the harder they work at strength training, the TIGHTER and TRIMMER their muscles become!
So what is the RIGHT exercises and how hard should I be working? Well, I’m a big believer in training at the right intensity. Sure, when you first start exercising you need to take your time, get comfortable with the exercises and allow your body to adapt BUT many people take it easy for months and months- never really doing the KEY exercises and/or bumping up the intensity of their workouts.
All the RIGHT exercises that you need to do can be done with the Equalizer. And, and this is a big one- it does not take much time- just a bit of effort for amazing muscle transformation.
Number one, you have to work your legs! They are the most muscle in your body and squats are the number one exercise you need to start doing. The major mistake people make with squats is pushing their knees forward and not sitting down low enough. Of course if you have any limitations you should hire a trainer to help you get started right and of course, always consult your doctor before staring any exercise program.
Squats are a very natural and safe movement though and done right can really work the legs- with no weights- just add reps. It will really get the heart pumping. When you are getting ready to increase the intensity (remember, I was talking about doing that before too long- have your trainer tell you when you are ready) you can use the Equalizers for SINGLE leg squats (very effective and hit inner and outer thigh as well as butt a lot more) and lunges.
NEXT UP- a PUSH and a PULL. For the upper body you need only do two major exercises, a push and a pull. These two exercises will ensure that you hit all the major groups up there. These two exercises are the push-up and the vertical row- both are best done with the Equalizer- with lots of options for strength levels of the participant and exercise variety (because of the scope of this article, it is best to consult your trainer for proper body positioning and exercise intensity, etc).
Because you are using your own body weight, you engage the CORE, working more muscle than if you used a bench or lat pull down and you get it done with less equipment which means less cost and very little room taken up- and they are portable to store after workouts.
And you thought that was it! Just because you could get away with the last 4 exercises (single leg squats, lunges, push-ups and vertical rows) does not mean I am going to let you stop there. I am a trainer after all! I highly recommend my favourite Equalizer exercise (which can be seen at…) for the triceps and lower abs. you basically kneel down and slowly lower forward under one of the bars- it’s got a good STRETCH built in and really great for the core!
That’s it- get this routine done every second day- do the exercises slow and controlled and find a way to always make it harder! At your level of course- but have a trainer help you determine what that is.
These exercises will guarantee a revved up metabolism and tighter leaner muscles- remember?!- and STAY TUNED for my next articles on how to vaporize body fat with proper diet and cardio training to go along with these basic but MOST EFFECTIVE Equalizer exercises.
Marc Lebert
www.lebertequalizer.com
Marc Lebert is a Certified Personal Trainer and fitness club owner. He is an NLP practitioner, a Black Belt in Taekwondo, and inventor. Marc also teaches boxing, sports conditioning and of course Equalizer classes. He has been seen on TV, is a published writer and conducts seminars. His new fitness product, The Equalizer can be seen at www.lebertequalizer.com
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