Q and A

Question:

How do you get rid of the extra flab on the side of your knee. Do you know what I mean? Do I just need to run it off? If so, it's taking a long time- because I've been running for awhile now and I can tell a difference, but it's slow coming. Any tips as far as workouts?

Answer:

Are we talking about the inside of the knee? If so, this muscle is actually called the Gracilis and is a lower limb adductor. To make things simple, just think of it as an extension of your inner thigh. If you currently train your inner thigh using a seated adductor machine you should get off and work the inner thigh using your whole leg. You can do leg lifts with weight and plank moves that will use your inner thigh and also include your knee. There's also a great machine that allows you to stand while you work the inner/outer thigh, so if you have one of those, it's great too. Working the quad and hamstring can also help you target this muscle. Try to lift these areas without the aid of a seated machine. Try squats, lunges, hamstring curls on a bosu ball. As far as running it off, this may just be one of those difficult "spots" that we all have, an area that hangs onto the fat. Make sure you're mixing up your running...don't just run the same pace for the same length of time. Get some fast stuff in there, some long stuff, and mix in some easy/fun stuff as well.


Question:

I've heard that it's best to rest your muscles for 48 hours before working the same group again. That's always confusing to me because it seems like I'm ALWAYS using the same muscles to exercise! If I walk one day and then do aerobics or jump rope the next I'm using my legs both days. So I'm wondering what the real rule is. How often can I work the same groups of muscles?

Answer:


What you've heard is true WHEN related to the amount of stress issued your muscles. The GAS (General Adaptation Syndrome) principle applies here, stating that there must be a period of low intensity training or complete rest following periods of high intensity training. The stress you've applied after a strenuous workout is traumatic, forcing your "injured" muscles to heal and then adapt. A recovery and overcompensation time must be taken so that further stress doesn't continue to injure muscles caused by repetitive bouts of trauma. ***When heavy negative training is performed, much rest is needed because this form of training is highly traumatic to your muscles. On the other hand, if an exercise is performed with the same resistance and speed repeatedly, the rest period needed would be far less.***

So, to answer your question, you only need to rest in comparison to your work load. If you negative train, or repeat to failure, you will need a few days of rest before training that muscle group again. You can walk one day, jump roap the next and do aerobics the following day without rest because the trauma you're placing on the legs is not severe as much as you are accustomed to it. If you go out and kill yourself on the track, or squat you husbands body weight, you're placing more stress on your legs and they will need to rest and recover for a day or so. That is why training programs that I have provided follow a Medium, Hard, Easy, Hard pattern. After working muscles hard, you can still train with an easy day. Runners should usually take at least one day a week off and either rest or cross train with biking, weights only, yoga, etc.

What's more, this rule most often applies when lifting weights, and that's lifting to failure. So, if you lift on arms as hard as you can one day, you should rest at least 48 hours before doing so again. If you lifted arms, but not very hard or focused, you can probably stand to lift on them, do different lifts, or isometric work on them the very next day without getting into trouble.