25 Weight Lifting Tips That Make Sense
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. I like weight training because it tones my muscles, causes my body to burn calories even while I’m sleeping, makes me stronger, improves my posture and my overall health. A complete weight training workout can be performed with just a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a set of weight disks.
Anyway, here are 25 tips picked up from years of weight training. May they be of assistance to you.
- Overload the muscles.
- Build Popeye forearms.
- The time saving pyramid system.
- The eccentric is as important as the concentric.
- Calculate your 1 rep max.
- ALWAYS use perfect form.
- The importance of a spotter.
- Strength training, a habit, a lifestyle.
- The big 3.
- Exercise order.
- Train 3 times each week.
- Choose only 1 type.
- Eat sufficient protein.
- Measure body fat consistently.
- Set reasonable goals.
- Muscle gain equals effort.
- Free weights are better.
- Shoes, gloves, waist belt.
- Breathe in, breathe out.
- Focus the muscle, not the motion.
- Weaker 1st, stronger second.
- Range Of Motion.
- Returning from a long hiatus.
- Suggested weight lifting repetition range.
- Use variety.
You’ve just bench pressed a weight 8 times and you cannot do even one more full rep. Instead of lowering down the barbell and take a breather, lower it halfway. Then raise it back to the full extended position. These partial reps are called burns. It allows you to go beyond what you’d normally do and a normal person can squeeze out at least 2 additional half reps. Bear in mind that burns should be done at the end of the set as it wears out your muscle. It may be half a rep but that extra bit builds a hefty amount of strength.
Turn those toothpick looking forearms into arms that are toned and powerful. If your local gym doesn’t have a wrist roller, build one yourself easily. Find a 10 inches long stick and drill a hole in the center. Rope 1 arm’s length worth of rope through the hole and tie the end to the stick. Tie a weight plate to the other end and you’re set. All you need to do is roll the stick till the rope wraps around it and unroll it back to where it started. Doing this exercise 3-4 times, adding weight each time it becomes easier, completes your forearm workout. Benefits other than growing Popeye forearms include a firmer handshake and an advantage in sports involving carrying or hitting a ball.
Do this only when you’re pressed for time. In a continuous fashion, you warm up your muscles, exercise them and cool them down. Let’s take the dumbbells at the rack as an example. Pick up the lightest and curl them for 5 times. Pause for 10 seconds. Pick up the next heaviest and curl them for 5 times. Progress until it is too heavy to curl 5 times. Then you work your way down until the lightest dumbbell. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you look a little funny trying to lift the lighter ones.
There are two parts to every exercise: lifting the weight and lowering it. When a muscle shortens during weight lifting it is called concentric, or positive phase of contraction. When it lengthens during lowering, it is called the eccentric, or negative phase. It makes sense to assume that the lifting phase contributes more to muscle building as it is harder but research shows that the lowering phase is as, if not more, important. Concentrate on slower and more controlled lowering movements. Eg: take 2 seconds to lift and 4 seconds to lower.
Take the weight that you can do 10 complete repetitions with and add 33% to it. If you can do 100 pounds consistently, then your 1 rep max is about 133 pounds.
Select weights that your body can handle without having to cheat or force the weight up. It also happens often when the exercise becomes difficult towards the end of a set and the temptation to cheat rises. What happens is you shift the effort to other muscles, weaker ones, that weren’t meant to handle the weight. This includes using momentum to swing the weight up or rounding your back. One overstresses the muscles and joints while the latter leads to serious lower back injuries. Successful weight trainings are performed correctly. Let’s take pull ups for example. If your arms are not strong enough and all you can do is 3 reps with proper form, do it 5 times and you get 15. If you can do 4 reps, do it 4 times. 5 reps, 3 times. As you grow stronger, you can do more reps but the difference is you’re doing it right at every single rep.
They support your weight when can no longer support it yourself. They encourage you and as a result you are able to lift 5% to 8% more weight. They are able to see and assess you when lifting and are therefore qualified to point out what you did wrong and what you can improve on.
The closer you move to the half-century mark, the more your focus should shift toward strength training. If you don’t do any resistance exercise, you’ll lose about 10 percent of your muscle mass between ages 25 and 50. Between 50 and 80, you lose another 35 percent. Everyone should be lifting weights by midlife. Include cardiovascular exercises as well. It helps ward off heart disease.
