Weight Training Workouts

The simplified definition of weight training is:  a form of exercise in which hand-held weights or a machine provides resistance to the human body as it moves. When a person uses weight training methods, along with a sensible eating program and other exercise, the body changes gradually. Muscles, long left unused become stronger, and the person no longer feels fatigue and in need of the mid-afternoon nap.

So where do you start? You first start with a check-up from your doctor. The majority of gyms across the country require a doctor's release from their members before they start weight training at the gym. So, even if you are going to be weight training at home, see your doctor first.

Basic Lifts

Squat
Barbells are placed across the shoulder, even weights distributed on both ends. Elbows bent, palms to the ceiling holding on to the barbells. Lower yourself to the ground until you are bent at the knees, hold for the count of four than raise back up to a standing position…repeat. This exercise works your muscles in your inner thighs, your buttocks, hamstrings and the lower back muscles. To give these muscles more of a workout- try and get closer to the ground while still keeping your knees bent. This exercise will make getting out of bed so much easier in the morning.

Deadlift
Barbells in front of you on the ground.  Bend down, until you are grabbing the barbell handle, then straighten up slowly keeping your back straight until the barbells are off the ground and at hip level. In the Deadlift, your back, hips and abdominal muscles feel the workout.

Lunge
Hold the barbell across your shoulder, take a big step forward, lower your rear knee until it is almost touching the ground. Then straighten up your front leg stepping back into the starting position.

Push-up
Remember these from school? They can also be called a shoulder dip, or if you do it on a weight bench, a bench press. The object of a push-up is to push your weight off the floor in a series of repetitive dips. On a weight bench, you lie on your back on the bench then lower weights to your chest, pushing them off until they are straight-armed above your shoulders.

Pull
In the pull you take the weights and pull them straight down from your shoulder. In a pull up, you take your body weight, standing underneath a bar, jump up to get a good grip then pull your body up until your chin rests on the bar. These pulls work all the muscles in your arms, shoulders and your back.

Twist
If you are a baby boomer, then you remember the twist. The musical dance craze of the 60’s routinely performed at sock hops and shindigs.  Both the upper and the lower torso got a work-out during the twisting days, and these days, the twist is an exercise you perform while laying on the floor, not while you are cutting a rug.  You lay flat on your back then twist your waist to lower your legs to the floor. The strain is felt in the lower abdomen, the lower back and the legs, thighs and hips.

Work out with the weights using a sensible approach. You aren't trying to enter the World's Strongman Competition, you simply want to get in shape. Don't overdo your program trying to get results in a matter of days. It took years for your body to develop the shape it is in right now. Those mistakes aren’t going to melt away in the course of a week, no matter how vigorously you train. You are also not going to achieve satisfactory results if you just resort to weight training and nothing else. Just like working a jigsaw puzzle, you need all the pieces to come together in order to achieve your weight loss goals: exercise, sensible eating habits, weight training, and setting realistic goals. Only then will  you achieve the end result of losing weight and keeping it off.