In this post, an exhaustive analysis will be made on why you should not reach muscle failure during training. Publications with several studies in this regard will be reviewed and the drawbacks of this form of training will be added.

In this series of articles we deal with some of the most important concepts of strength training, collecting notes from the recently published book Strength, Speed ​​and Physical and Sports Performance written by renowned researchers Juan José González Badillo and Juan Ribas Serna.

SUMMARY

• For the recruitment of motor units: with a predominance of fast fibers, very important for improving strength —and hypertrophy— and speed of execution, it does not seem necessary to reach muscle failure.
• the maximum volume achievable at the same maximum and average relative intensity does not produce the best results in competitive athletes in snatch, two-stroke and squat exercises.
• A high hormonal environment does not seem to have an influence during the post-training phase of protein synthesis, since hormone levels drop to basal values ​​within a few minutes.
• With less mechanical, metabolic, and hormonal stress—far from muscular failure—strength can be improved to the same or greater extent than reaching muscular failure.
• What has been observed is that more time under tension tends to produce more protein synthesis, but not more force.
• There are several studies in which it is concluded that reaching failure does not provide better results than not doing so.

What is muscle failure and origins

If you consult any text, not only ancient, but even modern, and ancient and modern “scientific” articles, related to strength training, in almost all cases it will be recommended that to improve “maximum” strength is necessary perform the maximum possible number of repetitions in the series. In this situation, you would be facing what is known as “reaching muscle failure”, that is, not being able to do more repetitions than have been done in the series.

This form of training was initially applied in the 1940s, when Thomas L. DeLorme, a US military physician and rehabilitation specialist, was trying to rehabilitate polio patients and war wounded. The idea of ​​training for the maximum number of repetitions in the series came to him from his own experience training “on his own” with weights to recover from rheumatic fevers, instead of on bed rest.

Initially, the training applied to the patients was 7 series of 10RM five times a week. He called this training “heavy resistance exercise” although he soon realized that this load was excessive and changed to “progressive resistance exercise”, which consisted of doing series of 10 repetitions, but not all with the maximum possible load, but a set with 50% of the 10RM, a second set at 75% and a third set at 100% of the 10RM.

If the patient could do more than 10 repetitions in the third set, the weight should be increased. This is “the famous 3x10RM training”, which had a different meaning from what has been understood to date. In fact, what became popular and applied to practitioners of strength training, competitive athletes or not, was 3x10RM, but all at 100 possible repetitions.

That is to say, the interpretation of the proposals of DeLorme and his collaborators was clearly wrong, because, over the years, it has been observed that DeLorme’s second proposal was more rational than the one applied by the majority of specialists in the training of force. For more information on DeLorme’s contributions, see Todd et al. (2012) and González-Badillo et al. (2017).

In the years 40-70 it was not very well known what was the reason why training until muscular failure was effective

Later, during the 1970s, the idea of ​​using training to failure was reinforced with the recommendations of Arthur Jones, founder of Nautilus 4 Sports / Medical Industries and MedX Corporation, who proposed that one series always be done until muscular failure. , 8-12 repetitions, once or twice a week maximum, and at low or controlled speed, because “this is best for improving muscle mass, strength, power, and endurance” (in Smith and Bruce -Low, 2004).

In the years 40-70 it was not very well known what was the reason why training until muscle failure was effective, and since it had not been experimented with other types of training, this effectiveness led to this type of training being considered as the best, and for many the only and necessary way to improve strength… and everything that can be improved.

Over the years, explanations for this apparent effectiveness have been found and up to now some reasons have been given to justify it. However, what is characteristic of these explanations is that they are always linked to the processes that produce or can produce a greater increase in muscle mass or hypertrophy. In other words, justifying training to failure as a way to improve strength is the same as justifying the way to achieve greater hypertrophy, a condition considered practically necessary and proportional to the improvement in strength.

Several comments can be made in relation to the above. The first is that strength improvement is understood exclusively as RM improvement. What happens with the rest of the loads that have to be moved “is not an improvement in strength”. The second is that it seems that if there is no noticeable or detectable improvement in hypertrophy there is no improvement in strength. As seen, these are two approaches that do not conform to reality.

Why is it proposed to train to muscular failure?

The reasons that are proposed to justify the application of muscular failure are, generally, the following:

• the possibility of achieving greater recruitment of motor units,
• the greatest muscle damage,
• increased levels of anabolic hormones,
• the increase in muscle mass,
• the longest time under tension…,

Since all this contributes to the improvement of hypertrophy and, therefore, “to the improvement of maximum strength” (1RM). Some issues related to this proposal are the following.

The possibility of achieving greater recruitment of motor units.

This is considered necessary because “the important thing to achieve maximum muscle activation is to reach failure, regardless of the number of repetitions performed” (Behm et al., 2002). Although, the same authors indicate that more than 20 repetitions no longer seems convenient.

However, for the recruitment of motor units: with a predominance of fast fibers, very important for improving strength —and hypertrophy— and speed of execution, it does not seem necessary to reach muscular failure, because it has been observed that this recruitment can be achieved with 3-5 repetitions less than those necessary to reach muscular failure (Sundstrup et al., 2012), and because, especially, these motor units are recruited without reaching failure if the action it is performed at the maximum possible speed (in an explosive manner) (Desmedt and Godaux, 1977, 1979: Van Cutsem et al., 1998

Since the absolute force at which a motor unit is activated is not fixed and varies with speed and type of activation, which is accompanied by a decrease in the recruitment threshold as force output in the motor unit increases. time (maximum explosiveness) (Desmedt and Godaux, 1977), which is consistent with the observation that most motor units are activated at approximately 40% of maximum load during actions performed at maximum speed (expression of explosiveness) (Enoka and Duchateau., 2019)

Therefore, the motor units of maximum activation threshold can be recruited almost immediately after beginning the exercise if the action is performed at the maximum possible speed, pol o that it does not seem that it is necessary to reach muscular failure to achieve the maximum possible recruitment. of motor units.

muscle damage

Muscle damage, since it will lead to greater degradation and protein synthesis, activation of satellite cells, inflammation, all closely related to hypertrophy. This muscle damage is associated with a high volume of training with medium or high loads, and the more you train, the greater the muscle damage. However, it should be noted that the training effect cannot be based on the proposition that “the more you train the better”, because, among other reasons, it has been observed that an excessive frequency of strength training, which would lead to a greater volume of work, can keep inflammatory processes increased and reduce Akt phosphorylation (Coffey, 2006, doctoral thesis), which which would lead to a decrease or inhibition of the cascade of signals that lead to protein synthesis.

In some studies it has been observed that the maximum volume achievable at the same maximum and average relative intensity does not produce the best results in competitive athletes in snatch, two-stroke and squat exercises (González-Badillo et al., 2005), although in this case none of the three experimental groups even reached muscle failure. Losing 10 or 20% of the speed reached in the first repetition in the series —which means being very far from muscular failure— in the squat exercise better results are produced, especially in actions performed at high speed, than continuing doing repetitions in the series until losing between 40 and 50% (loss close to muscular failure) of the initial speed (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2017; Rodríguez-Rosell, Doctoral Thesis).

Therefore, it does not appear that high muscle damage is necessary to improve strength.

Increased levels of anabolic hormones.

It is true that a higher hormonal level increases the probability of interacting with specific receptors, facilitating the metabolism of proteins and the consequent hypertrophy, and that the interaction with hormonal receptors initiates the cascade of signals or events leading to the alteration of the rate of synthesis. of proteins.

For this reason, when the role of anabolic hormones in training is discussed, it is generally associated with their possible relationship with hypertrophy, which, in turn, is consistent with performing the exercises until muscular failure. However, it has been questioned whether some hormones, such as growth hormone (GH), actually have a significant effect on muscle tissue hypertrophy (Rennie, 2003).

Some studies tend to confirm that in a favorable hormonal environment, the effect of training can be greater than in the absence of it. In this sense, it has been observed that carrying out an exercise that sharply raises the levels of circulating hormones improves the performance in the exercise that follows.

For example, exercising the legs before performing arm exercises (Ronnestad, Nygaarad & Raastad, 2011). This combination of exercises resulted in a significantly greater improvement in arm strength (1RM) and power at 30 and 60% RM (i.e. maximal strength improvement at these relative intensities as well, of course). ) than when the arm training was done without the previous leg exercise.

However, if training with the lower limbs is performed that tends to raise hormone levels after performing an exercise of the upper limbs (group A), no different effect is produced than if only the exercise of the upper limbs is performed (group B).

In this study, conducted with young male subjects, hormone levels after leg training were higher in group A than in group B, but neither were changes in muscle cross-sectional area (AST). and in the different types of fibers neither the increases in force were different between both groups.

These data seem to confirm that local mechanisms are the most relevant in gaining hypertrophy (West et al., 2010) and it is concluded that the subsequent elevation of hormone levels is not necessary to increase anabolic processes in young men. .

Since hormone levels remain high for a few minutes and protein synthesis continues for approximately 48 hours, it is considered that the anabolic effect due to the hormonal environment might not be very high (West 8 Phillips, 2012), and therefore , not having a high relevance in the improvement of strength.

In summary, these studies would indicate that a favorable hormonal environment during the performance of an exercise could have an influence on the improvement of strength, but this elevated hormonal environment does not seem to have an influence during the post-training phase of protein synthesis, since hormone levels drop to baseline values ​​after a few minutes.

