Keep your mind on the muscle you are working!

Maximum effectiveness of an exercise. Isn't that what we all want? Of course! Otherwise we wouldn't be exercising, right?

I have a saying when I exercise: "As long as I'm taking the time to do this, I may as well get maximum benefit from it."

Here is my best tip for getting the most of any exercise: Concentrate on the muscle you are working.

Sounds simple doesn't it? But it is so easy to let our minds wander when we are lifting weights or doing toning exercise.

First of all, when you get to the gym leave your problems at the door. This is not the time to be thinking through the strategy for a problem at work or about the fight you had with your significant other the night before. This is one time you need to be really selfish and concentrate on just you and your muscles.

Now that you are fully focused on your workout, really think about the specific muscle you are working for that exercise.

Let's use the Lat Pull Down as an example: This exercise works the latissimus dorsi muscle (lats) in the upper back (the muscles that flares out to the sides when well developed). So, from the start of the movement with my arms in the air, I am thinking upper, outer back. I'm thinking of starting the movement by contracting that muscle in order to pull the bar down. All the way through the movement, from the initial lowering of the bar, to the peak of contraction when the bar is near my chest, and then all the way back up the the starting position with my arms over my head, I am thinking about my lats doing the work of lowering and raising the bar up. I don't stop focusing on my lats until the last repetition of that set.

With any exercise you do, apply this principle of concentrating on the muscle or area being worked. Trust me- your mind won't have room for anything else if you do it properly and you'll get a much more intense and effective workout for your efforts.

My apologies for taking so long to post a new blog entry. Life has thrown some major curve balls at me lately. And I don't know why this is saying it's August 10th- It's really October 28th.