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  • 6 Movements that should be in everyone's training program

    Where do I start? Have you ever walked into a gym and wondered where should I start? With so much equipment, exercise programs and information out there it can be tough for someone to know where to start and what to do when exercising. In an effort to help with that I have come up with 6 movements that should be included in everyone’s training program. You don’t necessarily have to have all 6 in each of your workouts but they should be in your training program. A training program consisting only of these 6 movements would be a complete training program as it covers all the bases by training the entire body. 1. Hip hinge = A hip hinge is a lower body movement that works the posterior chain or backside of your body. It is essentially the movement of bending forward at your waist with minimal knee bend and bringing your hips back forward. It works the body primarily in hip extension with the gluteus and the hamstrings being the major muscles worked while also working the core or abdominal muscles and erector spinae (muscles that extend your back or trunk.) An example of a hip hinge exercise would be a deadlift, hip thrust or a cable pull through. 2. Knee dominant or lower body push = While hip hinge movements primarily work the back side or posterior of the body a knee dominant or lower body push movement primarily works the front side of the body with movement mainly coming at the knee joint. Any major knee dominant movement will also have a significant amount of hip movement as well with some exercises being probably 50/50 as far as how much movement is coming at the knee joint vs the hip joint. A knee dominant lower body push movement primarily works the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. An example of a knee dominant lower body movement would be a squat, lunge or step-up. 3. Horizontal pull = A horizontal pull is essentially a rowing movement. This is a movement where you are pulling a weight or load towards your chest or torso horizontally. These movements primarily work the muscles in the middle of the back between your shoulder blades called the scapula retractors (rhomboids and trapezius 2 fibers) as well as the lats (latissimus dorsi), rear shoulders (rear deltoids) and biceps. An example of a horizontal pull would be one arm dumbbell row, inverted row or a barbell row. 4. Vertical pull = A vertical pull is a movement for the back where you are pulling a weight or load vertically down towards you and drawing your shoulder blades down or depressing your scapula. An example of a vertical pull would be a chin up or a lat pulldown. Vertical pulling movements primarily work the lats but also train the trapezius, rear deltoids (shoulders) and biceps among other muscles. 5. Upper body push or pressing movement = An upper body push is basically any pressing movement. This is a movement where you are pushing a weight or load away from your torso. These movements can be a horizontal push (pushing forward) such as a push-up or bench press or a vertical push (pushing overhead) such as an overhead dumbbell press or military press. Upper body pushing movements include exercises such as the bench press, incline press, overhead shoulder press and push-ups . Upper body push movements work primarily the chest, shoulders and triceps but depending on which upper body pushing movement you do which muscles worked can vary some. 6. Core stabilization = Many people think of training the core and think of direct abdominal training exercises like sit ups, crunches and leg raises. While the abdominals can perform trunk flexion (a crunch or sit up motion) and hip flexion (leg raises or reverse crunches) these usually aren’t their primary role. The abdominals and core (by my definition any muscle attaching to the hip) in general work primarily work in a stabilization role. There are 3 main ways they work in that stabilization role. They are anti-extension (front planks and push up holds), anti-rotation (push-up taps, cable and banded chops and anti-rotation band holds) and anti-lateral flexion (unbalanced carries, side planks and half kneeling exercises). When training the core include exercises to train the core including movements working anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion and anti-rotation in your program. Before performing any exercise or exercise program it is important to consult your doctor before starting. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012. Dan Eiden B.S., CPT, CSCS Personal Trainer and Strength and Conditioning Coach Owner of Eiden’s Fitness and Sports Performance Training Las Vegas, Nevada

