Strength Training

by Rujuta Diwekar

Train larger muscle groups before the smaller muscle groups as they have a higher ability to employ muscle fibres. Other than training bigger muscle groups first and movement through multiple joints, there is another factor that influences the ‘muscle fibre recruitment’ — it’s called the ‘substrate availability’, or in simple words, the fuel available to fire (employ) these muscle fibres.

legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms. And within legs you would prioritize multiple joints exercises like squats before leg extension. And with the chest you would chest press (higher intensity, more exhausting) before doing the flies. And with the back you would want to do a bent over row, which is done using ‘free weights’ like the barbell, and is of higher intensity, before doing a seated row. Use of machines reduces the intensity (and so the exhaustion) even if the muscle group employed is the same as in the example of bent over row and seated row.

Essential to performing any weight training workout is the correct technique or the form. This means: Allowing joints to move through their full range of motion (ROM) Not using momentum to create movement

Allow for adequate recuperation (two days at least) between two weight training sessions (to allow the body to repay oxygen debt, re-synthesize glycogen and repair wear and tear to the muscle tissue).

This rule is applicable even if you are training two different body parts in consecutive sessions.

What should you do then? Rest? No, that would make it worse. The thing to do then, is more activity, more specifically an aerobic workout, a light jog, walk or cycling for half an hour. This is because the muscles, liver, heart and even kidney tissue in the presence of oxygen can use up the lactic acid.

Eating a fruit like banana or having a boiled potato will replenish your glycogen stores and your blood sugar levels.