This is the misc.fitness.weights FAQ. If at any point you do not understand
the terms used in this FAQ, they can be looked up in the
bodybuilding and weightlifting dictionary
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misc.fitness.weights.
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Lift big weights (with proper form). Eat big. Avoid overtraining. Short,
but intense workouts are probably the best type of workout to stimulate
muscle growth while avoiding overtraining. Some people prefer low-volume
High Intensity Training (HIT). Some follow a more moderate volume approach.
Others prefer high volume lifting (many exercises, many sets etc.). Still
another commonly followed method of training is Periodization. Advanced
lifters often follow programs that are not suitable for beginners. Don't
follow someone else's lifting schedule, design your own.
- Should I work the entire body at every workout?
Certainly. Entire body workouts usually make the most efficient use of
time. Of course, there is no reason you can't work different muscle groups
on different days. However, a beginner is less likely to overtrain any
individual body part if they're working the entire body in one workout.
- How many exercises should I do per muscle group?
Some suggest only one exercise per muscle group. Others prefer to do 4 or 5
different exercises for a single muscle group. Keep in mind that too much
enthusiasm for the weights will often lead to overtraining, so moderation
is key until you discover what works best for your body.
- How many sets should I do per exercise?
Some suggest that once the muscles are thoroughly warm (after performing a
couple of light-weight warmup sets) you should do one all out set to
failure. Others suggest that you should perform 2 to 4 working sets to
failure for each exercise.
Almost everyone can agree that if you end up doing 30 sets for any
individual body part, you are definitely overtraining (assuming that you
take these sets to failure) or just wasting your time (assuming you don't
take these sets to failure).
- How many repetitions should I perform?
When warming up you should be able to complete more than 12 repetitions
with ease. On sets that are taken to failure you should fail at some number
less than 12 receptions and greater than 5 repetitions. If you can do more
than 12 repetitions on your working set, then the weight should be
increased. Remember, there are two components to building mass - the load
placed on the muscle and the time under tension.
On the other hand, as Andy Austin used to say, "lots of muscle has been
built with singles all the way to 100 rep schemes."
- How many times per week should I lift?
Some beginners make fine progress training the entire body three times a
week, a Mon, Wed and Fri routine, for example. Other beginners require more
recuperation time and make gains training the entire body only once per
week. People differ and so do individual muscle groups. Some muscles can be
trained more frequently than others. Find a routine that is comfortable for
you and allows you to make progress. If you aren't making any progress
consider the possibility that you are overtraining (quite common) or even
undertraining (less common).
- Should I be concerned about the amount of weight I lift?
Initially, no. The most important thing for a beginner is to learn proper
lifting technique. However, the basic principle of getting larger through
weightlifting is progressive overload. You must increase the weight (load)
so that the muscle will be forced to adapt to the increase in stress.
Bouncing and moving the weight too quickly will not stress your muscles
into growing and it will likely stress your joints unnecessarily. Remember,
that for bodybuilders, the goal is not to lift the weight. Weightlifting,
for bodybuilders, is merely a method to stress the muscles. A bodybuilder
should work the muscle, or muscle group that the exercise focuses on, not
try to heave the weight up by any means possible. There is a difference
between lifting a weight and working a muscle, although it basically comes
down to using proper form and technique. For example, if your lower back
becomes stressed from doing biceps curls, you should consider paying more
attention to working the biceps, not trying to get too much weight up by
throwing out your back.
Comparing yourself to other lifters is also unnecessary. Everyone starts at
a different level.
- What are the best exercises for a beginner?
Squat, Barbell Bench Press, Pull Up, Seated Military Press Dead Lift,
Incline Dumbbell Press, Bent Over Barbell Row
These exercises are considered the best because they are compound movements
that involve moving a lot of weight while recruiting many different muscle
groups. These are the types of exercises that will make you grow, not
concentration movements.
- What is HIT?
High Intensity Training. This is a training method which believes in
minimizing the sets per exercise. No warm-up sets are done with the belief
that the first few reps of the exercise is sufficient. Each set is done at
very high intensity to complete failure.
