As a Personal Trainer in St Louis, there are certain questions that are regularly asked.  Quite often we are asked whether training with free weights is better than with machines.  The quick answer is a resounding yes.  Not only are the strength gains greater, but the functionality of movement with free weights add to an overall improved physique and performance level.  Here is a brief comparison between the two.

Free Weights

Pros- Strength gains tend to be greater.  More balance and coordination is required with free weights.  Unlike resistance machines which tend to isolate specific muscles, free weights recruit more muscle groups in single exercises.  Free weights promote more activity of the joint stabilizer muscles.

Cons- A spotter is needed.  Machines tend to have less risk of injury.

You may have heard this term thrown around the fitness industry in recent years.  The basis behind the “Muscle Confusion” theory is that in order to grow and become stronger, you must constantly change your routine and confuse your muscles.  Some think this theory is a myth, but there actually is some truth behind it.

Our bodies respond to new stimuli and use it to become stronger.  When you are placing demand on your muscles that incorporates balance, different angles, or just a varying training style, your body sees this as something new.  Varying routines can be used as a breakthrough during those plateau times as muscle groups become accustomed to a training program quite quickly.  For instance, for chest exercises, you may perform pushups with one hand on a medicine ball one day and inclined dumbbell press on a physioball later in the week.  While you’re still working the chest region, you’ve changed the angle and added a level of imbalance resulting in stimulation of new muscle growth.

Muscle confusion will also improve your motivation and keep your interest level up.  Varying your routine is an excellent way to constantly challenge your body in several dimensions.  For additional assistance in designing a program that incorporates muscle confusion, get in touch with a local personal trainer in St Louis.

The upright row is a movement that has been performed by body builders and fitness enthusiasts for years in hopes of developing shoulders and trapezius musculature.  This highly popular exercise is performed by holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of your with a close, overhand grip, you pull the weight up to your chest, keeping it close to your body, leading with your elbows.

The Upright Row is one of the most harmful exercises you can expose your shoulders to. The problem with the exercise lies in the position your arms must be in in order to perform the movement. The position, called “internal rotation,” is where your arms are bent at the elbow and then internally rotated.  This position, with the addition of weight and your arms raises places your shoulder in an impingement position.  This is where a tendon in your shoulder gets pinched by the bones of the shoulder.

Many will ignore the advice of fitness professionals or personal trainers and continue to perform the exercise seemingly pain free.  The breakdown of this tends occurs slowly over time and gradually breaks down until a severe injury could occur.  To this day, I have witnessed several places all over the Saint Louis area that has members/clients still performing this exercise.  It is important as a personal trainer to educate our clientele on some of these exercises that may be extremely dangerous.  Expect more posts like this in the near future !

Most are familiar with the word, but probably aren’t sure of the exact definition.  Your core is basically the center portion of your body, excluding your limbs and your head.  This is the area where the force of movement is generated in exercise and in life.  Training your core is vital to living a stronger, healthier life or becoming a stronger athlete.  Personal trainers and other fitness professionals throw this word around like crazy, but there is a great deal of science behind the buzz.

I decided to compile a personal list of the most functional and effective exercises to build core strength.  This is, by no means, a definitive list.  Just my opinion on the best.

1. Bicycles- works the muscles deep in the abdominal wall and the obliques

2. Plank- this can be performed in numerous variations.   Improves core stability in an isometric fashion.

3. Long arm crunch- focuses on upper portion of abdominal region

4. Supermans- numerous variations, deep abdominal region, lower back region

5. Reverse Crunch- pulling your knees in.  Focuses on lower region of abdominal area

As stated before, this is not a definitive list of 5.  Please contact me or anyone with Studio Element with questions concerning any of these exercises.  Remember- While a nice six pack is appealing, performance and core stability is more important.  Focus on exercises like the ones above and improve your nutritional habits and the six pack will follow!

I thought that I would take a different direction with my first blog post of the new year and start with somewhat of a testimonial to the benefits of regular exercise and an appreciation of human performance.  I am sitting here at my computer at home, but just spent the past 5 days in Winter Park, Colorado with my family and some friends.  My wife and I snowboard, but we introduced skiing to our 4 year old son.  After 3 days of lessons, it was exhilarating to have him join us on the lift and witness him actually skiing down some green slopes!  This is the start of many family ski trips to come; something that I have dreamed about since I was very young.

