View this post on Instagram

A post shared by King Of The Lifts (@kingofthelifts)

Increase Weight

One of the simplest and most effective ways to apply progressive overload is to increase the weight you’re lifting. Whether you’re using dumbbells, barbells, or resistance bands, gradually add more weight as you get stronger. Start with a weight that challenges you but allows you to maintain proper form, and then gradually increase the load over time. The extra resistance will stimulate your muscles to adapt and grow.

Adjust Reps and Sets

Another way to apply progressive overload is by adjusting the number of reps and sets you perform. As you become more comfortable with a particular exercise, aim to increase the number of repetitions you can complete or add an extra set to your routine. This increase in volume places additional stress on your muscles, stimulating growth and improvement.

Use Progressive Calisthenics

Calisthenics exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, and bodyweight squats, provide a great opportunity for progressive overload. If you can easily perform a certain number of reps, try more challenging variations like diamond push-ups or pistol squats. You can also use resistance bands or weighted vests to increase the difficulty of these bodyweight exercises.

Try Unilateral Movements

Unilateral exercises involve working one side of your body at a time, such as single-leg squats or one-arm dumbbell rows. Incorporating unilateral movements into your routine helps address muscle imbalances and activates stabilizer muscles. By challenging your body in this asymmetrical way, you’ll improve coordination, stability, and overall strength.

The post Ways to Apply Progressive Overload in Your Fitness Routine appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

If your goal is to keep your heart and lungs healthy, you should be doing your cardio before you lift weights. But if fat loss or muscle building is more your speed, make sure to do your strength training first, and follow it up with cardio. If you are working out 3-4 times a week and splitting your workout into upper and lower body strength days, you should do cardio after strength, but if your goal is general fitness, then it doesn’t matter as much which one you start with—just do whichever you want to get out of the way.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by running (@r_k_daily_training)

It is advised to do strength training at least twice a week and low-impact cardio exercises you can do every day. So, if you only have time for an hour workout at the gym twice a week, make sure you are focusing on your goals and taking them into consideration when planning your workout.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝐁𝐞𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐡 (@oneplatehealth)

It is important to have a little of both in your week, whatever your main focus is. So if you can find time for a 20-minute walk per day on top of your strength training, you will see even better results.

The post Should You Do Your Cardio Before or After Strength Training? appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

If you’re one of those women, welcome aboard! But before you start bulking up, there are some important tips to keep in mind in order to keep safe and make the best out of your workout.   

On her viral YouTube video, How To Start Weight Training For Women, personal trainer and founder of The STRONG Curves Program, Shelly Darlington, shares important guidelines for any female who wants to start weight training.

Shelly provides useful workout tips, disproves misconceptions and answers common weight training questions. She shares the best exercises for beginners for both lower and upper body, advises on the proper way to structure each workout and reveals the three most important guidelines for building strong curves.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shelley Darlington (@shelleydarlington)

“If you want to learn the best way to start strength training for women but have no idea how to go about it, this video will clear up every single doubt,” Shelly writes in the video’s description.”Everything I have learned over the last decade has been squeezed into this beginner weight training guide video.”

The post Shelly Darlington Shares the Dos and Don’ts of Female Weight Training appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Grip

Weight lifting gloves improve your grip on weights, especially once your hands get sweaty, making your workouts safer.

Calluses and Blisters

Over a long period of time, your hands will become blistered and callused, but weight lifting gloves can prevent that from happening.

Pressure

The gloves relieve some of the pressure your hands experience when lifting heavy weights, which can limit how much you can lift.

Wrist Support

Most of the gloves wrap around your wrist, providing support for them while you lift heavy weights. These gloves can prevent wrist injuries from happening.

Increased Lift

Weight lifting gloves with wrist straps distribute weight being lifted across the forearms instead of just in your fingers, allowing you to lift more weight. This helps in pulling exercises like upright rows and deadlifts.

