30 Nov What makes a great exercise?

What makes a great exercise?

Ok so this morning I was at the gym having decided its high time I get in there and do some strength training. Although I enjoy surfing and running it is also important for me to continue to do some weights in order to keep myself strong and healthy. Weight training also aids in better performance in these favourite actives. For example pushups make me stronger up top which essentially is what is needed to push up on the surfboard to stand. Squats and lunges are great ways to strengthen my hammies, quads and glutes which are all needed to be firing when doing my sprints. Therefore we really need to incllude this strength training at least once if not twice a week to reap the benefits.

Choose exercises that are primarily ground based:

These exercises comprise of squatting, bent over rows, rowing and deadlifts. They target the larger muscles groups which means more calories being burnt and a greater strength is aquired. These 'primal' moves are simple replications of every day activities where the feet are placed on the ground and the body moves around this stable support.

Choose compound exercises:

A compound exercise is simply an exercise that has a large number of muscles working across one joint (eg squats). Or a more simple definition is that compound exercises have more then one joint in motion during the lift. Compound exercises should make up the bulk of your training as they increase the amount of work done by the muscles.