  • Complete bicep training tri-set to grow your arms

    Want to build bigger biceps 💪 ? Try this complete bicep tri-set. This tri-set is great for many reasons. 1️⃣ It trains the biceps in all 3 parts of the strength curve. Every exercise has a strength curve. There are different types of strength curves but basically it is in every movement you are gonna be able to produce more or less force or strength at different parts of the movement. The exercise will be easier or harder at different points in the movement. For example, in a squat the hardest part is in the bottom position and the easiest part is at the end of the movement when you are almost completely upright. These 3 exercises train the biceps at all 3 parts of the strength curve. Incline dumbbell curls train the biceps at the upper range (it’s harder at the end of the movement). Zottman curls train the biceps at the mid range (it’s harder at the mid point of the movement). Cable preacher curls train the biceps at the low range (it’s harder at the beginning of the movement). Training the biceps in all 3 parts of the strength curve more completely trains them. 2️⃣ It targets both heads of the bicep (short & long head). When the upper arms are positioned behind the torso as in incline curls the long head is targeted more. When the upper arms are positioned in front of the torso as in preacher curls the short head is targeted more. 3️⃣ It also trains the brachialis and brachioradialis. Any exercise like Zottman curls where the palms are facing downward will train the brachialis (an upper arm muscle that often gets neglected) and the brachioradialis (a big forearm muscle that also can get neglected).

  • The best way to train your abs

    People find it hard to believe I have not done a crunch, sit-up or any direct abdominal training in over 20 years yet still can achieve a ripped, defined midsection. Abdominal exercises are probably the most popular exercises you see people perform in any gym. People love to train them. They do so mainly in an attempt to try to bring out cuts or definition there and to try to spot reduce body fat there. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The body will lose body fat from wherever it is genetically programmed to lose it from. You can't pick and choose where you want to lose it from. It is why you will never see a person with fat arms and a ripped midsection or while you will never see a person with a layer of fat around their upper abdominals but none around their lower abdominals. Because of infomercials, social media, fitness magazines and other sources of information out there spreading misinformation and lies about training the abdominals many people still believe they can train their abdominals to lose body fat there. As a personal trainer and strength coach for nearly 20 years I can't tell you how many times clients will want me to program more abdominal exercises into their program. They believe it will help them lose body fat around their abdominals and bring out more definition. I can't fault them for believing this though. When you have been lied to thousands of times for so many years in magazines, books, fad training programs and on the internet it is much easier to believe the lie then one person preaching the truth. Now while you can't spot reduce body fat in the abdominals or in any area of the body it is still important to train them. The problem is most people train them incorrectly. They tend to do the traditional abdominal exercises like crunches, sit-ups, hanging leg raises, etc. There are several problems with training the abdominals this way. To train the abdominals correctly you first need to understand how they function. They perform 3 main functions. They flex the trunk of the body which is called spinal flexion. This is the motion you do when you do a sit-up or a crunch. The also posteriorly tilt your pelvis. This is the motion where the top of your pelvis (hip) is rotated backwards. Think of standing and squeezing your glutes by envisioning if you had a belt on and you are trying to draw your belt buckle to your belly button. This motion will also flex the spine which will cause the abdominals to engage. The motion of doing a glute bridge or hip thrusts also causes a posterior pelvic tilt and will work the abdominals too. Now while the abdominals can do these functions it is not how they work the majority of the time. The only time you really ever flex your spine as in a crunch is when you get out of bed in the morning. So, crunches and sit-ups are not very functional and can be hard on the lower back for some people. Now while hip thrusts and glute bridges are good exercises they are mainly exercises for the glutes and hamstrings, not the abdominals. The other exercises people do to train their abdominals are hanging leg raises, v-ups and other exercises that flex the hip (bringing your knees in towards the midsection which is called hip flexion). The abdominals do not perform hip flexion. The reason you feel the abdominals when you do these exercises is because the abdominals have to work to stabilize the trunk and spine of the body. The other problem with traditional abdominal training is you are only really working one area of the body, the abdominals. So, you can now get an idea of why doing traditional abdominal exercises aren't a very effective way to train them and also aren't a productive use of your time in the gym. The 3rd role of the abdominals and the best way to train them is training them in the role they perform the overwhelming majority of the time. That role is stabilization of the trunk and spine. The abdominals and core in general work to stabilize the trunk and spine in 3 main ways. They are anti-extension (so you don't over arch your lower back), anti-lateral flexion (so you don't tip over to side) and anti-rotation (so you don't rotate your trunk and spine to one side or the other). Exercises training the abdominals and core in these 3 ways is the most functional and best way to train them. It also works more than just the abdominals as the glutes, quads and several other muscles work when performing anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion and anti-rotation exercises. So, what are exercises that work abdominals and core in anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion and anti-rotation? Anti-extension exercises work to keep the lower back from over-arching. Examples of these exercises are front planks, ab wheel rollouts, body saws and push-holds. Push-ups and inverted rows as well work the abdominals and core in an anti-extension role as well as several other exercises. Anti-lateral flexion exercises work to keep the trunk and spine of the body from tipping to either side of the body, Examples of these exercises are side planks, unbalanced carries and side plank hip drops. Any exercise performed in a half kneeling position also works the abdominals and core in anti-lateral flexion. Anti-rotation exercises work to keep the trunk and spine from rotating to one side to the other. Examples are shoulder taps, chops, lateral bear crawls and anti-rotation band holds. One of the best things about training your abdominals and core in the 3 main stabilization functions is many of these exercises you can do in progressions to make them harder and more challenging. You can also add an external load or weight to make the exercise more challenging and continue to progress in your training program. This is something that is harder to do with traditional abdominal training. Try training your core in the 3 main stabilization roles it performs and it will make a big difference in your training program and you will get more benefit from the time you spend in the gym. Many of these exercises are posted on my various social media sites that are linked on my website so feel free to view them for instructions on how to perform them correctly. Before performing any exercise or exercise program it is important to consult your doctor before starting. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012.