The post Here’s Why You Should Invest in Weightlifting Gloves appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Find Motivation

Think about why you’ve decided to try strength training. Do you want to tone up? Do you want to get stronger? Seeing results takes time, but if you focus on why you started in the first place, you’re more likely to stick to it.

Start Slow

Start slow and build up the intensity over time to prevent injuries. Don’t compare yourself to others at the gym who have probably been lifting for a while. If you’re hesitant to start lifting on your own, hire a trainer to get you started.

Set a Schedule

After you’ve decided to strength train, start doing it three days a week. Over time, you can increase it to five to six days a week. Make sure you spread out your workouts so you have rest days in between and focus on different muscle groups.

Start with Bodyweight Moves

Instead of jumping into the heavy weights, master bodyweight exercises like push-ups, planks, pull-ups, and squats first. Perfect your form before adding dumbbells and kettlebells.

The post How to Start Strength Training appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Milk Bottles

Milk bottles filled with water, milk, or sand are an excellent substitute for weights. They come in a variety of sizes and you can fill them up as much or as little as you wish. They even have built-in handles that make them easy to lift.

Books

Books can be great dumbbell replacements. You can easily modify the weight by adding or subtracting books to suit your individual needs.

Plastic Bottles

Using plastic bottles as weights is a fantastic way of recycling. If you’re using them with both hands, try to make sure that both bottles are filled with the same amount of water to keep them even.

Packets of Rice

Filled packets of rice can be very useful, especially for exercises that require holding a weight to your body as you do with squats.

The post Best Home Objects to Use as Weight Replacements appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

To begin with, there are some exercises that you shouldn’t spot which include deadlifts and other power-centric Olympic lifting moves. The exercises that you may need a spotter for are the barbell bench press, barbell squat, and dumbell bench press.

When spotting the barbell bench press, position yourself close to the bar and use an overhand grip. For spotting squats, you’ll want to stand behind the lifter with your arms places under the lifter’s armpit without touching. The dumbbell bench press requires you to spot at the wrists, grabbing them with your hands and driving the weight upward.

Regardless of which exercise you’re spotting for, make sure to keep your hands to yourself and only step in when the lifter can’t complete the sets by themselves. If you’re the one lifting, don’t try and lift more than you can, as it’s not the spotter’s job to complete the sets for you. Remember that you can always add more weights for your next set if it’s too easy.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Spotting at the Gym appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Stronger Bones

Strength training is not only good for muscles, it also helps your bone density. It’s one of the reasons that strength training is recommended to older people because it combats age-related bone loss and reduces the risk of fracture and osteoporosis.

Mood Boost

If you’re feeling stressed, a workout can help relieve your anxiety and lifting weights can help you feel more relaxed and less depressed.

Performance Improvements

Lifting can make athletes better at their sport by adding variety and preventing injuries from overuse of certain muscles. By strengthening the core muscles, you’ll also improve your performance.

Better Muscular Endurance

Perhaps the most physical benefit from lifting is muscular endurance and toning. Completing more reps at lighter weights can increase your muscular endurance.

The post 4 Reasons to Lift Light Weights appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Lifting Weights Before Cardio

When you’re looking to reach a strength-related goal, it’s best to start with weights as cardio will exhaust your muscles making it harder for you to contract. The repetitive movements in cardio will give you a disadvantage when it’s time to lift.

Cardio Before Weights

If you’re training for a marathon or triathlon, you should focus your energy on cardio. Getting in cardio can also serve as a warm-up before strength training. Just make sure you keep the intensity low and to avoid HIIT workouts if your goal is to set personal records with lifting. If you’re just strength training to stay fit, you can do a short HIIT workout or aerobic intervals.

What If You Want to Lose Weight?

For weight loss, it doesn’t make a difference which comes first. But, in general, strength training is better for weight loss because it helps you maintain lean body mass, which burns more calories. By adding cardio, you’re getting an extra calorie burn.