In addition to these experimental evidences, it has been observed that in order to improve strength it is not necessary to train until muscular failure, which are the typical trainings that generate a higher hormonal effect (Kraemer et al., 1990), but rather that the effect is superior without that maximum hormonal stress, especially before actions carried out at high speed.

Increased muscle mass

Actually, all of the above is related to the increase in muscle mass. There is a general consensus that a moderate number of repetitions per set and training to muscle failure is the type of training that optimizes hypertrophy (Kraemer et al. 2002).

However, it has also been observed that with lower intensities, such as 30% of the RM, if repetitions are performed in the series until exhaustion, there are also important effects on protein synthesis and hypertrophy. Three series at 30% of the RM to failure can produce a greater increase in quadriceps volume (7%) than one series to failure with 80% (3.5%) and the same as 3 series at 80% to failure. failure (7%) (Mitchell et al., 2012), It is proposed that the rate of protein synthesis depends fundamentally on the recruitment of fibers and not exclusively on the use of high intensities. (Burd, Mitchell, Churchward-Venne, 8, Phillips, 2012).

These results seem to indicate that the mechanical signals for hypertrophy occur primarily in individual fibers, and that when low loads are used, but repetitions to exhaustion are performed, type II fibers are recruited. However, greater volume gain does not seem to necessarily translate into greater strength gain.

The described training produced greater improvements in knee extension RM in the two 80% than in the 30% RM groups, and equivalent changes in moment of force (Mitchel et al., 2012). Returning again to the most current and controlled studies (Pareja-Blanco el al., 2017), it has been possible to verify that almost reaching muscular failure (losing 40-45% of the speed in the series in the squat exercise) It produces a greater increase in muscle mass and in the percentages of changes from faster fibers to type II, but no greater improvement in strength at any speed or relative load.

To conclude, muscle mass is positively related to the force that a muscle can generate, but the results of well-controlled studies on the magnitude of the training load and the extent of its effect indicate that it is not necessary to train to produce the force. greatest possible muscle mass or condition or key to improving strength, because with less mechanical, metabolic, and hormonal stress—staying far from muscular failure—strength can be improved to the same or greater extent than reaching muscular failure.

Longer time under tension

In relation to the previous factors, this proposal is based on the fact that training until muscle failure at a certain relative intensity will subject the muscle to a longer time of tension or activity than if it does not reach failure, which would correspond to an average speed minor. It is considered that this may mean a greater stimulus for the muscles, which in theory could increase the possibility of adaptation in strength and hypertrophy.

Consequently, the complementary argument to this is that when doing a movement at a higher speed you cannot apply as much force as if you do it slowly, which would give rise to a smaller effect on the improvement of strength. Neither of the two ways of expressing this justification seems reasonable or serves to explain the effect of time under stress.

In the first place, regardless of whether or not the time under tension (TBT) is a decisive factor as an adequate stimulus to achieve better adaptations, it must be considered that the increase in TBT can occur, fundamentally, in three different ways that would be decisive in regarding the type of stimulus and the effect they produce, although not all of them would allow assessing the effect of TBT.

• The first of these consists of doing a greater number of repetitions in the series —usually until muscular failure— at the same relative intensity (higher TBT), always at the maximum possible speed, compared to doing fewer repetitions in the series (lower TBT). ).
• The second is to do the same number of repetitions at the same relative intensity, but, in one case, intentionally not doing them at the maximum possible speed (higher TBT) versus doing them at the maximum possible speed (lower TBT).
• And the third is the increase in relative intensity for the same number of repetitions, which means, for example, that the TBT with 30% of the RM to do 3 repetitions at the maximum possible speed would be much lower than doing the same repetitions with 90% at the maximum possible speed.

In all the forms indicated, the TBT is different in the two options described in each case, but only the second form would be useful to be able to really compare the effect of the TBT, since in the first the number of repetitions is different and in the third it is introduced the intensity variable, a factor that can have an important influence on the adaptation process, so that the TBT would not be the main or the only one responsible for the final effect.

What has been observed is that higher TBT tends to produce greater protein synthesis, but not greater strength. The study mentioned in the previous point by Mitchell et al. (2012) is an example of how a higher TBT by doing 3 sets to failure with 90% RM (higher TBT) produced greater muscle mass gain but less strength than reaching failure in a set with 80% RM. % (lower TBT), and even less strength but the same muscle mass as 3 series at 80% (intermediate value of TBT).

longer time under tension tends to produce greater protein synthesis, but not greater strength

This is a clear example in which there are difficulties to adequately assess the effect of TBT, since failure is reached with different relative intensities and with different TBT and effects. In another study, exercising at 30% RM to exhaustion slowly (6 s in knee extension) produced greater mitochondrial, sarcoplasmic, and myofibrial protein synthesis than doing the same number of repetitions with 1 s in each knee extension. No information is given about strength (Burd et al., 2012). In this case, there is the drawback that when training at 1 s per knee extension, the exercise was not performed until exhaustion. Therefore, it is observed that it is difficult to find the appropriate conditions to assess the effect of TBT in isolation.

The argument that moving the same load, absolute or relative, at a higher speed means that less force can be exerted and, therefore, less adaptation effect does not seem reasonable. The speed at which the same given load moves will be greater the greater the force applied to it.

Spending more time displacing the same load may add more time for the application of force and muscle activation, but with very low peaks of force, so the initial impulse, which determines the speed of displacement, that is, performance, will be much less. . For this reason, it has been proposed that the determining factor to improve performance, especially in high-speed actions, should be the impulse generated in each action (Crewther et al, 2006), not the time that force is being applied.

As indicated, the second way to increase TBT is the one that really allows us to assess the effect of TBT on strength. With the intention of verifying the effect of doing the movements at the maximum speed possible (lower TBT in this case) or at half that speed (higher TBT), two studies were carried out in which a group performed the training at maximum speed. possible (G100) in each repetition with the maximum load of the day and another at 50% (Gso) of said speed.

analysis of studies on muscle failure maintaining constant effort

One study was conducted with the bench press exercise (González-Badillo et al., 2014) and the other with the squat (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2014). In both cases, they trained 3 times a week for 6 weeks, and the maximum intensity of each session ranged between 60 and 80% of the RM. With these intensities, 3 series were made from 8 to 3 repetitions per series, all very far from muscular failure.

The speed and the execution time were controlled in each repetition. The relative intensity was adjusted in each session based on the average propulsive speed expected for the first repetition of the maximum load of each session. The TBT (execution time in the concentric phase of each repetition) was significantly higher in the G50 than in the G100 in both exercises (360.9 s vs. 228.8 s in the bench press and 383.5 s vs. 260 .5 s in the squat), but the improvements in all the variables indicating strength were significantly greater in the bench press, and in the squat there were greater percentages of improvement and effect sizes in all the variables and even a group x significant measure interaction in favor of the G100 in the vertical jump (CMJ) exercise, an exercise that was not trained.

All of these apparently justifying processes for the need for muscle failure to improve strength are related to the degree of mechanical stress, which is the basis for muscle activation to generate a series of chemical, electrical, and mechanical signals that cause a response. multiple physiological that culminates in the degradation and expression or synthesis of certain specific proteins that give rise to the adaptation of the organism to the type of stimulus received.

In this way, when exercises that are commonly known as strength training are performed, muscle tension tends to be produced, which generates a cascade of molecular processes that contribute to activating positive muscle hypertrophy signals and inhibiting muscle atrophy signals. Naturally, the degree of “tension” must have an appropriate value so that the processes of degradation do not exceed those of protein synthesis.

However, excessive stress could give rise to negative effects that explain why from a certain degree of fatigue or a certain degree of muscular approximation, the effects could be null or even negative for performance, especially for actions carried out at high speed. speed.

Among these factors could be: producing a significant reduction of ATP with high levels of ammonia; excessive muscle damage, with prolonged inflammation processes, with probable inhibition of protein synthesis and reduction of elasticity due to damage to intramuscular elastic structures; reduce the production of anabolic hormones such as testosterone, which would require a longer recovery time between sessions; produce interference with the specific training, due to excessive fatigue and the performance of a high number of requests at low and very low speed during “strength” training…

On the contrary, less fatigue, always performing the actions at the maximum possible speed and with a high average absolute speed during each session, could favor other mechanisms that tend to produce strength improvement without the side effects of reaching muscle failure. , such as the recruitment of fast twitches without excessive fatigue; the stimulation of the synthesis of fast fibers, which would mean a greater efficiency of release / removal of calcium in muscle activation; the non-significant reduction of the percentage of the fastest fibers to the slowest; the greater percentage increase in the cross section of fast fibers and, in all probability, the improvement of neural adaptations: recruitment, synchronization, stimulus frequency, intermuscular coordination.

Since the 1980s, it has been maintained that reaching or approaching the maximum achievable volume in the session, week, month or training cycle does not offer the best results.

Since the 1980s it has been maintained that reaching or approaching the maximum volume achievable in the session, week, month or training cycle does not offer the best results. In 1985 and 1986, a study was carried out in which the effect of doing different volumes was compared with the same maximum relative intensities of each session and the same average relative intensities of each session, week and complete training cycle (12 weeks). ) with competitive athletes and strength specialists (weight lifters).

Subjects performed three different volumes:

• One group reached the maximum volume that they had observed in practice that the subjects could support without reaching extreme fatigue that prevented them from continuing the training (G100),
• A second group performed the same training in terms of maximum and average intensities, but with 85% of the volume of the previous group (G85),
• A third group, also at the same maximum and mean intensities, performed only 65% ​​of the volume of the maximum volume group (G65).

