Let's Talk Basics

Weight Training 101

You probably already know that people do weight training to get stronger and make their muscles bigger.  (It’s also a great way to lose fat.)  But how we go about accomplishing that isn’t necessarily obvious, so give me one minute to talk basics.

When you look in the weight room at the gym, you see people making objects move back and forth, so it’s reasonable to assume that’s the primary purpose, but it’s actually not.  The most important thing you need to accomplish in the weight room is to make your muscles tired.  Moving objects back and forth is simply the means to that end, but it’s not the actual point.

Does that seem like splitting hairs?  Honestly, it’s not.  When you understand that you are moving heavy things around in order to tire out your muscles, then you start to think about your muscles more than the weight.  You start to analyze which muscles will benefit from moving this object in this particular way.  And most importantly, you begin to understand that this weight lifting business goes a lot deeper than you may have realized before.

The most important principle of weight training is to do an exercise until your muscle is too tired to do it any more.  Every time you do an exercise, make sure you know which muscle it is intended to train, then do the exercise until that muscle is too tired to continue without resorting to bad form.  That's when you stop and rest.

When to Stop and When to Go

Each time you move the weight, that's called a "rep" (short for "repetition").  When you do a certain number of reps then stop to rest, you've done what's called a "set". Each time you do a set, you should have a certain number of reps that you're trying to achieve. That's your "rep goal". But that goal should be a challenge, so you if you're hitting your rep goal all the time, then the goal is too easy. You should also have in mind a "rep range". For example, if your rep goal is 10 reps, you would probably set your rep range at 8 to 10 reps, meaning that getting to 8 or 9 reps is good, but you should keep trying to get all the way to 10 next time.

Your workout will be more effective if you do 2 or 3 sets of each exercise. So after your first set, rest for about a minute then do another set.  You might do another exercise for that same muscle, depending on what kind of program you're doing. But hopefully at that point, you've made your muscle good and tired.  That's how you signal to your body that it needs to improve your strength and grow the muscle.

Where Are My Gainz?

So you've finished a great workout. Your muscles are bigger and stronger now, right? Wellll, yes and no. When a muscle works hard, it demands plenty of oxygen to help fuel that effort. Your body responds by pumping extra blood to that muscle. You might notice the muscle feels extra full, or extra warm, or maybe even a tiny bit bigger. That's called a "pump", and it really does temporarily make your muscle bigger and fuller. But the pump fades about 15 minutes after your workout. Sorry.

Your muscles don't actually do their growing and strengthening at the gym. They do most of that while you're sleeping. Working out sends signals to your body that those muscles need to grow and repair and get stronger. Since sleep is when your body does most of its healing, that's also when your "gainz" happen. So it's really important to make sure you're getting plenty of sleep as part of your workout program.

Have a great workout, and don't forget, it's okay to ask questions!

The Friendly Lifter