The Encore Fitness Blog Resources and information from top Las Vegas personal trainers, fitness and dietary experts. Carol Strom.

June 1, 2012

Good Form: Weights help strengthen shoulders

Get strong and balanced rear shoulder muscles by including this exercise in your weight routine. Sitting on a bench or chair makes it easier on your lower back when you lean forward. Begin with 3- to 5-pound dumbbells, then progress to heavier weights as you get stronger.

Sit on the front edge of a sturdy chair with your feet together directly below your knees. Grasp dumbbells in each hand and lean forward, maintaining a long spine. Reach both arms down, straight below your shoulders. Begin with palms turned in.

end your elbows out to the sides and rotate your hands backward. Pause for 2 seconds with your elbows at shoulder level and your hands near the outsides of your chest. It’s important to keep your shoulders relaxed down and away from your ears as you raise your arms. This way you’ll target the small muscles in the back of your shoulders, the rear deltoids. Perform three sets of eight to 12 repetitions.

 

Source: LA Times

June 3, 2010

Tips to Keep You Motivated: Intense Training

1 – Intense training increases post-exercise fat burning

Encore Personal Training Boot Camps Pilates YogaMany people think slow, prolonged exercise is the best way to burn fat and get lean. That is understandable because the body uses mainly fat as fuel at rest and at exercise intensities less than 65% of maximum capacity. It is not that simple! Well-controlled Canadian studies showed that people who exercise intensely are leaner and lose fat faster than people who do low-intensity, prolonged exercise. University of Wisconsin researchers helped clear things up when they found that exercise intensely burned more fat after exercise than low intensities. You will control body fat better if you pick up the pace when you run, cycle, walk, or swim. (Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., 34: 1757-1765, 2002)

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