2667: 4 Tips to Feel Great With Strength Training by Nia Shanks on Varying Workout Splits

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: This is Optimal Health Daily Episode 2667, 4 Tips to Feel Great With Strength Training by Nia Shanks of Nia Shanks.com

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm Dr. Neal Malik reading you some of the most popular health and fitness blogs out there

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_00]: with permission from the websites and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Now I'm going to keep this intro nice and short so let's get right to the post as we optimize your life.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: 4 Tips to Feel Great With Strength Training by Nia Shanks on Nia Shanks.com

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: If your strength training workouts don't make you feel great or worse leave you feeling achy or beat up,

[00:00:43] [SPEAKER_00]: then you need to change things. Now here's how. In this article you'll find four tips I use with

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: clients and myself who complain that lifting weights didn't feel good or left them feeling achy,

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_00]: whether you're an older lifter and want to strength train as safely as possible,

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: you have previous aches and pains you want to alleviate or you want your workouts to make you feel

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: better and have more energy give these four tips to try during your next workout.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Tip 1 Slow Down Your Reps This tip is simple to practice but also very effective,

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: especially if you've previously experienced discomfort or pain from strength training workouts.

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Give this a try during your next workout or even test it now with the set of pushups

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: to experience it for yourself. Slow down your reps by taking approximately two to three seconds

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: to perform the lowering portion of the exercise. You don't need to count but noticeably slow down

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_00]: your rep performance. Using a pushup as an example, take two to three seconds to lower yourself

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: down to the ground. Then smoothly reverse the motion. Do not use momentum or bounce back up.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Sticking with the pushup example after you lower yourself down smoothly reverse the motion

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and press back up. It may help to add a slight pause in the bottom position to ensure you don't

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: bounce out of the bottom. Perform the lifting portion in about one to two seconds. With the pushup

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: once you smoothly reverse the motion, press back up taking one maybe two seconds. Once you're in

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: the top position, immediately lower into the next rep. To break down the rep performance again,

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: take two to three seconds for the lowering portion, smoothly reverse the motion or pause in

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: the bottom position for a second and take one to two seconds to perform the lifting phase of the

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: session. They drop down quickly and use that natural bounce to help them get back up.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't do that if you want to keep your shoulders healthy. Lower down under control,

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: taking about two to three seconds and then smoothly reverse the motion and take one to two

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_00]: seconds to pull back up. This tip should also be applied to band assisted pullup variations too.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You can apply this slower rep performance technique to most exercises using barbells,

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_00]: cable machines and body weight. Now, I do not recommend this tip be practice with conventional

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: dead lifts or other variations like using a trap bar or performing a sumo dead lift. Instead,

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Romanian dead lifts are the one dead lift variation that's beneficial to slow down the lowering

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_00]: portion of the lift. And obviously don't practice this technique with explosive exercises like

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: swings, Olympic lifts and so on. Tip two, use more joint friendly equipment and exercise variations.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: This is a tip I use liberally with my more mature, beautiful bat-actors, usually those aged

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: 40 and older. And individuals who are beat up from years of lifting heavy weights or other

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: activities that were hard on their bodies. With those individuals, I stick to mostly dumbbell,

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: body weight, suspension trainer and cable machine exercises. We use barbell exercises sparingly.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Those tools tend to be more joint friendly because they allow natural movement in your joints,

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: compared to similar barbell exercises. Let's compare a barbell and dumbbell overhead press.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: With a barbell overhead press, your joints are locked into a more fixed range of motion,

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: but with dumbbells, there's more natural movement at the wrists, elbows and shoulders,

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: because you can adjust the position of the dumbbells. I've had several clients not be able to press

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: a barbell overhead without shoulder pain, but can do the dumbbell variation without issue.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_00]: If you ever feel beat up from heavy barbell workouts, try using dumbbells, cable machines,

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: a suspension trainer, and body weight exercises instead and see how you feel.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I've used this successfully with older trainees. This simple change has allowed them to keep

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_00]: training hard, safely, and continue to make progress while remaining pain free.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Tip 3. Reduce the load and focus on your form.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Lifting heavy weights and getting strong is really fun and awesome, but if you experience occasional

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: aches and pains associated with lifting heavy weight on a frequent basis, reduce the load and focus

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: on your form. But won't using lighter weights cause me to lose the strength and results I've

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: worked so hard to achieve? Progressively getting stronger is a great way to improve your performance

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: and thus transform your body. However, it's not the only way to improve your performance.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Focusing on your form is another method of performance improvement and a great way to make

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: strength training feel good and not leave you feeling beat up. If you typically focus on

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: lifting as much weight as possible, try reducing the load a bit even just 5 to 15 percent

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: and really focus on your rep performance. Make every single rep count and focus on each individual

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: rep. You can even combine this tip with tip 1. Just because you lighten the load doesn't mean

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you're not working hard or making progress. Reduce the weight a bit and put 100% effort into

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: every single rep you perform. Sound simple but it works and it can make you feel great.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: And tip 4. Use a different workout split. Workout splits control the volume and frequency

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: that you work each muscle group or movement. For example, if you perform three total body

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: workouts per week, you're essentially working your entire body three times each week. Some

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00]: trainees who primarily use total body workouts could benefit from rotating a different strength

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: training split into their programming such as an upper lower split or even a push pull

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: leg split. An upper lower split is exactly what it sounds like. Each workout trains either

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: your upper body or lower body muscles. I prefer four workouts per week when using an upper

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: lower split so you hit each muscle group twice per week. For example, upper body workout on Monday,

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_00]: lower body workout on Tuesday, upper body workout on Thursday and lower body workout on Friday

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_00]: works well. For trainees who've been doing nothing but total body workouts for months or years,

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: switching to an upper lower split for four to 12 weeks can help alleviate aches and pains because

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the frequency of hitting each muscle group is a bit less. Another split option which I only use for

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_00]: intermediate and experience to strength trainees is a push pull leg split. This is just as it sounds.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_00]: One workout you train pushing movements like overhead press, push ups and triceps extensions.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The second workout trains pulling movements like deadlift variation, rose, chin ups and biceps

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: curls and the third workout trains legs like squats, lunges and hip thrusts. The frequency for

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: training each muscle group is low with this split once per week but it's a great option to include

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: for those who find two to three workouts per week for each muscle group too much to recover from.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_00]: If you've been using the same split for several months, give this a shot. Try a different split

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: for the next four to eight weeks and see how you feel. Always remember that strength training

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: should make you feel great working out should never hurt. If you feel a bit beat up from your

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: start practicing the four tips shared today and start feeling great. Remember the goal isn't

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: just to train hard this week but you want to be able to keep training hard next year and 10 years from now.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: For that to happen, you need to train smart and stay healthy. You just listen to the post titled

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_00]: four tips to feel great with strength training by Nia Shanks of Nia Shanks.com and I'll be right back

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: with my commentary. Dr. Nia here for my commentary. One of Nia's tips was about using lighter weights

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and Nia shared a common concern that many have when they take a break from lifting heavier weights.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Won't I end up losing strength? Well, if you never lifted a heavy weight ever again then yes,

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_00]: you will lose strength but as Nia explained when your body needs a break from what you've been

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_00]: doing like lifting heavier weights all the time, using lighter weights can be really helpful.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Using lighter weights will force your muscles to adapt differently and recruit different

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: muscle fibers than they're used to, which is still progress and will keep you feeling good

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and will keep you training for years to come. All right that'll do it for today. Don't forget

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll be back here tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A so definitely stay tuned for that

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_00]: with your optimal life awaits.