Gravity Fx Fitness

Density training is a way to increase your fat burning potential while building lean muscle tissue.

Resistance training is important for elevating your metabolism.  When you build lean muscle tissue, you end up with a faster metabolism, as you now have more muscle tissue that burns more calories.

When you first start lifting weights, you quickly increase the amount of weight you can use and/or the number of reps you are capable of.

This is due to your nervous system learning how to move the weights more efficiently – your muscle coordination increases quickly, for a while…..over time, the strength gains slow down and you sometimes struggle to lift more weight.

Typically, you either increase the amount of weight (load) and/or the amount of sets and reps.  For example, if you lift a 100 lb. weight for 2 sets of 10 repetitions, you can increase the amount of work you do, by doing 3 or 4 sets of 10 with the same load (weight).

With density training, you would seek to do more work in a set period of time.  Say it takes you 10 minutes to lift the 100 lbs. for 4 sets of 10 reps (40 total reps).

If you now do 45 reps in the same time period (10 min.), your muscles did more work.  More work = more gains/better benefits.  Density training will have you choose two opposing exercises for a set period of time – usually 15 to 20 minutes.

You might do a pushing movement paired with a pulling movement, like a bench press with a seated row, or a leg movement paired with a shoulder exercise.  Pick a weight that you can do 10 reps maximum and do only 5 reps of the first movement before doing the alternative exercise.

At first, the rest periods will be short, then getting slightly longer as you start to get fatigued.  By doing less reps, you avoid getting fatigued early, allowing you to do a lot of total reps in the 15 or 20 minute period.

Keep track of how many reps you do and try to beat that number with each training session.  Over time, you would increase the weight a small amount.  This type of system allows you to set a new PR (personal record) each time out, so you have a goal to beat with every training session.

Besides providing plenty of motivation, this allows you to avoid hitting a plateau as often as the traditional method that most people use.  Obviously, this will lead to greater results.  By choosing exercises that involve compound movements (multi-joint), you end up working a lot of muscle fibers in each workout.

Generally speaking, the more muscle fibers worked, the greater the number of calories burned.  So if looking to build overall muscle and/or burn more fat, you would minimize the number of isolation exercises.

You could use three 15 minute sessions per workout or two 20 minute periods per workout, usually resting about 5 minutes in between.  This system is called EDT (Escalating Density Training) and was developed by coach Charles Staley.

With this method you don’t need to do much, if any cardio to burn fat, but be prepared - you will be working harder than normal and may have a little more soreness!

I am going back to using this system for a while to try and increase my strength and lose some fat at the same time.  Staley’s  clients have seen some great progress with this method.  I’ll keep you updated on my own progress over the coming weeks.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post

Did you know that some common exercises done in the weight room can put your shoulder at increased risk of injury? Let’s take a look.

Not long ago I spoke with a gentleman of about 65 who felt something “go” in his shoulder while doing a lat pulldown behind his head.

Having dealt with injuries to both shoulders and having worked on plenty of aching shoulders, I feel like I have a good background to draw from on this one.

Back in 1991, I injured my left shoulder while doing lat pulldowns behind my head.  During my set, I suddenly realized that my left arm was out at a slight angle, while my other arm was still pulling straight down.

A year and a half later, after some ups and downs with that shoulder, I found myself in an orthopedic surgeons’ office, where he told me what I already knew – that I probably had a partially dislocated shoulder and a partial tear in my rotator cuff.  He said I could have surgery or quit lifting weights.

I later discovered that poor posture contributed to my problems by placing them in an inefficient position. Did pulldowns behind my head contribute to this injury?  Most definitely. However, it wasn’t the sole problem.

After that point, I started doing some reading on shoulder injuries and came across some interesting information.  One study done in 1993 by a group of medical doctors, looked at 20 patients with shoulder pain and instability who lifted weights.  It was determined that certain exercises put the shoulder in what they termed the “at-risk position.”

This position occurs when the upper arm is 90 degrees away from the torso with the elbow also bent at 90 degrees and behind the head, such as in the lat pulldown done behind the head.  Other exercises in this category included the military press behind the head and chest flyes on a machine that places the bent elbows in a 90 degree position with the palms facing forward.

Ten of these patients studied had to have surgery and the other ten were able to complete conservative exercises for the shoulder.  Eight of those who didn’t require surgery went back to lifting weights and by avoiding this at-risk position, had no more problems.  One of these patients, however, avoided the advice to skip these exercises and the pain came back.  After rest and modifying the exercises, he was able to lift without pain.

In the last 15 years or so I have worked in and worked out in many different facilities in many different cities.  In probably 90% of the time I saw people doing the behind the head pulldown, they finished this exercise bent forward, usually by doing a crunch to help finish the exercise.

Now its bad enough for your shoulders by doing them sitting straight upright.  But the crunch just adds to the stress your shoulders receive, along with killing your posture.  The solution is simple – sit perfectly upright and pull the bar straight down in front of your head.

You work the same muscles that way.  Then you can change the muscles affected by altering your grip and you can also lean back at a slight angle and pull down to your chest.  You get all the benefits at a much lower risk of injury. If you are over 35, like I am, you need to weigh the risk versus the rewards.  You can still work out intensely, but be a little smarter.

And by the way, the average age of the twenty patients in the study – 28.  I was a little younger than this when I injured my shoulder.  Also, at least a third of the guys I’ve talked to in various gyms, who have lifted fairly intensely for several years, have some degree of problems with one or both shoulders.  Sounds like a need for some prevention.

An exercise that could also potentially cause harm is the barbell upright row with a very narrow grip, so that the hands are almost touching.  This places the shoulder into extreme internal rotation so that at the top of the movement, where the elbows are above the chin, you run the risk of impingeing the shoulder, irritating some of the tendons as they rub against other shoulder structures.  This information comes from the book “The 7 Minute Rotator Cuff Solution.”

If you want to do this exercise, I would modify it by moving your hands farther apart so they are about shoulder width.  When doing pec flyes with either dumbbells or on a machine, just make sure not to go too far with your stretch.  Don’t let your hands go farther than your body.  If using a machine, use one that puts your hands at the same level as your shoulder, that you grip with your hands.

In closing, I would recommend doing plenty of work to strengthen the muscles surrounding the scapula and to make sure that you balance out the amount of pushing and pulling you do.  For every press, do an equal amount of rows and pulls.  And make sure to watch your posture while lifting to help prevent rotator cuff injuries.

Brian Morgan

Tweet This Post