Fitness Mastery: Hypertrophy, HIIT & Running Optimization

Comprehensive fitness involves a mix of strength training for hypertrophy, HIIT for metabolic health, and corrective exercises for postural alignment.

What Do Rack Pulls Work?

Rack pulls are a strength-building exercise that targets the so-called posterior chain muscles that are responsible for hip and back extension.

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Young fit woman doing pull-ups on gymnastic rings

Latissimus Dorsi Exercises Without Weights

Your latissimus dorsi muscles, lats for short, are located on the side of your back and link your arms to your torso. These large, wing-shaped muscles are responsible for extension and adduction of your shoulder joint, as well as medial rotation -- the action of turning your arm in toward the mid line of your body.

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Muscular Men Lifting Deadlift

Romanian vs. Standard Deadlift

There are a number of variations of the deadlift exercise, including stiff legged, sumo, Romanian and standard. Each exercise is slightly different and will stress your body in different ways.

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Close-up of a mature man exercising with a barbell

Muscles & Upright Row Exercises

The upright row is a common strength-training exercise. Popular with bodybuilders, athletes and general exercisers alike, the upright row is usually performed with the aim of increasing upper-back and shoulder muscle size.

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Workouts to Run 1600 Meters Faster

The 1,600-m run, or metric mile, is a blue ribbon event in athletics. For many years, it was a race to see who would break the four-minute barrier, a feat eventually achieved by Briton Roger Bannister in 1954.

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Instructor Taking Exercise Class

The Effects of Exercises on the Circulatory System

Your circulatory system consists of your heart, blood vessels and blood, and is responsible for transporting life-giving oxygen throughout your body. When you exercise, your body's need for oxygen increases; the harder you work out, the more oxygen your body demands.

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Woman Balancing Exercise Ball on Feet

Alternatives for a Medicine Ball

A medicine ball is a weighted ball used for exercise. Modern balls are made of rubber or soft plastic, but they used to be made out of leather and stuffed with felt or horsehair.

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Woman doing push-ups on the floor with fit ball

Isometric AB Exercises

If you're looking for abdominal exercises that don't require working out in a gym, isometric ab exercises are an option -- you can do these exercises anywhere. Isometric exercises involve contracting your muscles without any joint movement.

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Examples of Isotonic & Isometric Exercises

Exercises can be classified based on the engaged muscle's length and tension. Isotonic exercises involve an eccentric or lowering phase, and a concentric or lifting phase. Isometric exercises are those that have no joint movement about the joint but tension is developed within the muscle to support a load.

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Young woman leaning back in chair, side view

How To Fix Slouching

A rounded upper back, sometimes called a slouch, is correctly called hyperkyphosis. Hyperkyphosis can be caused by a number of factors including tight chest muscles, weak upper back muscles, an imbalanced exercise program with too much emphasis on pecs development or spending too much time sitting at a desk or driving.

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Supine leg curls

Exercises to Build Muscles Around the Knee

Keeping the muscles around your knee strong, specifically the quadriceps and hamstrings, maintains knee stability and long-term knee health. If your knee tracks incorrectly, it is more prone to wear and tear which could lead to osteoarthritis.

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Athlete Doing Her Leg Stretching Exercise

Exercises to Strengthen Knock Knees

Knock knees describes a condition where your knees fall in towards the midline of your body rather than staying neutrally aligned. Knock knees can be caused by tight inner thigh muscles pulling your legs inwards, or weak outer thigh muscles allowing your knees to drop in.

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Lifting Dumbbell Weights

Shoulder Girdle Strengthening Exercises

Your shoulder girdle is made up of your clavicle and scapula bones, which connect together to form a ring that sits on top of your rib cage. There are four movements that your shoulder girdle can perform -- elevation, depression, protraction and depression.

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Attractive Woman Doing Sit-Ups With Exercise Ball

Spine Flexion Exercises

Flexing your spine uses your rectus abdominus muscles at the front of your body and also stretches the erector spinea muscles of your back. Spinal flexion, in which you lean forward and round your back, can be active, such as when performing sit ups or crunches, or passive, as when leaning down to tie your shoe laces.

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Benefits of Kettlebell Swings

Discover the numerous benefits of kettlebell swings, including increased power, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, and anaerobic capacity. Learn how to perform a proper kettlebell swing, and incorporate this effective exercise into your workout routine for improved fitness.

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Skipping rope on wooden background.

Easy Jump Rope Tricks

Jumping rope is an effective and convenient cardio workout. You can jump rope almost anywhere and anytime. Jump ropes are cheap, long-lasting and readily available. If you want to shake up your jump rope routine, try these basic tricks once you have mastered two-footed jumping on the spot.

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Young man performing press-ups

Exercises to improve Pushups

Pushups are a classic test of muscular endurance and doing pushups on a regular basis is a good way to get better at this exercise. However, if you really want to excel at pushups, you should do exercises that address the muscular weak links that may be stopping you from doing more pushups.

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Man lifting weights in exercise class

The Effects of Lifting Weights Everyday

Lifting weights has a number of well-documented benefits, including increased strength and muscle size, greater muscular endurance, improved bone mass, and increased muscle mass. You can, however, have too much of a good thing.

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Concentrated slender woman training on an exercise bike while using her tablet

What Are the Benefits of the Schwinn Airdyne Bike?

The Schwinn Airdyne is quite different from most exercises bikes. Instead of a flywheel and magnetic or friction braking, it has a large fan for resistance. Airdynes show up in gyms, but they're also suitable for home use. The design leads to several benefits to regular users.

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