Push/pull split routine

This type of split separates your upper body pushing muscles (the chest and triceps) from the upper body muscles involved in pulling (your back and biceps). You can do your lower body and abdominal exercises on either day or on a separate day altogether. Or you can include your legs with your pushing muscles and your abdominals with your pulling muscles. Savvy readers will notice that we haven’t mentioned where your shoulders fit into the push/pull split. There’s no simple answer because shoulders don’t fit neatly into either the push or the pull category; the shoulders are partially involved in both movements. Where you work in your shoulders is a matter of personal preference. Some people like to work their shoulders right after their chest muscles. Others like to do shoulder exercises after their back exercises. Still others prefer to divide their body into three workouts: back and biceps; chest and triceps; shoulders, leg, and abs. Push/pull split routines are popular among experienced exercisers who want to go to town with each muscle group. You may see people spend two hours just working their back and biceps. However, other people feel unbalanced after one of these routines because they worked only one side of their torso.

The upper body/lower body split

The upper body/lower body split is perhaps the simplest split, a good one for beginners to try. You don’t have much to remember: It’s pretty obvious which exercises work the muscles above the belt and which work your muscles down south. When you work your upper body one day and your lower body the next, each zone of your body gets more of a complete rest than for any other way you do your split.
People who do the upper/lower split generally train their abdominals with their lower body, but this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule. Don’t make the mistake of working your abs every workout. Remember, the abs are like any other muscle group: They need time to recover. Two or three abdominal workouts a week will suffice.

Split Routines

Regardless of your goals, you need to hit each muscle group at least twice a week. The simplest way to accomplish this is to perform two total-body workouts per week; in other words, twice a week perform a routine that works every major muscle group.
Total-body workouts are great if you’re doing only one or two exercises per muscle group. But when you get serious about weight training — adding exercises and sets — a total-body workout can become tedious. If your schedule permits you to lift weights at least 4 days a week (the sessions can be as short as 15 minutes), consider doing a split routine. You split a total-body routine into two or three shorter routines. For example, you can train your upper body on one day and your lower body the next. You can even split your upper body muscles into three different workouts. (We discuss these options in detail later in this section.)
Split routines are ideal for people who have the time to work out several days a week but may not have much time for each workout session. Split routines also work well for people who have a short attention span for weight training or who want to give each muscle group an extra-hard workout. Brief, focused workouts help you stay motivated. If you walk into the gym knowing that all you have to do today is work your back and biceps, you’re more likely to give those muscle group exercises an all-out effort.
When designing a split routine, you need to follow two basic rules: Hit each muscle group at least twice a week, and don’t work the same muscle group on consecutive days. This second rule is a bit more complicated than it sounds. For example, you may think that it’s okay to work your triceps and thighs on Monday and then your chest and butt on Tuesday. Actually, it’s not. You see, most chest exercises also work the triceps, and most butt exercises also work the thighs. So, if you work your triceps on Monday, they won’t have recovered sufficiently by Tuesday to help out on your chest exercises. These rules may sound confusing, but within a few weeks, they’ll become second nature. Until then, here’s a list of muscle pairs that you shouldn’t work on back-to-back days:

• Chest and triceps
• Back and biceps
• Butt and thighs

Understanding Progression

Progressing your program or increasing intensity over time requires skill and patience. You don’t want to progress too quickly or you risk injury; but, if you don’t progress your program, it will become stale. After you’ve mastered 15 reps to fatigue at a particular weight, you’re ready to progress to two sets. After you’ve mastered two sets of 15 reps to fatigue, you can add an additional set or you can progress to a heavier weight level in the 8 to 12 rep range. Increase your weight by up to 5 percent. For example, let’s say you’ve been lifting 40 pounds for 15 reps for two sets. To progress, you would increase by 2 pounds and lift 42 pounds for 8 to 12 reps for one set. The challenge with lower weight ranges is that it is difficult to find small weights to add the incremental poundage. If you’re working on machines, look for the small 5-pound bars that you can rest on top of the stack. If you’re working with dumbbells with narrow handles, you can hold more than one in your hand.
Another way to progress your program is to add variety by performing more exercises for each muscle group. This continues to stimulate the muscle by working the muscles through different movement patterns and by requiring more muscle fibers to work.

Putting Together Back Health and Balance Routines

Core training has a different emphasis than training for strength. Follow these tips to maximize the effectiveness of your workout routines.

