Weight training guidelines.
Weight training must be done properly for a number of reasons. First of  all, it is time and energy consuming. Therefore, a trainer must obtain the earliest expected results, before he/she gets disappointed and gives up. Exercises in weight training should be executed in a proper way. This will help any risk for injuries to be minimized. Moreover, a balanced weight training is necessary to prevent any distortion of a person's physique. In this page, we will try to give some guidelines, in order weight training to be safe, effective and enjoyable.
 Warm up and stretch. Before any weight training session, do about fifteen to twenty minutes of mild aerobic exercise and five minutes of stretching. These steps are necessary and beneficial in many aspects. By doing them you will warm your muscles up, minimize injuries, increase caloric burning and improve your cardiovascular endurance.
Start gently and proceed gradually. Try to avoid overtraining. If you are a novice or you have not been active for a while, do not try to push yourself too hard. Do the whole range of the exercises included in the program but do not exceed the 50% of your capability. For instance, if you feel you can do twelve reps of a particular exercise, do only six. Keep it that way for one or two weeks and gradually you can increase your performance. Start with twenty minutes and within about two month's time, you will be able to follow one hour’s or longer sessions of weight training. Be patient and give some time to your body to adjust itself. Otherwise, it is very likely for you to end up with severe delayed onset muscle soreness, serious injuries or even hypoglycemic episodes, if there is any clinical background.
Give yourself time to rest. Do not do weight training more often than every second day, unless you are a professional athlete. Even in such a case, do not train the same groups of muscles on two consecutive days. Along with nutrition and training, rest is equally important for proper muscle development in terms of volume, strength and endurance.
Follow a convenient workout order. Start with exercises that train the large muscles and proceed with the smaller ones. This will make things easier for you and help you to keep performing in good form, since, being at the beginning of the weight training session, you will have far more energy, to work with large muscles, such as back, chest and thighs. You will be able to finish the session equally well with less demanding exercises, when your energy levels are lower. Training forearms, biceps and triceps are typical examples of such late exercises.
Set your goals and do the correct number of sets and reps. There has been a lot of speculation about these issues. Studies have shown that beyond a point, the muscle growth does not improve, according to the duration and the intensity of weight training. The number of reps and the length of the sets are determined by the aim of training.
If you want to lose weight, start training with a specific load of weight that allows you to do six reps per set. Of course, the load varies, depending on the exercise. As you get fitter, increase the reps gradually, targeting beyond the number of twenty. This way, you do aerobic exercise and you consume more fat than carbohydrates. As soon as you feel confident enough, you can increase the weight load by 30% but do not go any further. This will help you to keep the sets and the whole weight training session in reasonable duration. Remember, if you increase the weight load much further, you will perform more anaerobic and less aerobic exercise. This, in turn, will result in muscle growth and weight gain instead of loss.
The following ways of training must be executed in full weight load and performance. That means you have to put on the barbell, dumbbells or the gym machine the load that will allow you to do the maximum reps you can do. In other words, your last rep should be just before the failure point.
In order to promote strength, try three sets of five reps for each exercise. Leave from two to five minutes between sets and exercises for rest.
If you want to achieve a balanced improvement of muscle volume, strength and stamina, try consecutive sets of twelve, ten and eight reps for each exercise. Every time you proceed to a shorter set, increase the weights to a new full load level. Leave from thirty to forty five seconds for break.
If your goal is to develop muscle size and endurance, do single sets of twenty reps. You can have a break of forty five seconds in between exercises but if you want faster results, circuit training consisted of six similar exercises is recommended.
Execute the exercises in a proper speed. If the exercise is done very fast, the benefit is not much. Of course you burn calories and you can lose weight but you will not manage to obtain the muscle strength, size or stamina you expect. Each rep should last from five to eight seconds. Experts recommend the lifting to be from two to four seconds and the lowering phase from another three to four seconds. By doing this you force the muscle to perform under tension and you can reach the maximum desirable results.
Follow an appropriate technique. Good form is always an important issue in weight training. You cannot gain much by using heavy weights with poor form. The body must be positioned correctly and the movements should be performed, according to the instructions. If the exercise is executed properly, unnecessary strain on the ligaments and tendons is avoided and the risk for injuries is minimized.
Breathe properly. Correct breathing is very important in weight training. Do not hold your breath, while you train. You must exhale during the harder phase and inhale in the easier one.
Do balanced weight training. Your training program must contain exercises that demand the performance of all muscles of your body. For instance, bench press with rowing, shoulder press with pull downs, curls with triceps extensions are exercise combinations that can train agonist and antagonist groups of muscles. Balanced weight training will prevent any distortion of your physique and posture.
Cool down and relax after weight training. Do moderate stretching and walk for about five minutes, after your weight training session. This will help your heart pulse to return to normal rate gradually and perhaps to prevent severe delayed onset muscle soreness. |