  • 5 body weight strength training exercises to build your in-home training program around

    Rear foot elevated (RFE) split squat When it comes to training in your home many people think of the limitations they may have due to not having much, if any, exercise equipment. Body weight exercises are a great solution to a lack of exercise equipment. Body weight exercises are not just great exercises to perform due to a lack of equipment but they are some of the best strength training exercises overall that you can do for your body. Body weight exercises tend to be very functional and cover many of the basic movement patterns the body moves in in everyday life. They also work a lot of muscles, expend a lot of energy (calorie burning) and offer a lot of value and bang for your buck when exercising. Here are 5 great body weight exercises that you can use to build your in-home training program around. 1) Split squats and lunges Split squats and lunges are great exercises that can be done anywhere. They work all the major muscles of the lower body including the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. They also have a number of variations that can be done as exercise progressions as well as exercises to provide variety to your training program. Examples include front foot elevated and rear foot elevated split squats and forward, alternating, walking, step back and kursty lunges. You can also progress split squats and lunges by adding an external weight or load by holding a gallon of milk or water, a suitcase or any type of object around your house that is heavy enough to provide enough resistance. 2) Push-ups Push-ups are one of the best overall exercises you can do. They work the chest, shoulders and triceps, which are the major muscles worked during the pushing motion of the push-up. They also work and require a lot of involvement from the core of the body including the glutes, abdominals and quadriceps. If you do what are called push-ups with a plus where you drive your shoulder blades forward (protraction) at the end of the push-up you also work some often neglected but important muscles such as the serratus anterior and pec minor. One of the best things about push-ups is you can progress or regress them to make them easier or harder to perform and progress your training program along. If you need to make them easier you can do them up against a wall or up against a couch or a chair (make sure it is stable though). If you need to make them harder you can do them with your feet elevated. 3) Step-ups Step-ups are a great exercise that work all the major muscles of the lower body. There are also many types and variations of step-ups that can be done to provide variety to your training program, work different muscles and train the body in different movement patterns. Front step-ups, diagonal step-ups, lateral step-ups and kurtsy step-ups are some of the best and most commonly performed types of step-ups. Even if you live in a single story home you can find some type of stable object such as a box to perform step-ups. Similar to split squats and lunges, step-ups can be progressed by adding an external load or weight by holding it in your hands. 4) Hip lifts Hip lifts are a basic and simple to perform movement that works the glutes and hamstrings as well as the abdominals. There are many variations and types of hip lifts and they can be performed with both legs (bilateral) as well as with one leg (unilateral). The most basic type of hip lift and simplest regression of this exercise is performed laying on your back on the ground. Hip lifts can be progressed by using a bench or a couch and doing them elevated with your upper back positioned up on it. You can also progress them further by holding an external load or weight on your waist. 5) Crawls When people think of exercises to perform in their training program crawls are exercises people usually don't think of but most people have done some type of them before. If you played sports when you were younger or had a P.E. class you probably did some type of crawling movement at some point. There are many types of crawls that can be performed. Bear crawls are probably the most common type of crawling exercise and they can be done forward, backward and laterally. There are many other types of crawls including crab crawls, crustacian crawls and spider crawls. Using all the different types of crawls will allow you to continue to progress your training program and add variety to it. The best thing about crawls is that they are a full body exercise that works a lot of muscles in the body, especially the core. They are also very challenging and expend a lot of energy. You can progress crawls by increasing the distance you are performing them over or by putting a very light implement on your lower back like a tennis ball and try to perform your crawls by not letting the tennis ball drop off your lower back. Before performing any exercise or exercise program it is important to consult your doctor before starting. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012. #exercise #inhometraining #strengthtraining #workout #trainingprogram #workoutprogram #movement #effective #athomeworkout #muscle #strength #lasvegas #vegas #vegasstrong #workoutprogress #bodyweightexercise #splitsquats #lunges #pushups #crawls #crawling #hiplifts #core #glutes #stepups #hamstrings #abdominals

