The Basics of Weight Training Exercises

By Andrew Gregory Smith




Resistance exercise is among the 3 main components in a balanced exercise programme, the other 2 being aerobic and flexibility training.

There're numerous principles, that apply to each of these modes of training and this article covers the basic principles, that must be applied to resistance exercise.

When preparing a resistance-training programme it is vital to make sure that exercises are integrated to target each and every main muscle group in the body. This is crucial to keep a well-balanced physique, avoiding possible muscle weaknesses, or postural issues. The primary areas to target are chest, back, arms, shoulders, quads, hamstrings and calves. In some instances, several muscle group could be worked at a time by using compound exercises, but it is still crucial to target each of the major muscle groups listed.

Another important aspect to any resistance-training programme is to allow adequate rest for each muscle group between workouts. There is little or no benefit to targeting the same muscle group more than once or twice each week, as when a muscle is worked, it requires sufficient recovery time to repair and rebuild. Training splits are an excellent way of avoiding muscle over-training. A three day training split might look something like this:

Monday: back, biceps and hamstrings, Wednesday: quads, triceps, chest, Friday: abdominals, calves, shoulders

Another major element in any resistance-training programme relates to the number of repetitions performed in each set of a certain exercise. The number of repetitions completed is proportional to the goals of the person. Training for muscular endurance and toning generally needs 12 or more repetitions. Reps ranging from 8-12 stimulate muscular growth and muscular strength enhancements are achieved when rep ranges of 4-8 are used.

The final key element is progression. In order to enable your body to improve, you have to continue to increase the stimulus on your muscles. This is attained by increasing numbers of repetitions (whilst remaining within your preferred rep range), increasing weights, or raising the number of sets done. Additionally it is essential to change your workouts or training splits every 4 to 6 weeks to avoid plateaus in progress.




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