Fifth Element
In an effort to repair a running injury, I’ve been working with a trainer for the past month (sorry everyone, this involves dipping into my Christmas Shopping Fund). Aside from learning more about my tendons, muscles and bones than I have ever wanted to know, my trainer has me complete everything in sets of five…must be a magic number because I’ve noticed an incremental difference in my strength and flexibility. FIVE sets of FIVE holding each rep for FIVE seconds (can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing that). It doesn’t seem like a lot at first, but by the final set I’m dying. The biggest change for me is holding each rep for the extra few seconds, causing me to focus instead of mindlessly going through the exercise as well as working longer at the point of resistance.
Next time you hit the gym, instead of powering through the machines or free weights…embrace the power of FIVE (include a 20 second rest in between).
I tried this today and yesterday at the gym. Not only is yes, the fifth set hard, but I never realized how fast I must go through the motions… slowing down is the hardest part!
Alexa said this on December 12, 2009 at 2:42 AM |