  • 10 tips and rules for fat loss

    By Dan Eiden 1) Do weight/strength training as your primary form of exercise. Weight training is the best form of exercise for fat loss. You can build muscle and lose fat while sculpting your body. If you increase the amount of lean muscle you have you will also increase your resting metabolic rate which is how many calories you burn at rest. 2) Build your training program around big, multi-joint exercises that work the most muscles, burn the most calories and get the most bang for your buck. Focus on free weight and body weight exercises using barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells. Exercises such as squats, deadlifts, chins ups, presses and rows work the body in all the major movement patterns the body moves in and are the foundation of a good strength training program. 3) Follow a progressive training program. There is a difference between training and working out. Working out is what most people usually do. Working out is just going into the gym and exercising for the sake of exercising with no real structure or plan. This may work for a short period of time if you are new to exercise or are just getting back into the gym after an extended break from training but your results will come to a standstill if you don't have a structured training program that is progressive in nature. That is what training is. Training is exercising and working out with intent and with a plan to progressively get better and improve to get you to whatever fitness or athletic performance goals you may have. 4) Don't focus on cardiovascular exercise as your primary form of exercise for fat loss. Cardiovascular exercise is an important part of any fitness program. The importance of cardiovascular exercise is for strengthening the cardiovascular system and cardiorespiratory system as well as being important for mental health. Although it can contribute to some extra calorie burning it is not the best tool for fat loss. 5) Focus on your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This is the calories and energy you expend in everything you do that is not sleeping, eating or structured exercise or sports. This includes all the steps and movement you do each day. It includes things such as taking your dog for a walk, household chores and yard work and walking to and from your car. Take the average of how many steps you do each day over the course of the last month. The best thing nowadays is we can track all this on our phones and watches. Now try to increase this by 500 to 1,000 steps a day. Once you do this for a while you can increase it even more. You can do things like taking an extra walk, parking further away at stores you go to, pace on your phone while talking and taking the steps instead of the elevator. All steps add up and over the course of weeks, months and over the course of a year it can result in significant fat loss. 6) Don’t waste too much time on isolation exercises, especially if it is in an attempt to try to spot reduce an area of your body. Isolation exercises are exercises that work primarily at one joint of the body and focus on primarily one part or muscle of the body. Isolation exercises have their place and purpose in any training program but they shouldn't be the foundation of your training program. You cannot spot reduce or bring out definition in an area of your body or a certain body part. You can do all the abdominal exercises you want but you won't bring out any cuts or definition or lose any body fat there from doing them. Your body loses fat from wherever it is genetically programmed to lose it from. It is why you will never see a person with fat arms and a ripped midsection but you will see the opposite quite often. 7) Nutrition is the most important factor in fat loss. Without a proper nutrition program you can do all the exercise you want but you won't achieve your fat loss goals. A proper nutrition program should be of the utmost importance. Follow a diet consisting of a wide variety of all natural foods in the proper balance and in the proper portions. Almost any type of nutrition program can work whether it is vegan, paleo, low carb or intermittent fasting. The key is consistency and making calories count by eating the right foods, in the right balance and in the right portions. 8) Don’t fall for gimmicks, fads or trendy new exercise programs promising quick results. There are no quick fixes or shortcuts to getting in shape and losing body fat. It is a process. No one gets out of shape overnight and no one gets in shape overnight. For most people aiming for a half a pound to a pound of fat loss a week is a good, realistic goal. 9) Practice stress management. Any fitness related goal has to have a complete, multi-pronged approach. Fat loss goals are no different. Managing your stress is very important. Everyone experiences stress and has periods of high stress in their life but chronically high stress levels can wreak havoc on your fat loss goals. Chronically high stress levels will elevate cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which breaks down muscle tissue. Chronically elevated cortisol can cause muscle loss and can also impair your ability to lose body fat. Chronically high stress levels have also been shown to be related to abdominal obesity. Meditation is a great practice that can help in managing stress and cortisol levels. 10) Get consistent and quality sleep. Getting consistent and quality sleep is an often overlooked but important part of any fat loss goal. Try to get consistent sleep by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Aim for about 8 hours of sleep a night. Also try to get quality sleep. All sleep is not created equally. Getting deep, uninterrupted, quality sleep allows for proper recovery, hormone production and can make a big difference when it comes to fat loss.