The results showed a curvilinear trend between training volume and performance in the snatch, double jerk, and squat exercises. This tendency means that the G85 tended to obtain the best results, and the G100 and G65 groups obtained similar results. This study carried out in the 1980s, part of Professor Badillo’s doctoral thesis, and was published a few years later (González-Badillo et al., 2005).

The results of this study were included in the 2009 Guideline and “the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) in presenting its guidelines for strength training, stating that “greater volume does not appear to offer better benefits”, although , then they ignored the results and continued to recommend the classic XRM

Regarding the repetitions to be performed in the series (failure or no failure), for more than 25 years, it has been proposed that it is probably enough to reach a maximum of half of the possible repetitions in the series to improve strength performance. in most sports specialties and athletes.

The first application of this idea in a sport other than Weightlifting was with the women’s national hockey team —Olympic champions in Barcelona-92— at the beginning of the 90s. Over more than two and a half years, the team improved leg strength (improved full squat), jumping ability, acceleration, and threshold speed (commonly called anaerobic threshold or second lactate threshold) rdoing training, especially full squats, with loads lower than 80% of the RM and with less than half of the possible repetitions in the series.

In the early 2000s, this idea was applied in the experimental setting and training sessions were designed to compare the effect of reaching muscle failure or not (Izquierdo et al., 2006). One group would reach failure with 3 sets of 10 reps and the other would do half the reps possible in the set and 6 sets to equalize the total volume.

At the beginning of the 2000s, this idea was applied in the experimental field and training sessions were designed to compare the effect of reaching muscular failure or not.

This equalization of the volume was always considered unnecessary, but sometimes the demands of the publications force to modify the designs somewhat. In this study it was found that it was not necessary to reach muscular failure to achieve the same or better strength performance. Subsequently, a study was designed in which the volume was no longer matched, once again doing one group half the repetitions of the other (Izquierdo-Gabarren et al., 2010), once again obtaining higher effects in the group that trained with half of the possible repetitions in the set versus reaching muscular failure.

Naturally, these last studies can be considered relatively well controlled, because they were based on the initial criteria to determine the nature of the effort made in a series, estimating the relationship between the repetitions performed and those that could be done in the series. But when you can really talk about the true effect of training to failure or not is when you could start to control the load through the speed of execution, which allowed you to know with very high precision what the absolute load (weight) represented actually the relative intensity programmed for each session, as well as the degree of effort to which the subject was subjected in the series through the control of the loss of speed in the series.

This made it possible to eliminate from the design the number of repetitions to be performed in each series, one of the classic variables of any study that has sought to know the effect of the so-called “strength training”. Therefore, today, if the speed of each repetition can be adequately measured, it does not make sense to program the repetitions to be carried out in the series, because if they are programmed, each participant or athlete could be making a different effort.

it does not make sense to program the repetitions to be carried out in the series, because if we program them, each participant or athlete could be making a different effort

That is, to equalize the volume performed by different experimental groups, something apparently necessary “to control a possible intervening variable in the design, what it does, precisely, is to introduce a foreign variable into the design itself, since the same number of repetitions in the series before the same relative intensity can mean a different effort or degree of fatigue for each subject, since not all subjects can perform the same number of repetitions before the same relative intensity (González-Badillo et al., 2017).

Therefore, If the loss of speed in the series is taken as a reference, and is programmed as an indicator of the training load, and not the number of repetitions in the series, it will be achieved that, before the same relative intensity, the subjects of the same experimental group have made a very similar degree of effort throughout the training cycle, as well as that another or other experimental groups have made really different efforts.

This control of the effort made is what really determines the degree of load and what is interesting to control, if one wants to know the effect of certain types of training loads.

These advances in the control of the training load have allowed us to confirm through several experimental studies carried out in the last 10-15 years that, indeed, a fatigue far removed from that which corresponds to muscular failure tends to offer better results than reaching to failure.

fatigue less than that corresponding to muscular failure tends to offer better results than failure.

In summary, the results of these studies indicated that losing between 10 and 20% of the speed of the first repetition in the series in the full squat exercise, that is, doing half or less than half of the “repetitions possible in the series (very far from muscular failure), with subjects familiar with strength training, always executing the exercises to the maximum possible speed, with intensities between 70 and 85% of the RM, for 8 weeks at two sessions per week, offers better results in trained and untrained exercises than losing 30% or practically reaching failure, with losses of 40-45% speed in the series (Pareja-Blanco et al., 2017: Rodríguez-Rosell, Doctoral Thesis).

Similar results have been found when comparing three groups with losses of 10, 30 and 45% of the speed in the series in the squat exercise with intensities between 55 and 70% of the RM. The 10% loss offered the same or better results in the trained and untrained exercises than the 30% loss and, especially, the 45% loss (very close to muscular failure) (Rodríguez-Rosell Doctoral Thesis).

In the bench press exercise, with intensities of 70 to 85% and losses of 15, 25, 40 and 50%, the effects also tended to be higher with losses close to 30-40% of the speed loss compared to the 50%, loss very close to muscle failure. As can be deduced, these studies are the ones that offer the best guarantees that, indeed, the subjects trained with the relative intensities and the programmed degree of effort or fatigue, which allows us to confirm that the training until muscular failure (maximum or almost maximum loss of speed in the series) do not offer better results than lower losses of speed, even reaching a very low degree of fatigue, such as losing only 10% of the speed in the series.

Losing 10% speed in the squat set at intensities from 70 to 85% means that subjects did, on average, between 3.3 and 2 repetitions per set, when the repetitions possible, on average, at these intensities They range from 10.2 to 5. In other words, there were always far fewer repetitions than half of those possible in a series.

This caused the total repetition volume of the training cycle to be less than the volume of the group that reached near failure. With the 20% loss, the repetitions per series performed were, on average, from 5 to 2.7, practically half of those possible. With these intensities and in this exercise, doing more than half of the possible repetitions in the series (from losing 30% of the speed in the series) already begins to have less positive effect on performance, especially in actions performed at high speed. speed.

Apart from those mentioned, there are already several studies in which it is concluded that reaching failure does not provide better results than not doing so, but unfortunately, most of these studies are not based on designs that really allow us to conclude the advantage of not reaching failure. failed. One of those that comes close to confirming that reaching it is carried out by Sampson and Groeller (2016), who apply training to failure (6 repetitions with 85% of the RM) or doing only 4 repetitions with this relative intensity — this really means a very high effort character and, therefore, with a very high loss of speed in the series, that is, close to failure — it was confirmed that after 12 weeks of training with the exercise of elbow flexion, the effects do not depend on the number of repetitions performed to failure, nor is it a necessary condition to reach it, at the same time that it is not necessary to equalize the volume to obtain the same results in strength, muscle activation and in the cross-sectional area of ​​the muscle.

There are already several studies in which it is concluded that reaching failure does not provide better results than not doing so.

In addition, in this study, the group that performed the movements at the maximum speed possible in the concentric phase and in a controlled manner (2 s) in the eccentric phase, reduced the activation of the antagonist muscles (triceps), which suggests — it is a personal deduction, not that of the study authors, that this may be an execution strategy that favors concentric actions performed at the maximum speed possible. However, this study, which is one of the most adjusted to verify the effect of failure compared to no failure, has the drawback that the stimuli were very similar, so it is logical to expect that the results were also very similar.

In other words, although the results favor “the hypothesis of not reaching failure”, the study leaves a wide field of uncertainty about the minimum load that could be equivalent or superior in its effects to the load that represents muscle failure. The answer to this uncertainty can be found in the series of studies presented in the two previous paragraphs, in which you can see the progressive tendency to decrease performance from certain values ​​of: degree of effort / loss of speed in the series / degree of fatigue / decrease in average training speed / increase in volume.

Disadvantages of programming and training with the classic XRM or nRM

On the other hand, in a recent review, Davies et al. (2016) conclude that a similar increase in strength can be obtained without reaching muscle failure as reaching it. Programming, expressing and performing the training through the classic XRM or nRM, apart from the fact that you probably won’t get the best performance benefits, It has a number of drawbacks:

It is based on the mistaken idea that being able to perform the same number of maximum repetitions before the absolute load that corresponds to each subject means that you are working with a certain relative intensity or percentage of 1M, since each percentage of 1RM can be performed , on average, a certain number of repetitions.

On the other hand, doing the same repetitions with a certain load does not mean that you are working with the same percentage. The maximum value of the range in which the number of repetitions performed at the same intensity is found, from 50 to 85% of the RM, can double the minimum value, with an average coefficient of variation of -20% (González-Badillo et al., 2017). Therefore, two subjects who have trained with the same number of maximum repetitions per set may have trained with very different relative intensities.

two subjects who have trained with the same number of maximum repetitions per set may have trained with very different relative intensities

It is not realistic to propose a training such as: 3x10RM, which means that the subject must perform 3 series of 10 repetitions with a load (weight) with which, in the first series, they can only really perform 10 repetitions. No one person can perform this workout, because they will never be able to perform all three sets of 10 repetitions with the same absolute load.

Sometimes it is proposed that as the series is done, the load is reduced in order to reach the programmed repetitions, which is even more unrealistic, since it is not possible to know “what exact weight must be reduced” so that they can be done precisely. the repetitions predicted in the previous fatigue.

Always training with the maximum number of repetitions possible per series, even if fewer repetitions were done in successive series with the same weight, can produce at least the following negative effects: excessive fatigue, increased risk of injury and reduced execution speed before any load (high loss of speed in the series). All this can lead to reduced sports performance.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that it would be very reasonable for no XRM value to be measured, neither for training nor to assess the effect of training.

