Increase your workout efficiency by finding your resistance!
With a bit of commitment and dedicated practice you can increase your workouts efficiency by leveraging the body’s own muscles with a controlled opposition. Teaming the brain and the body during your workouts makes for a significantly more productive workout. To begin, concentrate on rooting the limbs on the body (draw the shoulder blades back and down) keeping the abdominals engaged (draw the abdominals in and up) and hug the midline of the body (draw the legs together even if they do not touch). Maintaining these connections all increase the muscle work while at the same time making the exercises safe. Once you have been able to make these connections, feel the resistance with in the exercises.
Stand with your hands by your sides. Root the shoulders on the back. Draw the abdominals in. Hug the thighs together.
Next, extend and lift the arms out in front of you to just above shoulder height. Imagine you have heavy weights tied to your arms. Find your own bodies internal resistance to raise the heavy weights.
Now, keep the same resistance and work in your body to imagine you are pushing a heavy weight to the floor.
Once you have found the connections and resistance feel how much more your muscles are working than if you were to simply raise and lower your arms. This can be translated to exercises that have weights in the hands. Working with your bodies internal resistance along with the weights creates even more of a workload on your muscles allowing you to work safely and efficiently. Find your resistance.