In a typical HIT workout, 15-20 different single set exercises may be done
in the space of 1 hour hitting the entire body with around 2 mins rest
between sets. A 'HIT Jedi' does not believe in split routines where
different bodyparts are trained on different days (which allows more time
per bodypart). Amongst other benefits, HIT training is a very time
efficient way of training.
The HIT (High Intensity Training) FAQ 3.0 is available at
www.cyberpump.com/hitfaq/
- What is Periodization?
[deja]
Periodization is a training method where over a series of weeks the number
of reps is dropped and the weights increased. The idea behind this is to
shock the muscles into growth by varying the reps & weights.
Part of the theory of periodization revolves around the idea that a person
can't always train with 100% intensity and that the body may actually need
some periods of lighter weight, variable rep training to allow for
recuperation. In addition, periodization is based on the idea that not all
muscle fiber types can be trained with the same rep schemes. Many
powerlifters follow some form of periodization to peak for a competition.
- What is a 'Hardgainer'? / What is a Hardgainer routine'?
A hardgainer (HG) is someone who has a genetic make-up which does not allow
him/her to pack on muscle quickly. These type of people typically do not
respond large volumes and frequency of training. It has been estimated that
60%-95% of the population are hardgainers.
HG routines use low volumes and frequencies of training. A HG routine will
usually train each bodypart no more than once per week. Compound movements
(like squats and deadlifts) are favoured over isolation movements (like leg
extensions or hamstring curls). Hardgainers are prone to overtraining when
using high volume/frequency workouts, hence the general rule of thumb is
'less is more'.
Frank J. Kelly and Craig Sadler's Hardgainer bodybuilding / weightlifting FAQ
(11/29/1999) is available at
cns-web.bu.edu/pub/kellyfj/hgfaq.txt
- Where can I read more about lifting routines on the net?
There are numerous places where you can read more about lifting routines,
like HIT and Periodization. Check out these sites:
(the following links have not yet be checked or updated)
"Zen and the Art of Weightlifting" It's at
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~wilsonk/zen.html
The misc.fitness FAQ can be found at
http://www.cs.unc.edu/~wilsonkmf-faq.html
MM2K bench press routine at
http://www.users.interport.net/~dl/bench.html
Psycho Trainer's Guide to lifting.
http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~pasko/psycho.html
To subscribe to the Weights mailing list
weights-request@fa.disney.com
The Canadian Powerlifting Union page:
http://www.tgx.com/cpu/nccp.htm
has good discussions of squat/deadlift/bench form.
- Which of the muscle/exercise/health magazines should I believe?
There's a profusion of muscle/exercise/health magazines out there and they often seem
to contradict each other or even themselves from issue to issue. The one thing they do
have in common, however, is that they put well-built guys with defined abs on their covers,
usually with scantily-clad (though, in most cases, not visibly muscular) women hanging off of them.
...which should be your first clue that magazines are, first and foremost, in the business of
making money, and that means selling issues and supporting their advertisers and owners.
Just in case you didn't already know this, many, if not most, muscle/exercise/health magazines are
owned by companies that make supplements and often gym apparel and home exercise
equipment as well. Even apart from who owns them, the fact is that advertising sales to
supplement companies are where most of their revenues come from; the price on the cover
that you pay is just an added bonus. That doesn't mean that what they print is wrong, but it
does tell you on what side their bread is buttered. For example:
Experimental and Applied
Sciences (EAS) owns:
|
|
MuscleTech
(Robert Kennedy) owns:
|
- Musclemag International
- Oxygen
|
Twin Laboratories
(TwinLab) owns:
|
|
|
Weider owns:
|
- Fit Pregnancy
- Flex
- Muscle and Fitness
- Muscle and Fitness Hers
- Natural Health
- Shape
|
You can expect to find taking (or at least purchasing) supplements given emphasis above and
beyond their importance in training, and the coverage in the articles and news briefs is likely
to be slanted towards whatever products are in the parent company's lineup.
