What is Digg?91 Comments
- smurf22, on 10/26/2007, -1/+82Im not sure if dugg mirror got it so ill post it here
1. Limit your workouts to 30-40 minutes. Though the tendency of some people who really want to get a lot out of their workouts is to spend a lot of time at the gym, the truth is that after 30 or 40 minutes, the benefit isn’t as great. To go that long, you’d have to lower the intensity of the workout, and that means that you’re spending too much time working out. It’s better to work out at a higher intensity for a shorter amount of time.
2. High-intensity workouts. If you’re just starting out with exercise, it’s best to take it slow. If you’re running or cycling, for example, build up your endurance for at least a month before you get into anything more intense. That means going at a rate where you can easily talk without being out of breath. However, once you have that base of endurance, step up the intensity to step up the effectiveness of the workout.
3. Protein. Many people don’t pay enough attention to getting the protein their muscles need to rebuild. If you don’t, you are going to get very little out of your workout, as both cardio and strength workouts require protein for building muscles. I recommend either whey or soy protein shakes.
4. Water. Be sure to hydrate throughout the day. It takes a couple of hours for your body to absorb the water, so you can’t just drink right before exercise. Make it a habit to drink water regularly throughout the day.
5. Carbs. Although the low-carb craze might say otherwise, carbs are our body’s main source of fuel. If you do intense workouts, you will need carbs, or you won’t have enough energy. If you do a shake, be sure to include carbs — or a banana is a great source of low fiber/high glycemic carbohydrates that you need for exercise.
6. Shake before and after workout. It’s best to take a protein/carb shake just before your workout and then just after. Taking it before your workout increases the flow of amino acids to your muscles during training, giving them the building blocks they need. After the workout, the shake stimulates muscle growth. Also take a small protein/carb meal 60-90 minutes after a workout — a meal replacement bar would work fine.
7. Slow lifting. Many people contract their muscles slowly and then release more quickly. But if you lift slowly in both directions, you are maximizing each move. Lift and lower to a 5-second count in each direction.
8. Heavier weight. When you’re starting out, it’s best to start with lower weights so you can focus on good form. But once you’ve gotten your form down, it’s best to lift the heaviest weights you can lift while still keeping good form. Don’t sacrifice form for heavy weights — that is ineffective. But heavy weights, with good form, can give you better results in a shorter amount of time. Heavy weights are not just for those who want to bulk up — that’s a common misconception.
9. One set, to failure. Instead of doing 2-3 sets, as many people do, maximize your effectiveness by doing just one, with heavy weights, until you can no longer keep the proper form. Lifting to “failure” doesn’t mean that you should lift the last few times with a wobbly or inefficient form.
10. Compound exercises. Instead of isolating your muscles with exercises such as the bicep curl, you can maximize the time you spend in a workout by doing exercises that work out multiple muscle groups at once. With just a few exercises, you could get a full-body workout. Another benefit is that your muscles are working together as they do in the real world, rather than alone. Some great compound exercises include squats, deadlifts, good mornings, lunges, pushups, bench presses, military presses, rows, pullups, dips, and more.
11. Balance lifting. Instead of having exercises where you’re sitting down or holding on to something or otherwise stabilized, it’s more effective to do them standing up, or on one leg, or on a Swiss exercise ball. These types of exercises force you to balance yourself while lifting, which brings your core muscles into play. This gives you a stronger overall body and allows you to lift more over time.
12. Pick a cardio exercise you enjoy. It’s no fun to exercise if you hate it. And you won’t keep it up for very long. Pick something that’s fun — running, walking, swimming, biking, hiking, rowing, stairmaster, etc. After the initial phase when you’re getting used to exercise, you’ll start to have a blast and look forward to it.
13. Mix it up. Don’t stick to the same workout routine for too long, or your body will adjust to the stress level and you won’t be getting an effective workout. For strength training, change your routine every few weeks. For cardio, it’s best to cross train rather than, say, to run every time.
14. Good form. For strength training especially, and swimming, form is very important, but it’s also important for other types of exercise. If you’re strength training, start with lighter weights so you can work on your form. It’s good to have an experienced spotter or trainer who knows good form to help you for the first month or so. Never sacrifice form for heavier weight. For swimming, you’ll need to get a coach to teach you form.
15. Hills. If you run or bike or walk for cardio, you’ll want to incorporate hills (after the first month or two of doing it at an easy pace on flat ground). These will make you stronger and make your limited workout time even more effective. Take them easy at first, but once you’re used to hills, you can get a good pace going. Either use a hilly route or do repeats on one hill.