When speaking of “squat” it refers to the full or deep squat exercise. This article will review the squat in detail as it is well known that the squat is an exercise that directly strengthens the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae, and triceps surae. Apart from the fact that it involves a series of synergistic muscles that contribute to the execution of the exercise and balance.

In this series of articles we deal with some of the most important concepts of strength training, collecting notes from the recently published book Strength, Speed ​​and Physical and Sports Performance written by renowned researchers Juan José González Badillo and Juan Ribas Serna.

Summary

• Squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise.
• If the exercise is performed with a correct technique, it is trained progressively and supervised by experts in the training of this exercise, the squat is presented as a training to protect against injuries and improve the strength of the lower extremities.
• The squat is the main exercise that can be practiced by any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance by doing any exercise that is not the actual practice of the specific exercise.
• Healthy non-athletic users would still have less risk because the loads used, the frequency of training and the stress would be much lower.

It has also been possible to verify through the studies analyzed in this text that it has a significant effect on the ability to jump and acceleration. In fact, it has been proposed that higher sprint performances are achieved by greater application of force against release, not by more rapid leg movements (Weyand et al., 2000).

Naturally, this greater applied force can only be achieved by improving the strength of the previously mentioned muscle groups, as momentum in the stride is directly dependent on the strength of the gluteals, hamstrings, triceps surae, and quadriceps. From the functional point of view, when comparing the effect of training the squat, half and quarter squats, only the squat could be considered as an effective exercise to improve strength, because only the degree of flexion of the squat provides the morphological and neural stimuli required for the hip and knee extensors to positively influence acceleration processes (Hartmann et al 2012).

only the squat could be considered an effective exercise to improve strength

In another study in which the effect of training with loads from 60 to 80% of the RM was compared in the squat, the squat to the parallel and the half squat. This means that executing the squat exercise allows an effect that is even above the effect due to the specificity of the exercise itself evaluated. In addition, the squat had the greatest effect in CMJ, 20m run and Wingate test, while the half squat did not improve in any of these three variables and was the only one that experienced a significant increase in the physical disability test (pain, rigidity, functional disability) (Pallarés otal.. 2019)

Traditionally it has been considered that the squat was detrimental to the knee joint, but this does not seem to be very justified. Escamilla (2001) concludes that the squat (to parallel) does not compromise knee stability and can properly reinforce stability. Although he still has reservations about flexing anything more than parallel.

Its embargo, Hartmann et al. (2013) consider that with greater flexion of the knee joint, a displacement of the contact areas of the knee components occurs with a continuous enlargement of the retropatellar articular surface, which leads to lower retropatellar compressive stresses. .

Both menisci and cartilage, ligaments, and bone are susceptible to anabolic processes and structural adaptations to their function in response to increased activity and mechanical stress. Therefore, concerns about degenerative changes in the femoral tendon complex and the apparent increased risk of chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, and osteochondritis due to the squat are unfounded (Hartmann et al., 2013).

It must be taken into account that for the same relative load, when doing the half or quarter squat, the pressure on the joints of the back, hips and knees is much greater, so the risk of excessive stress is also applied. is.

squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise

Parker (1992) says: “squats will do more to prevent knee injuries than any other exercise” (p.28). And he continues: “many trainers believe that squats are dangerous for the knees. Nothing is further from reality”. Squats are a staple exercise in the New York Giants (the football team this author coaches) program, and will be for sure in the future.

Poliquin (1992, p. 28), in making the initial diagnosis before planning the training of Jadson Logan, hammer thrower, found that the athlete had been plagued with knee pain for the past eight years. This pain was caused by the continued use of the so-called “safe squat”, “safe squatting”, that is, by the half squat.

To avoid this, this type of exercise was changed to the full, deep squat: the posterior part of the thigh had to cover the calves at the deepest moment of flexion. After six weeks of training, the athlete reported no pain, improved his position in the hammer throw twist, and achieved better results than ever in the vertical and horizontal jump.

Therefore, if the exercise is performed with a correct technique, it is trained progressively and supervised by experts in the training of this exercise, the squat is presented as a training to protect against injuries and improve the strength of the lower extremities.

Contrary to popular belief, the squat does not contribute to increased risk of passive tissue injury (Hartmann et al. 2013). Given its positive effects for carrying out practically all sports actions in which the legs are involved and its protective effects against possible injuries, the squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance by doing any exercise other than their own can practice. practice of the specific exercise.

The squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance can practice.

Regarding the way to perform the squat, a series of considerations must be kept in mind, a squat can be considered complete if it is exceeded, even slightly; the horizontal of the thigh with respect to the ground. That is, it is not necessarily about forcing the maximum possible flexion.

The greater or lesser flexion will depend on the joint mobility of each subject, and it is never recommended that the flexion be the maximum possible if the subject has high joint mobility. Therefore, in all cases, and especially in subjects with some joint laxity, due to their low muscle-tendon rigidity, it should be recommended that the last degrees of flexion are not reached and that the subject not relax in this phase, losing the correct posture of the lumbar zone, which must remain straight throughout the execution of the movement, nor that it make a marked “rebound”, excessively fast, at the moment of the eccentric-concentric transition.

On the other hand in the flexion phase (eccentric phase) in its entirety a high speed must not be reached.

Another important aspect is the load with which this exercise should be trained. As a training exercise, you should never perform a squat with the maximum load (1RM), nor a training or an estimation of strength with the maximum possible number of repetitions per series (the “famous” 6RM, 8RM, 10RM, 15RM. ..) That is, the “character of the effort” should never be the maximum.

Nor should MRI be used as an initial test to program training. For this, as indicated, the execution speed is taken as a reference, and in the event that it cannot be measured, the guidelines in this article must be followed and applied in relation to what to do when the speed of execution cannot be measured. execution.

Throughout the text, extensive information is given on the loads for training this exercise. Most of the exercises that are carried out in sports produce significant stress on the knees. Practicing sports as diverse as alpine skiing, soccer, hockey, tennis, jumping, weightlifting, badminton… and many others cause much higher stress than a full squat performed correctly and with the proper loads.

Moreover, many of the injuries that occur in these sports, except weightlifting, may have a lot to do with the weakness of the muscles that protect the knee, which can be correctly stimulated with the deep squat. Whoever considers that this exercise is not suitable for someone or something is in charge of showing the reasons.

Extensive experience using this exercise, apart from studies aimed at analyzing its mechanics, risks and effects, favorable, in some cases, as a means of protecting against injuries, allows us to affirm that there is no reason to justify against its use, and that However, there are reasons to apply it to the entire population that practices sport.

Healthy non-athletic users would still be at lower risk because the loads used, training frequency and stress would be much lower. Obviously, if you suffer from a knee injury, the situation would change, but the experience of having applied this exercise to athletes (top-level soccer players) with great benefit for the recovery of injured knees and cruciate ligament surgery is taken into account.

The squat is the main exercise that any athlete who wants to improve their physical performance can practice.

Other athletes to whom this exercise has been applied with great success for their sporting results and without a single case of injury or discomfort in the knees during a long time of training, were, for example, the national track cycling team ( speed), who went from being able to perform approximately a squat with 105-115 kg in some cases, or 150-160 kg, in another, to being able to move 160-170 and 190-200 kg, respectively, improving their performance in competition . No athlete presented the slightest knee problem.

During all this time, neither 1RM nor training with a “maximal effort character” was ever performed. The women’s field hockey team (1992 Olympic champion) trained with this exercise for three years, each year improving their vertical jump, their time in 15-30 meters and their threshold speed (the so-called second lactate or anaerobic threshold) were runners-up in Europe (lost final on penalties) and there was not a single knee or back injury.

The training carried out was even less stressful than in the case of the cyclists. Other examples with the same results are soccer players who have participated in World Cups and other top-level youth of their ages, top-level volleyball players, or 400-meter runners.

Conclusions about the squat

As a summary of the advantages of the squat exercise, the following is indicated:

• During the full squat, the full range of motion is used in the sagittal plane of the knee and hip joints and quite a bit of range of the ankle. This causes all the components of the connective tissue of said joints to be stretched, thereby giving these tissues stimuli to adapt to great stresses at angles of extreme magnitudes, which probably improves the rigidity of these tissues in extreme displacements.
• The use of full ranges of joint movement probably leads to the distension of the sarcomeres in the most homogeneous way possible before a shortening, accustoming the system to make the “strong” sarcomeres work against the “weak” ones, so that the whole of the fiber (or muscle fibers) get the most out of it.
• Activating a fiber in different ranges of stretching provides advantages when it comes to obtaining the best moments in the length-tension curve of each fiber, especially in penneate (non-linear) muscles. As well as the possible increase in the length of the fascicle, due to the contribution of sarcomeres in series.
• When a fiber is stretched beyond its normal range, the risk of breaking some Z line and, above all, some T tubules increases, which would lead to local contractures within a fiber and an increased risk of total fiber rupture. But the fact of accustoming it to working in wide ranges of stretching probably adapts the sarcolemma and, therefore, the tubule system itself to work in those conditions with less risk of complete fiber rupture.
• Probably the degree and form of the recruitment of motor units within a muscle is different depending on the range of movement, one of the reasons is that at different moments of force, different recruitment and synchronization requirements, due to the participation of large muscle groups of coordinated way.
• The articular cartilages and menisci are maintained thanks to the stimulus that Ssupposes the rubbing of a load, intermittently, on them. When you only work in a short range of movements, a part of the cartilage stops receiving adequate stimuli and before a sudden shock in the less stimulated region it can be injured. Something similar, but with tensions instead of pressures, happens with the ligaments. Today it is known that the innervation of the ligaments is important to maintain the tone and hypertrophy of some muscle groups of the joint in which the ligament is located. The stimulation positions of the ligaments are not exactly known, but it is known that they work in joint positions in which the muscles have little to do (this seems to be precisely one of their functions, that the muscles can relax in certain angular positions). of the joint) It is also likely that when working in positions with a wide range of joints, the synergy of action between ligaments and muscles (especially of the elastic elements of the latter) increases.

