Charlotte Sometimes Blogs

Q. When I go to my gym, I’ve seen one or two fitness coaches getting their clients to do various exercises on Swiss balls or Bosu balls. Are there any advantages to this type of training?

A. The use of Swiss balls and wobble boards has become very popular in the last few years. Working out on an unstable surface is supposed to enhance your balance and strengthen the core muscles.

There are a few exercises that are made better when you do them on a ball. Research shows that ab crunches on a Swiss ball, for instance, work your abs harder than the same movement done on the floor.

However there are numerous movements which are not appropriate for doing on a stability ball.

We have seen some people performing movements such as the bench press and overhead press while sitting on a stability ball. The problemis that you’ll need to use a far lighter weight than normal, since you have to put so much effort into staying balanced.

Remember that muscle tissue grows bigger and more powerful when you push them to do more work, either by working out with a heavier resistance, or by performing more repetitions with the same weight. This post about building bigger muscles explains more.

The end result of performing these exercises on a stability ball is that your muscles miss out on the growth signals they require. Take into account that you only have a finite amount of time and energy to spend in working out. Don’t squander half of it attempting to do the barbell squat on a wobble board.

Q. I hope you can put an end to a disagreement about squatting that I’ve been having with 2 mates. One friend says you should never go past parallel, while another states that you must go ass to the grass. Which one of my buddies is right?

A. Precisely how deep to go during the squatting movement has long been a topic of concern for bodybuilders. One notion is that full squats (when your upper thighs are past parallel to the floor) enables you to place more focus on your hamstrings.

To answer the dilemma of how squatting depth impacts muscle activation, scientists from South Carolina, carried out a research project employing seasoned bodybuilders.

Using electromyography (EMG), the researchers measured muscle activity in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes of the subjects during partial, parallel, and full squats.

The researchers discovered that the deeper the men squatted, the gluteus maximus did more work during the upward phase of the exercise. Surprisingly, the contributions of the other muscles examined didn’t differ with increased squat depth.

This research shows that that full squats may not be as good at emphasizing hamstring growth as some individuals believe.

Q. The only free time available for me to train is for thirty minutes when I go to lunch. Is this long enough?

A. In case you find it hard to spare the time to train, supersets are a training technique you might want to try.

Supersets are merely 2 movements teamed together and done back to back with no rest in between.

You can pair an upper body movement with a lower body exercise (such as chin-ups accompanied by the leg press) or two opposite muscle groups (such as the dumbbell bench press followed by the bent-over row).