Intensity Part II: Working Opposite Body Parts Together

Today I popped an ENERFIT and hit arms and boy did I hit them good! I worked my biceps and my triceps together which are opposite body parts. Biceps are used along with your back for many pulling type exercises and triceps commonly assist your chest with pushing movements. Not only are they "opposite" in their functionality, but they are also located on "opposite" sides of the arm.

Working opposite body parts together are a great way to really raise the intensity level in your training because you are forcing a lot of blood into one general area (in my case the upper arms were targeted today).

What I mean by working them "together" is that you are interchanging body parts with each exercise or even each set instead of finishing all your planned exercises for one body part before moving on to the other. For example, today I started will bicep barbell curls. I did 4 sets of 10-12 exercises with little rest in between, squeezing the focus muscle hard at the top of each rep. Rather than move onto my next set of bicep exercises, I moved on to tricep pull-downs with the rope. Same thing: 4 sets of 10-12 reps with little rest in between. Even after doing one exercise for my bi's and one for my tri's I was already sweating and my arms were as tight as can be (I may have even been caught admiring them once or twice....or maybe three times but whose counting).

I followed this pattern for 3 more exercises a piece; working one body part for a few sets and then onto the other. When I was finished I was covered in sweat and I felt great knowing that I had achieved an intensity level that was going to change the shape, firmness, and look of my arms (providing I eat right and get enough sleep of course).

Try working opposite body parts during your next workout routine such as biceps with triceps or chest with back (Arnold was known to frequently train chest with back). Remember the idea is to push blood into the focus muscle and don't forget to do what you need to do to reach the proper intensity level as discussed in the last post. Good luck and remember that with every rep you are closer to a Hard Body.

Exercise Intensity is Key to Building and Toning Lean Muscle.

When you are in the gym as much as I am, you see it time and time again; people moving through a workout routine as if they were folding laundry or cooking a roast on a lazy Sunday. These people can be identified by blank stares, long pauses between exercises, chatting over in the corner with others like themselves, and as dry as can be not a drop of sweat on them. I can't help but feel a little sorry for them because while they worked up the motivation to get to the gym and throw a few weights around, they very likely will notice little, if any change in their body in the weeks and months ahead and will become very discouraged.

Now I am by no means saying that light exercise doesn't have health benefits, but if you really want to work towards a leaner, toner, more muscular body you must train with intensity. What I mean by intensity is that you must push your body a little further than it is used to going during physical activity. For example, if you just did 10 repetitions of a particular exercise, try adding 10 pounds and see if you still can get 10, or keep the weight the same and go for 12! When lifting the weight becomes difficult or near impossible you have reached a good point to stop and move on to the next exercise (this will create beads of sweat - a good sign that you are training with the proper intensity). Another great way to increase intensity is by decreasing the amount of rest between exercises (this will create lots of sweat beads. I use this one a lot since I despise cardio).

The human body is an amazing organism and when pushed a little beyond normal capacity it adapts and changes. What that means to you, without getting into scientific descriptions of how muscle is actually "built", is that you will notice changes in your body when you look in the mirror and WE ALL LOOK IN THE MIRROR FROM TIME TO TIME! Not only will you gain physically, you will feel better emotionally knowing that your hard work is actually getting results and it will make it easier for you to work up exercise motivation. In the weeks to come I will talk about more advance intensity training methods such as rest-pause, drop sets, pre-exhaust, and more. Good luck training and remember that with every rep you get closer to a hard body.