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A difference in strength between limbs, or between anterior and posterior muscles on a bone, is commonly observed. Is that muscle imbalance problematic? If so, how should it be corrected? The people who are experts in what you do, meaning in your sport or activity, are also the people who should answer that question. For…

My use of the term ‘cardio’ should bring to mind the continuos-exercise machines like treadmills, ellipticals, rowers, ellipticals, stationary bikes, stair mills, and steppers. Here is what can be said about four different groups and whether they should do cardio everyday, or not: People who want excellent aerobic fitness should do cardio everyday. People who…

The most reliable way to calculate energy expenditure during exercise, outside of a human calorimeter, is to measure the oxygen consumed during the exercise. That requires special equipment and training. Plus, oxygen consumption has to be measured for each separate exercise. That’s exactly what exercise physiologists have been doing for years. They regularly publish their…

Sometimes people use a thing to lift a weight. That thing is a machine if it includes: a wedge, a lever, an inclined plane, a wheel & axle, a screw, a pulley, a gear, a hydrostatic component, a hydraulic component, springs, gear differentials, linkages, couplings, cams, clutches, or an engine. The strength area in a…

The American College of Sports Medicine, the leading trade association of exercise physiologists and other professionals working in exercise, has recommended guidelines for lifting weights. They reviewed a number of studies and they throw light on how to lift weights to develop muscular strength, muscle mass, power, and muscular endurance. Lifting weights for maximum strength…

There are a handful of traditional reasons why people lift weights. A multi-sport athlete may lift to build more resilience against the ravages of a long season. A bodybuilder lifts to make his muscles bigger. A powerlifter wants to push her max ever higher. And serious athletes want more power. Resilience Coaches have observed fewer…

The Philadelphia Eagles’ star quarterback Carson Wentz saw his Pro Bowl, breakout, second season come to a halt on December 10, 2017. A left ACL tear ended the season. According to the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, about 150,000 people in the U.S. suffer ACL tears each year. There has been much written about…

Rest days are important because they allow the body to regenerate from exercise. Degeneration The irony of exercise is that it has a positive and chronic health benefit but it has an acute and degenerative effect on muscle cells. Sometimes the degeneration is caused by the trauma of an injury. Other times it caused by…

Bodyweight training is the best way to developing running, jumping, and the abdominal wall. Bodyweight training to run faster Think about it. Running is bodyweight exercise! Running is the second-most common type of bodyweight exercise (walking is the most common type). The average-sized man in the U.S., running 10-minute mile pace, will handle about 220…

If you’re training for the bench press, make sure the means match the ends–which is to have a big bench. That’s how to increase your bench press, in a nutshell: match ends and means. What do we mean by ‘means?’ For this post, ‘means’ are the ways that exercise is organized. When training, you do…