Weight Lifting and Muscle Development

Since time immemorial, weight lifting has remained the surest way of strengthening and building muscles.

In order to use weights to build your body, you need to understand that different weights are lifted differently by different people. Trial and error with different weights is the key to perfect weight lifting.

It is of great importance to ascertain the poundage you can comfortably work with. Find out which is your perfect weight for body building before getting started to avoid any eventualities.

Begin with an easy warm up set with light weight that will see you hit 15 reps easily. Gradually increase the weight as you decrease the reps. This way you will be able to arrive at your first working set. The first set should be easy with only the last 2 reps being a little too tough to complete.

You can then be adding sets, increasing intensity or decreasing the rest time to encourage continued progress. Weights at this stage are added gradually for the first 6 months.

At an advanced stage, decreasing of the rest time and use of intensity techniques is utilized to reach the strength climaxes. It is advisable to rest for 2-3 minutes between sets for the start before eventually dropping to a minute.

You may realize that as you get better in shape you may need less time to rest. Just never forget to rest enough to be able to catch your breath. Take a few seconds to raise or lower the weight slowly and in a controlled manner. Don't just lift the weight up there in any way. Always remember to drop the weight back to the start position.

During lifting, try and link your mind with your muscles. This requires that you be in touch with your body and functions of your muscles.

It's good to know the name of each muscle and its specific function. Flex each muscle to be able to get the unique feel.

Always make sure the targeted muscles work harder than all the other muscles as you lift the weight.

Do not just lift the weight in anyway. This helps mitigate injury. You can also have a training partner to help you get your form down with a smaller chance of injury.

Its good to keep a record of weights used and how it felt at the end of it all. Learn how much body space can do for you. This motivates you.

Don't hold your breath when lifting weights. Breathe in on the downward part of weight lifting and out on upward part. With time you will automatically gain experience in breathing with care while lifting the weights.

Start with basic exercises that involve more than one muscle group, such include the squat, deadlift and bench press.

Isolation exercise work out only on one muscle at a time. This includes dumbbell flyes (chested concentration, curls and biceps) and side deltoid head.

It's good to stretch both before and in between sets. This helps improve flexibility, keep your muscles warm and pliable. This aids in the recovery after workouts.

Dane Fletcher is the world's most prolific bodybuilding and fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or supplementation, please visit www.BodybuildingToday.com, the bodybuilding and fitness authority site with hundreds of articles available FREE to help you meet your goals.

Weight Lifting - How Super Sets Can Save You a Lot of Valuable Time!

Often, people who lift weights are looking for ways to get the most out of their time in the gym. A lot of health-conscious people are also very busy with other things in their lives. They might have families, or their own businesses to run. Still, they want a way to take their fitness seriously with what little time they do have to be able to devote to exercise.

Trying to perform one exercise set at a time is just taking too long, and as a result, it becomes very difficult to work the muscles to a proper point of exhaustion. Aside from all of that, a lot of people are looking for ways to use weight lifting to double as a cardiovascular workout, by stimulating a constant increase in heart rate for extended periods of time.

If that sounds like something that appeals to you, then performing what are known as "super sets" may be something worth looking into for you. Obviously, you should consult someone more experienced than yourself before engaging in any radical exercise campaigns, but the basic principle is actually quite simple. On any given work out day, simply choose two muscle groups that oppose one another. Some folks choose biceps and triceps, and some choose others.

Instead of completing a set of whatever exercise you've chosen for your triceps, resting, and then starting another, you simply go straight to the bicep set. Once you've completed that set, your triceps have had a moment to rest, and you immediately complete another working set for them. By not stopping to rest in this way, you will literally be getting twice the workout for the same amount of invested time.

No matter how you decide to alter your lifestyle in terms of nutrition and exercise, be certain to get yourself on a good multivitamin, and to detox your system regularly.

Without the proper vitamins, minerals, and detoxification, you may be halting your weight loss efforts before they even begin.

For the many inquiries I receive with regard to proper supplementation for rapid weight loss, here is my personal recommendation: Lose Inches Now

Weight Lifting Vs Cardio Activities - Which One Works Best For You to Burn Fat and Lose Weight Fast?

Before you start on your quest to lose weight, you need to know what weight lifting vs. cardio activities can do for you. While it is true that both lifting weight and doing cardio exercises can help you to burn calories, the fact is, one is more efficient than the other.

If you are trying to lose weight fast, cardio activities such as running, brisk walking, climbing stairs etc. is the way to go! You will lose weight when your body burns more calories than you consume. Cardio exercises which use your whole body can help you burn more calories than weight training that targets one or two muscle groups. Worst still, the rate that the calories are burnt would be low if the intensity of weight lifting is low.