These are the squat, the deadlift and the bench press. Squats are excellent for the butt, hips, thighs and calves. The deadlift is a compound movement that works grip strength, the deep muscle around the spine, the lower back, the thigh and the calf. The bench press strengthens the triceps, both deltoids, pectoralis major and minor, grip strength. Even the rotator cuff and biceps are slightly strengthened as they stabilize the shoulders while bench pressing. All big 3 builds strength, condition and bulk and should always be included in one form or another.
It is standard practice to set up a resistance-training routine to work large muscle groups before smaller ones. The reason is that a small muscle group that fatigues first will be the weakest link in the chain and prevent large muscle groups from working to full capacity. For example, if you isolate and fatigue your bicep muscles with curls and then do pull ups (which use biceps, shoulders and back), you won’t be able to do as much work for your shoulders and back because your biceps will already be fatigued. Also equally work the muscles in opposing pairs. For example, hamstrings at the back of the thigh are worth as much attention as the quadriceps at the front.
At least. Only at 3 do you create a muscle-building stimulus. Remember, exercising contributes to only about 25% of muscle building and weight loss. Rest well as muscle building occurs during resting days. Anyway, the rest of the 75% comes from dieting.
Either train like you’re going for a marathon OR a bodybulding competition. Of course, you can mix cardio and weights. Sure, it makes a great fitness combo but at the extremes, the training physiology and biochemistry are contradictory and you will not maximize your results unless you concentrate on one or the other.
Milk is one of the best.
Even if you train hard, the maximum amount of protein you need for muscle building is about 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day. Protein supplements are not necessary if you eat enough lean protein day-to-day. If you decide to use a supplement drink, whey, soy or even skim milk is suitable. Amino acid supplements are not necessary. Pesonally, I’d suggest guzzling some chocolate milk post workout. In a study at James Madison University, soccer players who downed a glass after an intense workout suffered less muscle damage from training than players who had a sports drink. What’s milk’s advantage? Protein. The perfect amount of the nutrient is essential in any post-workout recovery meal. Moreover, milk is cheaper.
Don’t be discouraged if your weight does not change much when you train with weights. You may be losing fat and increasing muscle. This is not easy to do at the same time, yet net weight loss or gain is not a good measure of muscle or fat movement.
Monitor your progress and be patient. Keep track of your BMI and WHR, the latter being more accurate. Objectively monitor muscle mass gains every month. The best bodies are the result of hundreds of hours of effort. Start slowly, stay motivated and be realistic. And if muscle gains are not observed over time, exercise and dietary changes can be made in a timely manner. Remember, the fitness and health you attain become assets that will stay with you for as long as you keep training.
To pack on muscles like a spartan, you have to work out like a spartan. It requires commitment and discipline. Push hard. And don’t let that 1 minute rest in between sets slip to 5 minutes. Most importantly, much much more important than training hard, is to eat well.
Free weight training may recruit more muscles than a machine because you have to stabilize your body when you lift a dumbbell, whereas the weight machine supports you. For example, a biceps curl is going to feel more natural and use more muscles in your torso to support the weight than if you did a seated biceps curl in a machine where it does some of the work when you lean against it for leverage. You can also do more types of exercises with free weights than with machines. Lunges, step ups, clean and jerks and Romanian deadlifts are just a few of the many exercises that can be done with free weights. In any gym, there is ONLY 1 machine worthy of your time. That machine is called cables.
It is important to protect your feet and ankles from harm. Since you are lifting very heavy weights during this extreme athletic activity, there is always the chance that you will drop the weight and cause it to land on your foot or ankle. Make sure it has good traction too. Gloves and grips are also important as they make sure the weights are secures in your hands as weights are often slippery with sweat and oils from the hands. ALWAYS wear a belt when you are lifting heavy. Once injured, your back will never be the same again.
Holding your breath causes your blood pressure to spike. This is dangerous as your muscles need a constant supply of oxygenated blood and by denying them that you risk broken blood vessels or even a hernia. Constantly remind yourself to keep breathing.
The next time you shout ‘COME ON! 2 MORE!’, make sure it’s for your biceps instead of for more power the next time you perform any workout. You are making your encouraging the right muscles to do the lifting instead of cheating and shifting the effort to other muscles. Focusing also helps keep you in proper form during each rep.
When performing unilateral exercises, begin with the weaker side first. Then complete only as many repetitions on the stronger side as performed on the weaker side.