  • Avoid exercise redundancy in your training programs to maximize gains and growth.

    Link to video explaining exercise redundancy Facebook https://www.facebook.com/eidensfitness/videos/311703040097890. When choosing exercises in a workout something to factor in is exercise redundancy. What does that mean? Exercise redundancy means choosing and performing exercises that are essentially the same movement. You want to maximize your time in the gym when you train and performing two or more of the same exercise creates redundancy and isn’t an effective way to train. You may be asking yourself what are the exercises that are the same movement? Let me list some examples. - Barbell bench press and a dumbbell bench press - Seated leg curl machine and a prone (lying face down) leg curl machine - Goblet squat and a front barbell squat - Seated dumbbell curls and standing barbell curls - Seated cable rows and seated machine rows What do these examples have in common? - They are all the same movement pattern - They all have the load (weight) at the same position - The movements are all at the same angle or body position - They are all bilateral exercises (either both arms working or both legs) - The strength curve, the point in the movement where you are the strongest and can generate the most force and resistance and the point in the movement where the load or resistance is heaviest and lightest are the same in each movement. There are more examples but you get the point. To maximize your time in the gym and the results you you want to do different movements. It doesn’t have to be a big change in the movement or exercise though. If you are training chest and doing a dumbbell bench press you can still do another pressing movement. You would just want to do a different type of pressing movement. If you are doing a dumbbell bench press you can also do an incline or decline dumbbell or barbell press. If you are doing biceps and are doing seated dumbbell curls you can still do other curl or elbow flexion exercises. You could do preacher curls, incline dumbbell curls or neutral grip/hammer or pronated grip/reverse curls. By doing a different exercise that isn't the same exact movement pattern you work different muscles, change the joint angle and force the body to recruit and use the muscles differently. A key thing to keep in mind is the body adapts to the same movement. Doing different movements forces the body to adapt to something different. This helps keep things fresh so you continue to get results and your program and results don’t grow stagnant. Also doing the same movement over and over again can lead to what is called pattern overload syndrome and that can lead to an injury. It should be noted that with any rule of thumb of training there are always exceptions to rules. These could be someone preparing for a testing or competition on a certain exercise such as military or police testing or a power lifting competition. As with any rule it is important to look at in context and not as a one size fits all rule that applies to every situation every time but rather as a general rule of thumb to keep mind when designing your training programs and workouts. Before going on any specific diet or exercise program it is important to consult your doctor before starting. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012. #exercise #redundant #strengthtraining #workout #trainingprogram #workoutprogram #movement #effective #effectivetraining #muscle #strength #lasvegas #vegas #vegasstrong #workoutprogress #results #maximize #gains