The other notable caveat about training articles is that many of the routines given would push
you well beyond overtraining if you followed them. With an article on training your upper body,
legs, or a full-body training regimen, that won't always be the case, but every magazine has to
run at least one article every six months on Blasting Your Biceps Beyond Belief and, sad to say, the
biceps just aren't that big, and they get worked in a lot of other exercises already
(pulldowns, chinups, rows, as examples).
But if you're going to write an article on battering your biceps until they're begging for mercy,
you have to come up with more than a few simple exercises to write about, especially if you
want to work in a bunch of cool-looking pics of biceps exercises and poses.
Think of "muscle magazines" as decent sources of pictures and inspiration, but keep their
editorial biases in mind when you read them.
You should work out exactly as described above with one exception: once
your muscles are as toned as you want them, stop increasing the amount of
weight. Performing sets of endless repetitions with extremely light weight
is a waste of time. It will not make you more toned. There are only two
reasons to perform more than 12 repetitions in a set: 1) you really like to
warm up thoroughly or 2) you really like the feel of the pump after a
high-rep set. High repetitions will not lead to toning, or hypertrophy for
that matter.
Getting big is extremely difficult, especially for women. Most men and
99.9% of all women do not have the capacity to get large. If, after two
years of lifting weights intensely, you become too large, you are either a
genetic freak or on drugs. So many lifters want to be big and so few ever
achieve it because it is so difficult. Do not worry about getting too
large. Lift weights to strengthen your muscles, this will improve their
tone. High repetitions will only increase the amount of time, possibly
indefinitely, required to achieve your goal of being toned. Lift hard, and
once you are toned, then stop increasing the weights. In addition, fat
hides muscle tone. Many people can look toned just by dropping some body
fat (see Is weightlifting important to fat loss?). RR
-
What is the proper way to squat?
Squatting is one of the most productive if not the best exercises out there
(it's called the King of Exercises by many). It is one of the most
difficult to learn as well. If you are new to this exercise, please take
several training sessions practicing with an empty bar or broomstick (you
can do some additional work on the leg press if needed). It's very
important to get your technique down cold while the weights are still
light. Your small errors with small weights will turn into BIG errors with
big weights. Much of the bad press the squat has received in the media is a
result of improper technique and not the exercise itself. Red flags you may
encounter will be pointed out and hopefully how to avoid them.
The first thing to discuss is not foot position or width of stance, but
proper trunk position. Pretend you are a soldier and the meanest, ugliest
sergeant ever just told you "TEN-HUT!" You would automatically
straighten
up and pull your head and shoulders back. This is the proper position of
the spine for the squat. IOW, your head is pulled back; your chest is
raised; and you have a slight arch in your lower back. At no time during
the squat should you bend over at the low back or look down. Of course you
have to bend over at the hip (more on that later). You should not look up
either. OK, so you got that down?
Now, the best way to do squats is in a power rack or cage (a large
rectangular rack with cross-drilled holes) so you can adjust the pins where
if you have to bale, you can set the bar down without any harm. Set the
pins to just below the depth you are going. They also serve as a visual cue
for depth and if you go down/up crooked. Place the J hooks or posts that
hold the bar for you to get under at the level of your nipple or so. Try to
unrack it once to see if it's at the right height The bar should have a
knurled area in the middle (if it doesn't, find another bar or another gym)
so it will not slide down your back. Many people use towels or padding
under the bar. Others (including me) feel this leads to some instability
because the weight is "teeter tottering" on a small area on your
back. If
the bar is hurting you either need to add some trapezius mass, place the
bar a little further down your back (it should be just above or below the
sharp ridge on your scapula (shoulder blade), buy a Manta Ray, or tolerate
it because it's part of the game. The Ray helps to spread the load across
the shoulder, but it doesn't fit everyone well.
Now step up to the bar. Place your hands about the same width as a bench
press (unless you are doing the shoulder breaker wide-grip variety) and
make sure you are even on the bar before unracking. Take a deep breath,
step under the bar and unrack it Most squat injuries (according to Fred
Hatfield) occur during the back up. Only take enough steps that you can
clear the j-hooks or posts on the descent. Place your feet shoulder width
or slightly farther apart. Think if you suspended a line from the ceiling
it would brush against your medial delt and hit you in the ankle. Use the
"practice" sessions to get a width that fits you. You might say many
powerlifters squat with a wide-stance and they are pretty strong as a
group. I'll agree wholeheartedly, but I'll also point out that the
conventional squat is prob'ly more productive because you are working
through a larger Range Of Motion. Learn this way and then learn the
variations if you like. After you have the width right, turn your feet out
at roughly a 45 degree angle. Adjust the width if need be. Now you are
ready to squat.
