Do you feel your workouts are getting boring? Do feel as though you’re not seeing results? Maybe, you experienced picking something up during your everyday life that’s really not that heavy, but you still tweak your back. Whatever’s going on with your current workout routine and day-to-day life, adding shifting to your lifting routine will be beneficial! To have a better understanding of what I mean by adding shifting to your lifting, let’s take a look at what weight lifting traditionally is.
Often times when we discuss weight lifting or resistance training we are dealing with lifting an object (dumbbells, barbell, kettle bell, ourselves, etc.) and in doing so, we are going against gravity. In addition, we must you momentum in order for this to occur. After all according to Newton’s Law: Force=Mass X Acceleration. Many people will go to the gym, lift weights (Mass) in one plane of motion. We have three planes of motion. Examples of exercises in the Sagittal include lunges, bicep curls and chest press. Examples of exercises in the Frontal Plane include: side lunges, lateral raises and ice skaters. A great example of an exercise the Transverse Plane is the horizontal woodchopper. The Transverse plane is the plane most people do not exercise in and this is often times where we get hurt. Think about this scenario: You are able to deadlift 80 lbs., 100 lbs., maybe even more, but you go to grab the laundry basket off to your side pick up and then twist to set it on the table and you throw out your back. Or you have a child and he or she is running around and you pick him/her up twist and there goes your back. These are just a couple examples of daily activities where we are shifting. The following are just a few exercises that you can start to incorporate the shifting concept to.
- Planks – Instead of just holding plank, shift your weight side-to-side, front to back or in a circular motion.
- Lunge and rotate – You can rotate to the knee that is forward, the knee that’s back or rotate both ways.
- Push ups and then rotate or push up and then move your body side to side, front to back or at an angle.
- Bent over dumbbell rows with a twist. Start with the dumbbell on the opposite side of your body as the arm that will do the rowing and pull the weight across your body as you pull it up and back.
The above are just some examples, but you can see with these how they can apply to your daily life as well as they are a great way to work more muscles, burn more calories and change things up. So the next time you go into the gym to lift, don’t forget to shift with some of the movements.
Scott Keppel is the owner of Scott’s Training Systems, a world-class coaching facility in Chandler, Arizona. He is a nationally certified trainer through NASM and ISSA. His mission is to empower women of all ages and fitness levels. For more information head to scottstrainingsystems.com or check him out on Instagram at @stsnation.