  • Ensuring consistent, long-term progress in your training programs

    Most of the clients I usually start training are sedentary and haven’t been doing any type of structured exercise. They have usually been sedentary for a period of months or years with some having never done any structured exercise or training program in their life. The one good thing with this is these clients usually have a window of time in the first 3 to 6 months or longer where their bodies are very sensitive and receptive to training. If they are consistent and practicing good, consistent daily lifestyle habits (proper nutrition, consistent and quality sleep, stress management techniques like meditation, etc.) they can make some really good progress and gains in a short period of time. After that period of time though progress and gains come at a slower pace. It is much easier for a newbie to strength training to make progress than a person who has been training consistently for years. This is when you see many people plateau in their training programs. There are many ways people can make progress in their training programs. The most common is using what is called, progressive overload. Progressive overload can be defined as a method of strength training that advocates for the gradual increase of the stress placed on the musculoskeletal system and nervous system. It can be done a number of different ways. You can add more weight, more reps, more sets, more exercises, a progression to a more challenging and advanced version of an exercise (going from a goblet squat to a barbell squat) along with a number of other ways to challenge and stress the body. One of the problems people make is they progress to quickly in a training program and make too big of a jump up in their training programs. They increase the weight too quickly, increase their reps too quickly and by too many reps and increase how much total work (sets of an exercise or number of exercises) too quickly. This usually ends in a training plateau which ends up in the results coming to a standstill. The key is to make progressions in a smaller, much more manageable way and slowly over the course of a training program. When it comes to making any type of progression in a training program you don’t want to think of making them every workout. That isn’t very realistic or practical. A much more realistic and manageable way to make progressions in a training program is every 3rd workout and with one type of progression at a time (more weight or more reps or more sets). You wouldn’t want to increase the number of reps, the weight and the number of sets all at the same time. That is just too much at one time. Making one progression at a time and every 3rd workout or so will allow your body to adapt at much more manageable pace and get long term, consistent progress. When it comes to increasing weight, you want to think of small increases in weight. The problem people make when making increases in weight is they think of it in terms of how much weight they are increasing. You don’t want to think of how much weight you are increasing you want to think of what percentage of weight you are increasing. Because not all increases in weight, even if it is the same amount of weight, are created the same. For example, an increase from a 10 lb. dumbbell to a 15 lb. may not seem like much but it is a 50 % increase in the amount of weight. That is much different than increasing the weight in the same 5 lb. increment from 100 lbs. on an exercise to 105 lbs. which is only a 5 % increase which is much more manageable. A good rule of thumb is to make increases of just 2 % to 3 % in weight. Someone may ask how do I do that if the weights only go up in 5 lb. increments at my gym? This is where attachable weight magnets and weight clip ons come into play. They come in half lb., 1 lb., 1 ½ lb. and 2 ½ lb., increments. They can attach on to dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells and even some machines. The good thing is they aren’t that expensive, are made by a bunch of different companies and can be found pretty easily online. As far as increases in reps are concerned you want to think of increasing one rep at a time. Many people make the mistake of increasing by too many reps at a time. For example, they go from 6 reps on an exercise and jump it up to 8. Unless the weight is really light that is too big of a jump. Increase your reps by just one rep at a time. When it comes to progressions of an exercise to a more challenging or advanced version of an exercise. Think of progressing every 3 to 4 weeks. If you are doing a push-up on a low incline (which is an easier way to perform a push-up) progress it to doing a regular push-up off the ground after 3 or 4 weeks of doing it on a low incline. With the number of sets you are doing in an exercise think of adding just one set every 3 or 4 weeks. You wouldn't keep adding sets to an exercise and adding sets to a workout as whole forever as that would potentially lead to over-training but over the course of a training program that lasts anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks or so you could add a set to an exercise every 3 or 4 weeks. Plateaus and sticking points in a training program are inevitable, even with the most fit, advanced trainee but if you think of your training in slow, smaller, more manageable progressions you will allow yourself to make much more consistent progress over the long-term. You wouldn’t take a whole bottle of aspirin for a headache, you would take just one. You always want to think of the minimum effective dose to get the job done. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012.