16. Circuits. One mistake that people make is to do multiple sets of the same exercise without rest between the sets. This doesn’t allow your muscles to recover and it’s a waste of your workout. But instead of doing a set, resting, and then doing your second set, it’s more effective to move on to multiple exercises in a circuit, so that you don’t rest between exercises but do rest each muscle group. This will give you a good cardio workout while you do your strength training. - monkeycatDx, on 10/11/2007, -11/+47meh...ill stick with my regular work out routing and thats jacking off at night,
- ByronT, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3616 Ways to Hack Your Workout
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17Me too, but I like to split up my workouts throughout the day.
- totorototoro, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17I got tired just reading about that.
- rjam710, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15Don't forget to switch it up or else you'll wind up with one gigantic arm, and nobody wants that.
- bluechips23, on 10/11/2007, -2/+11How about 16 tips to triple your web server's effectiveness? 46 diggs and "This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota"? That's weak!
- mastern200, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Duggmirror got it
http://duggmirror.com/health/16_Tips_to_Triple_Your_Workout_Effectiveness/ - MisterSam, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6This isn't a good article. Lifting weights to negative failure isnt good for anabolic growth. Weight lifting should be done to positive failure, ie: your last rep should be a full rep, if you know the next rep is going to be a failure, dont do it. It only will increase the chance of catabolism (muscle break down).
In addition, slow lifting isnt the best way to get muscle growth. With certain exercises, lifting slowly can be good. However, often lifting faster generates more power. Its well known by fitness instructors for example that kipping pullups are much more effective for muscle growth than ordinary pullups. This is because kipping pullups are done much faster and thus do more work to the muscles in the same time period.
If you really want to know how to work out well goto:
www.crossfit.org
and
http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.asp - Lomi, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5You still need to lift when you are using steroids, they are not a wonder drug that magically forms muscle on your body. It simply increases the speed of muscle growth and breaks a lot of barriers the body naturally uses to impede too much growth.
- elvenseven, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7Diggers workout?
- DanT0007, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9#7 is totally wrong...
Lift FAST then release slow. Tempo should be 1 second lift, 3-5 second release. This will cause you to activate as many of the fast twitch muscle fibers during the lift and during the release focus on keeping those mucles flexed, this is when you are going to cause the most damage in micro-tears, which in turn heal and make the muscle bigger. - bdlang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Yes, got one of the original models several years ago, used it consistently for awhile. As with most people, I got busy and the Bowflex got dusty. At the moment my wife and I have a small apartment and it's in storage, so I use dumbbells and still get a decent quick workout twice a week.
Bowflex Pros: best way IMHO to get a good 'safe' workout once you get used to the bands vs. plates. You don't need a spotter and you can't drop a band on your foot. Much easier on your joints. Relatively easy to setup and put back in the folded position, roll it in the corner.
Bowflex Cons: feels awkward at first, takes some time to get used to the motion. If you're not conditioned to use freeweights already you may not notice a difference. After some time the bands tend to stretch and don't have the same resistance. - ucffool, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Many of these are incorporated into http://simplefit.org , and it is designed for the beginner, 20 minute workout.I've been using it for 6 weeks and for the first time ever in my life, I may be able to do a pull-up, not to mention it is a lot of fun in a timeframe I can do. Never worked out before, but now I do. Just a testimonial for those who want a good example of incorporating these ideas.
- alphaone, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Slow/slow works the entire range with maximal benefits. Fast/slow only works the initial part of the range far more than the rest of the range because of momentum, as well as potentially increasing damage to cartilage and tendons with increased risk of locking out joints and having weight bounce. Slow/slow covers the entire range equally.
- dming, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Stretching after a workout will make your muscle less sore the next day, but apparently stretching before the work out has not been proven to benefit you in any way.
- listrophy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3in zenhabits.com's defense, i believe that's the second article on the front page for them today.
- RegalGSX, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I tried doing that after several sets of bicep curls and nearly cramped.
- InferiorWang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3No, you're not the only one with no will power. There are many with you. The hardest part is always getting started, but these are good tips for someone who has the motivation to change their life, but might not know the "tricks" to help them create an effective work out rather than a "I'm doing SOMETHING" work out.
- smurf22, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4@john
No problem im working on a script that goes through the front page and saves articles so far its caught only 4/10 but its a start. =) - Thryah, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3what's the basis for your argument? they don't advocate high reps for toning, which is what most people (incorrectly) think is what to do, low reps, high weight, will get you bigger and stronger, toned just means you have less body fat covering it.
- mrbradg, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5I love how we all read these workout tips. We never do any of it. But we always read it. Am I the only one who does this? Blah.
- Typhoon2009, on 10/11/2007, -5/+8Step 1: Various pushups
Step 2: Various situps
Step 3: Run
That's what I'm doing, basically. A bit more thought out but that's the gist. - johnkalel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3I understand what you're saying, but I think that fast/slow is for hardcore training and/or experienced lifters. Slow/slow is, I think, best for optimizing form, which is a major problem for folks just getting into lifting (and for lazy timecrunched types like me).
