Training Methods

Proper form for weight training - Throughout the country people spend countless hours lifting weights and performing other forms of exercise to develop muscles and get in better shape. However seldom do you see someone doing their exercises in proper form. "Proper form" has basically two aspects: the speed of motion and the range of motion. The range of motion should be the full range of movement that is capable for that specific exercise. For example a pushup is done by moving from the arms fully extended position down to the point where the chest touches the floor and then back up to full extension. For a chin-up you should start at a position of a full hang, pull up until the chin is over the bar and then go back to the full hang position. This principle of working thru the full range applies to just about any strength training exercise weather it is on a weight machine, with free weights or a body weight exercise. By doing this you work the fullest amount of the muscles involved in the exercise.
As for the speed of motion this is a bit more difficult to master. To get the most out of an exercise the speed should be relatively slow so that momentum does not assist in lifting or lowering the weight. The laws of physics dicate that the faster a object is moving the less force is needed to keep it moving. On the other hand moving slower reduces the momentum and requires the muscles to contract with much more force to perform the movement. This is going to make the exercise much harder and more effective. A speed of two seconds to lift, a one second pause and then four seconds to lower is often recommended. There are advanced training techniques that require much slower movements.