Heavy Basics

Personal training has not only become a great love of my life but has also forced me to explore deeper insights into becoming more physically fit. It's been fun to find the research and then consider it part of my job to test it out on myself.

I love the challenge of including the insight I'm learning in my weekly training routine. Have I said it before? I love my job!!!

Most recently I have decided in my weight training to begin to lift heavier. For years I have been using approximately the same amount of weight doing lots of repetition which is great for maintaining, however, too many times we focus on specific body parts and think if I work this area a little harder it will look the way I want it to. Lifting heavier, doing fewer reps and shifting the focus to becoming STRONGER I now believe is a better mindset. WHY? Because when your overall body becomes stronger your body composition will line up the way you want it to... tighter abs, more shapely shoulders, etc... Think about the physique of people long ago... when everyday life involved more physical labor, farming and even factory workers... or think of construction workers today. Why do they look so great physcially? Because the work they do everyday made them STRONG and a strong body is an evenly proprotioned, lean, beautiful body! Today we sit behind desks and eat junky proccessed food. No wonder we look the way we do.

If you have a choice to either jump on a tradmill or lift weights... choose the weights. Cardio conditioning is great but if you get your cardio through working a hard fast moving, power-packed weight training session with bursts of cardio interspersed between sets of lifting rather than a 30-40 minute treadmill run you will burn more fat and get more results. WHY? Because you are not only developing a stronger heart and set of lungs but you are also building muscle.

When you weight train you are breaking down your muscles, stressing them, causing micro-sized tears in the fiber. How could that be good you ask? It is, because the sore feeling you have a day later is the muscle fiber repairing itself, building itself up, getting leaner and stronger, giving you the beautiful physique and the energy you need to live life. When you weight train, your body continues to work hard hours after the workout is over. The body has to work hard to repair the micro-tears. The hard work burns more calories and even burns them as you sleep... while a cardio workout alone will stop burning calories as soon as the work out is over. A lean body is more efficient at burning fat. More lean muscle mass will work in your favor in every area of your life.

In weight training it's also advisable to stick to the basics! The basics work, always have always will. What are the basics? PUSH-UPS, SQUATS, CURLS, DEAD-LIFTS, OVERHEAD PRESS, BENCH PRESS, ROWS AND LUNGES. You can build a strong, beautiful physique doing nothing more than consistently lifting heavy with these 8 basics. A good set might be choosing an exercise and lifting 4 sets of 4 reps as heavy as you can, then do 8 sets of 8 reps with a slightly lighter weight and ending with a still lighter weight of 25 reps to max out the area you are training.

Sticking with light weights and doing tons of reps will cause your body to hit a plateau and no new growth will happen... again, ok for maintaining, but if you want to keep getting stronger challenge your muscle to lift a little heavier each time you work out. Keep a training journal to record your weight amounts and record your progress. When you reach a new goal celebrate and keep going! Decide soon to include strength training as part of your lifestyle, deciding it to be just as important as eating or sleeping, becoming consistent for the rest of your life and watch what happens!