- johnkalel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3very cool. your efforts are appreciated.
- johnkalel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@ smurf22:
Thanks!
Given my specific circumstances, I'm aware of these suggestions, but hellfire, I'm lazy enough that it never hurts to be reminded of them. - ziki, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Although I do stretch, I heard somewhere its bad to do?
- bsankr, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3i love zenhabits.
discovered the site though digg, check it daily now.
:) - GuyNamedNate, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2surprisingly that is a bunch of really good advice. Not that I'm an expert but I used to be in great shape and found out on my own (the hard way) most of the tips on the list. Makes me want to get back into serious workouts... yeah!
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4@T4z3R, I dugg you up just for the harsh brutality of your comment.
- johnkalel, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2damn. digg effect already. I would be really interested in seeing if there's any valid information here, as I do have a problem with time constraints vs. working out. any mirrors?
- legatus, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Static stretching reduces strength in lifts.
- HunkieChan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2i dislike zenhabits .. their [any number] tips/whatever are usually repetitive
- InferiorWang, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Why is dming being dugg down? He speaks the truth. Studies have shown that stretching before you work out has little to no benefit (other than keeping SOME people from hurting themselves) while stretching after you work out actually improves the gains you are making.
- randyoo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2No... Bluehost sucks. Period.
- WebCester, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Hey, I'm a simplefit user too (as coine). I was never able to get into a workout regime, but I managed with SF. I had to stop after 9 weeks because I injured my back (not because of the program) but I'm slowly getting back into it because I saw definite progress when I was doing it. Hell, I can still see the progress in the mirror. I've always been skinny, but now I've become more lean, and definitely stronger. Kevin is a bit of a nutrition expert too, and I learned a lot by just reading the forum. By the way Andy, great work on the logging feature, thanks for that.
- InferiorWang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1PB&J snacks help a lot.
I'm a skinny guy with a fast metabolism (sometimes known as a hard-gainer) and when I work up to serious workouts I HAVE to get 3000-4000 calories a day minimum to see any gains (and not crash and fall asleep mid-day). You have to make sure you get enough energy to keep you going and protein to build muscles. Five or six PB&J sandwiches a day help me keep from hitting lows between meals. The peanut butter has protein, though its not protein dense. But it is calorie dense and is great for helping boost energy while adding protein to your diet. - InferiorWang, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It's not always necessary to "feel a health burn" to get the benefits of a work out. You only need about 60 seconds of max effort per muscle/group per session to get close to your max gains. Usually I do 3 sets. One is a warm up of 8-10 reps a bit below where I would reach failure. The second is 8-10 reps with a weight that causes me to reach failure, and the third is 6-8 reps a little lighter, either to failure or awfully close. Instead of a warm-down, a good stretch and/or tai-chi session lets my muscles cool off.
- ColonelJessup, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Step 4: ????
Step 5: PROFIT!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself....... - DrDoalot, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This is pretty good info. It sounds exactly like cliff notes for this program "MAX-OT" or maximum overload training. Very good program that has been working well for me for years. This is a zip file for all 165 pages but it is a quick and informative read.
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/downloads/Max-OT.zip - rossnyc, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Digg Effect: This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota
- jorgepblank, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Sweet! I Already do most of these :D
- RegalGSX, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I keep hearing about 1-set to failure routines. I can't see how that can be an effective program, even if done several times a week. I usually stick to one warm-up set with 1/2 weight, 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps, and a warm-down set to failure with 1/2 weight. I always feel a healthy burn, unlike 1-set routines.
- reyalp, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I prefer Rippetoe's "Starting Strength".....afterwards, 5x5 or WSB is in order.
Link to a Rippetoe routine:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=750551
If you're new and wanting to gain muscle, that's arguably the only routine you should consider.
Most of the tips on that site are complete nonsense. - inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Yes? What did my "eating 24x7" do? I didn't even know I owned an "eating 24x7", whatever that is. I know I don't own a "wasting your time unless" either.
- lotuseater, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17 and 9 aren't so good. Doing an explosive contraction and a slow release is more effective. Going to negative failure is much less effective than going to positive failure. Also, a soy protein shake is innefective for post-workout, as you digest soy very slowly. Soy is good for before bed or such, but whey is best post-workout.
- dodus, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1It just stimulates different muscle fibers.
- BornWithRage, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1As long as you make complete stops, fast/fast has the capability to work the same exact range as slow/slow.
- Gogogo111, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1There is this really buff guy down at my local gym. This guy is ripped. I asked him for some tips because hes an instructor, and he said to eat a lot. Like over 10-15 meals a day. Not huge dinners or breakfasts, just small sandwiches and the like. Also, grammar nazi = stupid.
- simplejoe79, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1cool........ nice tips.....
-
Show 51 - 87 of 87 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is