The following article analyzes several studies carried out to analyze acute fatigue in different types of efforts and its relationship with the loss of execution speed.

In this series of articles we deal with some of the most important concepts of strength training, collecting notes from the recently published book Strength, Speed ​​and Physical and Sports Performance written by renowned researchers Juan José González Badillo and Juan Ribas Serna.

SUMMARY

• Fatigue directly depends on the loss of speed in the series, regardless of the number of repetitions that can be done with the load being trained.
• The measurement of fatigue after an effort to exhaustion when moving loads should be done especially through speed and RFD (force production per unit of time).

In a study carried out by Sánchez-Medina and González-Badillo in 2011, the loss of speed in the series (at the end of three sets with the same absolute load) by performing at the maximum speed possible 15 different types of effort with the bench press and squat exercises. These efforts are expressed in terms of Character Effort (EC), such as: 3×6(12), where the first number expresses the number of sets, the second the number of repetitions performed, and the number in parentheses the number of possible repetitions in the set.

The efforts were as follows: 3×6(12), 3×8(12), 3×10(12), 3×12(12), 3×6(10), 3×8(10), 3×10(10), 3×4(8), 3×6(8), 3×8(8), x3(6), 3×4(6), 3×6(6), 3×2(4), 3×4(4). The approximate percentages of 1RM that these loads represent are the following: 70% for 12 possible repetitions, 75% for 10, 80% for 8, 85% for 6 and 90% for 4, although the subjects made the efforts with the absolute loads that could move the maximum repetitions under analysis at the maximum possible speed: 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4, not the percentages that represent this number of reps. requests.

En la figura 1 se puede observar un ejemplo de uno de los esfuerzos [3×12(12)].

Figure 1. Example of speed evolution when three sets of 12 repetitions are performed with a load with which only 12 repetitions can be done. The loss of speed (fatigue) can be observed within each series and in the total of the series. Fatigue is estimated by the loss of speed with the load that could be moved at 1 m*s-1 (average 1.03 m*s-1 in three repetitions) before the first series. The loss of speed reached 31.1% (average speed 0.71 m*s-1) after the last repetition of the last series. (Sánchez-Medina and González-Badillo, 2011).

Figures 1 and 2 show the relationship between the loss of speed in the line and the loss of speed with the load that had moved 1 m*s-1 before carrying out each one of the efforts. The high relationship between the compared variables indicates that the loss of speed in the series, at least between 70% and 90% of 1RM, is an accurate estimator of the degree of fatigue generated by training in both exercises.

acute fatigue depends directly on the loss of speed in the series, regardless of the number of repetitions that can be done with the load that is trained

In addition, it can be stated that fatigue directly depends on the loss of speed in the series, regardless of the number of repetitions that can be done with the load being trained. This affirmation is based on the fact that for intervals of 5-7% of losses in the series (axis X) occur with similar losses of speed with the load of 1 m*s-1 belonging to the different types of effort (axis Y). Result. two similar ones were obtained when the relationship between the speed losses in the series and the height loss in the vertical jump was calculated (figure 2).

Figure 2. Correlation between the loss of mean propulsive velocity (VMP) in the series and the loss of VMP with the load of 1 m*s-1 in the bench press exercise. Each color represents the CE with a different maximum number of repetitions/series (blue: 12 possible repetitions; yellow: 10; green: 8; pink: 6; red: 4) (Sánchez-Medina and González-Badillo, 2011).

The results of this study indicate that regardless of the cause, within the intensity ranges studied, the fatigue caused by a training session with loads depends on the percentage of speed loss in the series (at the end of the three series, in this case), regardless of the number of repetitions that can be performed in the series itself.

This conclusion is justified by the close relationship between the speed losses in the series and the speed loss with the load of 1 m*s-1 and the height loss in the vertical jump. In turn, the loss of speed with the load of 1 m*s-1 and the loss of height in the vertical jump are precise estimators of the metabolic stress caused by the training session, naturally due to the high relationship of these variables with the concentration of lactate and ammonium.

It is also noteworthy that, if we take the ammonium concentration as a reference, when the speed losses in the series (the three series) do not exceed 30% in the squat or 40% in the bench press, it seems that the emergency pathway of energy production is set in motion, so fatigue does not seem to be excessive in these cases.

Therefore, speed control not only allows estimating the degree of fatigue, but in this case it informs us about the possible consequences if certain physiological stress barriers are overcome. The causes of loss of speed within the series and the loss of speed cal the load of 1 m*s-1 and the vertical jump can be associated with those that we have indicated for the efforts of short duration.

Therefore, the results of this study lead to reflection and conclusion that it cannot be affirmed that the greater the absolute intensity at which an activity is carried out until exhaustion, the greater the fatigue.

It can be affirmed that the time or the number of repetitions that this intensity can be supported will be less. In other words, muscular failure, exhaustion, is reached sooner, and therefore fatigue develops more quickly the higher the intensity, but the fatigue does not have to be greater, rather it will actually tend to be less.

In this case, it is observed that fewer repetitions per series can be done the higher the load or intensity (1RM percentage), and therefore muscle failure and exhaustion are reached earlier, but fatigue is less: less speed loss in the series and with the load of 1 m*s-1 and less height loss in the post-effort vertical jump.

From this conclusion it should not be deduced that training with external loads should be done with the highest intensities, because this would generate less fatigue. Other factors such as the absolute speed of execution, maximum and average, the nature of the effort and the number of total repetitions to be performed are determining factors in the training effect.

Fatigue in a dynamic effort with loads to exhaustion

In the laboratory, the authors carried out a study in which they tried to verify the degree of fatigue and the post-effort recovery time of a dynamic exercise, measured through the changes in force, speed and RFD (rate of force development or force per unit of time) in a static and a dynamic test (Rodríguez-Rosell, Doctoral Thesis).

To do this, 28 physically active subjects, with experience in strength training, performed a test to muscular failure in the bench press exercise with a load that they were capable of moving at a speed of -0.78 m/s (-60% of 1RM). Before, immediately after, and at 3, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min after finishing the effort, an isometric and a dynamic measurement were made.

The degree of fatigue and recovery in the dynamic measurement was determined by the performance with the load that could be moved at 1 m*s-1, which was measured before the effort and in the six moments after the effort. In the dynamic measurement, the variables analyzed, among others, were the Mean Propulsive Velocity (MPV), Peak Force (PF), Peak Velocity (PV), and Maximum Force Production in Unit Time (MRFD), The first observation is that the loss of the values ​​of these variables is not linear through the total number of repetitions performed until exhaustion.

When comparing the loss during the first and second half of the total number of repetitions performed, it was observed that the losses in the second half were significantly higher than in the first half in all variables. The VMP (43%) and the PV (43.5%) were the variables that lost the most in the second half with respect to the first, followed by the MRFD (38.6%) and, to a lesser extent, the PF (12%).

Immediately after the effort, the yield loss percentages were 58.4 in the VMP, 59.3 in the PV, 65.8 in the MRFD and 28.9 in the PF. At 20 minutes after the effort (last post-exercise test), none of the variables had recovered in a statistically significant way, although with a greater recovery ra of the PF variable with respect to the other three.

The values ​​of these variables at the end of 20 minutes of recovery with respect to the initial test were 89.1 (VMP), 86.8 (PV), 83.9 (MRFD) and 94.6% (PF).

Furthermore, the RED values ​​at times 0-50, 0-75 and 0-100 ms also did not recover significantly at the end of 20 min. From these results it can be deduced that speed and force production in unit time are much more sensitive to fatigue than the applied peak force.

Therefore, the measurement of fatigue after an effort to exhaustion when moving loads should be done especially through speed and RFD, since if only the peak force is measured, the information may be erroneous.

Given the difficulty of measuring RFD in most cases, speed once again appears as the best way to control the degree of fatigue and recovery after exertion.

In the static or isometric measurement, the MRFD was at 77.8% of the initial value] at 20 minutes of recovery, while the PF was at 96.3% of the initial value. In the test immediately after the effort, the MRFD lost 66.6% and the PF 29.9%.

As in the assessment of fatigue through dynamic measurement, in static action the MRFD is much more sensitive to fatigue than the peak force. The PF value was no longer significantly different from the initial test at 20 minutes, while the MRFD was.

Therefore, in static actions, fatigue can also be assessed more precisely through the production of force in the unit of time than by the peak force reached. It can be seen that the yield loss and recovery values ​​were similar when evaluating them through dynamic and static action.

