As mentioned in my article Build Muscle to Lose More Weight (link), it is important to add weight training to your routine. Aging causes a decrease in muscle mass over the years if you are not active. While cardio can help boost your fitness dramatically, challenging the muscles is equally important for weight loss and overall fitness and health.
If you’re just starting to add strength training and weight lifting to your workout, here are a few tips when getting started:
1. Warm-up for a few minutes on a cardio machine prior to lifting weights and cool-down gradually after sessions. Also, don’t forget to stretch.
2. Do exercises properly using the correct techniques regardless of the exercise (cardio, weight machines, etc.). Always read and understand the instructions on the machine and consult a personal trainer when unsure of proper technique.
3. Make sure there is a spotter when lifting free weights. If you try to do squats, bench press, or any exercise where you lift weights over your head, make sure to ask someone to spot you. If something happens and you can’t get the weight back up, you’ll need someone to be there to help you get out from under the weights.
4. Challenge the muscles, but make sure that it's kept safe. While it is usually recommended to do 12 – 15 reps for toning and muscle maintenance goals and 8 – 12 reps for muscle building goals, it is still good to mix up the number of repetitions to keep challenging your muscles and to be sure you do not reach a plateau. Reducing the number of reps and adding weight, and vice versa, can help keep your muscles challenged and in shape as you work out. The same thing goes for the number of sets that you do. Most trainers recommend three sets of each exercise. Sometimes, though, it may be good to decrease the number of sets and mix up the sets/repetition/weight combinations. Challenging your muscles in this way will also help to keep your metabolism high, assisting in weight loss.
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