In The Province’s May 29 issue, kinesiologist and posture specialist Rob Williams stresses that training isn’t about repeating a set routine, but about “giving your body a stimulus”. He further emphasizes that to build muscle, exercises must have enough resistance to overload them; this way, the muscles are pushed to grow. Thus, those who want to bulk up should gradually increase the intensity of their workouts instead of doing mere stretches as in yoga.
Canada is perhaps one of the most obese nations in the world, and it’s a pandemic that’s threatening to sweep the entire country. People shouldn’t be complacent with easy stretching and other simple flexing maneuvers as their only form of exercise. They should push themselves bit by bit, and hit a nearby downtown Vancouver health club like Trevor Linden Fitness’ Club 16 for intensive training.
Of course, you can’t just immediately start to bench press tons of weight for proper muscle building. Williams cites three simple exercise routines that can be gradually modified to properly train the body and sculpt powerful muscles. The first is a pike pushup, a modified pushup wherein the feet are incrementally moved towards the hands after each set, which builds a reasonable amount of intensity and can be done easily by anyone.
Another exercise that Williams recommends is the pullup, which can be modified depending on the person’s arm strength. He suggests that those trying pullups should alternate shifting their body weight from side to side by carefully changing the way they lower their arms after one rep. For example, one arm eases slowly while the other holds the entire body’s weight. This not only generates good intensity, but it also gives each arm a good flex.
The last exercise stated by the article is a modified lunge squat routine. Those trying this exercise should keep equal weight on both feet and shouldn’t rise all the way after the squat. The energy required to do these squats is immense, and those trying it can increase the number after building enough strength.
For more resistance training, you could head to a gym in downtown Vancouver and use the equipment there. As for the above exercises, you should learn to gradually increase the weight of the equipment or intensity of the exercise to achieve that workout “burn”. When it comes to building muscle, the phrase “no pain, no gain” isn’t just a cliché—it’s a hard truth.