• Always warm up: Because these are shorter workouts, you can do your warm-up as part of your workout with core specific and balance exercises. Active exercises that warm up your muscles and challenge your core stabilizers include lunges or squats, particularly one-legged squats. You can even use push-ups. Don’t work at an all-out level, but instead work at a level that is appropriate for a warm-up.
• Focus on endurance: To improve core stabilization, your focus is on increasing muscular endurance. Do anywhere from 12 to 20 reps depending on the specific exercise. Do two to three sets as time permits.
• Thirty-second rest periods: Your rest periods should be shorter because you’re focusing on improving endurance.
• Use good form: Don’t continue to perform an exercise past the point where you can execute it with good form. Because these exercises are also for the purpose of improving your movement efficiency, it’s critical that you use good quality movement in every repetition.
• Listen to your body: You want to be particularly careful to avoid any strain to your lower ack or to your neck. Listen to your body. If any exercise causes you pain, don’t do it. If you have specific back issues, follow the instructions of your healthcare provider.
• Always stretch: To be more efficient, you can incorporate stretches either directly after particular exercises to use the time during the rest period, or you can do a series of stretches at the end of your workout. For best results, always include stretches to enhance balanced muscle development and promote flexibility and ease of movement.

Previewing Balance Gadgets

In addition to balance-specific exercises, you can find some helpful gadgets for training balance at equipment specialty stores. Three catalogs, Fitness Wholesale (800-537-5512), SPRI® (800-222-7774), and Power Systems® (800-321-6975), all sell these gadgets through their catalogs and through their online Web sites. Many of these training tools come with helpful manuals that demonstrate exercises.
One of my favorite is a balance board, a round board balanced on a knob or a ball. You stand on this and balance in a variety of oneand two-legged positions. With her background as a yoga and Pilates trainer, Shirley loves stability balls, foam rollers, and the BOSU®. Available worldwide, the BOSU is a dome-shaped training product that can be used right side up or upside down. That is why its name comes from “both sides up.” The BOSU comes with great workout routines.

Balance-specific Exercises

While you can improve balance by practicing ancient East Asian movement arts, you can also do balance-specific exercises. Whatever approach you choose to improve your balance is appropriate. The key is to select the exercises that appeal to you and motivate you to do them regularly. We think that balance-specific exercises like the ones listed below are taught best one-on-one or in small groups supervised by a trainer or physical therapist with a practiced eye and in-depth knowledge of anatomy and body alignment. However, you can also do a number of excellent drills on your own. Keep in mind that balance exercises are about quality not quantity. Focus hard when you perform the following moves, and don’t get frustrated if you’re not graceful at first. For example, walking across a low wooden beam, or pretending you are, requires a constant correction of knee, hip, and head alignment. All of your muscles from head to toe must work in synch in order for you to glide across the beam without extending your arms in the air or wandering off the edge. This can be tough at first, but with practice, you can master this move in just a few sessions. After a while, balance exercises awaken reflexes and add to body awareness and control on a subconscious level. This can translate into lasting improvements in posture and overall quality of movement.
Do these exercises two or three times a week at the end of your regular weight training sessions. Start with one set of each exercise and gradually work up to three sets. If you feel that you need more work, try an additional session or two each week. This type of training is deceptively challenging and can leave you feeling exhausted and sore if you overdo it at first. Even if you know other balance exercises, don’t do more than four moves in a session.

• Balance beam walk: Walk slowly across a low wooden beam, while maintaining a tall posture, keeping your knees forward and your hands relaxed at your sides. If you don’t have a balance beam, draw or tape a straight line 6 to 12 feet long on the floor. Place one foot directly in front of the other and stay as steady as possible. If you fall off the beam or wander off your line, simply get back on and continue from that point. See Figure 20-2.

Focus your eyes on the end of the beam to help you keep your balance.
Easier version: Extend your arms out to the side, but only as much as is necessary. Aim to make three back-and-forth trips.
Harder version: Walk backwards.

• Fulcrum: With your arms relaxed at your sides, stand on one foot with your other leg extended behind you and a few inches off the floor. Lean a few inches forward and maintain your balance for up to one minute. Then slowly bring your foot back to the floor, and repeat with your other leg. Do three to five repetitions with each leg.

Easier version: Rest your fingertips lightly against a wall, chair, or other sturdy object.
Harder version: Lean forward a few inches more. When you get good at this, lean forward until your torso is perpendicular to the floor.

• Ostrich: With your arms relaxed at your sides, stand on one foot with your opposite knee bent and your opposite foot a few inches off the floor directly in front of you. Hold this position for up to a minute, slowly return your foot to the floor, and then repeat with the other foot. Do three to five repetitions with each leg.

Easier version: Rest your fingertips lightly against a wall, chair, or some other sturdy object.
Harder version: Do the exercise with your eyes closed.

Practicing Yoga, Tai Chi, or Qigong

The ancient practices of hatha yoga, tai chi, and qigong that come to us from India and China are rooted in cultural traditions that included these exercises as a way of maintaining physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and balance. Numerous modern studies of these practices substantiate these benefits after putting them to the test with rigorous scientific analyses. All these practices are suitable for people of all ages, young and old, and are particularly attractive to older adults because they can be pursued on a gentle basis. While many American practitioners of yoga enjoy more vigorous styles, these exercises can be easily adapted to suit a variety of levels as shown in the accompanying photographs.

