Gender Strength Training

6.02.2020

Blog|Head, Neck, Traps

A woman working out on a pendulum neck machine

Women, on average, have less muscle strength than men, yet relative to the cross-sectional area of muscle the strength of men and women is nearly equal.

The myth of women becoming too big and bulky lifting weights has been debunked and in general women understand that they like their counterpart benefit from bone and soft-tissue modeling, increased lean body mass, decreased fat, and enhanced self-confidence. Yet one exercise that remains problematic for many females is training the neck musculature.

The need for acceptance of exercising this area is not just for women in sport. Female neck training is important for overall physiological development, lowering forces that are related to unexpected trauma, painful conditions that arise from repetitiveness and in some incidences the reduction of headaches.

An example of needing to develop the entire system is found in our technological society where chronic computer related neck pain is common among female office workers and female students. Studies have clearly shown progressive resistance strengthening of the neck is an effective method for pain relief and return day to day function of this modality.

Regardless of gender strength training the musculature surrounding the cervical spine is important and should be a part of everyone’s exercise regime.

Flexion on the Pendulum 5- Way Head and Neck Machine

6.2.2023

Closed And Open Chain

Open kinetic chain exercises of the lower limb are movements, where the distal segment is unloaded and free to move. The opposite is true of closed kinetic chain exercises, whereby there is enough resistance to prohibit free motion.

Closed kinetic chain exercises are movements such as squats, Pendulum Squat Pro, leg presses and lunges, while open chain exercises are actions like leg curls, leg extensions and the Pendulum Reverse Glute Ham.

The kinetic chain can be understood as interrelated joints and body parts working with one another during motion. This creates a chain of events that affects the movement of neighboring joints and segments.

The advantage of open chain movements is that they tend to be better at isolating muscle and often are selected for specific rehabilitation and used to accentuate performance. While closed chain movements in general would be classified as more functional and closely approximating movements that are used in sport and daily life.

Open Chain Reverse Glute Ham

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro XT

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Arkansas Baseball Weight Room

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2-for-2 Method

Some trainers, coaches and athletes use what is called the 2-for-2 Method for increasing training load. The rule is if the trainee can perform two or more repetitions over one’s ‘repetition goal’ in the last set of an exercise, for two consecutive workouts, the weight is added for that particular exercise the next training session.