Although you cannot rule out weight training altogether, cardio exercises are more efficient when it comes to losing weight. This is indeed a good news as typically, we do more cardio activities in a day than weight lifting. Our daily activities like walking to work, climbing the stairs in the apartment etc. can help us to burn calories. But, you might not be seeing a drastic result as those are not so intense cardio activities. Try to do more intense, long duration cardio activities to see better results.

On the other hand, weight lifting can increase your stamina which would help you to endure during your cardio exercises. Hence, you need to include two to three sessions of weight lifting in your routine. But to burn calories and lose weight efficiently, focus on cardio exercises!

Click here for more tips to lose weight fast

To find out how I lost 35 pounds in 10 weeks, which I detailed in My Blog, please click here: Become Skinny Fast

Why Weight Lifting is a Physical Activity That Delivers Top Health Benefits

When most people think of weight lifters, they think of cultural icons like The Rock or Arnold Schwarzenegger: Huge, muscular men that spend all day in the gym. And when most people think of exercise, that is the exact opposite of what they want.

However, I am going to talk to you today of why I think more people should use weight training as their main form of physical activity, as the benefits are enormous.

Increased Bone Density

Weight lifting will increase your bone density and help prevent problems like osteoporosis or stress fractures.

A lot of people think that running is the best exercise to increase bone density, but this is not necessarily the case. In fact, as an aerobic activity, running actually promotes muscle breakdown, while weight lifting, being an anabolic process, promotes the building of muscle tissue.

Because of this, weight lifting is far better at conserving your bone density, as well as having far less impact on your body than running.

Fewer Injuries

When you weight lift, your muscles are getting stronger, and you're working the ligaments and tendons that connect muscles, bones and other tissues. This reduces the possibility of injury while participating in of physical activity.

Those of you who have been injured before know disheartening it can be. The fact is, more than 75% of injuries are a direct result of a tendon, ligament or muscle being too weak when a stressful force is applied. Since weight lifting works all of those ligaments and tendons, it's one of the best injury preventions out there.

Reduced Health Related Risks

Studies have shown that consistent weight lifting can have a beneficial effect on health by reducing the rate of insulin resistance, blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. A strong weight training program along with a healthy diet is a big step in avoiding some of these problems.

Reduced Fat Gain

As you weight train more often, your metabolic rate will rise, and you will be able to eat more while maintaining your weight. If that doesn't motivate you to use weight training to help shed those pounds, I don't know what will.

That being said, one common misconception people have is that weight training will make you big and bulky. That is not the case at all. Let's make a comparison to help us understand how this works.

Say you have two teams, and each are going to build a house using the exact same method. Team one is given 5,000 bricks to work with, while team two has only 500 bricks.

Who do you think will build a bigger house? Clearly, team one, as they have been supplied with more materials. Now think of those bricks as the calories that you consume on a daily basic. Unless you eat a lot of calories, you aren't going to build big, bulky muscles. This is exactly why bodybuilders look the way they do.

It has much more to do with what they eat than with how they train. In order to sustain the kind of growth needed for this kind of muscle you would need to eat like a teenage boy.

You need raw materials to build a house, and you need raw materials to build your muscles. If you control your diet, you will not develop large, bulky muscles from weight training.

Instead, you will burn more fat, reduce your chances of injury, and develop a strong, slim body. Choosing to exclude weight training from your workout plan is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Don't pass up these long-term health benefits any longer.

[http://howtogetbigger.biz]

Weight Lifting: Why It Is Important for Weight Loss - Help Me Lose Weight Quickly!

So, you're probably here because somewhere deep down inside, you truly want to lose weight. There's a ton of people just like you today. Most want to tone out, lose their belly fat and get leaner. They want that sexy actor or actress body that they see on television. Most people who have are that the point you are at in your life have already ran countless hours on the treadmill, they've done thousands of crunches and ate literally rabbit food for a week straight! So why is it that everyone keeps coming back? Why is it that everyone keeps losing what they worked so hard to get? The answer is, well, they just don't know how to do the right things!

Sure, eating rabbit food for a week will help you lose weight, but it really only decreases your natural metabolism for a period of time. That's why the weight eventually comes back. Have you done thousands of crunches and your six pack abs just haven't shown up yet? Are you frustrated because you are not getting the results you know you deserve? Sure running on the treadmill for hours will burn calories, but isn't there an easier way of weight loss? I can tell you that there really is. The secret lies within you.

