Question

sandra is working hard to gain some strength for spring track. she has not done much this winter, so she has decided she will do bench presses and curls on monday, stomach and back exercises on wednesday, and squats and leg lifts on friday. she has decided she will do three sets of 10 for each exercise. what change should sandra get to make the most of her workout and meet her goals?
a. sandra should give her workout more variety by either altering the exercises, intensity, or volume of work.
b. sandra should change her workout schedule to do all of these exercises every day during the week and take the weekend off to recover.
c. sandra should do her weight lifting during the first three days of the week and use the next four days to incorporate different kinds of cardiovascular exercise.
d. sandra should cut back on the amount of lifting and add some cardiovascular exercise to each workout.

Explanation:

To determine the best change for Sandra's workout, we analyze each option:

• Option A: Variety in workouts (exercises, intensity, volume) is key for progress, as doing the same routine can lead to plateaus. Sandra's current routine has fixed exercises and volume, so adding variety makes sense.
• Option B: Doing all exercises daily would likely cause overtraining and lack of recovery, which is not effective.
• Option C: The problem doesn't mention a need to separate weightlifting and cardio in this specific way, and this change is more arbitrary than addressing variety.
• Option D: There's no indication she needs to cut lifting; the main issue is lack of variety, not excessive lifting.

Answer:

A. Sandra should give her workout more variety by either altering the exercises, intensity, or volume of work.