PT By Mehyo

FIVE MISTAKES EVERYONE DO WHEN YOU START LIFTING :

1- High reps are better for toning ❌
✅What people mean by toning is basically losing fat , the latest studies show that losing fat is just a matter of putting yourself in caloric deficit by dieting and doing cardio
2- You should only train one body part per workout ( Bro Split) ❌
✅Full week between workouts is way more time than you need to recover a muscle to train it again split your trainning volume to more than one session and train more than one muscle.

3- You need to get sore for the workout to "count"❌
✅ Soreness CAN be a an indicator that u hit the muscle hard enough but what matters the most the sets , reps , and the effort you did per week for each muscle.

4- Muscle confusion is important, always switch things up❌
✅ Stick to compound movements especially beginners and try to get better and stronger when doing them with some variations between cables and machines.

5- No pain No gain , take every set to failure❌
✅ Taking every set to failure especially on compund movements can cause more fatigue snd increase injury risk i recommend reserving failing sets to firs set odthe isolation exercises and reserving 1 to 3 reps in your tank on compound lifts.

Often people at the gym will tell you "GO HEAVY OR GO HOME" if you want to see results. But is it true that you always need to lift heavy weights with all exercises and sets to see results ? Or can light weights with high reps be benefecial as well ? A meta-analysis done by doctor brad schoenfeld showed very similar positive signs for hypertrohpy ( muscle growth) between groups training with heavy loads and low reps and groups training with lighter loads and high reps (+20). What really matters is the quality of repetitions and the mind muscle connection during training and always have a progressive overload in our training what means keep getting better especially with the compound movements and to leave our ego at the door of the gym at every workout.

In order to achieve our best natural physique that we can possibly reach , we have to concentrate more on our weak points when training , here you will have four strategies to bring up your weak points and let the gains show up and this works for both men and women.

1- Increase the training frequency for that body part , like instead of training 20 sets of chest work in one session devide the working volume for twice sessions a week or even three times.

2-pay attention to your exercise order that means that you have to train your weak body parts earlier in a workout for more strength used there.

3- Improve your mind muscle connection by squeezing and stretching the muscles targeted.

4-use specialized intensity techniques like drop sets and forced reps and static holds.

In order to produce movement our muscles contract and must either shorten legnthen or remain the same length. Muscles contractions can be divided into three categories isotonic isometric and isokinetic , isotonic contractions occur when a muscle changes length while contracting and there are two types of isotonic contractions that we usually do when we perform resistance training exercises concentric contraction and eccentric contraction. The concentric or the positive phase is when the muscle fibers shortens under tension ( like the upward phase of the squat when the knee extends ), and the eccentric phase is when the muscle fibers lengthen under tension. Make sure to always slow your eccentric phase (4 seconds) for better range of motion and more time under tension to get the most benefits and for injury prevention too.

The myth that women shouldn't lift heavy is only perpetuated by women who fear work and men who fear women.

Are protein intakes over 30g per meal used for building muscles ?

According to studies an average body will use 20 to 30 grams of protein to support muscle growth after training your muscles and the rest of amino acids absorbed will be oxidised snd used for energy, size of the person is one of the factors too as the body get bigger in size it will need more protein to increase the synthetic response. Amount of muscle mass being trained each workout is a factor too means more muscles activated needs more protein to support muscle protein synthesis post workouts. As we get older a well- established phenomenon known as anabolic resistance occurs and that basically means that we need more protein to keep the synthetic response.The most important factor when it comes to training is to hit the daily protein intake recommended which is 1 g per pound.

What is mind muscle connection and when to use it ?

Mind muscle connection is the idea that you should intetionally focus on squeezing and isolating the muscle that you are training to target when doing weight training exercises for more muscle fibers activation. Many debates are still going on in fitness circles about using external cuing rather than internal cuing ( mind muscle connection ) , my own advice is to use external cuing and proper technique when performing heavy compound movements ( Deadlift , Squats ) and use mind muscle connection with isolation or single joint exercises ( Biceps curls , Lateral raises ).

Exercise of the week:

According to latest studies the hip thrusts is the best exercise for men and women that can be overloaded with weights to build their glutes for a better physique and a stronger structure and back chain.

Muscles targeted : Glutes , hamstrings , quadratus lumborum.

How to perform :

1-Place your upper back on a bench.
2- feets slightly wider than shoulder width stance 15 degrees flared out and chin tucked downward.
3-knees should be at 90 degrees angle at the top of the movement.
4-focus on extending your hips up rather than pushing the ground with the heels.
5- lock one second and the top.

What type of cardio should we do for fat loss ?

High Intensity Interval (HIIT) is high intensity bursts with lower intensity steady-state work in between intervals for example 20 seconds all out sprint or biking and then go at a light pace for two minutes and then repeat that again for 5 or 6 intervals.

Low Intensity Steady State(LISS) would be like just walking on a treadmill on a constant incline and a steady pace all the way through without any bursts of max exertion.

HIIT is more time efficient but there is no studies out there show that it burns more calories than LISS as many people seem to believe.The most potential strike against HIIT that its harder to recover from, so if you decided to do HIIT don't do it more than twice a week and try to space them out from your leg days for full recovery.