During a warm-up set with a light weight, take note of the angle or height the moving body segment or the position of the apparatus at full range. All subsequent workout repetitions should reach this benchmark without accelerating the weight through this harder portion of the exercise. Shrugs, jumps and throws are some of the examples that has a peak tension curve.
Increase the amount and intensity systematically. Start off light during the first workout. Keep it fairly easy. This is to ensure that your muscles aren’t too sore for subsequent workouts. The body adapts more efficiently to change with less chance of injury.
| Population | Rep Range |
|---|---|
| Healthy participants under age 50-60 |
|
| Pubescent children | |
|
Pre-pubescent children |
|
| Individuals older than age 50-60 or frail persons |
|
| Individuals primarily interested in muscular endurance | |
|
Cardiac patients with physician’s approval |
10-12 comfortably |
|
Pregnant women without contraindications who have previously participated in weight training |
12-15 |
The body is very adaptive. Performing the same routine over and over is not only boring, but your body will get used to the routine and quit responding. Change your exercises, the order in which you do them, the number or sets and reps, or change the weights. In one workout you may use dumbbells, another you may use barbells, in another, cables, in another, body weight. Find an excellent weight lifting program that suits you. There are so many free ones out there. Just google it. I, for example, train using Men’s Health’s Power Training Program. I’d recommend you to give it a try.
It’s also important to tell the difference between a fitness myth and a fitness fact. Clear your doubts by reading this.
Bookmark this post :
Read this too :
72 Little Known Uses Of Vinegar
Original : Vinegar is a liquid produced from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid. Ninety percent of American Households buy vinegar. The 4 major uses are for salads, as cooking ingredients, pickling and home canning.
Anyways, I just thought that everyone should know about the usefulness of vinegar other than for the 4 things mentioned above. I’ve put together 61 other things with pictures about everything else that you can do with vinegar. I’d personally suggest using high quality white and apple cider vinegar like Heinz’s when trying the below methods. (Example : A cup of Heinz Apple Cider has 34 calories, no fat, 1.4mg of iron, and 240mg of potassium) The difference between white and apple cider vinegar is that white vinegar is made from acetous fermentation of alcohol and apple cider vinegar is made from cider or apple must.
2009.06.02 : It’s now 72 uses thanks to you!! Also, for people thinking to ingest or use apple cider vinegar internally or externally on your body, get the organic one with the ‘mother’. Skip the normal everyday distilled vinegar. The organic apple cider vinegar with the ‘mother’ is unpasteurized and contains all the good bacteria your body needs. The BRAGG bottle below is an example.
Some of odyb.net blog readers’ reported successes :
Bookmark this post :
Read this too :
31 Common Types Of Bra Designs And Their Functions
Developed late in the nineteenth century, the feminine icon has since been views as a symbol of a girl’s coming of age. The bra does not only covers, supports and elevates the breasts, but also shapes the wearer’s figure. The degree of which the bra frames the breasts varies between style, functionality, fashion and fabric. Most of the bras today fall into more than 1 category mentioned below.
It is important to know the types of bras available so that you can pick the right one for the right time so as to protect the general health of your breasts.
- Adhesive Bra
- Bandeau Bra
- Belly Dance Bra
- Bridal Bra/Corset
- Built-in Bra
- Convertible Bra
- Cupless Bra
- Demi Bra
- Front Closure Bra
- Full Support Bra
- Hand Bra
- Mastectomy Bra
- Male Bra
- Maternity Bra
- Minimizer Bra
- Novelty Bra
- Nursing Bra
- Padded Bra
- Peephole Bras
- Push-up Bra
- Racerback Bra
- Shelf Bra
- Softcup Bra
- Sport Bra
- Strapless Bra
- T-shirt Bra
- Trainer Bra
- U-plunge Bra
- Underwire Bra
- Vintage Bra
- Water Bra
A bra which adheres to the breasts. It has no straps or bands of any sort and provide little support to the breasts. This type of bra is intended for backless and strapless fashions. There are two types. There is the disposable paper ones that use a strong adhesive and the reusable ones that use silicone that can be washed and reused.
A simple band of cloth worn across the breasts, providing little support or shaping.
It is commonly assumed that a belly dancing bra size is the same as normal bra size. This is not necessarily so. For instance if you normally use a size 32C you may well find that a 34B will fit quite comfortably with a few minor adjustments to latch settings since most belly dancing bras are designed to cover very well.
