Weight Lifting is For Everyone

The term weight lifting sounds quite drastic, and a lot of people immediately associate it with bodybuilders and those hunks who have the bulging muscles.

However, while the above can certainly be true, it’s not the be-all and end-all. In other words, weight lifting should be part of most people’s fitnessregimes – and it’s not necessarily for the obvious reasons. Most people combine weight training with other types of exercise, with the result being a well-shaped body.

Bearing this in mind, let’s explore the benefits of weight lifting and also see how you can implement it properly into your regime.

What’s the deal with weight training?

As we have just spoken about, there is something of a stigma associated with weight lifting. Once upon a time women may have even been frowned upon including it into their training, but now it’s perfectly acceptable and completely the norm.

Bearing this in mind, let’s take a look at why you should be including weight lifting into your workouts, regardless of your aims.

The strength factor

Let’s start with the most obvious benefit – you are going to get stronger. Your muscles will break down, before rebuilding and coming back stronger than ever. This is the stereotypical benefit of weight lifting and if you are in this process to get as “ripped” as possible, this is the primary benefit.

Lean as can be

As we age, we start to lose muscle. This is why weight lifting is so important and can promote that elusive lean image. Even if cardio training is your main focus, including weight lifting means that your body is shaped much better.

It promotes fat loss

Here’s the big surprising benefit, and the one that is probably going to help most of you. Most people often associate fat loss with running miles upon miles every week, but don’t forget about how weight lifting can help you with this goal.

Weight training is something that will boost your metabolism emphatically; your body will be working overtime in a bid to preserve the muscle that you have developed through your training.

The upshot of this is that even when you are not training you are going to be burning more calories. As strange as it sounds, the more you develop your muscles, the more calories which are burned.

The different types of weight training

To make the matter more complicated, there’s not just one type of weight training. In actual fact, there are several, and what works for one person most certainly isn’t going to be suitable for another.

This suitability doesn’t just come down to your own performance either; it might simply because you do or don’t have certain equipment available. Therefore, let’s take a look at the options available to you.

Bodyweight

The simplest option we are going to look at comes in the form of bodyweight training.

The game is in the name with this suggestion; this is weight training which only focusses on using your bodyweight. You don’t need any equipment whatsoever, meaning that it’s ideal for those of you who are on a budget or if you are maybe traveling.

Of course, if you can get hold of at least some equipment you can do your chances of succeeding with this training the world of good. When we talk about bodyweight training equipment, it tends to come in the form of a pull-up bar or gymnastic rings.

Both of these can allow you to perform even more exercises by using your body as resistance.

Don’t worry if you can’t get hold of any of this equipment, we’re just saying that you will have slightly more exercises at your disposal if you can.

Dumbbells

If you’re looking to take things a bit further, and rely on more equipment, dumbbells should be your port of call. This is fairly basic equipment, meaning that gyms have plenty of it, while you can even equip your own home with dumbbells without them taking up too much space.

Of course, as your fitness journey progresses, the downside to this is that you might outgrow your dumbbells and require ones that are heavier and also more expensive to buy.

A lot of beginners much prefer dumbbells, as the training isn’t as intimidating. In other words, lifting up a great barbell (more on this in the next section) might feel like a huge challenge – but the size of dumbbells makes a lot of beginners feel more comfortable with the exercise.

Barbells

For those of you who are serious about developing strength, barbells tend to be the preferred option. This is because it’s a piece of equipment which requires two hands – meaning that you will immediately be lifting more.

It’s very easy to gradually add weight to a barbell as well, which pave the way for progression. They allow you to complete the likes of squats and deadlifts – two compound movements which are proven to develop your body.

Of course, while it might be one of the best pieces of equipment for developing, it also happens to be the largest. You’ll not only need the barbell itself, but you will probably require a bench and maybe even a squat rack.

For most homes, this is out of the question, while these are also hugely popular in gyms and you may need to wait before using them at peak periods.

How should your program look?

Unfortunately, putting together a personal program in this space is probably out of the question. Instead, it’s all about laying down the principles and highlighting what you should be turning to through your weight training.

For the typical beginner, a full body routine is usually the best option. This involves working all of the major muscle groups, with most beginners opting to perform this three times per week.

In terms of how you are going to perform each exercise, this depends somewhat on your goals:

• 1-5 reps per exercise: This should be performed by those of you who are looking to develop pure strength.
• 6-12 reps per exercise: If you are looking for a medium between muscular strength and endurance, this is the rep count for you.
• More than 12 reps: This is purely designed for those of you who are targeting endurance and muscle size.

Before you even step foot in the gym, you should be arming yourself with your own workout. Turning up and just attempting to use whatever machine is available just isn’t going to cut it. It’s going to be impossible to measure and in short, something of a waste of time.

In terms of the exercises you should be using, this all depends on the type of training you have opted for. For example, if you are going for bodyweight training, exercises such as push-ups, body weight squats and jumping jacks are on the menu.

If you’ve gone for barbells, the common exercises are the bench press, shoulder press and barbell squat. Dumbbells open up a lot more exercises, with many people opting to perform the barbell suggestion but with two dumbbells. For example, in the case of the bench press, this becomes a dumbbell chest press.

The weights will obviously change base on your type of training, but this is another topic in itself which we will now move onto.

How much weight should you be lifting?

Whether you are performing exercises using your own bodyweight, dumbbells or barbells, finding out how much weight to lift is difficult for the beginner. After all, you’ve not performed any of the exercises yet, so how are you meant to know how much you can lift?

The best piece of advice here is to start small. It’s all about performing the exercise with form that’s absolutely perfect, and also so that your body can get used to the movement. Before attempting an exercise, you will find that your body struggles to lift much weight as you are simply not used to it. As the days pass, and you’ve completed several sets, you’ll be able to add a lot more weight.

How do you start small if you are using barbells or dumbbells? The trick is to improvise. Use something like a broom handle, or something equally as light, just so you can monitor that crucial form. The best part about this is that you can practice the movement in the comfort of your own home, without feeling under pressure under all of the eyes in the gym.

If you have opted to use a barbell, most people will find that just using this bar with no added weight is perfectly sufficient to start with.

If you’ve found that the bar is still a little heavy, turn to one of the lighter bars (these are the ones which can’t be adjusted and tend to be in a rack in the gym). Alternatively, if that’s too much, bodyweight exercises might be your thing until you gain the strength to handle the bar.

What about if you need to add weight?

If you’ve found that the bar is just too light to start with, it’s probably time to add some weight. In simple terms, this very much surrounds trial-and-error.

You should start with your designated number of reps and if you can complete the first set (the warm-up set) without any problems in relation to your form, it’s time to start adding weight.

The best advice is to add in increments of 2.5lbs, although this can be as high as 10lbs if you feel as though your body really isn’t being pushed.

A final note surrounds progression. You will always be experimenting with weights, as you will never get to a position where you shouldn’t be adding more weights. This relates to adaptation which we spoke about earlier in the guide.