Showing posts with label weight lifting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight lifting. Show all posts
February 25, 2018

Lifting Weights to Become Strong

Lifting Weights - How to Become Very Strong in 30 Minutes a Week

Some body builders lift weights for more than six hours a day, but you don't have to waste that much time to become very strong. Training for weight lifting is done in sets. A set of ten means that you lift and lower a heavy weight ten times continuously before you rest. If you repeat these sets of ten three times with a rest period between each set, you have done three sets of ten.

Lifting Weights

Pick 6 to 10 weight-machine exercises and do them in three sessions a week. In each exercise, try to lift the heaviest weight that you can lift comfortably ten times in a row without hurting yourself. When an exercise becomes easy, increase the weight. In five months, you should be able to increase your strength significantly and be proud of your larger muscles.

You now decide that you want to become even stronger. Would you increase your strength more by increasing the number of repetitions or by increasing the weight that you lift? For example, should you try to do three sets of ten for each exercise or stay at one set of ten, just try to lift a heavier weight once a week? Dr. Michael Pollock of the University of Florida in Gainesville divided recreational weight lifters into two groups. In one group, they tried to do three sets of 10 three times a week. In the other group, they did just one set of 10 three times a week, but tried to lift progressively heavier weights. Those who did one set of ten with heavier weights three times week were stronger than those who did three sets of ten without increasing the weight.

The single stimulus to make muscles larger and stronger is to stretch them while they contract. When you try to lift a heavy weight, your muscles stretch before the weight starts to move. The greater the stretch, the greater the damage to the muscle fibers and when they heal after a few days, the greater the gain in strength. The results of this study give a clear message. You become stronger by lifting heavier weights, not by exercising more. If you do too much work, you can't lift very heavy weights and you do not become stronger. When it comes to becoming very strong, less is more.
Most competitive bodybuilders spend hours trying to do many sets over and over again. You don't need to do that. Various studies show that you can gain up to 80 percent of your maximum strength by picking out four to eight specific lifts, lifting one set of ten of the heaviest weight in each, and repeating your program twice a week. The reduced workload causes fewer injuries and leaves you with a lot of extra time to do other things.

Lowering a weight slowly, called negative lifting, is a greater stimulus to make you stronger than raising it. You can lower much heavier weights than you can lift. As you raise a weight, you have to slow down because gravity works against you so that the weight feels heavier as you continue to raise it. On the other hand, when you lower a weight, you tend to move faster as gravity works with you and the weight feels lighter.

This negative lifting workout should be done only by experienced lifters not more often than once a week. Pick 10 to 15 lifts that you do regularly. Start out by lifting the heaviest weight that you can lift ten times in a row. You will struggle to get through the last three or four lifts. Then add five to 15 pounds, which may be too heavy for you to lift. Two spotters should lift the weight for you and you try to lower it six times. You'll really hurt and you may want to quit. Add another ten pounds and try to lower the weight three times. Then pick your arms off the floor, replace them on your shoulders and take at least two days off.

Lifting weights enlarges your muscles and makes you stronger, but it does not make you fit. Fitness refers to your heart and is gained by exercising in an activity where you move continuously, such as running, cycling, skating, dancing, walking or swimming. A complete exercise program should include lifting weights two or three times a week and doing a continuous sport three times a week. Alternating your activities gives your muscles a chance to recover and helps to prevent injuries.
January 13, 2017

The Top 6 Weight Lifting Exercises For Packing on Muscle Mass

When you look at all you can do with the free weights, benches, racks, pulley systems, and machines in even an average gym, you will find an almost endless number of weight lifting exercises to perform. However, not all movements are created equal. While some of the fancy exercises with strange equipment and setups have their place, the heavy, basic exercises will always yield the best results when it comes to building muscle mass. Here are the top six weight lifting exercises that you can use to build maximum muscle mass:

1. Squat 
As trainers, coaches, competitive lifters, and just about anyone with significant weight training experience has said for years, the squat is the king of all weight lifting exercises. Religiously performing heavy, deep squats will build massive quads and hamstrings, strengthen the glutes and lower back, and dramatically improve athletic performance. In addition, squats, especially when performed in a higher rep range, will promote an anabolic hormonal response that will lead to greater increases in muscle mass over your entire body. Simply put, if you are not squatting, you are severely limiting your strength and size potential.

2. Deadlift 
Second only to the squat in muscle building importance, the deadlift is one of the weight lifting exercises that can make or break a physique. It engages nearly every muscle in the body and allows most weight lifters to handle more weight than with any other movement. The hamstrings and quads are engaged during the initial pull from the floor, the lower back is recruited to keep the body in an upright position, and the lats, traps, and rhomboids are heavily stressed to keep the bar moving in the correct path. The deadlift will not only build an enormous upper and lower back, but it will give a physique that "thick" look that only the strongest lifters have.

3. Bench Press 
A favorite among both new and veteran weight lifters, the bench press is the standby movement for building upper body strength and muscle mass. Though most lifters treat the bench press as a "chest" exercise and perform it with other horizontal pressing movements, it heavily taxes several other muscle groups, as well. Overall, the exercise will build a massive chest, wide shoulders, and thick triceps. Though many trainers and coaches have been switching to dumbbell and machine substitutes in the last few years, any weight lifter still attempting to gain a large amount of muscle mass should be performing the basic, barbell bench press. It is one of the best weight lifting exercises for overall upper body development.

4. Barbell Row 
One of the most standout body parts for a weight lifter to have is a big, thick upper back. After the deadlift, none of the other weight lifting exercises produce this result better than the basic barbell row. When done properly, with a 45-degree tilt in the torso, an arched lower back, and retracted shoulder blades, this movement heavily stresses the lats, traps, rhomboids, rear delts, biceps, and forearms. Though personal trainers and bodybuilding gurus are often quick to rant about perfect, slow form, a little bit of cheating is recommended for this exercise. Progressive strength increases on the barbell row will allow a trainee to build a bigger back than he ever thought possible.

5. Dips 
Known to be one of the most important weight lifting exercises for the upper body, the dip is often called "the upper body squat." Like the bench press, this movement primarily works the chest, triceps, and shoulders. However, the dip is different from the bench in that it is a closed-chain movement. This means that the hands remain still while the rest of the body moves through space. Closed-chain exercises, which also include the squat and deadlift, often recruit more muscle fibers and lead to greater gains in muscle mass than their open-chain counterparts.

6. Pull-ups 
While the deadlift and barbell row are indispensable for building a big, thick back, pull-ups are the most important weight lifting exercise for widening the lats. Like dips, pull-ups are a closed-chain upper body movement and require a great deal of muscle recruitment to perform. Depending on the grip variation, they will also heavily tax your biceps and forearms. The bodybuilders and other strength athletes who have the biggest backs are often the ones who stick with this exercise, despite the difficulty brought on my muscular weight gain. Overall, a successful trainee will combine regular pull-ups with deadlifts and barbell rows to build the thickest, widest back possible.

In conclusion, the basic weight lifting exercises are almost always your best bet for building strength and packing on muscle mass. The best of these old standby movements are the squat, deadlift, bench press, barbell row, dip, and pull-up. However, there are always more exercises, tips, tricks, and techniques to be learned for building the best body possible.