Working Out With Weights
Lifting weights is a great way to get some exercise and build muscles. There are many different types of weight machines available, and of course there are free weights like dumbbells and barbells. The choice of which type of weight you want to use is of course up to you. Free weights are better at developing all your muscles than weight machines, which tend to isolate muscles more. Still, if you have a set of machines available at your gym, it is convenient to use them all in series to get a complete workout.
When using weights to workout, it is important to know what you are doing. There are many books available to teach you how to do various exercises. You might want to hire a personal trainer to get you started if you can’t figure out pictures in a book. In either case, learn what you are doing before you start. You will never pull a muscle or tear a ligament reading a book, but you might if you use weights incorrectly.
The basic principles of weight lifting are simple. Get some weight and lift it. It is how you lift the weight and how much weight you lift that matters. Here is where you will need to get a bit experimental. Figure out how much weight you can actually use in a given exercise. This will not be the maximum amount of weight you can lift one time. The so-called one rep max is the most weight you can lift one time. You can add plates to your barbells or to the machine until you reach the maximum amount you can manage to lift with good form. It is always important to use good form when lifting weight. Bad form, improper positioning, and using momentum to complete a lift will get you injured. Once you know your one rep max, multiply this by three quarters to eight tenths to get the weight you will lift for your sets.
There are many different theories about how much a person should lift to do some exercise. I generally go by how much I can push for ten reps. You should lift to exhaustion to get a good result. You should take your time doing each rep. A good two count for the lift and a three for the drop is usually recommended. It is the eccentric, or downward motion of the weight that actually puts the micro-tears in the muscle fibers that causes them to heal and grow bigger. You get this effect on the down stroke. You will notice that lifting slowly is a lot more painful than lifting fast. I think that is why you see so many people rushing through their reps instead of taking their time. Nobody likes pain, but then, no pain, no gain.
It is not necessary or recommended to lift weights every single day. Lifting weights damages your muscles. When muscles are damaged they need time to heal. This can be a couple days to a week. Give your body time to recover and grow stronger. You will need to eat enough food during recovery to build muscle. You will need enough protein in your diet to support myogenesis, or muscle formation. Abdominal exercises like crunches or situps can be done every day, unless you are in pain. Oh, did I mention pain? If you get too much of a workout from lifting weight you may experience DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness. If you get DOMS I recommend a nice hot bath and rest until the pain goes away before you go back to exercising.
Lifting weights is a good way to develop your muscles and improve your body. You must have some common sense and basic knowledge to get good results from this exercise. It takes a lot of work to pump that iron, but in a few months you will notice the results.