Even though my wife and I spent some of the trip worried about our son in the ski program, we were able to enjoy the slopes ourselves and reap the benefits of the regular exercise that we both participate in, here in Saint Louis.  My wife even mentioned that she felt stronger than she had ever felt on the slopes; a testament to the increased training that she has had since the last time we went.  Yes, it is true folks.  Regular exercise DOES improve your performance in other activities and, in this instance,  DOES translate to stronger snowboarding, more time on the slopes, and a fuller, more complete ski trip.

I encourage everyone to take advantage of your body.  Appreciate the capabilities that your body holds.  Play hard, but train even harder.

It seems as though the longer time goes on and more research is done on fitness and exercise, we are trending toward reverting back to some very basic human movements.  One perfect example is the Farmer’s Walk.  This very functional exercise is done holding heavy dumbbells in each hand, standing with good posture, and walking around 20 yards or so.  As with every exercise, make sure that you are able to master your posture before adding more weight.

This exercise works the musculature of your entire back, improves grip strength, exhausts your entire lower body, and focuses on lateral torso and hip strength.  It is an excellent choice to add into almost anyone’s program to add a bit of “real life” benefit.  Personal trainers should be aware of incorporating such exercises into their clients programs to aid in the function of their clients daily activities.

In the personal training industry, many facilities and fitness trainers rely on the quantity and quality of the equipment that is available to them.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent by some gyms to ensure that they have the coolest, top of the line, ground-breaking line of exercise machines.  I must admit that I fell into this trap as well.  

It takes awhile to realize that a certain amount of equipment is nice to have.  Some might argue that some sort of baseline is necessary in any fitness facility.  When it comes down to it, many exercises can be performed with little or no equipment at all.  Several studies show some of these more functional, body weight type exercises can no only lead to more muscle coordination, but to increased strength as well.  Recently it was determined that the strength gains can be more prevalent than traditional weight selected machines.

I always use body weight exercises as a benchmark for most of my clientele.  In some way or form I would like to see my training clients lift and support their bodies in various dimensions.  The TRX bodyweight strap system is a great tool to assist in accomplishing body weight lifting at various angles.  Check out pictures on our website for pictures on the TRX System.  http://www.studio-element.net

We all know that exercise is so important for so many reasons.  Increased evidence indicates how important it is for the recovery of a stroke victim.  Studies show that a regular combination of repetition therapy, cardiovascular exercise, flexibility training, and strength training can lead to years of recovery.  

Not only does an exercise program focusing on improving cardiovascular health improve their health, it also decreases their chances of having another stroke or heart disease.  Exercise can also help stroke survivors manage their weight, improve cholesterol levels, and increase strength, flexibility, and endurance.  It is also a vital component in aiding the fight against the common depression after a stroke.

Many physicians recommend not trying a program on your own as a stroke survivor.  Enlist the assistance of a qualified health professional.  Someone who is knowledgeable about stroke risk and rehabilitation.

Cross Training is the act of incorporating several methods of exercise into your program to address a more complete, balanced overall plan.  This method of fitness training has been shown to reduce the likelihood of your being injured as the result of exercising “too much.”  It also has been shown to have a very positive effect on an individuals long-term adherence to a specific type of activity.

As personal trainers, we employ the use of cross training with our clients to provide a program that better addresses the specific demands of particular sports.  We have many runners who come to us in hopes of becoming stronger as runners.  Resistance training specific to the sport of running is added into their regimen and the results are usually very positive.  Running, alone, cannot provide some of the mandatory training necessary to reaching that next level.

One of the more common exercises, the squat, is sometimes misunderstood.  Squats are commonly used by personal trainers and physical therapists.  A high percentage of people have this assumption that squats are “bad” for your knees.  I would argue that “bad squats” could hurt your knees.

The basic squat, when performed correctly, is a natural human movement.  There is a great deal of evidence from numerous studies that shows how squats can be used in a rehabilitation sense to treat ACL issues in particular.

People with healthy knees can benefit by incorporating squats into their fitness program and by squatting down until the knees bend 90 degrees. This is known as a parallel squat because the knees bend until the thigh is parallel with the ground. This exercise technique stabilizes the knee and ankle by strengthening the hip, thigh, and calf muscles.