No seriously! The secret literally lies within you. Your muscles! Before you begin heading for the hills, I want you to know that if this doesn't catch your eye, I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking that you want to lose weight, and buy building muscle you are actually just going to gain more weight! You are probably thinking that you aren't trying to get bulky, that you just want to lean out! Some of you are thinking that you are already big enough, and just getting lean is what your goal is. Others are thinking that you want to keep or gain a more feminine or attain a feminine look to your body shape. Building bulky or masculine muscle just isn't something that appeals to you.

Many people have the huge misconception that weight lifting is solely about building muscle. That is only the tip of the weight lifting iceberg. If done certain ways, sure you can build tons of muscle, but if you are lifting weights other ways, well then, you really have added fuel to your fat-burning fire. Before it seems like I am pulling your leg, let me discuss why having active muscle benefits weight loss more than actual muscle gain.

Muscles, when they are used (i.e. any physical activity and weight lifting), consume energy that is stored within the muscle. Once that storage is depleted, it begins to use other sources of energy. Now, think about what I said and think rationally. If you are doing bicep curls, then you will not be extracting energy from your stomach. You are going to be extracting excess energy from around the muscles being used. This is how you can begin to create lean and 'cut' arms without any actual long duration cardiovascular exercise. Granted, this is by no means capable of replacing your cardio-based workout routine, but this is often a segment of physical fitness and exercise that is often overlooked, especially by those who are desperate to lose weight.

The second biggest benefit of lifting weights is the majority of exercises involved in weight training are considered "complex exercises". Complex exercises are exercises that use a majority of muscle groups during the exercise. Keeping with the bicep curl exercise used before, the major muscle group involved is obviously your bicep. The secondary muscles involved is your trapezoid (shoulder muscles), triceps, forearms and even your abdominal muscles play a role. These secondary muscle groups play a role in stabilizing your body (for bicep curls, stabilizing your arm). Now biceps curls are a very basic exercise, so take all the muscles used in a bicep curls and multiply that when you replace it with a more complex lifting move such as the squat. Legs, back, shoulders, abdominal and calves are all directly involved with squats. Imagine all the other secondary muscles involved with just a single squat!

So how do you build a weight lifting routine that allows you to maximize stress on your muscles without building too much muscle? Stay tuned for Part II.

If you thought this article was useful, or if you truly want daily updates on the bests ways to lose weight, please visit us at: http://www.HelpMeLoseWeightQuickly.com and subscribe to our blog. We update our blog daily and you can even request a review via our Facebook Page!

Can You Get A Competitive Bodybuilding Looking Physique By Training At Home?

I am often asked if it is possible to get a competitive looking bodybuilding physique from training at home. The answer may surprise you!

The fact is, that as long as you have the right equipment and perform the right routines, one can get an incredible physique from training at home. In this week's post I want to share some resources that will set you straight on the topic of home training for bodybuilding:

How To Start Your Bodybuilding Program By Training at Home

This article from Registered Nurse and natural female bodybuilder Cecile Bayeul covers the subject of how to get started training at home. While this article was written for women, the information on it applies to guys as well!

Best Equipment for Home Gyms

What equipment is necessary for a good home gym? Listed in the article below, with #1 being the most important, are the pieces that you will need in order to be a successful home gym bodybuilder

Home Gym Bodybuilding Training Routines

Finally, in this article, I will discuss how you can set up different bodybuilding training routines at home by using just a weight bench with a good leg extension/leg curl attachment and a pair of adjustable dumbbells.

More Dumbbell Based Bodybuilding Workouts

With a safe pair of adjustable dumbbells, there is a variety of exercises that you can do in order to keep your bodybuilding workouts going.

View the original article here

Best Weight Lifting Songs of All Times

You go into the gym and find yourself without the usual desire to do your exercises. What's the best way to get into the workout mood? Music.

The right music can make your workout that more effective. To help you do that I compiled a short list of some of the best weight lifting songs:

1. Welcome to the Jungle by Guns 'n' Roses - I still remember when this came out. It totally blew me away. This is a fast paced, energy filled, rock song which is sure to get you pumping and eager to lift some weights. Axel Rose's vocals on this song are fantastic.

2. Enter Sandman by Metallica - I love this band, although in recent years they seem to have mellowed somewhat. However, this nightmarish song is the remedy for any fatigue. It is so powerful and will make you feel powerful too. Exit light, enter weights, I say.

3. Jump by Van Halen - This song is something between rock and pop. The title says it all, get ready to feel like jumping or, better yet, pumping iron like crazy. This sone is so catchy and fast that it will have you feeling like you can lift a mountain.

4. Smells like Team Spirit by Nirvana - recently, Paul Anka released a mellow version of this song which is kind of cool, but if you're looking for the best weight lifting songs to help you workout more, stick to the original version. The music and vocals are so powerful here, you just feel like you're an entire team of athletes yourself.