Similar results were found by Buckthorpe et al., (2014), who, after carrying out repeated efforts in an explosive manner, verified that the RFD declined faster and more pronouncedly than the maximum force. The initial phase of the RFD (0-50 ms) was especially sensitive to fatigue. According to these authors, both neural (central fatigue) and contractile (peripheral fatigue) mechanisms seem to contribute to the reduction of RFD and maximum force.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Crossfit is a great and totally addictive tool to get fit and improve your health and fitness that is used by thousands of people all over the world. It is a proven and studied system that offers improvements in the level of performance and body composition throughout the world. However, Crossfit’s detractors accuse this discipline of being harmful, due to the fact that complex exercises are carried out, with high intensity and with medium-high loads. The reality is that injuries in Crossfit happen like in any sports discipline and to deny that would be to ignore reality.

And study from the Kennesaw State University of Georgia, United States carried out for 4 years with more than 3000 participants concluded that the ratio of injuries per 1000 hours of Crossfit is 0.74, quite inferior than other sports such as football, hockey, basketball, rugby and many other sports according to this review of studies conducted by the University of Queensland.

It seems likely that the idea that Crossfit is very harmful comes from the fact that the majority of the population comes into contact with Crossfit by looking at the Crossfit Games u other competitions where professional or semi-professional athletes go to the maximum, leaving technique aside in order to get one more repetition or start a second off the clock.

However, we cannot transfer elite competition to the recreational sport that is practiced by 99% of crossfitters in the world. We cannot forget that Crossfit is practiced under the supervision of a professional monitor and the vast majority of them are concerned that their clients perform the exercises with the correct technique and intensity. However, even having the correct advice, we cannot ignore the fact that Crossfit injuries occur and most of them, as in all sports, are preventable with adapted work, correct rest and training with good mobility.

Within Crossfit, shoulder injuries have been reported to be the most common. It is normal since there are a series of very common exercises that demand the shoulder joint, such as the Overhead Squat, Snatch, Clean, Push Press, Thruster or Push Jerk to name a few. The shoulder joint is not specially designed to bear weight like the knee or hip, and it is the most mobile joint in the human body. Many of these Crossfit exercises put pressure on the shoulder, especially in gymnastics or handstand pushups. This stress, particularly when the athlete is fatigued and technique may be compromised, can lead to shoulder injuries.

The shoulder is one of the most complex joints in the body, it is formed at the junction of the humerus with the scapula. Other parts of the shoulder are the acromion, which is a bony projection off the scapula, the clavicle, which meets the acromion at the acromioclavicular joint, and the coracoid, which is a hook-shaped bony projection from the scapula.

How to avoid shoulder injuries?

• Maintain a correct technique: it seems obvious but it is the most important thing. Most injuries come from forcing the joint by doing exercises that we do not master well or with a load that we cannot move correctly. In the end for amateur crossfitters, the competition is with oneself, so if we need a few more seconds to rest or remove a disc from the bar, it is surely the wisest decision for our long-term performance.
• Strengthens the joint: We continue with the obvious, but strong muscles and tendons are less likely to be damaged. We recommend these exercises to strengthen our rotator cuffs and thus prevent many injuries:
  1- Turkish lifting
  2- Inverted row
  3- Rowing pendlay
  4- Facepull
• Train shoulder mobility: a good base of joint mobility and stability is key to being able to perform the most demanding Crossfit exercises without shoulder injuries. Of course, this won’t guarantee you won’t injure yourself, but a foundation of strength and mobility is the cornerstone of healthy shoulders. We recommend these exercises to work the mobility of our shoulders:
  1- Stretching in “door frame”
  2- Shoulder dislocation
  3- “Five ways” with elastic band
  4- Wall extensions
• Warm up your shoulder before training: no matter how much mobility and strength you have, starting to push jerk as you enter the door of your box is buying tickets to win a shoulder injury pack. Before training, both a general and a specific warm-up are essential before starting the day’s work. For the general warm-up we recommend some cardio exercise at a low-moderate intensity to raise the general temperature of our body and raise our heart rate. Doing 500 jump ropes, rowing 500 meters or 50 jumping jacks can be a good general warm up before training.
  On the other hand, specific warm-up is just as important, in this case for shoulders. A good warm-up could be the following:
  1- Cat-Cow Pose: 12 repetitions
  2- Slides on the wall to : the more the better!
  3- Y’s, T’s y W’s: 8 repeticiones
  4- 3 or 4 minutes of approximations to the weight with which you are going to work in the exercise that you are going to do.
• Train pulling exercises more than pushing: this can be counterintuitive, but to maintain balance between the anterior and posterior chain, experts indicate that we should do more pulling than pushing exercises, even in a 2:1 ratio. Why is that? Currently, most of the activities to which we are regularly exposed contribute to the mastery of the previous chain, for example working at a desk, driving or sitting writing on WhatsApp are things in which we spend many hours a day. Being a bit dramatic, the modern lifestyle hates the posterior chain. How can we compensate for this? It’s simple, do more pulls. Try to do 2 reps of a pull exercise for every push rep. This may seem like an exaggeration, but it is quite effective. Also, having a strong and stable back is a great help to improve your Bench Press, Squat and Deadlift. To get to or get close to this ratio, we can use various methods.
  1- Do 1 or 2 pulling exercises in all warm-ups.
  2- Super series every push with pull.
  3- Pull heavy first in every workout.
  4- Do pulls throughout the day with an elastic band.
• Stop Benching “Bodybuilder Style”: Many bodybuilders spread their elbows away from their bodies and lower the bar over their upper chest, supposedly to isolate the pecs as much as possible. Although there may be some truth to this, what is also true is that it is a terrible generator of shoulder injuries. The same applies to push-ups where the elbows should never go at an angle of 90 with respect to our trunk.
• Avoid Wide-Grip Pull-Ups and Pulldowns: In line with the advice above, wide-grip pull-ups are supposed to isolate your lats better, but the reality is that they shorten your range of motion and increase the potential for injury. In general we do not recommend extending your grip beyond slightly more than shoulder width.
• Do not do exercises that are harmful to the shoulders: strong Although in the above cases it is acceptable to use the “bodybuilder” technique if it is done from time to time and with moderate loads. In this case, we do not recommend doing the following exercises under any circumstances:
  1. pull-ups
  2. pull behind the neck
  3. military press behind the neck They offer no advantage over their variants in front of our face and they are very, very dangerous.

As a complement to this guide, we are going to propose a series of 8 WODs that will strengthen your torso and help prevent shoulder injuries.

• WOD 1:
  5-10-15-20-15-10-5
  Push-Press
  Ring Dips
  Push ups
• WOD 2:
  21-15-9
  Handstand Push Ups
  Ring Dips
  Push Ups
• WOD 3:
  For Time: 100 Pull Ups
• WOD 4:
  5 rounds, max reps
  Press Banca with your corporal weight
  Pull Ups
• WOD 5:
  5 rondas per hour
  Ring Push Ups Max Reps
  Rest 1:00
• Max Reps Ring Dips
  Rest 1:00
• WOD 6:
  AMRAP 20 minutes
  5 Pull Up
  10 Push Up
• WOD 7:
  21-18-15-12-9
  Back Extensions
  Pull Ups
  Sit UpsRing Dips
• WOD 8:
  4 rondas per hour
  6 Push Press
  6 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
  6 Kettlebell Push Press Unilateral

Conclusions:

Despite the fame of creating many crossfit shoulder injuries, you should not have problems with this joint if you go to a professional box, do not do stupid things and listen to your body. Shoulder mobility is something that is achieved over time and by working on it you can get great results.

We hope these tips are useful and can help avoid shoulder injuries, we want a healthy and sporty community that exceeds its goals in Fitenium. If there is any other part of the body that interests you and you want a similar article about it, write us an email to info@fitenium.com and we will study the suggested topic.

Greetings and see you in Fitenium!

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Often when we talk about the relationship between physical activity and the proportion of overweight and obesity, it is equally necessary to establish and explain the relationship between sleep deprivation (or decreased sleep time) and overweight and obesity. ..

Specifically, sleep is a factor primarily associated with two very important hormones when it comes to regulating appetite. Therefore, if you do not respect your hours of sleep, you can ruin your diet.

Sleep deprivation and hormone regulation

Sleep cycles and hormonal regulation are two issues that may seem unrelated to us, but they are more important than we think. Therefore, prolonging this tendency over time (either voluntarily or for work reasons) by saying, “I can sleep for 4 hours,” makes serious mistakes that lead to overweight and obesity.

The reason is that during sleep, the two hormones ghrelin and leptin act to regulate hunger and satiety. How many people got up in the morning to be hungry enough to eat the whole refrigerator?

Published on Unplash by strvnge films

In addition, lack of sleep causes changes in our intestinal flora and there are problems that this poses.

Ghrelin

Ghrelin is a hormone that regulates our appetite, the desire to eat. The problem with this hormone is that our body needs food (generally high in sugars and fats) since its production increases as sleep time decreases.

To reflect this, please think. When you’re hungry at night, do you eat fruit or go straight to something “thicker” like cookies, candy, and processed foods? Yes, some say drink a glass of water and go to bed, but most people are looking for a way to satisfy their hunger and eat what they first found. Unfortunately, they are not very healthy foods.

leptin

Leptin is what we need to adjust our feelings of “satiety”. The higher the concentration of leptate, the greater the degree of sufficiency and the decrease in the amount of sufficiency, resulting in a decrease in the so-called “full stomach window” and the reduction in each meal. There is a tendency to You can eat a lot of food.

Published on Unplash by Ryan De Hamer

Here, the less you sleep, the longer you wake up, very low leptin levels, and the longer you eat.

