Understanding Major Body Muscles

Lifting weights is often times done recreationally, however if one has the desire to gain optimum strength as well as gains there are a few guidelines that you must adhere to. The first one is having a basic understanding of the different muscle groups in your body and how they work.

• The Chest Muscles 

The chest muscle consists of the muscle group called pectorals. Developing these muscles aids in good posture but specifically aid persons who are involved in martial arts.

• The Back Muscles

Secondly there is the back, which consists of a wide range of muscles stretching from the buttocks to the shoulder. These muscles are: 

Latissimus Dorsi: The lats facilitate the body in pulling movements and compliment the arms in pursuing various physical activities like pulling something into your body.

Rhomboid: The rhomboid major helps to hold the scapula onto the rib-cage. They originate from the spinal cord and merge into the scapular bone.

Trapezius: The traps control the scapulae or the shoulder blades and play an important role in shrugging and neck movements.

Erector spinae: These are muscles that help to extend the spine and are key in posture. They are also important when bending forward, and sideways.

• The Arm and Shoulder Muscles 

Biceps: This muscle is found in the front of the upper arm. The biceps help control the motion of both the shoulder and elbow joints. Basically, this muscle helps bend or curl the arm toward your body.

Triceps: The triceps are muscles in the back of the upper arm. These muscles help stabilize the shoulder joint and allow the elbow joint to be straightened. 

Deltoids: This muscle group is used on all side of body lifting motions and they provide support when you carry things.

• The Abdominal Muscles 

The abdominals assist in the breathing process and protect inner organs. They are key in twisting motions, such as a golf swing or looking behind yourself. It consists of muscles on the side of it also called obliques that aid in flexing. 

• The Legs and Gluteal Muscles 

Hamstrings: The hamstrings are the huge muscle group in the upper back part your thighs. Its main function is to bend your knees and help propel your body forward in such activities as walking or running.

Gluteal: The glutes are muscles of your buttocks and are key muscles in the movement of the legs backward and sideways. The glutes also help you maintain balance in walking, running or jumping.

Quadriceps: The 4 huge muscles that comprise the front of your thigh is the muscle group called the quadriceps or ‘quads’. It is located in the upper front part of the leg and consist of four huge muscles are namely rectus femoris, vastus lateral, vastus intermedius and vastus medialis.

Calves: The calves are located in the lower back part of your legs and are the key muscles when you lift your heels up to walk, run, and go upstairs. They are also important for explosive moves such as sprinting, jumping and climbing.

Question

• Has weight lifting aided you in anyway before?

• What muscle is your favorite to work and why?

References 

https://www.wonderlabs.com/blog/5-major-muscle-groups-of-the-body-and-their-function

https://www.trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za/blog/why-pectoral-strength-is-necessary/

Weight Lifting for Running

Why do athletes lift weights? Is it to have a nice tone? Cant they just run everyday and achieve the same results versus putting themselves under further strain with weight lifting? Well to answer these questions we first have to understand what lifting weights do for athletes, and there are two main  reasons.

Helps to reduce injury 

Injuries when doing sport is inevitable as you are placing your body under immense stress, however, a comprehensive, well-organized, properly administered and year-round strength training program results in musculo-tendon units that are more resilient to the stresses and impact forces sustained in athletic activities. It also serves as a foundation for harder training that an athlete would have to face leading up to when he or she will have competition. This claim is was backed by sports scientist Mary Beth Horodyski who said that in a focus group study seventy-eight percent of severe injuries to the upper body struck non-lifting athletes, or those athletes  who were not in a controlled weight-lifting program.

Packing Power 

The stronger your muscles are equates to more strength while running as well as greater recovery after training. It also allows coaches to increase the intensity of the training programs as their athletes muscles become stronger and more developed. The combination of strength training and specific skill work also has a positive influence.  Larger, stronger muscle fibers (especially the “fast twitch” variety), result in a higher rate and level of overall muscle force production, which results in the ability to demonstrate pronounced power output in designated athletic skills. In essence as we learned in physics force is equal to mass multiplied by acceleration, therefore speed is dependent on (force), and how this is achieved is by (mass) "weight lifting" with a combination of speed work.

Question 

• Do you think weight lifting is important? If so why?

References 

https://coachad.com/articles/powerline-why-strength-training-is-important-for-all-athletes/
https://news.ufl.edu/archive/1997/10/sports-scientists-say-weight-lifting-is-key-in-preventing-severe-injuries.html

Nutrition In Running

Fig 1.0 Mo Farah Helsinki 2012

What makes some athletes perform better than others? Yes genes may have a part to play in the success of individual athletes and their capability to run a certain distance or at a certain speed. In figure 1.0 above we see the well renowned distance runner Mohamed Farah crossing the line in first place in his 5000m event at the Helsinki championship in 2012. What most people may not know is that Mo Farah along with a very intense training program of up to 135 miles per week, sticks to a specific diet to maintain peak performance and reduce muscle fatigue. We will take a closer look into three of the key nutrients needed for maximum performance.#KeepHealthy

Iron 

This mineral is very important because the body uses it to metabolize efficiently. The hemoglobin proteins within the red blood cells are partly made up of iron and the iron within the hemoglobin protein binds oxygen so that it can be delivered to the runner’s working muscles. Therefore, more iron equals better breathing and fatigue tolerance. 

Fish Oil or Krill Oil 

Where runners are concerned, the top advantages of fish oil is that it fights inflammation and reduces lactic acid build up in the muscles. That means less soreness, longer runs, and quicker recovery, and one can see how this can fast track an athlete allowing them to train harder and more efficiently. Fish oil also serves as a natural lubricant for the proper functioning of joints.

  

Zinc and Magnesium 

Lastly zinc and magnesium.The minerals zinc and magnesium are very advantageous for runners. Magnesium helps transport energy to your muscles and also assists in muscle contraction. Zinc, on the other hand, helps you metabolize energy (so you can put it to good use). Both of these minerals are essential, and both can be depleted quickly during runners endurance exercises. In these cases, a little supplementation can go a long way.

Question 

How has this reading aided in your knowledge in nutrition?

References 

https://www.progenexusa.com/blogs/science/from-5k-to-ultramarathon-8-supplements-to-get-runners-started-off-on-the-right-foot