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How much should I lift? ....................................................................


To increase strength, you need to lift an amount that stresses your muscles. So,
although we can’t tell you a specific amount to lift, we can tell you that it has to
be enough so that you feel challenged as you’re lifting, and so that the last rep
is difficult to complete (difficult, but still possible and still using good form).

After about age 30, you lose bone mass for the rest of your life. But don’t let
that frighten you, because there is a solution. To maintain bone density (that is,
to build enough bone density to offset the loss of bone density that occurs as
you age), you need to perform weight-bearing exercise. Weight-bearing exercise
means that your skeleton is supporting any sort of weight, as it does when you
walk, run, or — yes — lift weights. Theories abound as to why weight-bearing
exercise builds bone density, but the most probable is that your body creates
osteoblasts,or cells that form more bone when muscles are stressed. This phe-
nomenon occurs when muscles flex and the tendons to which they’re attached
pull on the bone to which they are connected. This means that when your
muscles (and, thus, your bones) are placed under pressure, as they are during
weight-bearing exercise, your bones adapt to the pressure and become more
dense (and that means they’re stronger). Weight lifting is one of the best ways
to build bone density, because you’re loading your muscles (and, therefore,
your bones) with weights. But keep in mind that as your muscles gain strength,
you need to gradually increase the load on them by increasing the amount of
weight you lift.

How do I know when I’m ready to lift more weight? .....................


It won’t take long to outgrow the weights you use during your first workout.
When you can easily do the maximum number of reps you’re aiming for,
increase the weight by the smallest increment possible and drop down to
fewer reps. You know you’re lifting too much weight if you can’t complete
your repetitions with good form and if you feel the need to grunt.

Not all muscles improve at the same rate. After a month of weight training,
you may jump up 20 pounds on a chest exercise but only 5 pounds on a
shoulder exercise.

How fast should I do my reps? .........................................................


Take a full 2 seconds to lift a weight and 2 to 4 seconds to lower it. If you lift
more quickly than that, you may hear a lot of clanging and banging (of the

Chapter 14: Designing a Strength-Training Program .................................................

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