Take a deep breath, contract your abs and descend. It should feel like you
are sitting back on a chair behind you; not going straight down. Keep your
knees in line with your feet. DO NOT LET YOUR KNEES BOW IN anytime during
the lift! (I have a Grade 1 knee sprain (MCL) from doing just this.) Keep
the load light enough so you won't do this and gradually build up. Many
people say to try to keep your shin at a 90 degree angle to the ground.
This is impossible with the regular stance squat and is only possible by a
few using the wide-stance variety. Try to keep your knees from going out
past your toes. Alter the width if need be. Most people can and should
descend till their thighs are parallel to the ground. This is actually
pretty low. A very small majority of people can't and may be better
stopping just above parallel. Don't give up on reaching parallel too quick.
Also, to go even close to parallel, you have to bend over at the hip (not
the spine, of course). However, you should always be more upright than bent
over. Two methods of determining your shin/back position and depth is to
either have an attentive and adept person monitor you from the side and/or
use a video camera placed to the side and close enough to determine all
angles. After you have descended to the bottom position, reverse your
direction immediately (don't bounce at the bottom) and drive upwards. Try
and pull your back up (hip extension) as hard as possible during the
ascent. Brooks Kubik describes this "as if a giant gorilla had a hold of
your ass and your shoulder and was trying to straighten you out." Come back
to a standing position, take a breath or two (or many 8^) and descend
again. Make each rep it's own little lift. IOW, make each one count even on
your warm-ups. If you maintain good form in your warm-ups, you'll likely
retain it for the work sets.
Should you wear a belt or knee wraps? The former helps to stabilize the
spine by increasing intra-abdominal pressure and the latter is just a way
of elevating more weight. Especially if you are getting started with the
squat, go without either. Use your abdomen as the brace instead of outside
help. The knee wraps serve no use except to the powerlifter who wants a
bigger max. They may impede the growth of structures around the knee or
even cause some harm if used chronically.
The main reason the power rack gathers dust while there is a line for the
angled leg press is because squats HURT! It doesn't matter whether it's the
skinny beginner using the "big wheels" on each side for the first
time or
the bonafide 600+ squatter stepping under an already bending bar. They both
feel some pain when doing this exercise. Learn to live with it! The most
productive exercises are the most painful. It's a fact of life. If you
squat with proper technique and heavy (for you) poundage, you might grunt,
scream, cry, hurl and/or pass out, but you prob'ly won't be injured and
you'll make terrific headway towards your goals. Learn to be aggressive and
focus your complete attention on the task at hand. Good luck and happy
training!
Chuck Clark SPT
cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
University of Louisville, KY.
-
What is the proper way to deadlift?
One of the most productive, but least seen exercises in the gym is the
deadlift. From a technique point of view, it's a relatively simple one
compared to the squat. You just stand up holding a barbell in front of you
without humping your back. That's a brief, but concise explanation.
However, most people are scared of the deadlift because they think it will
pull, strain, or break their back. When performed in good form, however,
the deadlift is one of the best erector (the muscles of the spine) and
total body exercises around.
First, learn to set up your spine and shoulder girdle as described in the
"How to Squat" section. Suffice to say, you should pull your
shoulders back
and keep them there. Additionally, you should NEVER let your back hump over
at any time during the lift. Load a barbell on the floor to the desired
poundage. Make sure the area around you is free of potential troubles and
the floor is not slippery. If you don't have the required strength to use
45 lb. plates on each side of the barbell, elevate the bar to mimic the
height as if you were using the 45s.
Walk up and place your feet slightly narrower than shoulder width apart
with your shin almost brushing the bar. Point your toes out at an angle
slightly. Reach down and grasp the bar with an overhand grip just outside
your legs. Contract your abs hard, make sure your back is flat (actually
with a natural arch), and pull the bar up. Be sure to keep the bar as close
to your body as possible as you stand up.