A bridal bra/corset mold and shape the upper body into a desired shape to fit the wedding dress. In addition to that, it promotes good posture and can be more comfortable as the weight of the breasts is carried by the whole corset rather than the brassiere’s shoulder straps.
Supportive brassiere-like structures on the inside of another garment, such as a swimsuit or tank top, which provide support for the bust without the need for a separate bra. In most such garments, these built-ins consist of a horizontal elastic strip, although some do have cups and underwires as with other bra types. In some cases these may easily be removed, if desired.
It has straps which may be detached and rearranged in different ways depending on the outfit. Alternatives to regular straps for strapless bras are beaded bra straps or clear plastic bra straps that provide support and style.
Consists of a brassiere frame with no support cups. They expose the nipples with notched or contoured support cups. Usually worn as erotic lingerie, a cupless bra can cause the shape of the nipples to be prominently visible on an outer garment.
A half-cup bra style with wide-set straps and a horizontal bust line. Often seamed or boned, they give great cleavage and a frame-like effect. These offer less support, but enable low cut garments to be worn without the bra being seen. Demi bras may be designed to provide lift as do push-up bras.
Bras that have closures, usually hooks and eyes, on the front rather than at the back. These bras lie completely flat at the back under clothing. Some feature a racerback style back which is great for wear with tank tops and for lending a no-slip effect to the straps.
A type of bra designed to offer good support for the whole of the breasts and, as such, are a typical, practical bra for everyday wear.
A modeling technique where a topless woman conceals her nipples by covering both breasts with her hands or fingers.
Designed so that a prosthesis may be held in place and are intended for individuals who have lost one or both breasts in mastectomy treatment for breast cancer.
Bras worn by men with Gynecomastia, usually to flatten and conceal rather than lift and support.
Designed such that they can be expanded to adjust as the breasts increase in size over the course of a pregnancy.
Designed to play down the bust, in particular for women with cups of 34C and above. Minimizers, by compressing and shaping the breasts, help to create the illusion of being a cup size or two smaller, and are often more comfortable.
Designed more for show and sensuality than for function. They may include unusual materials, such as leather, coconuts or be unusual in design.
Designed to help make breastfeeding simpler by allowing the baby easy access to the nipple. Traditionally, the cups of nursing bras are covered with flaps of fabric that can be unclasped at the top and pulled down to expose the breast.
Bras with padding inside the lining. They are designed to provide a fuller shape for small breasts and are an alternative to bra stuffing, a practice among teenage girls in which ‘falsies’ like tissues, sugar packets, cotton balls, or socks are placed inside a bra to simulate larger breasts. Unlike push-up bras, however, most padded bras support the breasts but do not significantly lift them.
The type of bra that has cups loosely covering the breasts, which also includes holes around the nipples.
Structured so that the breasts are lifted and placed closer together to enhance the cleavage. The best known brand of push-up bra is the Wonderbra. Many push-up bras contain padding, typically made of foam or rubber, but some contain gel-filled pads. The main distinction between padded bras and push-up bras that incorporate padding is whether the padding is centred under each breast to simply lift them, or is centred outside the centre of each breast such that the padding pushes the breasts inwards.
Has shoulder straps that come over the shouder in a V pattern very close to the neck. This design is sometimes worn under strapless dresses or tops where traditional straps would be very obviously exposed. Many Sport bras use the racerback.
Essentially a rigid band, usually underwires, along the inframammary line that pushes up while covering none, or only a narrow strip, of the breast.
Has no underwire support in the cups. Rather they rely on the strength of the underband to provide support to the bust.
Provides firm support for the breasts, and are meant to prevent discomfort or embarrassment during vigorous exercise.
With no shoulder straps, they are designed for wearing with clothes that reveal the shoulders, such as halterneck tops.
Designed without raised seams, so that a tight t-shirt may be worn without the bra being visible. These often have padded cups to conceal nipples and to provide a smooth line under t-shirts.
Designed for young girls who have begun to develop breasts but have yet to be considered ‘developed’ enough to allow for a standard-sized bra to fit properly. They are of simple construction and offer very little support.
Allows you to wear clothes that have a deep plunging neckline.
Designed to give extra support and endurance. They have a wire, metal or plastic, running under each cup to provide rigid support to the bust.
A type of full support bra with cups in the shape of a paraboloid of revolution with its axis perpendicular to the breast. Invented in the late 1940s, they were still being sold well into the 1960s.
Bras which have water or silicon gel-filled cups to make your breasts look larger.
Bookmark this post :
Read this too :
