Q: What’s the difference between training with dumbbells and training with cables

A: Dumbbells require you to use more total muscle than cables. When training with dumbbells you are forced to recruit your core muscles to a great extent since you have to stabilize the dumbbells before you can begin the movement. Dumbbells also help rehab joints since they allow you to work in multiple planes of motion. Each rep is like a new exercise since dumbbells don’t lock you into the same movement like cables do.

-Jimmy Smith, CSCS
www.jimmysmithtraining.com

Q: I regularly train myself. Should I, from time to time, get a fitness assessment? Why or why not?

A: Let me put it to you this way. I'm not an auto-mechanic. I know how to change my oil and do a few random check-ups, but when I need work done on my car I take it into a professional. A monthly or bi-monthly assessment could be extremely beneficial. It doesn’t matter if your goals are fat loss, muscle growth or anything in between. As guys, we tend to stick to what we know and do what we've always done—even if it means getting the same result. Sometimes it takes an outside professional opinion to determine that next step.

-Nate Green, NFPT-CPT
www.thenategreenexperience.com

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