Heavy Metal

I have favorite kinds of workouts, like everyone else.  The workouts I write for my clients are circuits that incorporate cardio intervals.  We work various muscle groups and we vary the equipment, the weight, the plane, or the balance required.  One of my goals is to keep things interesting.  Another is to pump up metabolism.

Sometimes, however, it is useful to go heavy.  Working through one or two exercises from warm-up to a one-rep maximum makes a great change.  We push our limits.  We raise our heart rates in a totally different context.  We find out just how powerful we are.

A couple of important notes, though.  Don’t lift heavy alone.  It’s dangerous.  Know what to do if the weight is too heavy (e.g., use the drop bars on a power rack while squatting, pull the dumbbells into your body and drop them in flies, tell your spotter you’re in trouble…).  Choose one or two exercises, not ten or fifteen; it can take almost an hour to work heavy squats from warm-up to maximum.  Rest appropriately between sets—at least two minutes and preferably five as the weight gets closer to maximum.

Let’s be strong!