The post Should You Do Cardio Before or After You Lift? appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by King Of The Lifts (@kingofthelifts)

Increase Weight

One of the simplest and most effective ways to apply progressive overload is to increase the weight you’re lifting. Whether you’re using dumbbells, barbells, or resistance bands, gradually add more weight as you get stronger. Start with a weight that challenges you but allows you to maintain proper form, and then gradually increase the load over time. The extra resistance will stimulate your muscles to adapt and grow.

Adjust Reps and Sets

Another way to apply progressive overload is by adjusting the number of reps and sets you perform. As you become more comfortable with a particular exercise, aim to increase the number of repetitions you can complete or add an extra set to your routine. This increase in volume places additional stress on your muscles, stimulating growth and improvement.

Use Progressive Calisthenics

Calisthenics exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, and bodyweight squats, provide a great opportunity for progressive overload. If you can easily perform a certain number of reps, try more challenging variations like diamond push-ups or pistol squats. You can also use resistance bands or weighted vests to increase the difficulty of these bodyweight exercises.

Try Unilateral Movements

Unilateral exercises involve working one side of your body at a time, such as single-leg squats or one-arm dumbbell rows. Incorporating unilateral movements into your routine helps address muscle imbalances and activates stabilizer muscles. By challenging your body in this asymmetrical way, you’ll improve coordination, stability, and overall strength.

The post Ways to Apply Progressive Overload in Your Fitness Routine appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

If your goal is to keep your heart and lungs healthy, you should be doing your cardio before you lift weights. But if fat loss or muscle building is more your speed, make sure to do your strength training first, and follow it up with cardio. If you are working out 3-4 times a week and splitting your workout into upper and lower body strength days, you should do cardio after strength, but if your goal is general fitness, then it doesn’t matter as much which one you start with—just do whichever you want to get out of the way.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by running (@r_k_daily_training)

It is advised to do strength training at least twice a week and low-impact cardio exercises you can do every day. So, if you only have time for an hour workout at the gym twice a week, make sure you are focusing on your goals and taking them into consideration when planning your workout.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝐁𝐞𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐡 (@oneplatehealth)

It is important to have a little of both in your week, whatever your main focus is. So if you can find time for a 20-minute walk per day on top of your strength training, you will see even better results.

The post Should You Do Your Cardio Before or After Strength Training? appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

If you’re one of those women, welcome aboard! But before you start bulking up, there are some important tips to keep in mind in order to keep safe and make the best out of your workout.   

On her viral YouTube video, How To Start Weight Training For Women, personal trainer and founder of The STRONG Curves Program, Shelly Darlington, shares important guidelines for any female who wants to start weight training.

Shelly provides useful workout tips, disproves misconceptions and answers common weight training questions. She shares the best exercises for beginners for both lower and upper body, advises on the proper way to structure each workout and reveals the three most important guidelines for building strong curves.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shelley Darlington (@shelleydarlington)

“If you want to learn the best way to start strength training for women but have no idea how to go about it, this video will clear up every single doubt,” Shelly writes in the video’s description.”Everything I have learned over the last decade has been squeezed into this beginner weight training guide video.”

The post Shelly Darlington Shares the Dos and Don’ts of Female Weight Training appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Grip

Weight lifting gloves improve your grip on weights, especially once your hands get sweaty, making your workouts safer.

Calluses and Blisters

Over a long period of time, your hands will become blistered and callused, but weight lifting gloves can prevent that from happening.

Pressure

The gloves relieve some of the pressure your hands experience when lifting heavy weights, which can limit how much you can lift.

Wrist Support

Most of the gloves wrap around your wrist, providing support for them while you lift heavy weights. These gloves can prevent wrist injuries from happening.

Increased Lift

Weight lifting gloves with wrist straps distribute weight being lifted across the forearms instead of just in your fingers, allowing you to lift more weight. This helps in pulling exercises like upright rows and deadlifts.

