Super-Charge Your Exercise Machines for Better Performance

Most fitness maniacs love to use exercise machines for toning the body and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, one must use the fitness equipments in the right way for getting the most out of them. We provide few tips regarding how you can make the exercise machines work better for you.



• It is important to change your body position regularly while using the equipments. This will prevent boredom from creeping into your fitness routine and challenge the muscles on a consistent basis. For example, while using exercise machines such as seated chest press and leg extension, change the position of the seat by an inch or two, down or up.

• Another way you can maximize the benefits of the fitness equipments is by avoiding the use of support pads. For example, while doing leg extensions do not use the back support and for hip extensions, avoid using the chest pad. These little tips will help you to tighten the core muscles and thus enhance your fitness levels.

• Opt for triceps and biceps equipments that come with different handles for each hand. Select a heavy weight that can be lifted for 6-8 times with one hand. Once exhausted, hold the other handle with the opposite arm. This means that you are taking help of both the arms for lifting the weight. Execute 8-10 repetitions. This trick will exhaust muscle fibers in the first arm and help the muscles to grow faster.

Incorporate these simple suggestions in your fitness routine and you will be getting the most out of the exercise machines. Enjoy!

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Get a Lean, Mean Body with Deadlifts

Deadlift can be defined as a powerlifting exercise where a person is required to pick up weights (barbell, dumbbell, trapbar) from the ground. The exerciser must assume a bent-over position while starting, and end up in an upright position. Deadlift is considered to be one of the best muscle-building exercises and is ideal for all those who want to increase their strength.



More on the benefits of deadlifts-

• Deadlift is a compound movement and works on a number of muscles of the body that include minor and supplementary muscles (also known as stabilizer muscles). It can be mentioned here that fitness equipments hardly work on these stabilizer muscles and this, in turn, can make a person more prone to injury and damage.

• It increases the metabolic rate, thus aiding in fat loss.

• All those who want to enhance their grip strength can opt for deadlifts. It is one of the rare exercises where one is required to hold enormous amounts of weight manually, and this in turn, tightens the forearms and increases the grip strength. Good grip strength is required for other powerlifting exercises like bench press.

• Deadlift is also known to strengthen the spine and enhance the body posture. It is an ideal workout for those powerlifters, who are suffering from the lordosis (excessive inward curvature of the back). This form of powerlifting is known to tighten muscles of the lower back and helps a person to get rid of lower back imbalances.

• Not many people are aware of the fact that deadlift is an amazing cardiovascular exercise. It works on the cardiovascular system and helps one to lose weight and reduce the blood pressure.

• It perks up the immune system, thus helping a person to recover quickly from illnesses.

A common myth about deadlift is that it is a dangerous exercise, which must be avoided. This is a myth and is not based on any scientific evidence. All one needs to do is to perform deadlifts in the correct way and reap its manifold benefits.

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Powerlifting Tips for Beginners: How to Increase Bench Presses

Some simple techniques can help powerlifters to increase the weight on their bench press. And both novice and experienced lifters can incorporate these techniques in their strength training programs. Powerlifters need to focus on one thing – to improve the total amount of weight that they can press for one rep. The following tips will help the lifters to increase their maximum single repetition lift.



First, the lifter must learn to conserve their energy. One must learn the strength training techniques that will help them to lift the largest amount of weight by utilizing the smallest amount of energy possible. For this, the lifters must use their spotter for lifting the bar out of its rack. Try to do some effective handoff using the spotter; make sure handoff is quick and smooth. Be quick, but controlled while bringing the bar to the chest during the eccentric phase. Also, try to involve all the muscle while doing the lift.

Another effective strength training technique is to reduce the distance one move the weight. In powerlifting both weight and distance are important. The lifters must learn to reduce the distance to be able to move largest amount of weight without increasing the amount of power. While doing bench press, try to arch your back as much as possible; this helps in increasing your bench press. The shoulder blades must be squeezed together – this helps in keeping the bench in contact with shoulders throughout the lift. Powerlifters know the importance of breathing exercises and the one must keep that in mind while doing bench presses. Take deep breath into your chest and hold it in the eccentric phase; release the breath slowly in the concentric phase. Use the triceps to lock your arms out – this will help in locking out the weight. But remember not to raise the weight higher.

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