What an ideal workout should look like: a scientific approach

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Usually people go in for sports for two reasons: to feel good and to get a toned, beautiful body. Everyone has their own concept of a beautiful body: someone wants to gain weight, someone, on the contrary, tries to dry out. It is depending on your goal that exercises should be selected. Today we are going to talk about a training program that was compiled from a huge amount of research in the field of sports.

Almost all scientific work devoted to fitness converges on several principles: work with heavy weights, exercises during which several muscle groups work at the same time, and cyclic training with little rest between sets (or no rest at all).

Dr. Jeffrey M. Willardson, assistant professor of kinesiology and sports research at Eastern Illinois University, has developed a workout that combines all of the above.

It is recommended to perform each exercise 10-15 times, move from one movement to the next without stopping, and use such a weight that after the session you feel tired, but in no case exhausted. The number of approaches is from one to three, depending on the level of your physical fitness. The workout should be repeated every other day.

Exercise number 1. Squats with dumbbells

Stand straight with feet shoulder-width apart. Hold the dumbbells over your shoulders with your elbows bent and as close to your sides as possible. Take a deep breath while squatting with your chest open and your back straight. As you exhale, return to the starting position. You need to rise by pushing off the floor with your heels. Make sure that your knees do not go over your toes while squatting.

Exercise number 2. Press of dumbbells from the shoulder

Take the dumbbells in your hands (fingers pointing forward) and lift them above your shoulders. They should be at about ear level. If you are doing this exercise while standing, your knees should be slightly bent. Take a deep breath and as you exhale, lift the dumbbells over your head. In the upper position, the dumbbells should be close enough to each other, but not touching. As you inhale, slowly lower the dumbbells to their original position.

Exercise number 3. Deadlift

Legs shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. The weight should be in your hands. Lean forward, slightly pushing your pelvis back and gently lowering your weight down your legs. Make sure your shoulders are straight. From the bottom position, without raising the torso, pull the barbell to the stomach, leading it along the legs and pulling it up not by the force of the hands, but by bringing the shoulder blades together. That is, your upper back should work. Bring the weight back down and repeat the deadlift again.

The torso should not be fully extended during this exercise. After completing the movements the required number of times, straighten up and gently lower your weight to the floor.

Exercise number 4. Squats in the lunge with dumbbells

Stand up straight with dumbbells in hand. Take one leg back a step width and lean forward a little: so that the weight is more transferred to the front leg. Perform a squat. The knee angle of the supporting leg should be 90 degrees, the knee does not protrude beyond the toe. The knee of the other leg tends to be as close to the floor as possible. Return to the starting position and change the supporting leg or perform the required number of repetitions, first on one leg, then on the other.

Complicated version: put your leg laid back on the bench and perform squats. Make sure that the main weight is transferred to the leg in front. You can use a barbell instead of dumbbells.

Exercise number 5. Press of dumbbells from the chest on fitball

Sit on the fitball, put the dumbbells on your hips. Then slowly roll forward on the ball so that your upper back is on the ball, your feet are under bent knees, and the knee angle is 90 degrees.

Move the dumbbells so that they are on your chest, your arms should be bent at the elbows and slightly apart. Exhale and as you exhale, lift the dumbbells up, making sure that your hips do not drop. The arms should be directly above the chest. As you inhale, lower the dumbbells to your chest.

Exercise number 6. Pull-ups on the horizontal bar with a wide grip

Place your hands on the horizontal bar 15–20 centimeters wide. Inhale, as you exhale, pull yourself up to the horizontal bar, try to pull yourself up so that your chin is above the bar. As you inhale, slowly lower yourself down.

If you find it difficult to perform pull-ups without support, use either a special simulator for this or a bench (for entering the first pull-up).

Exercise number 7. Stepping up onto the platform

Stand in front of the platform, hold the dumbbells in your hands at your sides. Take a deep breath. As you exhale, step up onto the platform. Then take a step back with the same leg that was lifted up. Repeat pacing on the other leg. Alternate right and left leg lifts. Make sure that the knee angle is 90 degrees when the working leg is on the platform.

Exercise number 8. Hits with a medicine ball on the floor

Feet shoulder width apart. Raise the medball in bent arms. Inhale and as you exhale, throw the ball to the floor with all your might. Catch him on the bounce and repeat.

Exercise number 9. Raising the pelvis with dumbbells with emphasis on the bench

Sit on the floor with your back to the bench, dumbbells on your hips. Place your shoulders on the bench and bend your knees so that your feet are completely flat on the floor under your knees. Breathe in. As you exhale, push your pelvis along with the dumbbells up so that your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders. Hold in the upper position for literally a few seconds and lower yourself down as you inhale.

Exercise number 10. Incline push-ups

Stand in a plank position with your feet resting on the bench. As you exhale, bend your arms, dropping as low as possible to the floor. While inhaling, return to the starting position. Make sure that during push-ups the body is one straight line (there are no deflections in the lower back and the pelvis is not retracted up).