So you’ve decided to start pumping iron and go for a more muscular look. Or perhaps your chosen sport requires you to bulk up to be more competitive. Lifting weights has countless benefits for both men and women. On top of this would perhaps be the aesthetics aspect.
Who wouldn’t want to look good, right? Lifting weights can also increase our functional strength, give us stronger bones, help us perform better in sports and make us live longer. Here are five tips to help us make our weight training journey a success.
1 Focus on proper form. Once we begin lifting, it is best to begin with lightweights and master the proper execution of a particular lift. It doesn’t matter if you are moving extremely light weights, so long as you focus on the right form. Once your body learns to move properly and efficiently, the increased poundage will come. Doing things right also ensures faster results and makes for safer workouts. Practice perfect form whether lifting an empty bar of moving heavy weights.
2 Leave your ego at home. We are at the gym in the presence of other people and we are tempted to show off our strength gains. We stack on the weights and lift for show. Ego-lifting can be dangerous as it can lead us to trying to bite off more than we can chew, in our attempt to show off. Stick to a program that allows you to steadily progress. Avoid lifting heavy just for the sake of showing off. This may make you lose sight of your goals and sidetrack your progress.
3 Practice progressive overloading. Muscle growth is an adaptive response of the human body to external stimulus. Our muscles grow in order to be able to handle the task we impose on them. Once our bodies become accustomed to lifting a certain weight, for instance, muscle growth slows down or comes to a halt. Thus, the need for progressive overloading. This simply means once a certain weight becomes too easy, gradually add weight to give our muscles a new challenge, providing the proper stimulus for growth.
4 Avoid over-training. Yes, we are feeling motivated and would like to do more. We feel results will come faster if we constantly push ourselves and workout nonstop. This is when the danger of overtraining may kick-in. At one point, doing too many sets and repetitions may no longer provide any added benefit. Also, lack of adequate rest periods in between workout days can be counterproductive. Remember, our muscles do not grow when we are working out. They grow when we are at rest, and when we sleep. Rest is just as important as pumping iron when it comes to growing muscle.
5 Keep an eye on proper nutrition. Muscles will need food in order to grow. Starving yourself and not getting enough calories is one of the pitfalls to avoid. Carbohydrates, fat and protein—you will need them all in the proper quantities if you want to see results. Shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight to feed those hungry muscles. If, for instance, you weigh 150 lbs, try to take 100-150 grams of protein on a daily basis. If you are unable to hit this target from whole food sources, such as fish, eggs, meat and soya, supplement with whey protein shakes (Muscle Tech and Rule1 are excellent brands). For reference, one egg has around 5 grams of protein, while a medium-sized chicken breast contains around 30 grams of protein. Whey protein shakes will have anywhere between 20-30 grams of protein per scoop. Also, you will need the right amount of carbohydrates and fat for energy. Fat is also essential to helping our bodies absorb nutrients.
Sure, lifting weights will have its own set of challenges. There may be days when you just don’t have it in you, and you will need to drag yourself to the gym. Nonetheless, stay focused, eyes on the prize and keep these tips in mind.