  • Improve your exercise form and movement and increase your results

    If you walk into any gym in American on any given day you will see about 9 out of 10 people training using poor form and using improper movement. This is something I have been telling people for years now. So, I decided to write a blog article to let people know the importance of it and how improving your form and movement when you exercise will improve your results from the time you spend training. The problem though is the fact that most people don’t realize they are doing an exercise incorrectly. Unless someone has been taught how to do an exercise correctly by a personal trainer, strength coach or some other health or fitness professional they probably just learned to do certain exercises by watching someone else in the gym do it, by watching a social media video or by having a friend or someone else in the gym show them. This is how I learned as a young 14 year old boy playing high school football and following our high school football strength training program. No one ever taught us how to do all the exercises correctly. We all just learned by watching the other players do them. So, I know I wasn’t doing them all correctly because some of them were advanced exercises and if smart phones existed back then it would probably be laughable watching me perform all these exercises in our training program. I shouldn’t use the word laughable because myself and any of the other players could have gotten hurt while doing them incorrectly. The problem is by learning to do a particular exercise or how to exercise in general in any of these ways is you can learn to do perform exercises and train incorrectly and potentially get hurt or injured. Hiring a personal trainer or strength coach is a great way to ensure you are using the correct form and with proper movement. So, what are some of the potential downfalls or negatives to learning how to train and training incorrectly? There are a number of them. The biggest one is the potential to get hurt and injured. In a peer reviewed research study I read a few years ago it stated that exercise equipment related injuries are the number one cause of injury of any type of physical activity. It is greater than any sports related injuries including physical and sometimes violent sports including football and hockey. I would guess many of those injuries are due to to using the equipment incorrectly and using it with poor form and with improper movement. A second reason is not recruiting or using the correct muscles and in the right pattern. Another thing I have said for years is that you could have two different people doing the exact same training program and each person could get a totally different training effect. If one person is using strict form and executing the exercises with proper movement they will get the most out of the time they are spending exercising. If the other person is using poor form and using improper movement they won’t get nearly the same training effect because they won’t be fully using and recruiting the right muscles. The type of training effect can be significant and over time can result in one person getting much better results then the other. Another reason is working on and learning to improve your form and movement when training is a type of exercise progression. Any good training program needs to be progressive in nature to continue to get someone to whatever training goals they may have. There are many ways to progress in a training program including increasing the weight you are using on an exercise, the number of reps, the number of sets and progressing to a more challenging version of an exercise. Improving your form and movement is a type of progression in itself. It can result in continuing to get better and better results. So, how can you learn how to perform exercises correctly, train correctly and ensure you are using proper form and movement? You can take a course in how to exercise and train correctly. There are many courses and certifications out there, even for beginners who knows nothing about exercise. A lot of the major companies that offer personal training certifications have courses on how to learn to strength/weight train. You could also hire a personal trainer or strength coach to teach you how to exercise and train correctly, even if it is just for a handful of sessions to ensure you are training correctly. You could also watch some videos on social media from respected organizations like the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and a host of other prestigious, credible health and fitness organizations. I can’t stress the importance of learning to exercise and train correctly using the correct form and with proper movement enough. It really is a game changer and that important to someone’s health and fitness. Thank you for reading my blog article. I hope you found it helpful and informative. If anyone is interested in personal fitness training or sports performance training reach out to me via my email Dan@eidensfitness.com or you can contact me directly at 702-521-6012. #fitness #workout #fitnessinformation #fitnesstips #exercise #exercisetips #workouttips #movement #strictform #properform #exercisetechnique #gym #strengthtraining #weightlifting #personaltrainer #strengthcoach #lasvegas

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