Strength Training For Beginners
Before you start lifting any weight or doing strenuous activities
, consult with your doctor to make sure you are physically able to perform certain exercises.
If you have any medical conditions, injuries or illnesses, lifting weights can worsen you problems.
If you're not familiar with the basic principles of strength training, you should do some research and possibly even consult with a personal trainer. These resources will help you learn about the rules and guidelines for lifting weights.
To begin, start with an exercise program that works all of your muscle groups 1-3 days a week. These days should be non-consecutive, meaning they are never back-to-back.
Give yourself at least a day of rest to recover from you first few strength training sessions. It may not seem like it while you are doing it, but you will be in quite a bit of pain the next day.
Warm up with 5-10 minutes of light cardio or with warm up sets of each exercise using a light or medium weight. If you exercise in a gym, you may want to start with machines so you have more stabilization for the movements.
Choose 1-2 exercises for each muscle group and do 1-2 sets of 8-16 repetitions of each exercise. As a beginner, you may want to start with about 15-16 reps until you feel comfortable with the moves and build some strength.
After getting comfortable with doing that many repetitions, you can add more weight and reduce your reps for a different challenge. Each week, add either 1 repetition and/or a few pounds of weight to each exercise to progress.
Be careful and keep your reps at about 16 or below. Once you hit 16 reps, increase your weight and drop your reps down to 10 or 12 reps.
Remember that you want to challenge yourself, not kill yourself. The first few weeks, focus on learning how to do each exercise rather than on how much weight you're lifting or how many exercises you're doing.
After 6 or more weeks of consistent strength training, you can change your routine to make it more difficult. You have plenty of time to build muscle so don't be in a rush.
You should work all of your muscle groups each week so that you avoid muscle imbalances, which could lead to injury. If you don't know much about weight training or aren't sure how to get started, consider hiring a personal trainer to help you set up your program.
You should work on strengthening the muscles in your chest by working out on the bench press, chest press machine, pec deck machine, and by doing push-ups.
Your back can be bulked up on the seated row machine, and by doing back extensions and lat pull-downs.
The overhead press, lateral raise, and front raise will focus on your shoulders. Crunches, reverse crunches, oblique twists, pelvic tilts will improve your abdominals.
To strengthen your biceps, do bicep curls, hammer curls, and concentration curls. For your triceps do tricep extensions, dips, and kickbacks.
For your lower body, lift your entire body weight and then some by doing squats, lunges, leg press machines, dead-lifts, and calf raises. If you're a beginner, you only need to choose 1-2 exercises for each muscle group in the upper body and 3-4 moves for the lower body.
Choosing your reps, sets and weight can be the most confusing part of strength training. There is no cookie-cutter way for this decision; it depends on what your fitness goals are.
If you want to lose body fat and build muscle, then you should use enough weight so that you only have the strength to complete 10-12 repetitions and 1-3 sets. Take a rest for about 30 seconds between sets and at least one day between workout sessions.
If you want to just gain muscle, then use enough weight that you can only complete 4-8 repetitions and 3 or more sets. Make sure you rest for 1-2 minutes between sets and 2-3 days between sessions.
If you goal is to improve your health and muscular endurance, then only use enough weight that you only have the strength complete 12-16 repetitions, 1-3 sets. Again, make sure you rest 20-30 seconds between sets and at least one day between workout sessions.
by: Jack Landry
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