Orange Theory Fitness: Sandy Springs

Easy Machine Leg Workout Provided you aren’t engaging in too complex of a movement, any weight training exercise can be easy with a low enough weight. But racking and unracking weights to and from barbells and dumbbells can be a pain, especially for first-time gym-goers. Machines provide ease in setting the weight for a specific exercise, making them useful for gym-goers who are still in the experimentation phase and must switch weights often. Most gyms are equipped with the ...appropriate machines for highly effective -- yet easy -- leg exercises. Perform three sets of eight reps, resting two to three minutes between each set for best results. Lever Leg Press The lever leg press works the gastrocnemius and soleus lower leg muscles. To perform, sit in the leg press machine with your feet on the foot pad. Press on the foot pad until your legs are extended. This is the starting position. Extend your ankles as far as possible, moving the foot pad even farther away from you. Once fully extended, relax your ankles so that you return to the starting position. Smith Good Mornings Smith good mornings hit the hamstrings, located at the back of your upper legs. Perform them by placing the Smith’s barbell across your shoulders, behind your head. Stand straight with your feet close together. Bend your hips, thrusting them back slightly so that your butt is sticking out and your torso is parallel to the floor. During this movement, keep your back straight. Return to a standing position. Cable Hip Abduction The cable hip abduction hits many areas of the lower hip and upper thigh, near the buttocks. Attach an ankle cuff to a cable pulley machine. Attach the ankle calf to one of your ankles. Stand with your side to the cable pulley machine, attached ankle closer, and take one large step sideways with your free foot. Grab on to a fixed bar or surface for support, if needed. Move your attached leg toward your body and across your free leg, in the front. Return the leg to its starting position. Repeat with the other leg. Lever Calf Press The lever calf press targets the quadriceps muscle, which is the muscle in your thigh. Sit in a leg press machine with your legs flat on the leg pad. Press against the leg pad with your legs as if you were to get into the position for a calf press. This movement is the leg press exercise. Return to the original position and repeat.

How to Gain Weight for Women With a Fast Metabolism Maintaining a healthy weight can be challenge, but unlike the average person, you may be struggling to gain weight instead of dropping extra pounds. When you have a fast metabolism, gaining weight seems even more difficult. However, with a few changes to your routine, you can gain weight at a healthy rate without just adding fat tissue and eating high-fat foods. Being underweight can be just as harmful as being overweight, s...o maintaining a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 improves overall health. Step 1 Increase calories by 250-500 extra calories per day. Accomplishing this goal may mean adding in an extra snack or small meal to your normal calorie intake. Although a few hundred extra calories may not seem like much, you'll gain about a pound a week, which is a healthy gain. However, if this number varies, don't be too worried since your activity level and genetic makeup may cause you to gain at a slightly higher or lower amount. Step 2 Eat more frequently thoughout the day. When you have a fast metabolism, your body burns through calories at an increased rate so you may have better results eating five or six small meals throughout the day. Increase the caloric density of your meals by adding powdered milk to beverages and soups. If you eat fresh salads, add avocados, olive oil or nuts to boost the calorie and fat content. Top your favorite foods with regular cheeses and add nut butters to breads to add a healthy fat source. You want to increase your caloric intake in a healthy way, so focus on adding calories through unsaturated fat products when possible. Step 3 Increase your muscle mass. When you gain weight, you may need to gain some fat stores, but a healthy component of weight gain involves gaining lean body mass. Strength training is the best way to increase lean muscle tissue. Use a balanced lifting program that incorporates all major muscle groups in your body to get the best results. Lifting three times a week and using higher weights with fewer workouts keeps your workout volume low and won't have as great of an effect on your metabolism. Additionally, cut back on additional physical activities to avoid losing weight and relax more than normal to promote weight gain.

Pushup Position and Side-Knee Tucks The pushup position and side-knee-tuck combo is a multi-directional, multi-muscle and core-stability exercise. As a full-body movement it benefits your whole muscle and skeleton structure. It works to build stability, coordination, balance, muscle tone and strength, as well as to help protect you against injury. The combo is not designed as a beginner exercise but, due to its varying parts, can be modified so anyone can learn it in stages. ...Continue reading

Exercises for Teres Major, Teres Minor and the Rhomboids The teres major and minor muscles play an important role in assisting the shoulder to help your rhomboid muscles stabilize the shoulder blade. Thus, it is important to strengthen these muscles for injury prevention. According to the IDEA Fitness Journal, it is hard to isolate an individual muscle when it comes to the movements of the shoulders. However, you can still target the teres and rhomboid muscles using rotatio...Continue reading

Good Leg Workout Using Dumbbells Toned, slender legs look attractive in shorts, a skirt or a dress. There are many ways to build and tone the muscles in your legs. Using dumbbells with your strength-training workouts offers you the flexibility of exercising at home or the gym. If you have leg fat you want to get rid of, you'll also have to include some cardiovascular exercises to help you lose weight all over, as well as on your legs. Dumbbell Exercises for Quadriceps and Ham...Continue reading

