Fitness Trend: The Shake Weight.

    I know that by now everyone has probably seen the commercials for the shake weight, an "amazing," shaking dumbbell that can tone you up in just 6 minutes a day!  So is it really worth your hard earned cash???

First things first....why "they" say it works...
   The idea of the shake weight is taken from a recent fitness trend of vibration training which uses the oscillation of the equipment to stimulate your muscles, ultimately providing a higher force output during the contraction. Most of the research done has focused on whole body vibration training and yielded mixed results as to whether or not it actually leads to greater levels of muscle force. 
  
Now....why research says it's most likely a waste of your money...
     In theory the weight should stimulate extra muscle activity, but in practice the weight is kind of hard to shake properly and the light weight will not provide enough of an overload to make it an effective tool for developing strength or muscle definition.  Along with that, the DVD that comes with the product only demonstrates exercises for the upper body which will not expend nearly as many calories as if you were doing exercises with all the muscles of the body. 

Your best bet??
   Stick with your normal dumbbells.  If toning is what you want then create a routine that provides a load that allows for fatigue at around 8 repetitions or use plyometric training for muscle definition without an increase in muscle fiber size. 

Fit Tip: Correct Form for Smith Machine Squat

As a personal trainer I am always in the gym, and always keeping an eye out (whether I mean to or not) to see what others are doing, and making sure they are safely executing their exercises. For the most part I don't find it necessary to go up to someone and correct their form for fear that they will get injured, but today was different.
One of the members of our gym was using the smith machine for squats, and watching him do them was beginning to frighten me. His stance was incorrect, his form was incorrect, and the weight he was using was just to heavy for him to lift effectively.

The Smith machine is a piece of equipment used for weight training and many different exercises can be done on it. The great thing about is that it can be secured at any point, so you don't need a spotter.

Here are some tips to make sure you understand how to correctly execute a squat on the smith machine.

1. Make sure the bar is resting at the top of your back, NOT the bottom of your neck.
2. Always place your feet ahead of yourself, never position them right under the bar. This will allow you to sit back into your squat to get the appropriate range of motion during your lift and you'll avoid the risk of a knee or back injury.
3. Don't sacrifice range of motion for more weight. I understand that lifting heavy weights may look cool, but when it comes at the cost of losing range of motion it's not worth it. Great range of motion results in a more effective and more challenging lift.

Incorrect form -
If you can see, his knees are coming forward, and his heals are coming off the ground. Done with light weight you can execute this exercise, which is called a sissy squat, although I don't recommend. Knee and back injuries can occur while using this form.

Correct form - Now he has his feet out in front of him, his heals are planted on the ground, and he is able to get down a little lower to create a greater range of motion. Good stuff.

*Make sure to always practice good form with all strength training exercises.