Weight Training Program Guide for Beginners

Nate — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:00:59 +0000

Building muscle, losing weight and overall body fitness are some of the key benefits a weight training program can provide. These are all exciting factors, but without the right knowledge and information when starting out they can quickly become overwhelming and lead to giving up.

That’s why I want to share with you two simple steps you can follow. This is a weight training for beginners guide and will give you a good basic level of understanding, some direction and somewhere to start.

1. Master the basics first

Nutrition should be your first focus before even beginning any weight training programs. Making sure you get this right is fundamental to getting results. You need to focus on a high protein low fat weight training diet to fuel your body and muscle growth. Eating 5 – 6 times a day is a must for boosting your metabolism and supplying your body with plenty of energy. Check out my bodybuilding diet article for more information.

Forget about advanced weight lifting techniques and focus on the basics. The main weight lifting exercises you should concentrate on are compound ones such as dead lifts, squats, pull ups, bench press and shoulder press. They target lots of muscle groups and joints at once and should be the foundation of your beginner weight training program. Remember when first starting out don’t worry about trying to lift as much weight as you can, really get your techniques right. This will ensure you build up good habits, prevent injuries and are getting the most out of your workouts.

2. Your plan should match your goals

It’s important to make sure your weight training program is designed to get you the results you want. A good rule of thumb is if you want to tone up and shed excess body fat is to use lighter weights at higher repetitions. For building muscle lifting heavy weights until failure at lower reps is the best way. The optimum amount for effective bodybuilding is around 8 – 10 reps. Less than this focuses on muscle strength, more than this builds up muscle endurance, but 8 – 10 gives you a good balance of muscle strength, endurance and growth.

To be effective your beginners weight training program needs to be realistic but challenging. The single biggest factor to getting the most out of them is proper nutrition so make this your first priority. Next master the foundation exercises and proper weight lifting techniques. Once you are confident with them you can start to gradually add more weight each time you train. These simple steps will help you to create powerful weight training programs, good habits and get the most out of your workouts.

Weight Training Routines

Nate — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:00:59 +0000

Utilizing weight training routines properly is an effective way to tone and sculpt, build muscle and improve your overall fitness. The great thing is you don’t have to join a gym to work with weights. You can simply purchase free weights to use at home or even use your own body weight as part of your weight training workouts. This proven approach is preferred by many from the late Bruce Lee to successful cage fighters.

Now let’s debunk a couple of the major weight training myths out there. Many women are afraid of weight training exercises as they think they will lose their femininity, ending up with huge muscles. This just isn’t the case as testosterone is required for big muscles and women normally produce only very small amounts. Research shows that weight training for women helps to burn fat, strengthen and tone.

Another myth is some people just can’t put on any muscle mass due to their genetics. Everyone has a different genetic make up and some people have a body type that is more suited to building muscle. That does not mean its impossible for someone with another body type to put on muscle. They will simply just have to work harder to achieve similar results. Studies have proved that it’s how hard you train that is the defining factor with weight training routines not your DNA.

There are two main types of weight lifting exercises you need to be familiar with; compound and isolation. The foundation of any good weight training routine should focus on compound exercises which target multiple muscle groups, joints and ligaments. Examples include the bench press, squats, dead lifts and the shoulder press. Isolation exercises target one muscle group and joint at a time, used to completely fatigue the muscle and for detailing. Bicep curls, leg curls, leg extensions,triceps pull down, and crunches are all good examples.

Make sure your weight training programs are focused around the “progressive overload” concept. This is simply making sure you are using the heaviest weights you can handle and are continually changing certain workout variables. The simplest way is to increase the amount of weight you use with your exercises each time. You can also increase the number of repetitions you do or give yourself shorter rest periods between sets. The most important thing is that you are fatiguing your muscles, shocking them into growth. Try changing your routine every few weeks as this helps to avoid a plateau and keeps things fresh and fun for you.

The main focus however should always be on proper form. This not only prevents injuries but it is the quality of your weight training routines not the quantity that has the greatest impact on your progress. Their are just so many benefits with weight lifting from building and toning muscle, strengthening bone density and even helping to prevent osteoporosis. It speeds up your metabolism and burns fat, enhances your aerobic fitness, and aids in preventing injury. Regardless of your goals, fitness level, or age, weight training can benefit you.

» weight training programs

Weight Training Program Guide for Beginners

Weight Training Routines