The angle to which your hip and knee joints go to is an individual matter.
Length of bones and your flexibility will determine this. You should always
attempt to remain more upright than bent over. When you pull the bar, make
sure your hip joint straightens at the same rate as your knee. Don't
straighten your knees and then try to straighten your hips. You'll hurt
yourself. Also, don't lean back at the top.
After you've stood up with the weight, take a breath, contract your abs and
slowly descend in the reverse manner you came up. Do NOT bounce the barbell
on the floor. After the plates touch the floor, take a breath (or many!),
contract your abs and flatten your back, and pull again. Make each rep its
own little lift. Practice the mvmt with light weight till you get it down
before moving up in weight.
The first muscles to usually fatigue during the lift are those associated
with gripping the bar which are mostly located in the forearm. Most people
will tell you to use an mixed grip (one palm forward, one palm back). This
can create some torque imbalances that may give you problems later.
Especially when you are starting out, keep to the pronated or hands-over
grip and let your grip muscles catch up. If you must use the mixed grip,
alternate which palm is forward each set or each session. The least
attractive option is to use straps. Straps take the work off of the grip
muscles and arguably make the deadlift less productive. Use chalk if it is
feasible to help hold the bar.
As in the squat, some people can't truly descend to the bottom position in
the deadlift safely. Don't give up very quickly on making this low spot. If
you can't, don't despair. Place some pins in the power rack to where when
you place the barbell on them it's just above where it would be on the
floor. Try out the mvmt. Elevate the pins till it feels right. If this
doesn't help or having to pull the bar that's out in front of you gives
your back fits, you might want to give a Gerard trap bar a try. This is a
diamond shaped bar that you stand inside of and deadlift. The line of force
is through you instead of out front. This makes for a more safe and
therefore productive exercise than the regular version. You can have a look
at the Gerard trap bar at .
As in the squat, the deadlift is a very productive and, hence brutal
exercise. Don't be scared of it, though. Tall and lanky people who usually
have great trouble squatting or benching can usually move up quickly in
poundages in the deadlift. This exercise is more than just a back exercise
or a "thickening" exercise, it's a total body exercise. Too much in
weight
training is put into isolation. The big movements ARE the most productive.
The deadlift works you from finger to neck to toe. Treat it with respect
and it will help you realize your goals quicker than without it. Good luck
and happy training!
cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
University of Louisville, KY.
-
How do I work my abs?
Use weight for resistance. 100 reps of any exercise is a waste of time.
Crunches are good because they focus on the abs. I view crunches as an
isolation movement. Compound movements are usually better, so I actually
recommend sit ups (especially incline) with weight held on the chest. Yes,
sit ups work the hip flexors and other muscles as well, but these muscles
are critical to movements like the squat, deadlift and other serious
compound movements. Who wants weak hip flexors anyway?
The High-Intensity Abdominal Workout:
For those who are obsessed with their abdominal muscles, are willing to
spare no expense to develop them, and want a hard-core, high-intensity,
low-repetition abdominal workout, there IS an answer.
The primary problem with this method is the fact that the required
equipment is [a] rather expensive, and [b] since the late 1980s, rather
difficult to find. You will need an "inversion table" with
"gravity boots."
For those unfamiliar with such devices, a brief explanation is in order.
"Gravity boots" are padded, metal collars which are clamped onto your
ankles and which have a strong metal hook that protrudes from the front,
directly over the foot. An "inversion table" is designed for use with
gravity boots. It is like a vertical army cot with two bars spanning the
foot end, one below the feet, and one above the feet. It is attached to a
stand by a single pivot hinge on each side. After fitting the gravity
boots, you step onto the inversion table with your feet on the lowest bar
and the hooks of the boots locked beneath the upper bar. Then, you simply
throw your weight backwards, causing the table to pivot approximately 180
degrees on its hinges, leaving you suspended by your ankles, completely
upside-down. Please note that a good inversion table will pivot beyond
perpendicular, breaking contact with all parts of your body other than your
ankles; some of them will not reach full perpendicular, leaving you mostly
inverted but still laying on the surface of the table. The latter is not
well suited to this type of exercise.