5. Into the Storm by Blind Guardian - This song is part of the classic album by this heavy metal German band which is inspired by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is the most heavy metal song on the list but I've used it several times both as a running song and a strength training song. Try it out and you'll see.

Make sure these 5 songs are on your playlist before you go into any gym.

For more awesome workout songs, go to Best Workout Music. For killer tips to get six pack abs, go to http://TruthAboutGreatAbs.com

John Davenport lost over 30 pounds in his twenties after being overweight most of his life. He now runs a weight loss forum and publishes a diet and fitness newsletter.aweso

Blood Pressure and Weight Lifting - Bad Combination?

Lifting weights can cause a temporary, but dramatic blood pressure rise. Systolic pressure can increase up to 350-400 mm Hg and diastolic pressure to 150 mm Hg even if your levels are typically a healthy level of 120/80 or less.

Hypertension is linked to arterial endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial dysfunction can result in the hardening of artery walls. Researchers have been monitoring the effects of short duration rises in blood pressure, such as what occurs during weight lifting, to determine the effect on endothelial function. It has been determined that acute rises in blood pressure impairs endothelial function in untrained individuals and regular resistance training helps protect against vascular dysfunction.

At one time, weight lifting was discouraged if you lived with hypertension. However, this is no longer the recommendation. Regular physical activity that includes moderate strength training is one of many natural ways to lower blood pressure. A study published in Hypertension monitored participants completing resistance training 2 to 5 times per week and found weight lifting to help lower resting blood pressure to reduce hypertension.

Including strength training and aerobic physical activity can be a positive step to improve heart health; however, you must consult your physician before beginning an exercise and/or strength training program. Strength training is not recommended if you have uncontrolled hypertension, untreated heart disease, or an irregular heart rate.

The current American Heart Association recommends individuals 18 to 65 years-old include moderate intensity aerobic physical activity 5 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes and strength training at least twice a week.

Be sure to sign up for the free e-course 7 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure at http://www.lowerbloodpressurewithlisa.com today! Lisa Nelson RD, founder and owner of Heart Health Made Easy and Health Expert for The Health Central Network, is dedicated to guiding clients to heart health through practical diet and lifestyle changes.

Cardio Before Weights Or After? Learn the Best Time to Add a Cardio Routine

There has been an ongoing debate if you should do cardio before weights or after. There are both pros and cons to each choice but one stands out above the other. In this article you will learn exactly how each one affects your body and your fat loss goals.

When you do cardio for an extended period of time before your workout you are using up all of your energy, by depleting you glycogen storages, before you even hit the weights. This means that all the carbohydrate (glycogen) storages that are used to give you energy and power to push through your weight lifting are being used up. This will leave you weak and tired in the gym. When you don't have that energy to push through your sets and heavy repetitions you won't be able to add more weight then you did the prior week. When you aren't adding weight to your workout every other week or so you won't make any progress in either muscle building or strength.

Even if you are trying to lose weight and that is your primary goal, doing cardio before weights can still hinder your progress. Why you might ask? This is because when you put on muscle you are building your body to be a fat burning machine. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn just sitting still. Cardio before weights can actually lead to muscle atrophy.

When you do cardio after weights some magical things happen. In regards to your glycogen storages this is the perfect time to run. After a heavy weight lifting workout these storages will be close to empty and your body will be looking for a fuel source to give you energy for your cardio routine. This means that your body will be stripping away your fat to use as energy. Normally your muscle would be the first to be converted but since it was right after a workout fat is the first source of energy. Keep in mind that if your cardio lasts more then 40 minutes there is a high chance you will be burning muscle instead of fat, so keep your cardio routine short and intense.

I would recommend having a BCCA (branch chain amino acid) drink right before your cardio routine to stop ANY chance of muscle breakdown. Unlike drinking a protein drink, branch chain amino acids don't go through the normal digestive process so they won't be burned for fuel during your cardio routine, they will go straight to your muscles. BCCA can be bought anywhere you buy supplements.

As you can see cardio after weights is very beneficial to burning fat and retaining muscle. Even if you are trying to build muscle and don't care much about fat loss this will keep you slim while packing on pounds of muscle. As always I would recommend that you do a light job or some light aerobic exercise before you start your weight training.

About FitnessLifeLive.com

Joseph L. Ownes invites you to join the growing fitness and health community of http://FitnessLifeLive.com As you look around you will find hundreds of articles on various fitness and health topics like fat loss, nutrition, gaining muscle, and much more. Find great related articles like "Different Types of Cardio Routines [http://fitnesslifelive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=66]" in our Fat Loss section that will help you get in the shape you always wanted, and stay that way!

© Copyright - FitnessLifeLive. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.