Improving Form Means a Better Burn

Thanks to some very generous help from Fred Hahn, I can barely move today! You see, last Thursday, I sent Fred the link to my workout videos (here and here), on the off chance that he might be interested in seeing how I was doing. He actually watched them! (Thanks, Fred!) And not only did he watch them, but he made a couple of suggestions, and we ended up exchanging several messages about ways I could improve my form, thus improving my results.

So, what did Fred suggest for me? First of all, he pointed out that I have been giving up too soon on some of the exercises. That is, after a particularly difficult rep, I simply assumed that I was not going to be able to do another, and moved on to the next exercise. Instead, I need to work right up to muscle failure by always attempting to do another rep, and stopping only when I cannot manage it, not when I just don't think I can manage it. When I did my Burn last night, I kept this in mind, and sure enough, I got out one or two more reps on a couple of the exercises than I thought I could.

He also said that, on some of the sets, I was going too far, such that I was inadvertently resting at the top (or bottom) of a rep. For example, on squats, I was pushing up far enough that my knees were nearly straight. Instead, I need to go up only until it starts to feel easier, leaving about a two-inch bend in the knees, and then immediately reverse and go back down. In this case, I found that I dropped a couple of reps on the squats, although I had also added another ten pounds to the bar, which may have been part of that. Still, it was the first time in a while that I had done less than the seven-rep threshold for leveling up next time.

One tip that I have not yet tried is to "go up with two legs and down on one! Alternate this rep by rep! That is a killer!!!" I'm sure it is! My problem is that my left knee isn't always happy with the exercise. I do it anyway, but it sometimes hurts at a certain point in the movement. It was acting up a bit last night, so didn't try this, but hope to give it a shot next time.

Finally, Fred asked me about whether I have been timing my sets, and if so, how long they have been lasting. I have not been doing this, but see no reason not to go get a stopwatch and begin keeping that data along with the rest. I'll need to go look again at Fred's book, The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: The Slow Motion Exercise That Will Change Your Body in 30 Minutes a Week , to find out what is optimal, but I believe we should be shooting for about 90 seconds per set. (And if you don't have the book, I highly recommend you bag a copy right away!)

Thanks for the help, Fred! I really appreciate your giving me your valuable time. It means a lot!

Update: I couldn't find the book (it's around here somewhere), but in Strong Kids, Healthy Kids: The Revolutionary Program for Increasing Your Child's Fitness in 30 Minutes a Week , Fred specifies that sets should take 40 to 90 seconds -- that is, five seconds up and five seconds down, doing four to nine reps. I know I've been going longer than 90 seconds, but it is because I'm taking more than that 5-up and 5-down to complete a rep, not because I'm doing too many reps (too little weight).