9 Weight Lifting Tips for Beginners : Weightlifting for beginners may seem absurd. If you’re new to the weight room, lifting and lowering heavy objects with flawless form appears like advanced fitness. Learning to utilise a squat rack? How do you determine if the weight you’re lifting is too light, heavy, or right?
9 Weight Lifting Tips for Beginners
Weightlifting can be scary, especially if you’re used to the Olympics or Instagram’s intricate routines. Weight lifting can benefit many, and it includes everything from basic routines that resemble daily activity to sophisticated power-lifting moves. Do not worry if you lack experience loading weights on a barbell or handling it after it’s heavy. Avoid entering the weight room without a clue while starting strength training. Weight lifting can be gradual and rewarding if you progress when you’re ready.
1. Bodyweight first.
No doubt, weight training counts your weight. Hannah Davis, CSCS, owner of Body by Hannah, tells SELF that “strength training means using resistance to create work for your muscles.” Beginners usually start with their own bodyweight, although they can eventually use dumbbells and barbells.
Fagan says bodyweight exercises can assist novices learn all the key strength training movement patterns and provide an effective strength training session. Before picking up dumbbells for deadlifts, you should learn how to complete a hip hinge—pushing your hips and butt backwards with a neutral spine and a modest knee bend. You should be confident with bodyweight squats before utilising a rack.
2. Fix your form.
Before lifting a weight, check your form again. Unfortunately, the pandemic made real-time form feedback harder. After many gyms reopened (and hopefully are following safety protocols to keep members and staff safe), you may feel more comfortable arranging a personal trainer session to learn the basics of strength training exercises (if your budget permits).
Fagan suggests working with a personal trainer to develop those basic movement patterns, which set the foundation for numerous activities. They can offer real-time form corrections, preparing you to move safely.
3. Get equipment.
Weight training should begin with bodyweight routines and progress to weights. Weights, like most at-home training equipment, were hard to obtain online during the coronavirus outbreak, but they’re slowly returning.
Fagan thinks dumbbells are the easiest weight for beginners to use if you can find them, compared to kettlebells and barbells. She recommends three sets: light, moderate, and heavy (5, 12, and 20 pounds). Buying an adjustable set of weights can save room if you need heavier weights.
4. Prepare muscles before starting.
A good warm-up is essential for strength training. Use a foam roller to wake up your muscles. “Foam rolling loosens tight muscles so they work as designed,” Davis explains. According to the Journal of Sports Medicine, a percussive massage pistol like a Theragun can assist warm up muscles before an exercise.
Your preworkout regimen should include a dynamic warm-up to prepare your muscles for the exercise and increase range of motion. A dynamic warm-up involves modest movement patterns to prepare your muscles for activity. Increasing your range of motion lets you squat deeper and completely stretch your arms during biceps curls, recruiting more muscles and improving outcomes.
5. Workout regularly without overdoing it.
Knowing when and how often to workout is one of the hardest components of starting a strength training routine. You must start slowly. Davis advises starting with two days for two to three weeks, then adding a third. “Ideally, strength train three to five days a week, but work your way up—five days a week may shock your body.” Fagan says doing too much too soon is one of the biggest blunders beginners make.
Fagan recommends making every workout a total-body day for beginners instead of breaking it up by muscle group. Each workout will include lower-body, core, and upper-body work to balance it out. Three days a week of total-body workouts can lead to a bonus day where you focus on specific strength-building areas.
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6. Lift the proper weight.
It would be great if everyone started with the same weight, but it depends on your strength, the activity you’re doing, and how many repetitions and sets you plan to accomplish. Fagan recommends starting with 12–15 reps per set. Start strength training with one to two sets of each exercise for the first month. She suggests increasing to three sets per exercise as you get stronger and those sets become easier.
Because some muscle parts (like your glutes) are inherently stronger than others (like your triceps), different workouts demand different weights. It helps to have a little variation. That could contain light, medium, and heavy dumbbells, kettlebells, and possibly a barbell. Choose a weight for each exercise that challenges you without hurting your form.
7. Repeat the same motions daily to start.
During a week, seasoned lifters may do various workouts every day and repeat the same motions the next week, but Davis advises against this while you’re just starting started. Your routine will be less uncertain for a while.
8. Stretch post workout if possible.
Stretching is next after training. Say ahh? Davis believes stretching heated muscles improves flexibility and feels great after a hard workout.
9. Rest days when your body needs them.
Soreness is fine. DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness, may leave your muscles sore the day after a vigourous workout. Strength training causes microscopic tissue damage that will be healed, building muscle. You don’t want to be so sore that you can’t exercise again that week, so if you’re sore for multiple days, you’re probably doing too much too fast.
