5 Rules For Lifting Weights
1. Use Proper Technique
The first reason for this is simply to prevent injury. Not doing things properly will increase the chances of something going wrong. Apart from the obvious muscle pulls and strains over time you could create muscular imbalances. These imbalances can have an impact on your posture and strength.
2. Get the Weight Right
Lift weight that is challenging and makes you feel like you’ve worked hard by the time you get to the last repetition in your set. All too often people either lift too light or too heavy. Doing lots of repetitions at a very light weight will not make you stronger. At the same time lifting too heavy will make executing proper technique nearly impossible. Never sacrifice technique for numbers. In other words if you’re unable to perform a full repetition with correct technique then stop.
3. Change it up
The human body is amazing at adapting. If you lift the same weight for the same amount of reps and sets over time the workout will start to have little or no effect. This is why you need to change what you’re doing every 6-8 weeks (this can vary depending on your goals). Changing your workouts is called periodisation. Click HERE for a detailed article explaining periodisation.
4. Write it Down
Do not underestimate the need to do this. Keeping track of your exercise weight, sets, reps and tempo is key to progression. To achieve maximum results it’s important to know what you did the session before in order to improve on your next session. For example if you completed 3 sets of 12 of squats with 50 kgs, however only managed to get to 10 on your 3rd set then you can judge your progression if you are able to complete the last set on your following work out.
5. Back it up with Nutrition
It’s true that your greatest gains are not made in the gym but in recovery time after your work out. Here’s a great article on pre and post nutrition and most importantly increasing your calories on training days. It would be nice to think that the old school of thought that working out and eating less is the best way to lose weight but unfortunately this thought still exists amongst some individuals, although it is changing. Eating more doesn’t equal putting on weight, it’s what you eat and when you eat it that matters.
Finally if you’re after fat loss by doing a well planned and executed weights program then be sure to throw away the scale! That’s right, throw it away. Take your measurements if you want some form of keeping track of results but the best way to measure results is to have a look in the mirror. If you’re putting on muscle and losing fat, it’s possible that you won’t see the difference on the scale but you will feel it when your clothes become loose.
Get lifting!
ps. If you’ve never lifted weights invest in having a personal trainer write you a program and teach you how to perform the exercises correctly. This is well worth it as you’ll reach your goals quicker and safely.
