Proper Exercise Form

HOPpy HOPpy Friday :D
I hope you had a good AND productive week! Are you ready for the weekend?! I'm looking forward to celebrating Easter with my family! Wooo Whooo!!

Today I'm posting information on Proper Exercise Form :) 
If we want our workouts to count then we need to understand and practice proper exercise form.
Proper form when extending and retracting our muscles optimizes calorie burn and results. Neglecting form causes us to workout inefficiently. Poor form can also mean unnecessary stress on joints, misalignment, and injury. If we exercise with a rounded back, one day something may snap. If we lock our elbows at the end of a chest fly, our joints are going to protest. Even if we've been able to get away with less then perfect form and are injury free, we're not getting the most out of our workout!

The following are a FEW basics of form to keep in mind when working out...

1. Keep your back straight but not arched. If your back is curved while you add a weighted load to an exercise, you are placing an unhealthy strain on your back.

2. Activate your core when performing any movement. The more stable your core, the less risk of injury.

3. Isolate the muscle group you are working. Make sure you can feel those muscles, and only those muscles, during an exercise. For instance, if you're doing a biceps curl, the only body part that should be moving is the portion of your arm between your hand and elbow. Your back, shoulders, and legs should not get in on the act. That means no swaying, rocking, or any other ways of helping that weight up.

4. Choose a grip when using dumbbells that feels most comfortable and natural to you. Your grip should be firm but not too tight. Squeezing the equipment wastes valuable energy that should be exerted in the exercise.

5. Always control the exercise. No rapid, jerky movements, which place harmful stress on the joints, ligaments, and tendons. Jerky motions actually give the weight so much impetus that it practically glides to the midpoint of the repetition, using little muscular force to get there. As a result, the muscles encounter limited resistance. Without resistance, muscles aren't properly challenged and may not respond as well. If you can't lift the weight without jerking it, then it's too heavy. Try a lighter weight. Strict style and technique are more important then the amount of weight you lift.

6. At the midpoint or top of the exercise, pause for a second to tense your muscles. Then lower the weight slowly again, accentuating the negative portion of the lift. Your muscles thus get maximum stimulation from the exercise.

7. Breathe naturally as you exercise. Never hold your breath. Holding your breath cuts oxygen supply to the blood and coupled with the exertion of the lift, could cause lightheadedness or fainting.

Using proper form while exercising will produce a fitter, healthier, AND more sexy body! BRING IT ON!!

TIP:
Enjoy a hot bath (bubbles are good...lol) following your workout! It's all the better if you can apply water-jet massage from a Jacuzzi tub :D Research indicates that water-jet massage increases the release of proteins from muscle tissue into the blood and helps reduce muscle soreness after a workout :)

Have a FABULOUS Easter weekend!
My weekend is starting right NOW :D
See you on Monday!!