| When developing a workout routine, the many | | | | yourself with are; pushups/bench press, pulldowns |
| decisions to make can be overwhelming. There are | | | | pullups, squats, and crunches. These exercises will lead |
| often too many cardio vascular and weight training | | | | to the most rapid muscle gain. Compound exercises |
| machines to choose from, ultimately leading to | | | | work several muscles and/or muscle groups at the |
| frustration and headaches. To make this a much | | | | same time by requiring the movement of two or more |
| easier process, I am writing this article to explain a | | | | joints to successfully complete one repetition. |
| bare-bones, simple approach to exercise. I believe that | | | | For example the bench press requires the movement |
| you can train your entire body with just a few | | | | of the elbow and shoulder joints; Squats require knee, |
| exercises, and only complicate your workout program | | | | hip and back movements; and pulldowns require elbow, |
| with lots of stations in its later stages, and only to | | | | shoulder and back movements. You might be |
| fine-tune your muscle definition. | | | | wondering why I included crunches on the list of |
| The first thing that I would like for you to do is look | | | | exercises to perform in the early stages. This is |
| over the machines in your gym. You will notice that | | | | because crunches will prevent lower back injuries, |
| many of them target individual muscles, while only a | | | | which are common when beginning weight-training |
| few target several muscles at one time. The machines | | | | programs. |
| that target individual muscles are used for what is | | | | The frequency of your workouts and the breakdown |
| called isolation training. For the purpose of getting in | | | | of sets and reps is up to you. I urge you to challenge |
| shape, you can avoid the isolation machines altogether. | | | | yourself, but beware overtraining and attempting to |
| This simplifies your workout a great deal , because | | | | commit to a program that is too difficult. 2-3 weight |
| there are only a few compound exercise machines to | | | | training sessions per week is a reasonable goal. Try |
| choose from. | | | | this out at first, and if you find that it is too easy, try |
| In the early stages of your body transformation | | | | adding sets or reps before you add extra training |
| program, the only exercises that you should concern | | | | days. |