One Arm Dumbbell row

One-Arm dumbbell row/row bent-over dumbbell row

One of the parts of our body that needs the most attention is our back. The back is important because it holds our entire bodies together as well as contains our nerves which are what allow us to move. Because of this I like to make sure my back is in tip top shape by doing the one arm dumbbell row. As seen on page 78 the one arm dumbbell row uses several different muscles including the latissimus dorsi, teres major and minor and the deltoid. These muscles are what controls our range of motion and allows your back to twist from side to side. These are important because without them your back becomes weaker and your day to day life become more difficult. This is also a really good exercise because it strengthens it while it doesn’t have a high risk of hurting your back while most other back exercises do. This is shown on page 79 when Moran says: “This is a traditional exercise for beginners and experts alike and it allows you to lift considerable weight with little risk on your back” (79). This shows how it’s a good exercise for beginners as well because with the lessened chance of being hurt they are able to feel more comfortable with working out. Especially if they are new to working out and are looking for quick and simple exercises to help them get into a new routine. This is a good exercise for all people who work out too because they are able to add more weight if need be which helps to build the muscles up slowly without straining them or damaging them in some way. Do you agree that your back is a very important to have be strong?

Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print.

Lying neck flexion

Lying neck flexion

One part of the body that many people don’t realize its importance and how much we use it is our neck. Our necks hold up our head which is the most important part of our body and for some reason we forget that our necks also have muscles. A good exercise for strengthening said muscles is the lying neck rotation. As seen on page 136-137 this is an easy exercise to carry out. The book shows an image of someone lying down on a bench and raising their heads up and down off the edge of the bench. The muscles used in this exercise are the sadomasochistic, and the scalene. These are the back as well as side parts of your neck. I like using this exercise after I sleep wrong and I have a crick in my neck to help use and then relax those muscles to make it go away after a bit instead of being stuck with it for the rest of the day like most people do. Because of this I think it is very applicable to everyone and only takes a few minutes which in the morning, we need all the time we can get. However, in the rush make sure that you don’t make the common mistakes listed on page 136 which is as follows: “Common mistakes: using too much weight, doing the exercise to fast and having a range of motion that is too long” (Moran 136). By avoiding these you won’t risk hurting your neck further. This is an exercise I enjoy doing because it helps me out when my neck is hurt in some way but it won’t put so much strain on it to help fix it like some exercises might. In conclusion, do you see yourself using this to help when your neck isn’t feeling well?

Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print. 

Push It Up

Further throughout my reading of Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia I have continued to learn about the different parts of the body and how they work together throughout not only your daily activities but also your workout routine. On page 46 and 47 it shows an easy way of "pumping up" your pectorals which is by doing push ups. It demonstrates proper techniques for doing a push up. A push up is a quick and easy exercise because you don’t need any special equipment for it. It is also good because you are able to do as many as you can and push your limits to what your body can handle. The muscles used for this exercise is pectorals major, triceps and deltoids. As seen again on page 46-47 there are also ways to hurt yourself so you need to make sure to follow proper technique. Moran shows how to avoid injury by saying “lay on the floor with your feet together and your hands shoulder width apart. Push up and then come back down until your chest touches the ground then come back up, repeat until you cannot go any longer” (47). By saying this he shows how to avoid getting hurt as well as showing other techniques to effectively carry out this particular exercise. One of the other techniques that Moran shows is to instead of doing this form against the floor you can also do it against a wall. This is useful for beginners because you aren’t trying to push your entire weight, you can angle yourself up against the wall so you are leaning more or less of your weight depending on how much you can lift at that time. Another way to modify this exercise is to put your feet up on a chair. If you feel as if this exercise is too easy for you and you are getting bored with it, if you put your feet up on a chair it makes it so you are using slightly different muscles which will make it a more challenging exercise. Finally, do you think having different variations on this exercise is an effective way to build up you muscles? Why or why not?

 start in this pose. As seen here my feet are close together and my arms are shoulder width apart.

 Sink down into this pose to complete one singular push up, my arms are bent 90 degrees and I'm far enough down for what The Muscle Encyclopedia says I should be. 

Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print. 

Get your core going

Continuing my reading of Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia, I have continued to learn all sorts of things about the body but lately have been more focused on my abdomen and lower back and how to build and enhance that part of my body. An example of this is on page 278 where the author talks about how to do lying leg raises and how much that helps your entire abdomen (rectus abdominis, external and internal oblique’s, transverse abdominal, and iliopsoas) as opposed to just the lower or upper parts of your abdomen (Moran 278). This is a great exercise because you don't need to have any special equipment and you can do it basically and time that you feel inclined to do so. However, there are a few important things you want to note that you are doing correctly in these poses. On page 279 Moran says "Common mistakes: short movements using jerking motions to gain momentum and bounce raising the hips too far so that you are resting only on your shoulders and gaining momentum by flexing and extending the legs" (Moran 279). These things could lead to possible neck and shoulder injuries as well as just not getting the full affects and results of this exercise. Because of Moran I have now expanded my horizons and feel much better doing my other exercises because I have a much stronger core. He has shown me how to strengthen my core without needing a bunch of different machines and equipment and now i have an exercise i can do where ever and whenever i want which will help me to make sure that i actually am working out my core more than i have been. Having a strong core is vital because it helps with all aspects of not only sports and weigh training but also in daily activities. Do you see yourself using this exercise as part of your normal workout, why or why not? 

 In this picture i am in the starting position where my hands are flat under me to provide support so that I can start doing the lift.

In this picture I am demonstrating what the lift looks like when you are fully extended and as explained earlier this is a good lift because it activates and helps to strengthen all parts of your core. 

Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print.    

lunging around

Throughout my reading of Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia, I have learned quite a bit about all of the different muscles of the body and how to lift and do different exercises to enhance their capabilities. One area I have been spending a lot of time on is the different leg exercises. For example, on page 226 they talk about how to properly do the lunge such as the different techniques, common mistakes not to do when lunging and comments from professional instructors on things to make this exercise a little easier. Another example is when it says "Common mistakes: Bringing your knee further forward than your foot, arching your back as you lower your torso, bounding and not lowering your torso enough (Moran 227). Throughout this page about doing the lunge I can see that the main muscles being used are the quadriceps, gluteus maximus, and adductors. Looking back on page 223 we can also see how Moran is talking about how we need to use all of these different muscles in our day to day lives as such as for walking, running, driving to all of the in-between. This leads me to feel like these are very important muscles to be working out and building up because they are the things that make us mobile and without having strong legs, especially quadriceps that could limit our mobility as well as not inspire us to get and then stay in shape. Because of Moran I now have better knowledge on how to further gain muscle in my legs while doing so in a proper and safe manner; as seen in this picture of me practicing the illustration that is shown on page 226 I am demonstrating proper and safe techniques to successfully do this lift. In conclusion, in my personal opinion I think that your legs are the most important things to be in-shape and to be strong on your body, do you agree? 

Moran Oscar. Muscle Exercises Encyclopedia. Cape town: Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2012. Print.