BHP Fitness

You may have noticed a new headline on our website that reads "a real gym with real weights". in yesterday's post I mentioned that the exercises for getting big and "toning up" are basically the same. With that being said, most people do way too many unnecessary exercises. What I mean by this is, when people go to most of the big franchise type gyms with all the fancy machines they tend to do too many isolation exercises and not enough basic lifting. While bodybuilders need to do these types of isolation movements, people who are just trying to get into shape are better of using basic movements. These include the bench press, shoulder press, leg press (or squats), calf raises, barbell curls, and triceps extensions. Take the leg press as an example. If done correctly this one exercise works your entire upper leg, both the quadriceps and hamstrings. Not only will using basic lifts help you gain muscle, they take a lot of effort which in turn will help you burn calories and fat. Which brings me to another point on the new headline. Machines can make you lazy. Free weights take greater control to use proper form. Most people get on a machine, and half heartedly knock out several reps then move to the next machine. This is why most people don't see the results they want from their workouts, and give up all together. Maybe it's all the gimmicks being sold on TV nowadays. People expect the machines to do the work for them. Unfortunately that's not how it works. To get into shape you have to get in there and do the work yourself.