Health, Taken Seriously

I recently wrote about why you should start lifting weights regularly. Now I’m going to help you figure out how. Don’t worry–I’m completely qualified. I have a B.S. in Sports Medicine (a.k.a. Kinesiology) and in 2004, became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (basically the step above personal trainer). I’ve also been a serious gym rat for over almost 15 years!

The best way to lift weights is to go to a gym. But if you’re not a member of any gym, that doesn’t mean you can’t do resistance training. You can do a toning/sculpting class, use dumbbells and your own body weight at home (i.e. squats), or rent a toning DVD. I must say though that it’s easiest to lift weights with the help of a gym and all the equipment provided there.

In order to see any real improvement in your muscular strength, endurance, and tone, you need to lift weights at least twice a week for the same muscle group. The same muscle needs at least 2x/week stimulation to grow. Once a week is adequate for maintaining muscle that you’re happy with, but if you want to change your muscle, two weeks is a must. That means if you can’t lift more than twice a week, then you should try to hit all your major muscles in each weight-lifting session. Aim for legs (butt, quads, hamstrings, and calves), chest, back, and abdominals. I wouldn’t worry too much about your arms, unless you specifically want improvements there, as this will make the workout too long. Besides, they will be worked indirectly via the chest and back exercises. If you can go four days each week, I’d spend two on lower body and two on upper. If you can go six days, I’d spend two on lower body, two on chest and back, and two on arms.

Never work the same muscle two days in a row! Muscles need at least 48 hours to recover. This is incredibly important and applies to all muscles, even your abs. It’s not the actual workout that increases strength and endurance, but rather the rest afterwards (when your body repairs the damage) that leads to improvement. So make sure to take a break. This doesn’t mean you can’t do cardio on consecutive days, even if you lifted for your legs the days before.

I’d also like to give you specifics on how to go about lifting to get the changes you want. If you want your body to stay long and lean, then you’re focus will be endurance. Working your slow twitch fibers will not add bulk, so aim for high reps with a lower weight. A good goal would be three sets of 12 repetitions, with little rest in between (30-45 sec). The last few reps should be challenging. If you want strength, you’ll do the opposite. You’ll lift with a heavy weight, meaning you won’t be able to do as many reps. Aim for two sets of 4-6 reps with plenty of rest in between each set. If you want to bulk up, aim for heavy with little rest. Do three sets of 10 reps, with about 1-2 min of rest in between, and make sure the last rep is so hard you can barely finish it. This type of training increases muscle cell mass, as well as increasing the size of other tissues in the muscle (like connective tissues) which helps add bulk.

Try to do at least three different exercises for each major muscle, more if you have more time. And every 4-6 weeks, try to change up your routine. Muscles adapt quickly to the challenges we give them and you have to keep surprising them to get more results. You can change your routine by increasing the amount of weight you lift or by doing different exercises. A good goal would be to spend 30 min strength training and another 30 min doing a challenging, sweaty cardio session. Finish off with about 5 minutes of stretching. Try not to skip this as flexibility is very important for injury prevention. If you can accomplish this 3-5 times a week, you’ll see great results!

Filed under: Exercise on May 3rd, 2008