Weight lifting made easy with a few important tips

A casual stroll through Los Angeles reveals the city’s culture. Nestled between the fast-food joints that seem to occupy every corner are gyms, nutrition stores and fitness apparel retailers.

The world of health and physical fitness is rife with polarization. And once a person learns there is more to good health than the ty simple cutting of carbs and fats, it is easy to get discouraged.

A brief glance into the Lyon Center’s weight room might scare off newcomers for fear of being doused in a collective sweat. But with proper preparation, making trips to the gym and creating a regular weight lifting routine is not difficult.

Any successful workout is based on productivity and reaching an end goal. Whether your aim is to garner compliments during beach season or hone bar-brawling skills, training without a definitive goal is like painting blind-folded.

Try to be as specific as possible with your plan. “Getting stronger” is too general. How much stronger? A better goal would be to bench press a specific amount of pounds within three months. Though goals should be realistic, don’t worry about setting a high standard. Even if the goal isn’t reached on time, the fruits of your labor will show.

With society’s standards of beauty, one of the main reasons to engage in strength training is to “beef up,” to build muscle and look good. Fair enough, but consider one caveat: Big muscles are not always synonymous with strong muscles. That is the basic difference between “weightlifters” and “bodybuilders.” Possessing Rocky’s chest is not the same as possessing the strength of his hook.

On the other hand, if your goal is to burn fat, strength training plus cardio beats cardio alone.

Keep in mind that muscle is denser than fat. Initially, muscle growth might cause a minor weight gain. But don’t worry. Fat will diminish with time and be replaced by muscle. Ultimately, this means less mass and a leaner, more toned appearance.

After setting a target, it is best to assemble a workout plan exercise by exercise. Look for one that targets specific body parts. Workouts should include a range of exercises, along with the number of sets and repetitions.

Any lifting exercise is divided into sets and sets are divided into reps. Two sets of five bench press reps is a total of 10 full presses. In a general sense, exercises that tone muscles include more repetitions, while strength-increasing workouts involve more weight and fewer reps.

Initially, a workout might be full of unfamiliar exercises. The easiest way to learn is to just do them. Workouts don’t need to be complicated to be effective, so if one is full of asterisks and conditional statements, it might be better to avoid it altogether.

That being said, there are a few tips to keep in mind at the gym. Stretch before and after workouts to prevent injuries and soreness, and perform exercises with good form. Lifting dumbbells for a bicep routine should actually employ the bicep, not momentum.

Don’t expect to reach perfection on the first day, but try to be aware of proper form early on. There’s nothing worse than realizing only a minor adjustment could have yielded some truly sculpted pecs.

Similarly, go for the full range of motion. More of the muscle is used this way.

Be aware of the rest periods. Depending on goals of strength or mass, consider longer or shorter rest periods between sets. Sixty to 90 seconds is generally considered the average time per period.

Finding workout buddies can also be a great way to enhance your gym visits. A good spotter is invaluable as long as it doesn’t cause serious sidetracking.

There are many things to consider when working out, but like driving, no one follows all of the rules perfectly.

The most important thing is to get the base essence out of weight lifting.

In workouts, that means being physically productive. Don’t be surprised by stiff muscles after the first few sessions. And wait at least six weeks before expecting to see Tommy Trojan’s body in the mirror.