The post Here’s Why You Should Invest in Weightlifting Gloves appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Find Motivation

Think about why you’ve decided to try strength training. Do you want to tone up? Do you want to get stronger? Seeing results takes time, but if you focus on why you started in the first place, you’re more likely to stick to it.

Start Slow

Start slow and build up the intensity over time to prevent injuries. Don’t compare yourself to others at the gym who have probably been lifting for a while. If you’re hesitant to start lifting on your own, hire a trainer to get you started.

Set a Schedule

After you’ve decided to strength train, start doing it three days a week. Over time, you can increase it to five to six days a week. Make sure you spread out your workouts so you have rest days in between and focus on different muscle groups.

Start with Bodyweight Moves

Instead of jumping into the heavy weights, master bodyweight exercises like push-ups, planks, pull-ups, and squats first. Perfect your form before adding dumbbells and kettlebells.

The post How to Start Strength Training appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Milk Bottles

Milk bottles filled with water, milk, or sand are an excellent substitute for weights. They come in a variety of sizes and you can fill them up as much or as little as you wish. They even have built-in handles that make them easy to lift.

Books

Books can be great dumbbell replacements. You can easily modify the weight by adding or subtracting books to suit your individual needs.

Plastic Bottles

Using plastic bottles as weights is a fantastic way of recycling. If you’re using them with both hands, try to make sure that both bottles are filled with the same amount of water to keep them even.

Packets of Rice

Filled packets of rice can be very useful, especially for exercises that require holding a weight to your body as you do with squats.

The post Best Home Objects to Use as Weight Replacements appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

To begin with, there are some exercises that you shouldn’t spot which include deadlifts and other power-centric Olympic lifting moves. The exercises that you may need a spotter for are the barbell bench press, barbell squat, and dumbell bench press.

When spotting the barbell bench press, position yourself close to the bar and use an overhand grip. For spotting squats, you’ll want to stand behind the lifter with your arms places under the lifter’s armpit without touching. The dumbbell bench press requires you to spot at the wrists, grabbing them with your hands and driving the weight upward.

Regardless of which exercise you’re spotting for, make sure to keep your hands to yourself and only step in when the lifter can’t complete the sets by themselves. If you’re the one lifting, don’t try and lift more than you can, as it’s not the spotter’s job to complete the sets for you. Remember that you can always add more weights for your next set if it’s too easy.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Spotting at the Gym appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Stronger Bones

Strength training is not only good for muscles, it also helps your bone density. It’s one of the reasons that strength training is recommended to older people because it combats age-related bone loss and reduces the risk of fracture and osteoporosis.

Mood Boost

If you’re feeling stressed, a workout can help relieve your anxiety and lifting weights can help you feel more relaxed and less depressed.

Performance Improvements

Lifting can make athletes better at their sport by adding variety and preventing injuries from overuse of certain muscles. By strengthening the core muscles, you’ll also improve your performance.

Better Muscular Endurance

Perhaps the most physical benefit from lifting is muscular endurance and toning. Completing more reps at lighter weights can increase your muscular endurance.

The post 4 Reasons to Lift Light Weights appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.

Lifting Weights Before Cardio

When you’re looking to reach a strength-related goal, it’s best to start with weights as cardio will exhaust your muscles making it harder for you to contract. The repetitive movements in cardio will give you a disadvantage when it’s time to lift.

Cardio Before Weights

If you’re training for a marathon or triathlon, you should focus your energy on cardio. Getting in cardio can also serve as a warm-up before strength training. Just make sure you keep the intensity low and to avoid HIIT workouts if your goal is to set personal records with lifting. If you’re just strength training to stay fit, you can do a short HIIT workout or aerobic intervals.

What If You Want to Lose Weight?

For weight loss, it doesn’t make a difference which comes first. But, in general, strength training is better for weight loss because it helps you maintain lean body mass, which burns more calories. By adding cardio, you’re getting an extra calorie burn.

The post Should You Do Cardio Before or After You Lift? appeared first on yourdailysportfix.com.