Helio Health Hints – strengthen your weaker muscles – don’t avoid exercises where they need to be used
Muscle weakness is very common, and has a variety of meanings, including tiredness, reduced power and failure to work at all. There is an even wider variety of possible causes. It is commonly caused through lack of exercise, ageing, muscle injury or during pregnancy. It can also occur with long-term conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. But how do you combat it?
The gym is the perfect location to start strengthening your muscles. Why don’t you try drop sets? They involve performing an exercise to your limit then reducing the weight and increasing the number of repetitions until exhaustion once more. An example of these include:
Performing 8 to 10 heavy reps of Barbell Rows. Reduce the weight just enough to allow for 8 to 10 more reps, then repeat for three total drops. Try for 2-3 sets. Finding your ideal reduction weight is done through trial and error.
Another way of muscle strengthening slow contraction-explosive sets exercises. They are based solely on the speed at which you perform the exercise. You complete a slow contraction phase, followed by an explosive, fast paced phase. An example of this would be:
Leg Extensions. Perform 10-12 reps with a slow 7 controlled pace.
Helio’s team of PTs are highly experienced and trained, welcoming and approachable. Say hello to healthy with Helio.
