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For greatest convenience, heel raises are done on an exercise machine. To do the exercise, place the balls of your feet on the raised platform and your shoulders under the resistance lever pads. On most machines the pads are lower than your shoulders, so you must squat to position yourself under the pads. As you do this, be sure to flex your knees and keep your spine erect (in normal curvature) at all times. Straighten your legs to assume the standing ready position. In this position balance does not play a role. However, because of the importance of balance for athletes, as well as bodybuilders, execution of the heel raise in a free standing position should also be done. Execution is the same as on the machine.  To begin, place the balls of your feet on the raised platform and your shoulders under the resistance-lever pads of the calf raise machine. Straighten your legs to assume a standing position. When you are ready, inhale and hold your breath as you lower your heels until you feel a stretch of the Achilles tendon and calf muscles. Keep holding your breath and, with your spine held firmly, rise up as high as possible and hold the up position for one to two seconds.  In the ending position, your heels should be raised maximally and your legs should be straight. Exhale and lower your body under control to the initial position. Pause momentarily and repeat. To develop greater balance, do this exercise on a raised platform while holding dumbbells in your hands or a barbell across your shoulders. Execution is the same but, because of the balance factor you will have to use less weight to maintain stability. If you need support, you can do the exercise on one leg on a raised platform as for example, the base support of a machine, while you hold a part of the machine with one hand and a dumbbell in the other.

The supinator muscle is an important muscle located in the forearm that plays a crucial role in hand and forearm movement. It runs from the lateral epicondyle of the humerus (upper arm bone) to the proximal radius (one of the two forearm bones).The primary function of the supinator muscle is to supinate the forearm, which means it helps in turning the palm of the hand upward or facing anteriorly. This motion is essential for various everyday activities such as pouring a drink, using a screwdriver, turning a doorknob, or using a key to unlock a door. It allows for a more versatile and precise manipulation of objects.The supinator muscle also works in coordination with other muscles of the forearm, such as the biceps brachii and brachioradialis, to provide stability and control during movements involving the elbow and wrist joints. These muscles work together to ensure smooth and coordinated actions, enabling us to perform a wide range of manual tasks.Furthermore, the supinator muscle helps to maintain the integrity of the wrist and hand position during activities that require grip strength. It provides support to the radial collateral ligament of the elbow joint, helping to stabilize the joint and prevent excessive strain during movement.In summary, the supinator muscle plays a vital role in forearm and hand function by enabling supination of the forearm, providing stability during movements involving the elbow and wrist joints, and supporting grip strength. Its proper functioning is crucial for performing various daily activities and maintaining overall upper limb dexterity.

Weight training can result in an increase in joint flexibility or it can have the opposite effect – a decrease in flexibility. It depends not only on how the exercise is done, but on how much weight is used and the range of motion over which the weight is moved. Also, adaptations to weight training with beginners are different from the level or kind of adaptation by more experienced trainees. If you use relatively light weights so that you go through a full ROM, you will be able to increase your flexibility. In exercises such as lateral arm raises when you go through a full ROM so that the arms end up directly overhead you can increase shoulder flexibility. You can do the same in front arm raises, lateral prone raises, back raises, etc. Exercises such as reverse trunk twists are excellent for increasing rotational flexibility of the spine, as well as strengthening the internal and external obliques. To increase the ROM in supination and pronation, use a Strength Bar at full length. There are many other exercises -- if not most -- that can be done through a maximum ROM that will result in an increase in flexibility or maintenance, once an optimal range of motion is established. As you increase repetitions, sets and/or use greater resistance, your weight training will result in a loss of flexibility. There are several reasons for this: 1.The greater the number of repetitions and/or sets, the greater is the tendency to shorten the ROM. 2.The greater the total number of repetitions the greater is the tendency for the muscle to tighten up and shorten after the work. 3.When you handle very heavy weights you rarely fully extend the limbs because of the loss in mechanical advantage of the muscles. 4.The use of heavy weights brings about residual tonus in the muscles, which, when sufficiently strong, keeps the muscles in a shortened state after the workout. When you use a greater number of repetitions and/or sets, you will invariably find that as you approach the last repetitions or sets, ROM will be decreased. This typically occurs when fatigue begins to set in or when the muscles begin to tighten from the amount of work being done. The more work you do, the greater will be the likelihood of a decrease in flexibility in the joints affected. Because of this, all heavy or intense weight training programs should be supplemented with stretching, preferably after the workout and that the stretching is active in nature. This is especially important when the spine is involved in weight bearing and may become compacted, as for example, when holding weights on the shoulders or overhead. Active stretching at this time can be done to regain the normal ROM in the involved joints. For example, if you do multiple sets of the biceps curl, you can do a straight arm hang on a high bar to regain the straight arm position. For the lower back, hanging is also very beneficial, whether it be on a high bar to get a full stretch of the spinal vertebrae, or on the Yessis Glute-Ham-Back Machine in which you hang down from the hips with the trunk vertical (inversion). Keep in mind that the stretching at this time is not for an increase in flexibility; it is merely to regain the normal ROM in the joints that you had prior to the exercise. Stretching after the workout is also effective for the prevention of muscle soreness or to decrease the severity of muscle soreness.