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Posts Tagged ‘Weight Loss’

Whether you call it weight lifting, pumping iron, or bodybuilding – lifting weights both light and heavy have long been a great way to get in shape and stay in shape. Weight lifting or weight training has many health benefits for both men and women. There are weight lifting and weight-training routines appropriate for men, woman, even children of any age, any size, and any body type. If you want to build muscle mass, increase stamina, improve cardiac function even stave off the symptoms of osteoporosis – you can accomplish all of that and so much more by adding a good weight training routine to your regular workout.

To get the most health benefit out of lifting weights, you need to combine your weight training with other exercise. If you are not already doing some kind of aerobic or cardio workout everyday, you must do this in addition to weight lifting. It is not healthy to just begin to lift weights without a proper warm up. Of course before starting any workout routine, check with your doctor. Prior to starting you weight lifting workout you need to “get the blood moving” and your muscles primed for some heavy lifting. Just before hitting the weights do a good ten minutes on a bicycle, take a short jog, or jump rope. Do a few legs and arm stretches as well. The key to successful weight training involves what are called repetitions. In lifting it is not so important how much you lift, but how many times you can lift the weight. A proper weight lifting routine will be designed to work out all of the major muscle groups of the body, which include: The Shoulders, Neck and Back, Biceps, Triceps, Quadriceps Chest, Abs, Hamstrings, Calves, and of course the Gluteus.

The next question on your mind is likely to be “should I use free weights or machines?” and “how much weight should I work out with?” You can use free weights or machines or maybe a little of both. If you are working out in a gym, of course they will have both and will likely be able to recommend a “circuit” of weight lifting exercises for you. If you intend to lift weights in the home, it all depends on your budget and physical space to determine of you want to buy a “Home Gym” type resistance trainer such as Bowflex – or a good set of free weights and barbells – or both. Weight machines are great for beginners because they have been designed to work a specific muscle or muscle group, and will insure that you are seated or standing in the right position to target that group when you lift. Free weights are the traditional barbells and dumbbells that have been around for centuries, and they work great. In fact some would argue that once you learn how to use them properly you get a better workout than machines because it is only the force of your muscles and your ability to balance the weight that keeps the weight and your muscles moving properly. There is no aid from the machine, so you are effectively using more muscle with free weights.

Lifting weights improves your strength and stamina. Lifting weights builds muscle and confidence, improves cardiovascular health and can actually help prevent other sports injuries, and lifting weights can help you lose extra pounds and keep them off – so what are you “weighting” for come on get pumping!

In many articles and in common usage you will hear or see weightlifting and strength training used as if they are the same thing. They technically are not. Weightlifting is a type of strength training, but it is not the only one. The whole idea of strength training is to build muscle mass. Muscle mass is built by forcing muscles to work harder against an opposing force. In weightlifting that force is gravity. You use your muscles to lift either a free weight or a weights on a machine to overcome gravity. But there are other types of strength training too – such as resistance strength training, in which you use the muscle to overcome resistance like that of a resistance band, or resistance machine that uses a series of pulleys. Or Isometric strength training that pits one muscle against another. Still most fitness professionals agree one of the best methods of building muscle is to strength train through weightlifting. And for the purposes of most discussions about how we build muscle and the many benefits thereof, strength training and weight lifting can be considered interchangeable. In fact prior to modern times where much more has been learned about physiology and exercise, and other methods of strength training exercises have been developed, strength training and weight training were pretty much interchangeable terminologies.

Regardless of what you call it strength training and/or weightlifting provides significant health benefits.  Strength training builds muscle, strengthens bones and ligaments, and adds to overall fitness and well-being. The key to using weightlifting to increase strength is to use the concept of progressive resistance.  You need to continue to tax the muscles by increasing the force they need to work against overtime to continue to build up and gain strength. In weightlifting this is accomplished by either adding more weight or increasing repetitions. Weightlifting is also a great way to strength train because weight lifting exercises, either with free weights or machines have been designed to work targeted and specific muscle groups. So if you want to add strength to your legs because you are a soccer player, you can target leg-lifting exercises, and still receive many secondary benefits of weightlifting and general strength training.

Weightlifting is not however the same thing as Bodybuilding. Popularized by the Movie “Pumping Iron” and rise in fame of Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding uses similar techniques to weight lifting and carries many of the same benefits, but it is sport with different goals. Most bodybuilders train for open competition, so their goal is to maximize muscularity and minimize body fat. Competitive body builders have from 2- 4% total body fat. A weight lifter or weight trainer on the other hand, is primarily concerned with increasing strength and stamina, and is not too concerned with.