BetterU News Issue #1
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Issue #1              BetterU News             January 14, 2002
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A Free Email Newsletter from BetterU, Inc.
"Your World Class Professional Training Resource"

Contents:
1) Welcome to BetterU, Inc.!
2) This Issue's Fitness Question
3) Tips of the Week
4) Fitstep Funnies

NOTE: All articles in BetterU News are written by Nick Nilsson -
http://www.fitstep.com/ unless otherwise credited.

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1) Welcome to BetterU, Inc.!

We are committed to providing you with the very best in fitness information. Be sure to visit us at http://www.fitstep.com today!

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2) This Issue's Fitness Question

In each issue of BetterU News we will post a question that has been sent to us.

If you would like to ask a question go to:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Questions/Ask.htm

To read questions that have been asked already go to:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Questions/Questions.htm

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3) Tips of the Week

Expanding your knowledge is the key to improving yourself. On Wednesday of each week we will post two new Tips of the Week - one for beginners and one for intermediate/advanced trainers.

The Index of all the Tips of the Week can be found at

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Tips/tip_index.htm

Beginner Tip of the Week - January 16, 2002

The Three Stages of Form:

Form is a cornerstones of weight training. It describes how well (or how poorly) you are performing an exercise. There are three typical stages of form when lifting weights: strict, loose, and sloppy.

Strict form is perfect form executing the exercise to the letter of the law. This is how you should perform the majority of your exercises.

The second stage is loose form. This allows for some slight cheating movements, such as using a little momentum to keep the weight moving. When you can no longer perform an exercise with strict form, you naturally move to loose form to continue lifting and continue working the muscle. It is a continuum of style.

Sloppy form entails gross cheating movements and terrible form. Examples of this include bouncing the bar off your chest when doing a bench press or pulling on your head, when doing abdominal crunches or bending your back when doing push-ups.

NEVER allow your form to go as far as sloppy. This almost invariably leads to injury.

Intermediate/Advanced Tip of the Week - January 16, 2002

Leg Drive in the Flat Barbell Bench Press:

Driving with your legs is a part of bench pressing few people understand but it can give you increased power out of the bottom of the movement.

• To do this, your feet should be on the floor, feet and legs parallel to the bench. Your knees should be bent at about 80 degrees with your heels dug into the floor.
• Squeeze your glutes to raise your butt up (but not off the bench) just before you get to the bottom of the press. At the moment you begin to push the bar up, drive with your feet, pushing your heels hard into the floor. In essence, try to use your heels to slide your body up the bench.
• The weight will keep you from sliding but that push backwards will translate into an upward push on the bar. That is why your lower legs should be angled back - so they can push.
• Practice using your feet to slide yourself up the bench with just the bar to get the feel for the action.
• This drive will translate directly into added power out of the bottom of the bench press, increasing the amount of weight you will be able to press.

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4) Fitstep Funnies

Exercise should be fun and the Fitstep Funnies are an exercise
in humor. Here we post fitness-related jokes and stories that
have been submitted to us.

For the Fitstep Funnies page go to

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Funnies/funnies_index.htm

To submit a joke or story go to

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Funnies/Tell.htm

Points To Ponder

• It is well documented that for every minute that you exercise, you add one minute to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5000 per month.
• My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. Now she's 97 years old and we don't know where she is.
• The only reason I would take up exercising is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
• I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to show up.
• I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing.
• I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
• I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.
• The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.
• If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.
• And last but not least: I don't exercise because it makes the ice jump right out of my glass.
  
  

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