Once inverted, you can perform a normal "crunch" routine. The complete
inversion of your body will provide extreme resistance which will result in
the much-desired abdominal "burn" long before the number of
repetitions
required when doing crunches on the floor or on a slant board. However, a
few suggestions on technique will be helpful:
(1) Do NOT hold your hands behind your head; clasp them across your chest.
Your neck should be held in a relaxed position, with your head back,
"pulling" yourself forward with your shoulders, not your head. When
you
find yourself able to do more than 20 repetitions, you may clasp a weight
plate to your chest to add resistance, increasing the size of the plate
each time you can exceed 20 repetitions.
(2) Although it will be slightly difficult, bending slightly at the knees
will decrease stress on your back. However, even with your legs fully
extended, you will find that the usual back stress experienced during
traditional crunches is almost non-existent when performing "inverted"
crunches.
Aside from the increased resistance in using this abdominal workout, there
are a few other advantages:
(1) No "tailbone rash." The usual abrasion caused by constant
friction on
the sacral spine area during traditional crunches no longer exists. Your
back does not contact any solid surface; therefore, no friction.
(2) No "head banging." There is no solid surface to come into contact
with
your head, either. That is why you can easily hold your head back during
this routine without worrying about striking it on the floor and without
the need to support it in any way.
Abdominal Training FAQ
http://www.dstc.edu.au/TU/staff/timbomb/ab/
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/misc.fitness.weights/
-
How do I get a 6-pack?
Everyone has a six-pack of abs. The ability to see them is completely
dependent upon body fat levels. If you want to show off a washboard
stomach, then drop the body fat. Spot reduction is a myth. Hundreds of
situps or crunches will not "bring out" the abs if they're covered in
fat.
If you want to increase the strength of your abdominals (and every lifter
should), then perform abdominal exercises with WEIGHT. 100 reps of any
exercise is a waste of time.
-
What is the proper way to do shrugs?
Shrugs should be performed in a straight up and down motion. Keep the head
in an upright position, looking straight ahead, not at the floor, not at
the ceiling.
Rolling the shoulders does not stress the traps any better. In fact, it may
be harmful. Rowing movements can effectively work the traps when the
shoulders are pulled backward. However, rowing movements call for moving
the weight perpendicular to the body in order to stress these muscles
during this movement. During shrugs the weight is not in a position to
provide resistance against a backward movement. Therefore, a shrug should
be done straight up and down.
Barbells or dumbbells can be used, although dumbbells provide for a more
natural shrug.
-
Can I change the peak of my bicep?
In a word, NO! Everyone from Peewee Herman to Ahnuld has their own
individual genetic shape. You can't change it. This extends to the shape of
the muscle bellies as well. Some people have very long and flat muscle
bellies and some have peaky, short muscles. Most people are somewhere in
between. The biceps brachii is a two headed muscle that runs from the
shoulder to across the elbow. It functions to supinate and flex the
forearm. The 2 heads run parallel to each other and it's debatable whether
one exercise will target one over the other when sufficient weight is used.
You can't preferentially contract one area of a bicep head over the other,
either. The innervation of a muscle (or muscle head in this case) is made
so that if one motor unit (motor neuron and the muscle fibers it
innervates) fires you'll get a very weak contraction all over the whole
muscle. As more motor units are called into play the weak contractions (all
over, of course) summate and you get a strong contraction.
Also, you can't stretch one part of a muscle over any other part because
you either move the muscle attachments closer together or farther apart.
So, what do you do? You just merely focus on making your arms larger:
increase the size of the muscles. This will give you the illusion of having
peakier or longer biceps. Doing the "mass" or big movements will go
longer
to giving you big arms than endless sets of curls. Also, you're going to
have to increase your bodyweight significantly to make any real gains in
bicep mass. It's much easier to put an inch on your arms when you've put on
20 lbs of muscle.
Chuck Clark SPT
cmclarz1@homer.louisville.edu
University of Louisville, KY.