Multizona

This hormone is commonly associated with stress levels, but it’s also associated with sleep-wake cycles, so consider it when discussing lack of sleep (especially those that can cause certain symptoms). Required element. Stress levels due to lack of rest) and increased rates of overweight or obesity (among other functions, cortisol is involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats).

During sleeping hours, this hormone is at its lowest level (or under normal circumstances, unless there is a hormonal change that may affect cortisol secretion or external factors that affect us in the future). They have to disappear) The sun rises and when I wake up it rises. If these levels were not raised before waking up, we either cannot wake up or are awake and exhausted with no energy.

High cortisol levels lead to high energy levels (as well as being associated with stress), and high levels at bedtime can make it difficult to fall asleep and, in the long term, can lead to related complications. More serious like the need to take medication to keep going. One option you can consider before having to take your medications and sleep is to rely on melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.

Published on Unplash by Jared Rice

How my rhythm of life affects the sleep cycle

We live in a society where the rhythm of life from the time we get up to the time we go to bed is enthusiastic and makes us sleepy. Work, family, bills, everyone in a hurry, everyone wants to be first, urban environment, traffic jams… all these factors are vulnerable to influencing the hormonal system, usually stress. In the form of, as mentioned above, high stress means high cortisol levels.

For this reason, it is important to find time and relax during the day. Take a walk in the park, go to the library, listen to music, take a relaxing bath, and do whatever you want. .. There are more options for achieving a sleep-wake cycle that reduces stress levels and allows for rest and recovery at the end of the day.

Sleep disorders: insomnia and hypersomnia

insomnia

It is common in certain high-stress situations (exams, health problems, major life changes, etc.), but it can also be chronic and not directly related to the problem that caused it. To speak of insomnia at the level of illness or disability, it must occur in a “common” way (3 nights or more per week).

Insomnia indicators wake up before resting 6 hours and 30 minutes, wake up several times a night, sleep more than 30 minutes, or sleep more than 30 minutes before going to bed.

hypersomnia

It is an excess of sleep during the day, with different syndromes and symptoms of different causes. For example, narcolepsy-cataplexy syndrome is characterized by uncontrolled sleep attacks, episodes of sleep paralysis, hallucinations during sleep onset, and/or weakness (loss of muscle tone).

Another syndrome, sleep apnea, mainly (but not only) affects people with hypertension and obesity. In apnea, breathing stops more or less prolonged sleep, which can cause heart, nervous and social problems. Apnea treatment includes the use of continuous oxygen masks.

Circadian rhythm disorders that can affect hormones

Although recommendations for the amount of sleep needed to maintain a proper circadian rhythm have changed over time, you can find general guidelines established by the National Sleep Foundation for recommended hours of sleep based on the following: Can our age.

Delayed Phase Syndrome: The patient falls asleep, is awake longer than desired, and is awake for more than a month. It is mainly adolescent population and young adults. Many patients need to wake up in the morning to meet social and work obligations and are often chronically sleep deprived. Embrace Embrace In addition, it can cause a depressive syndrome.

In addition to being able to have a primary sleep phase delay for the desired amount of sleep, patients primarily report inability to fall asleep or inability to wake up spontaneously or excessive fatigue. These symptoms should last at least a month.

Jet-Lag: typical of intercontinental air travel, presenting a series of biological, clinical and social changes associated with the rapid transit of various time zones. The speed of traveling long distances exposes the body to sudden delays between its physiological time and the local time of the country of departure and the time of the country of destination.

Clinically it is easy to achieve in normal conditions due to mood disorders, anxiety, decrease, as well as sleep disorders (falling asleep and difficulty waking up) and asthenia (general weakness or fatigue). Difficulty or hindering the ability to perform physical and intellectual performance, and sometimes digestive disorders. The severity of the symptoms is proportional to the number of time zones elapsed and the age of the individual.

It also depends on the direction of the flight. Traveling east (which leads to faster sleep and wake rates) is more problematic than traveling west (slower pace). Sleep Sleep becomes less effective and you wake up more frequently. Adjusting to your local time zone may take 2-7 days, depending on the length of your trip and your personal sensitivity.

The symptoms are insomnia or excessive sleepiness. Symptoms begin one to two days after the aircraft’s flight in at least two time zones.

Shift Worker Syndrome: When night workers are frequently subjected to shift work rotation, daytime sleep is much more fragmented and less comfortable than nighttime sleep, and is usually a noticeable lack of time to sleep. This usually causes discomfort, fatigue, irritability, more gastrointestinal disorders, desire to consume alcohol and can lead to the indiscriminate use of sedatives and hypnotics to fall asleep.

Symptoms occur especially on the first day after the shift change. The situation can be aggravated if the worker does not follow a consistent pattern throughout the week, simply keeps changing cycles on weekdays and returns to the normal cycle during holidays and vacations.

The main symptom is insomnia or excessive sleepiness and is temporarily associated with the duration of work (usually nocturnal) that occurs during normal sleep.

Advanced phase syndrome: Sleep that is characterized by the need to fall asleep very quickly before the desired time, in the late afternoon, not adjustable, and by waking up very early a few in the morning. People who have it often complain abnormally early when they wake up. It occurs mainly in the elderly and is characterized by the inability to wake up at the desired bedtime or to stay asleep for the desired length of time.

Symptoms must be present for a minimum of 3 months, with 24-36 hours of polysomnography showing evidence of a one hour advance to a normal sleep period.

Irregular sleep-wake rhythm: It is a change in the circadian rhythm of sleep due to the dysregulation of an internal biological clock that “tells” the time (for example, the time to wake up each morning). For several months, it leads to the fragmentation of daytime and nighttime sleep, which fluctuates and becomes irregular.

This abnormality in the temporal distribution of sleep has an important relationship with daily life. Therefore, students, unemployment, inappropriate styles (such as young people), bedridden patients or a person who loses these routines. If total sleep time is within normal age limits, then

Insomnia and hypersomnia are found in people whose sleep is fragmented into three or more episodes during a 24-hour period. They have an irregular pattern of at least 3 sleep episodes every 24 hours for at least 3 months.

Freedom thyroid dome (hypernictameral): Produces more than 24 hours of sleep-wake cycle in 1 to 2 hours daily. Then you can gradually exit the adjustment process. Sleep regularly returns to normal nighttime hours, which can also be found in people deprived of their feelings of improvement in discomfort. This is similar to.

This syndrome is particularly common in people with visual impairment. If this is not the case, to exclude the psychological state of the ip, exclude psychological (psychological) psychological examination by radiation technology to investigate the psycho-psychological domain. Therefore, it is difficult to detect a tumor or a harmful ulcer, a harmful ulcer or a harmful ulcer, for which a psychometric measurement and a psychiatric examination are indispensable.

A stable 24-h sleep-wake pattern cannot be maintained for at least 6 weeks, requiring a gradual delay in sleep onset and sleep end.

Conclusion

As we have seen, sleep and rest patterns are clearly more important than people realize. Normally, “the associated disorder and/or disease can be more or less severe.

In addition, hormones such as leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol cause eating disorders when their production rates are altered, resulting in weight gain and everything associated with it (increased body fat, increased risk of disease). Increased cardiovascular disease, increased waist circumference, risk of metabolic syndrome.

Therefore, it is recommended to pay maximum attention to sleep-wake cycles and keep the production of hormones described above within normal parameters. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the level of stress that can be received and avoid the appearance of an episode. It is the food that leads to fats and fats.

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Thanks to recent research, it is known that physical activity can not only improve productivity at work, but can also significantly improve your health by incorporating healthy habits into your life. This is known especially in Sweden, one of the countries where more physical activity is carried out. As a result, some Swedish companies are beginning to include clauses in their contracts that require workers to exercise for one hour a week.

Many independent companies provide employees with healthy habits and training services. Other companies offer weekly yoga and Pilates classes for employees and certain residents on the premises.

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Promoting healthy habits at work is a habit that both employers and employees acquire with the aim of improving productivity on the one hand and improving health on the other.

Companies care about the health of their employees because they know that healthy and healthy workers have high productivity and low absenteeism. The values ​​associated with sport, such as the spirit of improvement and teamwork, are usually aligned with the business philosophy. Those corporations that are capable of managing to improve the health of workers by promoting healthy habits achieve long-term benefits.

Two of the main health problems we face in the workplace are a sedentary lifestyle and work-induced stress, both of which can be improved by regular exercise.

Job stress can lead to serious problems, especially in jobs where people are on release for looming deadlines or where workers must deal with unexpected situations on a daily basis (for example, the service sector). Workplace stress is known to be one of the factors that increase the risk of stroke.

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As part of that, a sedentary lifestyle is one of the most common causes of workplace pathology, including back pain and injuries associated with prolonged use of mice and keyboards. This is the case, for example, of carpal tunnel syndrome, which has recently been recognized as an occupational disease in the commercial field.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

If you practice sports regularly, it is very likely that sooner or later you will suffer an injury, so it is important that you know how to react when it happens. Applying the correct protocol immediately after suffering an acute injury such as an ankle sprain, which is very common among athletes, can affect the healing of the injury over time.

I’m sure many of you are aware of the RICE protocol. This is the most famous and established a few years ago as the “official” protocol for monitoring acute injuries. RICE represents four things to remember when an acute injury occurs. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The objective of RICE is to minimize the use of the injured area, apply cold to reduce inflation and contain possible bleeding or problems with the affected muscles and ligaments.

A few years later, the RICE protocol was superseded by the new PRICE protocol. This first adds P to the previous four acronyms and which stands for Protection.