How to Train for a One-Arm Pull-Up When you watch someone do a single-arm pull-up, you know they have a tremendous amount of upper-body strength. This impressive exercise takes practice and dedication to improve the strength in your back and your arms. You improve this strength through traditional two-arm pull-ups, with isometric hangs and by using weight machines to target the main muscle in your back: the latissimus dorsi. Proper training and the use of good form can keep y...ou injury-free and able to do the pull-ups for years to come. Step 1 Practice your two-arm pull-ups until you are able to do 15 to 20 consecutively. Place both hands on a pull-up bar with your palms facing away and spaced wider than your shoulders. Pick your feet off the floor and hang from your hands. Exhale, bend your elbows and pull up your body until your chin clears the bar. Inhale, straighten your arms and return to a hanging position. Do these three days a week with a day of rest in between and then progress to the arm hangs. Step 2 Perform a single-arm hang for as long as possible. Pull your chin over the bar using two hands. Stay at the top and release your grip with one hand. Hang by the other until the muscles reach failure and you drop down. Do this on each arm. Perform your arm hangs three days a week with a day of rest after each workout day and then progress to the one-arm pull downs. Step 3 Sit in a lat pull-down machine. Grasp the bar with one hand with your palm facing away from you. Position your hand at shoulder-width or slightly wider. Exhale, bend your elbow and pull down the bar until it reaches the top of your chest. Lean back slightly as you do this. Inhale and return to the starting position. Complete one to three sets of eight to 12 repetitions on each arm. Use a weight that causes fatigue for the final two repetitions of each set. Perform your pull-downs three days a week with a day of rest after each workout day until you reach a weight amount close to your body weight. Step 4 Perform assisted one-arm pull-ups. Position your right hand on the bar with your palm facing you. Place your left arm across the top of the bar with your arm straight. Support some of your weight on your left arm as you bend and straighten your right arm for the pull-up. Repeat the process using your left arm to do the pull-up. Do these two or three days a week with at least one day of rest in between workouts. Step 5 Use less and less assistance as you perform a one-handed pull-up. Step 6 Warm up your muscles prior to each workout by doing five to 10 minutes of light cardio.

What Part of the Deltoids Does the Shoulder Press Work? While the shoulder press focuses primarily on two portions of the deltoids, or shoulders, it also works a plethora of other muscles. Your trapezius, triceps and rotary cuff muscles all have to work in conjunction with your shoulders for this exercise to be done. Your goals will dictate how you do the exercise, and if you’re trying to increase strength, do two to six sets of four to eight reps. For endurance, try two to t...hree sets of 12 to 16 reps; for general fitness do one to three sets of eight to 15 reps, says ACE Fitness. Shoulder Press How-To The shoulder press can be done using barbells, cables and dumbbells. While the motions are the same, and most of the muscles activated are identical, this dumbbell version incorporates the top of the chest. Sit on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand, positioned a little higher and to the side of each shoulder. Your palms should point the same direction as your nose. Keeping your wrists in line with your elbows, extend your arms above your head. Lower the weight and repeat. Deltoids Worked: Anterior and Lateral The deltoids are broken into three groups: anterior, lateral and posterior. The anterior and lateral deltoids are used for the shoulder press. The anterior deltoid is the front of the shoulder, and helps raise the arms in front of the body and above the head. The lateral deltoid is the top and side of the shoulder, and helps lift the arms out and press weight above the head. The posterior deltoid is in the back and is responsible for pulling weight toward the body, or swinging the arms back. It is not activated by the shoulder press. Press Exercise: Alternatives Aside from the options in equipment you have for the shoulder press, there are also other versions. The rotating dumbbell shoulder press -- or Arnold press -- puts a twist on the standard press, but still works the same muscles. Sit on a bench with dumbbells in each hand. Hold the dumbbells in front of your shoulder with your knuckles facing away from your body. Extend your arms above your head, moving your elbows out to the side and rotating your wrists until your palms face away from your body. Reverse direction, lowering the weight and repeating. Tips and Considerations Strength training is beneficial to your overall health, but cardiovascular activity is just as important. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a weekly minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, cardiovascular activity. Regardless of your goals, you should never compromise correct technique. If you can’t complete all of your reps with the proper form, lift a lighter weight.

Total Body Workout Weight Lifting for Beginners Beginning a weightlifting workout routine is one of the smartest decisions you can make for your health. Lifting weights will not only make you stronger, it can also improve bone strength, improve body composition, make every day activities less taxing and even improve the quality of your sleep. Follow some simple guidelines to safely begin a total-body weightlifting workout. Consult with your health care provider to ensure you'...Continue reading