Although sometimes you do want to add a little muscle to improve your tone or balance out the shape of your body, you can also build strength without increasing muscle mass. To accomplish this, keep your repetitions in the 6 to 8 range and use enough resistance so that the exercise is challenging but you’re not fatigued.
You should be able to do another rep or two with perfect form by the end. The fewer reps you do. the more you emphasise strength versus endurance – and muscle strength is key to increasing bone density and your resting metabolic rate, as well as to improving your ability to perform daily activities.
Limit yourself to no more than 3 sets per exercise and rest about 60 to 90 seconds between sets. Finally, don’t worry about becoming muscle-bound: most women don’t have enough testosterone to build massive muscles – you’d have to engage in a serious bodybuilding programme to make it happen with the help of a Sports Physio in Western Australia.
If you’re still out of breath by the time the next sprint rolls around, you’re overdoing it. Intervals – alternating periods of high-intensity exercise with low-intensity recovery – help your body adapt to working harder, so you get fitter and burn extra kilojoules. The faster your body bounces back from each interval, the fitter you are but you can’t go out and do intervals at top speed; your body needs time to adjust.
To get it right, start with a longer work-to-rest ratio – for example, sprint for 30 seconds then go easy for 3 minutes (and repeat 6 to 8 times). After two weeks, or when you feel comfortable sprint for 1 minute and rest for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Wait another two weeks, and the try sprinting for 90 seconds and resting for 90 seconds. Never start the next interval until you’ve caught your breath and feel like you can easily maintain a light to moderate intensity again.
Do you hold your breath when you take the most difficult poses? This common behavior can make the pose even more difficult to achieve and the relaxation difficult to obtain. Take a quick break to eliminate tension. When you are ready to resume the pose, pay attention to your breathing and relax.
In practice, good breathing during running is very similar to a 3/2 ratio between inspiration and expiration. This means inhaling for three steps (left-right-left) and exhaling for two steps (right-left). By following this pattern during the run, you will probably manage to stay focused while you adopt a new rhythm. If you have difficulty breathing while exercising, you may be able to run a little more slowly trying to apply this 3/2 breath pattern as shown by a Sports Physio in Western Australia.
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