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As of the year 2012, the POLICE protocol lands, which is more complete than PRICE and which is the acronym for Protection, Optimal Load, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

Different phases of the POLICE protocol

protection

It is important to protect your joints immediately after an injury. For this reason, protection was included in the change from the RICE protocol to PRICE, and was also maintained even when changing to the POLICE method. For an ankle sprain, protect the injured extremity with a functional bandage or ankle brace that can limit movement for immediate treatment of an acute injury.

optimal load

This is the essence of the POLICE method, the rest of the phases do not change with respect to PRICE. The optimal load of the POLICE method refers to the fact that absolute rest of the joint should be avoided since it practically never favors the healing of the lesion. In this line, it is preferable to choose a relative rest and rehabilitation with dynamic and progressive efforts that can strengthen the joint during recovery.

The POLICE method excludes rest and introduces functional rehabilitation with optimal load

A physiotherapist is the right expert to decide what will be the optimal load in functional rehabilitation to recover from injury. Obviously, this optimal load can change depending on the injury we suffer, which varies from person to person and can change over time. The optimal load can be “none” for a period of time, or it can be our own weight.

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It is very important that in the event of an injury we go to a health professional as soon as possible so that they can assess the severity of the injury, apply the appropriate treatment and we can start rehabilitation as soon as possible.

ice

Having a local inflation when injured is one of the basic concepts that we must know. We can reduce inflammation by applying ice applied discontinuously and protecting the area of ​​application with an appropriate method (the ice pack can be wrapped with a cloth or towel to avoid skin burns). In addition, it provides an immediate calming and analgesic effect after its application.

Ice is recommended for the first 72 hours after acute trauma. As you can imagine, this is contraindicated if you have a wound or bleeding.

compression and elevation

Both functional bandage compression and putting on the injured extremity have the ability to improve venous return and reduce edema that can occur after acute injury. These are two key elements to reduce inflation.

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It is very important that you know these protocols if you play sports as they will decrease your reaction time in case of injury. Always remember to attend a health center to receive personalized attention about your injury to ensure a proper and speedy recovery.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

In the gym you can find many elements to train your body and perform countless exercises. This provides a wide variety of options when planning your training program. However, it is possible that the machines or equipment are busy and it takes you a long time to wait for them to be released.

Today we will see a series of exercises that move the entire body, requiring only one disc. Choose the weight according to your capacity, keeping in mind that the exercise is complex and the disc cannot change shape.

ONE LEG DEADLIFT

To start this session, choose this variant of the deadlift incorporating a stability component that works in a one-legged stance. To compensate for this imbalance, the gluteus medius and core are the main stabilizing activities. This makes it a much more complete exercise than a traditional deadlift.

Due to the large number of muscle groups involved, from the gripping forearm muscles to the lower body muscles, the deadlift is a great exercise that significantly increases our strength.

Squats with push-ups

To do this, hold the disc with your hands in front of you and your arms fully extended. The first stage of the movement is the lowering squat. This is done as if you were working in a traditional squat, avoiding the arch to prevent injury and keeping your back in a neutral position.

Follow the exercise after the squat with a biceps curl before squatting again. This exercise, in addition to using the main muscle groups, helps you improve your coordination and synchronize movements.

disc rowing

It is important to move your back from different angles and different exercises, as you will be training different important areas of the body that are often affected by discomfort, pain and injury. As in this case, exercising with weights and plates to strengthen your back muscles can reduce the chance of injury.

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One of the main differences in this type of row from the classic barbell row is that you put your weight in the center, rather than on the sides of your body like you would with a barbell. In our hands. Also, you can operate the puck with both hands.

Bank press with disk

This variant of the classic Bench Press gives you a considerable level of strength and allows you to improve your Bench Press. When you’re lying on the floor, the lowering motion of the elbow is limited by the floor, eliminating the risk of lowering yourself unnecessarily and potentially damaging your pectoral muscles.

Also, another benefit of this floor exercise is that the entire surface rests on the floor, making your posture much more stable. The rest behaves like any other chest press. Hold the disc with both hands at sternum level and push it up. If you want more difficulty and a better grip, you can do an exercise holding the disc between the palms.

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one hand lift

This move (usually performed with kettlebells) not only helps build shoulder strength simply by placing a disc overhead, it also addresses scapulohumeral joint mobility. However, like all shoulder exercises, it is advisable to start with a moderate weight, since we have the problem of overestimating our capacities and carrying more weight than we need.

Exercise is a good way to gain scapulohumeral mobility as well as allowing us to gain strength. As always, the main recommendation is to pay attention to the weight you choose to avoid injury.

Overhead Disc Triceps Extension

This exercise is usually performed with a dumbbell in one or both hands, but this time it is performed with both hands holding a plate and a starting position with the arm extended overhead. Then, bend your elbows so that the disc is just behind your head.

Due to this, body movement and health are closely related to the work of the brain. But we can conclude with the existing scientific evidence that regular exercise prepares our lives by actively altering our brain.

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regular exercise optimizes your brain

Specifically, exercise stimulates the processes that lead to neurogenesis, increases resistance to brain damage, and improves learning and mental performance. However, in addition to this, it is concluded that exercise promotes plasticity in the brain and not only ensures neuronal maintenance, survival and growth, but can also be more resistant to external or internal negative aspects.

Similarly, as has been shown in rodents, when we exercise regularly, our brains are more resistant to the effects of stress, so cognitive performance and alertness do not decline sooner. This means that when we are faced with difficult situations in our work day, our brain works better and when we are physically active our resolution capacity is greater.

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Regular and challenging exercises help manage frustration, perseverance, and progress toward goals. That is, prepare for daily life.

There is also evidence that exercise improves executive functions such as goal achievement and inhibitory control. This is the key to being persistent in our lives and succeeding according to our detailed goals.

In addition, exercise is a challenge for our brain, especially when it is complicated and requires effort and dedication, which leads to a significant improvement in brain health, which makes us more deterministic and prepared to face the day to day. Our routine or other challenges on a larger scale.

For all this, regular and challenging exercises prepare us for our day to day, manage frustration, are persistent and, according to our purposes, to reach the following successful situations: Helps progress.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

However, this machine and the execution of the rowing exercise on it need proper use that ensures proper position and execution, otherwise the movement can cause injuries over time.

Muscles Involved in the Rowing Machine

When we use a gym rowing machine, we actually use all the muscles in the body (to achieve a grip from the forearm muscles to the leg muscles). It is probably the most complete cardiovascular exercise you can do in the gym.

Upper part of the body

Regarding the upper part of the body, we can point out the following parts involved in carrying out this exercise:

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Forearm: The muscular tissue of the forearm is essential for a good grip and prevents the bar that we pull from escaping from us.

Arms and back: The arms and back are the generators of movement in the upper body of this exercise. This is because there are two parts involved in pulling up on the bar and bringing the grip to the chest or abdomen.

Shoulder – From a purely movement standpoint, the posterior triangularis muscle is the most functional part of the shoulder, so it is important to properly strengthen it.

Abdominal muscle (core)

The core, and therefore the abdominal muscles, are of paramount importance in this exercise. This is to help you maintain proper posture and avoid “sinking” or rounding your back into the seat of the machine, which can lead to injury.

To avoid this mistake, you should keep your hips neutral and stretch before rocking back and forth.

lower body

You may think that you only exercise your upper body, but when you use a rowing machine, you also exercise your leg muscles. This is because the legs are bent and straightened during the exercise. The muscles of our legs intervene secondarily.

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For this reason, rowing machines also help build stamina in your legs.

The main mistakes that are made when using the rowing machine

back positioning

One of the main mistakes you can make when operating a rowing machine in the gym is poor back position. This can happen due to two main points. The first, which is very common in back movement exercises, is excessive arching of the spine as it moves forward, or hyperextension of the lumbar spine as it moves back.

The second obstacle to back positioning occurs because the core is too weak and there is “slack” in the seat. This can cause injuries that make “compact” placement impossible.

To avoid these mistakes and learn proper technique, you can keep your back as neutral as possible and lean back slightly when you shoot, but the more you get into the “hump” position, the more you’ll lean forward.

Ignore elbow placement

Another common mistake with this machine is placing your elbow when raising your shoulders horizontally. Otherwise, the space under the shoulder peak will be reduced and, as a result, there is a risk of injury. The forced neck posture increases tension in all systems of the cervical muscles, which increases the risk of contractions in that area.

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During execution, it is difficult to keep the elbow as close to the ribs as possible to avoid these obstacles. If for some reason you hit your elbows too much, you can open it up a bit as long as your shoulders stay horizontal.

Poor leg and arm synchronization.

On the rowing machine you need to synchronize your arms and legs well. This is because if you flex your legs sooner than expected, you won’t be able to pull the machine. Also, if you pull at the wrong time, the body will try to compensate for that force with an unnatural posture, creating positions when performing the exercises that can increase the risk of injury.

Types of training on rowing machines

remote target training

This type of training consists of setting an imaginary distance as a goal and covering it in more or less time. For beginners, this is the best way to get used to these cardio machines, along with training for time.

Over time, as your body shape improves, you can try to cover the distance in less time or with more endurance.

time training

Time training involves setting a time limit for rowing a boat, regardless of the mileage or endurance of the machine.

interval training

Within this form of training on a rowing machine, HIIT-type routines are framed through which you exercise continuously for a while and then rest for a specific amount of time. If you want to add strength, you should try adjusting the resistance of the machine or trying to move more distance while rowing on the machine.

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