So how do you chose what program to do?
To be able to answer this questions you need to get gain an understanding of some basic weight training principles. Understanding these principles will assist you in choosing a routine that ensures you use sufficient weight for the right amount of reps and sets and will guarantee you are always making progress in your training.
Principle 1: Overload
You need to place stress on you muscles for them to grow. How do you do this? Make your muscle perform a movement with more resistance than it is used to. Your body's reaction to this stress is to repair and grow more muscle in order to be better prepared for next time the same stress is placed on it.
In terms of weight training you should be overloading your muscles to the point where you can only complete the specified number of reps in your routine. This means you need to select a weight that allows you to complete the specified number of reps with difficulty but whilst also maintaining good form.
Principle 2: Progression
The body is an amazing and adaptable machine. To avoid adaptation or training plateaus, you need to train with consistency and intensity. What this means in real terms is every time you train you either need to lift more weight for the same amount of reps as your last session, or lift the same weight for more reps. If you continue to do the same thing week after week, your body will not change.
Sounds pretty simply doesn't it? In theory, the principle is an easy one to understand, putting it in to practice is the hard part. It will take focus, determination and intensity to make progress with every workout, but it is achievable.
To be able to answer this questions you need to get gain an understanding of some basic weight training principles. Understanding these principles will assist you in choosing a routine that ensures you use sufficient weight for the right amount of reps and sets and will guarantee you are always making progress in your training.
Principle 1: Overload
You need to place stress on you muscles for them to grow. How do you do this? Make your muscle perform a movement with more resistance than it is used to. Your body's reaction to this stress is to repair and grow more muscle in order to be better prepared for next time the same stress is placed on it.
In terms of weight training you should be overloading your muscles to the point where you can only complete the specified number of reps in your routine. This means you need to select a weight that allows you to complete the specified number of reps with difficulty but whilst also maintaining good form.
Principle 2: Progression
The body is an amazing and adaptable machine. To avoid adaptation or training plateaus, you need to train with consistency and intensity. What this means in real terms is every time you train you either need to lift more weight for the same amount of reps as your last session, or lift the same weight for more reps. If you continue to do the same thing week after week, your body will not change.
Sounds pretty simply doesn't it? In theory, the principle is an easy one to understand, putting it in to practice is the hard part. It will take focus, determination and intensity to make progress with every workout, but it is achievable.
Principle 3: Goal Setting
Your weight training should have a purpose. In order to achieve in our health and fitness endeavors, you need to know exactly what you are working towards. For each person the reason will differ, once you figure out your reason, use it as your motivating factor. If you start a weight training program and you don't have goals, then you will fail. How do I know you will fail? Because if you don't know what you are trying to achieve, you don't have a finish line.
Principle 4: Rest and Recovery
Rest days are just as important as training days. The reason for this is with weight training, more is not better. Remember the weight training is the stress on your body, muscle growth occurs as a response to this stress on your body, WHEN YOU ARE RESTING. Muscle growth does not occur in the gym! You need to provide your muscles with adequate rest and good nutrition.
With this in mind training frequency dictates that a muscle group, such as legs, back, or chest, should only be trained once a week in order to allow the muscle enough time to fully recuperate and recover to handle the next workout. Since progressive overload is the key to muscle growth, you want your muscles to be well rested so that they may handle more weight or complete more reps with the same weight during your next training session.
If you train a body part too often you will risk over training, because the muscle has not had a chance to fully recover. Your muscle needs to fully recover from its previous stress, before it can handle additional stress.
There are numerous weight training principles out there. Some are good, some are bad, some even contradict one another. The important thing is to understand the basics as outlined in the above principles, attack you training with consistency and intensity and you can use weight training for fat loss.
Your weight training should have a purpose. In order to achieve in our health and fitness endeavors, you need to know exactly what you are working towards. For each person the reason will differ, once you figure out your reason, use it as your motivating factor. If you start a weight training program and you don't have goals, then you will fail. How do I know you will fail? Because if you don't know what you are trying to achieve, you don't have a finish line.
Principle 4: Rest and Recovery
Rest days are just as important as training days. The reason for this is with weight training, more is not better. Remember the weight training is the stress on your body, muscle growth occurs as a response to this stress on your body, WHEN YOU ARE RESTING. Muscle growth does not occur in the gym! You need to provide your muscles with adequate rest and good nutrition.
With this in mind training frequency dictates that a muscle group, such as legs, back, or chest, should only be trained once a week in order to allow the muscle enough time to fully recuperate and recover to handle the next workout. Since progressive overload is the key to muscle growth, you want your muscles to be well rested so that they may handle more weight or complete more reps with the same weight during your next training session.
If you train a body part too often you will risk over training, because the muscle has not had a chance to fully recover. Your muscle needs to fully recover from its previous stress, before it can handle additional stress.
There are numerous weight training principles out there. Some are good, some are bad, some even contradict one another. The important thing is to understand the basics as outlined in the above principles, attack you training with consistency and intensity and you can use weight training for fat loss.
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