The ABC’s of Weight Training and Lifting

Have you been out of the gym for a while? Are you a newbie just looking for some sound advice? If you are either you have come to the right place. Let me start off by saying welcome to the world of weights. It is not easy, but with the right amount of knowledge, determination and patience you will be well on your way to building the body that you desire.

1.) Stretching. First things first you have to check your ego at the door and realize that lifting weights can be a wonderful thing, but horribly painful if the wrong approach is taken. I remember when I picked up my first set of weight when I was 13. I was thoroughly embarrassed at how weak I was. To make up for it, I started to try to lift heavier weights only to find that I was hurting all over all the time. I had undervalued the concept of stretching. Stretching helps to reduce injury prevention. Spending just a few minutes before, during and after weight lifting sessions can help you to become stronger as well as avoiding injury.

2.) Baby Steps. If you are new to all of this your best bet would be to start on the machines to get your muscles used to the movement. You can find tons of machines that work your Chest (Pecs) such as the machine bench press or the machine pec-dec flye. If you tried to do these with dumbbells you will see what muscles are atrophied by the struggle to balance the weights. The machines also help to correct your form and put you into the correct plane of motion. Muscle imbalances early on only lead to injuries down the line. Imbalances cause other muscles to make up for it. This leads to having some muscles stronger than others, when a movement calls for the use of the weaker muscle there is a great chance of injury as it is not used to the work.

3.) Never sacrifice weight for form. If you want to get an injury quickly then avoid my advice. If you don’t than I would suggest heeding the following. You will always, and I repeat always see someone lifting a weight that they cannot handle. You will see people arching their back on the bench press, swinging their arms doing curls looking like they are trying to throw something in the air or not going to parallel on the squat. Not only does this not properly work the muscle it is supposed to target, but it also causes you to be at a great risk of injury. Your back should be flat on the bench when doing a bench press and really should not be doing a whole lot, You should be very still when doing curls and should be able to curl the weight with only the lower (forearm) part of the arm doing the movement and you should always go as low as you can until your butt is parallel to the floor on the squat. This will ensure that the muscle is properly working and get the “look” you are hoping to achieve.

4.) Plan and track your workout. There is nothing worse than getting to the gym and realizing that you don’t know what to do and end up doing whatever or following some other person’s workout. You should always write down or at least plan it out in your mind so that you have some sort of idea as to what you will do. There should always be a goal in mind. Tracking or writing down what you have done, what weights, number of sets and when you did will help you see progression. It will help you to see what works for you and what does not. It will help you to change up your workout to avoid getting “stale” and hitting a plateau. Keep your muscles guessing. Which is exactly why I never do the same workout week in and week out.

5.) Rest. Not only do you need time to rest, your muscles need time to rest as well. To ensure proper recuperation and growth you need time in between workouts to rest your body so that it will be ready for your next workout.

There are a lot of other variables that contribute to weight training such as proper nutrition and motivation, but this should give you a good start to your training program. As in any other sport, you need to practice and keep doing something to get better at it. In this instance the practice part is using the machines and getting used to the weights. In no time you will be a pro at it. If you are craving more material be sure to get your Workout Pass and use it everyday. Good Luck!