Keeping Your Balance

Special receptor cells located in your skin, muscles, joints, and tendons —the fancy term for these cells is proprioceptors — process information about your body’s orientation as it moves through space. For instance, when you walk across a lawn, your proprioceptors tell you things like “Okay, I’m putting my feet here now. The ground is spongy because it’s grass. It has a little give and isn’t completely uniform.”
The majority of these special receptor cells that are responsible for your postural stability are located in your multifidus, deep muscles located in your lower back. Your deep abdominals and deep back muscles are primarily responsible for your ability to maintain your balance. Unless you continue to challenge your core stabilizer muscles and your sense of balance, you lose your abilities. This process is explained by the popular saying, “Use it or lose it,” which is an accurate description.
As you age and allow these muscles to weaken, these proprioceptors become less sensitive, giving your brain less information and feedback to work with. Now when you walk across a lawn, you don’t get quite so much input about the texture or give of the surface, and you’re more likely to stumble on little inconsistencies of terrain. Slower reflexes and decreased muscular strength, combined with deteriorating eyesight and depth perception, also contribute to a diminished sense of equilibrium.
A fear of falling may be another reason that older people experience a loss of balance. Ironically, this fear may increase the risk of falling. When people worry about taking a tumble, they try to compensate by standing with their feet farther apart and walking with smaller steps. However, these adjustments actually prevent you from judging subtle cues from the environment, like the firmness of the ground and small changes in height of the surface you’re walking on.
What’s more, poor balance results in a shaky, unsteady gait. It becomes harder to go up or down stairs or negotiate high curbs and other obstacles that you may not otherwise give a second thought. You may find it more difficult to reach for objects on overhead shelves or to stand in tight spots on trains, in line, and in crowds with your feet close together. Fortunately, you can reduce or reverse some of these problems and, as a result, you can become less accident prone. One study looked at 110 men and women with an average age of 80. After three months of performing balance exercises regularly, most of the subjects had the body control of people three to ten years younger.

Benefiting from Good Posture

Improving your posture literally changes your life. Not only will you look taller, appear slimmer, and feel better, but also you’ll have fewer daily aches and pains. Regardless of your age and current level of fitness, improving your posture with the exercise programs listed later in this chapter benefit you. Everyone needs good posture, because it is important to musculoskeletal health and injury prevention. Older adults can dramatically reduce the odds of falling and maintain a good quality of life. Athletes can improve their performance on the playing field.
You’ll gain a few benefits from posture training.

• Prevent or reduce the likelihood of low back pain
• Reduce injuries
• Enhance joint efficiency
• Increase range of motion
• Improve flexibility
• More energy

Evaluating Your Posture

An easy and quick way to assess your posture is to look at yourself from a side profile. The following five points should align vertically:

• Ear
• Shoulder
• Hip
• Knee
• Ankle

Your posture should reflect the natural S-shaped curve of the spine. These curves help reduce impact forces on your body by allowing it to be more resilient. Imbalances in your body usually contribute to poor posture. These imbalances may result from any of the following:

• Muscle imbalances: Muscles create movement by working in combination with other muscles. In a well-balanced body, muscles co-exist in balance with each other. For example, weak shins usually co-exist with tight calves and contribute to tighter muscles along the back of the legs.
• Tight muscles: Tight muscles, often a result of muscle imbalances, also create stress on joints, and result in less flexibility and less ROM.
• Past injuries: Accidents from your youth such as broken bones and torn ligaments can permanently alter your posture. A broken leg can lead to one leg being shorter than another. A shoulder injury that tore ligaments can lead to lingering stiffness and a reduced ROM on one side of your body when compared to the other side.
• Genetics: Certain postural deviations can be part of your family heritage. For example, scoliosis, a curvature of the spine is often an inherited condition. Another congenital condition that affects posture is flat feet.

After you’ve identified the causes of your postural imbalances, start addressing them. If the reasons are muscular, use an exercise program to improve your posture. Following one of the suggested core routines would be a great start, because these routines are beginning workouts that are suitable for people at all levels of ability. If the reasons are due to injury or genetics, your healthcare provider can help you find appropriate support such as heel lifts or orthotics for your shoes. Whatever your condition, you can always improve and if you have ideal posture, then you can work to keep up your great shape to stay that way.
Wearing high-heeled shoes daily contributes to poor posture. If worn regularly, high heels cause tightening and shortening of the calves, tightness in the lower back, and knee pain. Your best bet is to vary your heel heights and not wear the same shoes two days in a row. Reserve your high-heeled fashion shoes for times when you don’t need to walk long distances. Also, buy your shoes a half size larger and invest in some comfortable insoles, or for fashion shoes, get the less noticeable narrow versions.