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Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Contracting Muscles during workout

soccerfreak Posts: 3 Joined: 2006/07/21	2009/04/29, 10:35 AM My question is this, why am I supposed to contract my muscles when I am working out? Ive tried it for a week now but I dont really feel any different than before.
returnofplex Posts: 801 Joined: 2007/10/26	2009/04/29, 11:05 AM It's to get the most out of the movement. If you're feeling nothing then the weight is too light. And it also depends on what you mean by contracting. Every time you do a movement the muscle contracts. Typically you hold a peak contraction for about 1-2 seconds, unless your program specifies otherwise.
soccerfreak Posts: 3 Joined: 2006/07/21	2009/04/30, 02:58 AM I used to wrong word as you probably guessed. The actual word is 'flex' and used as "Pause and flex your biceps hard at the top of the movement". Does thsi really make a difference? I had never heard this at all before I started using this site.
returnofplex Posts: 801 Joined: 2007/10/26	2009/04/30, 10:42 AM Yes pausing briefly at the peak of the movement makes a difference. It helps to recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers into the repetition. This should come naturally with good form, otherwise you're not getting the most out of the movement.