What are the best weight training exercises to do?
Posted on 22 February 2008 by admin
There are multi-jointed exercises (also called “compound” exercises) and single-jointed exercises (also called “isolation” exercises). The former are the “big” exercises that work many muscles at the same time. Single jointed exercises use less weight but work fewer muscles in the body.
My advice: Forget single-jointed exercise. They just won’t give you a good bang for your time buck and you will get confused with all the different muscle groups. You don’t need these exercises unless you are a competitive bodybuilder. Forget the “thigh master”, pec deck, biceps concentration curls, triceps extensions etc. Stick with the meat and potatoes exercises:
How to videos:
Push ups
… to work your chest and triceps. Just pick one of the exercises above and do it.
Dumbbell rows
Or pull downs…for your back and biceps. Just pick one of the exercises above and do it.
Squats for your legs It’s the best exercise.
Crunches for abs They can be performed on a swiss ball or on the floor
That’s it.
Pick one exercise for each muscle group and perform 5-10 sets of 6-12 reps. Find a weight you can lift for 12 repetitions. Do a couple of warm up sets of the exercise with half that weight for 10 reps. Then, start with the “real” sets.
10 reps with 50% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 70% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 100% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 100% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 100% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 100% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
10 reps with 100% of your 12-rep maximum weight
Rest for 2 minutes
There are a thousand different “splits” you can try. For example:
Day 1: Bench Presses
Day 2: Pull Downs
Day 3: Squats
Day 4: Ab crunches
Day 5: Just rest
Then repeat the circle. Or, you can try something like:
Day 1: Bench Presses and pull downs
Day 2: OFF
Day 3: Squats and Ab crunches
Day 4: OFF
Repeat circle.
After a few weeks, you can change exercises so you don’t get bored. Keep things simple and don’t juggle too many balls on the air. The simpler a machine and the fewer parts it has, the more chances it has to reach its destination faster without breaking down.
I have given you a very “simplistic” routine on purpose. I want you to start weight training. I know that some of the readers already train with weights. If you do, then you probably know how it’s done. You may be even following more complicated splits and advanced techniques. That’s perfectly ok.
I know that the vast majority of the readers are women and they do not train with weights (yet). There’s no reason a woman should follow a different exercise and nutrition program than a man (taking into account the difference in bodyweight and physical strength of course).
Technorati Profile
Tags: exercises weight training exercises weight
