Weight training is the best way to build strength and definition and give your metabolism a boost at the same time. But do it the wrong way, and you'll limit your gains. Even worse, you could end up with an injury that'll keep you out of the gym for weeks. Weight training is more than just picking a weight and lifting it as many times as you can. Here are five weight training mistakes that can keep your muscles from growing and increase the risk of injury.
Not Moving Through the Full Range of Motion
Many people sacrifice form so they can lift heavier. They arch their backs, swing the weights and don't move the weights through their full range of motion. You'll get the most benefits from a weight training workout if you lift lighter at first until you master the proper form. When you don't move your body through the full range of motion on an exercise, you're depriving your muscles of the stimulation they need to grow and become stronger. Stop trying to impress everyone at the gym by lifting heavy. Instead, blow them away with your perfect weight lifting form.
Using Momentum
Another way people cheat, many without being aware of it, is they use momentum. This usually happens when they try to lift a weight that's too heavy. You'll get more benefits if you lighten up. This allows you to focus on moving the weight in a controlled manner before increasing the weight. Concentrate on feeling your muscles move through their full range of motion of the exercise. This makes it difficult to use momentum. You won't be able to lift as heavy, but you'll ultimately get greater benefits if you choose a lighter weight, slow down and concentrate on controlling the movement. Once you've mastered form, gradually increase the weight.
Lifting Too Light
You need to gradually increase the challenge to get strength gains. Muscles grow when they're progressively overloaded. If you do twelve reps of an exercise using good form and the last two reps feel easy, it's time to increase the weight, but do it by no more than 10% to reduce the risk of injury. To stimulate the muscle to grow, the last two reps should feel difficult, and it should be a real struggle to complete the final one. Too many people get into a comfort zone where they don't continue to challenge on their muscles. Then they wonder why they don't see results. Don't let that happen to you.
Not Resting
This is another common weight lifting mistake. If weight lifting builds strength, more must be better. Right? When you lift weights you create microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. They have to be repaired to get muscle growth. This happens when you supply your muscles with the right nutrients and with adequate periods of rest. Never train the same muscles within 48 hours. Give them time to repair and recover so you can enjoy the benefits of having a stronger, more defined body.
Letting Complacency Set In
Muscles adapt to any workout you throw at it. If you've been doing the same exercises for six weeks or more, your body has probably adapted to your routine. This is a good time to challenge your muscles in new ways. Change your routine by adding new exercises, or change the way you're doing your current exercises.
Challenge your muscles with super-slow training where you do the exercise at a very slow tempo. Do drop sets where you complete another set or two using a lighter weight once you've fatigued your muscles with a heavier weight. Wake up your muscles with supersets where you perform exercises targeting opposing muscle groups without resting between sets. All of these weight training variations can give your muscles the extra stimulus they need to grow when you've reached a plateau.
Discover 5 Facts You MUST Understand if You Are Ever Going to Lose Your Belly Fat [http://www.fitnessposts.com] and Get Six Pack Abs. Additionally, Discover over 27 Unique Metabolism-Boosting Secrets for Getting Rid of Stubborn Belly Fat when you visit http://www.fitnessposts.com [http://www.fitnessposts.com/free-training-nutrition-resource/] today.
