By Lisa Leath Turpin, Local Health & Wellness Coach
Everyone wants to get results from their efforts. In fitness, it takes time to get stronger, leaner and healthier. With consistent dedication, you will see results. Even more so, if you focus on targeting each exercise correctly, you will begin seeing those results more quickly and safely.
Training with efficiency and precision can make the difference in weeks instead of months, leading to faster transformations. Even the length of your workouts can be shorter when you put more thought into your form. Focusing on the purpose of each movement is a huge time-saver.
Can you isolate the muscle, or is it a muscle-group action? What is the purpose of this move? What is the muscle or joint action? Am I performing the exercise in the safest way?
I have picked out a few popular strength-training target areas that I commonly see performed under par, along with tweaks to make them better serve your efforts.
Plank – The purpose is to strengthen the core and stabilize all joints. All muscles are engaged, making this a full-body exercise. It can be performed on the hands or elbows and toes.
If you begin sliding, you are not stacked correctly. You should be balanced directly over your hands or elbows, so adjust until you feel that balance. If your arms are at an angle, your plank will be off-balance, and the diagonal force will push you in a direction instead of holding you up. This makes your plank much more difficult to hold than it has to be.
You should feel balanced on your toes as well. Pull in your bellybutton, square your chest and shoulders, and engage your rib cage to stabilize the core.
Note: Your head is an extension of your spine, so it needs to be aligned with your body instead of bending down or lifting too high. A key point for any exercise: Your head is a guide. Your spine and shoulders generally follow where you look. If you want a really solid, safe plank, keep your head in line with your body. Strengthening your neck is a very important and beneficial part of the plank.
Don’t forget your thighs. They need to be engaged and firm because they are an essential part of the movement. Tuck your tailbone slightly if you feel extra tension in your lower back.
Literally every muscle is being used in a plank, and the benefits are outstanding, but the mistakes can be detrimental.
Biceps – The purpose is to flex the elbow joint so you can pick things up. This muscle can be isolated if you stabilize the shoulder joint.
If your elbows move forward or backward during a biceps curl, you are adding assistance from the shoulders, which diminishes the full use of the biceps. All you need to focus on is the elbow bending and unbending.
Full range of motion (ROM) is from a straight arm to a bent arm, pertaining only to the elbow. To perform a good strengthening set, always keep the elbow engaged. Never let it fully release when you straighten the arm. Elbows stay in one place throughout the movement. Keep moving for a series of 10-12 reps before you rest, and repeat for two to four sets.
Triceps – The purpose is to extend the elbow to push things away. Isolate the triceps by eliminating movement of the shoulder for the same reason as with biceps.
Full ROM is going from about a 90-degree bent elbow to straight. Keep the elbows in one place throughout the set.
Note: Triceps are the opposite of the biceps. When the biceps contract, the triceps cannot, and vice versa. So, if you “swing” through your movement, especially in triceps exercises, you will lose your contraction and not get as much out of it.
By stabilizing your body in the right position, using the joints and muscles correctly, and keeping tension through the full range of motion, you will unleash your body’s full potential and see results in record time.
