Weight Training for Beginners - Tips on Developing a Safe and Effective Weight Lifting Program
There are many reasons of implementing weight training for beginners. Many people dream of the day they can develop that athletic physique; a sculpted back, well defined arms and of course, those six pack abs. However, even if you're not after the perfect body, weight training still offers many benefits that diet and cardio alone cannot give you. Weight training for beginners is for anyone who wants to stay fit and improve their health.
Benefits of Weight Training for Beginners
• Weight training offers an excellent way to get into shape. It develops overall body strength, along with self confidence and self esteem.
• Another benefit of weight training for beginners is it helps to strengthen the bones. This helps lower the chance of developing osteoporosis in later years. This is especially good news for women, who are more prone to osteoporosis.
• When done at the correct way, weight training is a great cardiovascular workout, but less boring. You can improve the strength and health of your heart without the hours of boring cardio.
• Weight training can be used to prevent or treat diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other diseases.
Weight Training for Beginners - The Importance of Starting Slow
It's normal for many people that are just starting to exercise to be eager to get going. Some people buy health & fitness magazines, and expect to look like the models on the cover. However, weight training for beginners needs to be approached slowly to prevent serious injury. It's necessary to first create a routine that is challenging, but it is also easy enough to follow and stick with.
If you try to exercise too quickly in the beginning, you will probably burn yourself out before you see any real results. Remember how many people join a gym, and are active for a month, or so, and then end up quitting because they didn't accomplish their unrealistic weight loss goal.
To be successful set more than one fitness goal. You should have several short term and long term goals. Make sure your goals are realistic and that you have a way to monitor your progress towards these goals. A great way to start is by having a fitness professional test your body composition and taking your circumference measurements. You should also take before pictures as well so you can actually see your progress.
Weight Training for Beginners - Develop Good Form and Technique
Beginners should start out with an emphasis on proper technique, and familiarize themselves with how each exercise works. Developing good technique will help prevent accidental injury, allowing you to continue training for the rest of your life.
Depending on your experience in the gym it might be a good idea to meet with a personal trainer to get set up on a training program, or at least show you how to use the machines safely and correctly.
All of your muscles work differently, and of course, some are much stronger than others. When starting out beginners should start with lighter weights, and increasing the weight as you become stronger and more comfortable with the exercise.
Weight Training for Beginners - Outline of a Simple Training Routine
When you're just starting out it's a good idea to keep your weight training to two times a week, for the first couple of weeks. Once you feel more comfortable, you can add a third day to your training. When doing your exercises, choose a weight that you can lift between twelve and fifteen times without exertion.
After about a month of weight training, you can start adding additional weight to the barbells, dumbbells, or machines and begin mixing in new exercises. This is also a good time to start reducing the amount of repetitions that you do. You should aim for a total of between eight and ten reps.
Start your training by working major muscle groups. This should include the chest, legs and back. Exercises the target these muscle groups are compound movements like push-ups, squats, pull-ups, lunges, rows and presses. Be sure to work your core two to three times a week. Your abdominals normally have a quicker recovery time, so you don't need to rest them as much but they will be a little tender after your first few workouts.
In summary, weight training is for everyone. There may however be certain exercises that you should not do, so before starting, it's a good idea to check with your doctor to make sure you are in good enough health.
Thanks for reading!
If you found this to be article useful to you or someone else, please share it with your friends!
Source
