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Starting Line Fitness
Starting Line Fitness?

I was recently asked why I chose the name Starting Line Fitness. I realized that I've only told a couple of people how I picked the name Starting Line Fitness. So here goes... It was a dark stormy night...just kidding. One day my wife and I were hanging out in our living room and she asked if I could write her a workout program. She had recently joined a new gym and wanted to do more than just group fitness classes and cardio machines.

I was up to the challenge. I wrote the best damn program that was ever written. She looked at it for all two seconds and said "what are those?" She pointed to the words "Barbell Back Squats 45lbs 3x10".

deadlifts

Dumbbells For Not So Dummies

In just about every gym you'll find a guy doing curls too close to a rack of weights. Never mind the dummy, let's concentrate on the dumbbells (the weights on the rack).  Dumbbells are excellent tools for increasing strength, muscle tone and muscle endurance. Meaning they can help with just about everything you're trying to achieve by working out. A dumbbell is a free weight, meaning it can be moved around, characterized by a bar with weighted plates on each end.

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 10.26.19 AMDumbbells come in either fixed or adjustable weights. If the dumbbells are fixed weight, the weight is usually written or etched into the sides of the plates. Fixed weight dumbbells range from as light as 1 pound up to as heavy as 200 pounds, though most commercial  gyms will max out around 120 pounds.

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 11.10.39 AMAdjustable dumbbells, like fixed weight, come in many different varieties but for the most part they all work the same way. You have the center bar and you (evenly) add plates until you reach the desired weight. The weights are then held in place by a collar that is either spring loaded or locked into place.

Dumbbells are great because they allow the user the option of using both hands simultaneously or individually. Dumbbells allow for alternating exercises (one side then the other) and reciprocating exercises (both arms moving at the same time but in opposite directions). Dumbbells are also an effective tool because you can move them in just about every way imaginable depending on how heavy they are.

The last benefit I just mentioned is also big drawback of the dumbbell. The fact that it can and will move in a variety of directions make the dumbbell a tool that novice exercisers have to be careful with. That being said, I would suggest when starting to exercise with dumbbells to err on the lighter side. This way the worst that happens is that the exercise is too easy and you make it a little heavier the next set.

So (not so) politely say excuse me to the dummy in front of the rack and grab a pair of dumbbells and start pressing, squatting, deadlifting and what ever other exercise you can think of. Leave a comment if you have any questions and share with someone with who's been wondering about those weights on the rack.

Get On Your Foot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv12_1Cih1w How much time do you spend on one foot? The answer is probably more than you think. Every time you take a step during walking you're standing on one foot.

Knowing this, it stands to reason that we should practice being on one foot when we exercise. However, most of the time when you look at people in the gym they have both feet firmly planted on the ground.

I can't think of any standing exercise that can't (eventually) be progressed to one leg. Start by standing on one foot for as long as possible. Then compare that to the other side. If there's a significant difference (>10 seconds), then work on evening the two sides by practicing extra on the worst side.

Once you can easily stand on each foot for 30 seconds, then you can begin working on different exercises like the one Dorothy is doing in the video.

If you need ideas for single leg exercises let me know. #StartingLine

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