Weight Training is one of the best ways to beef up and get fit. All the benefits of weight training are way too numerous to list now, you may know a lot of them or you may not, but what you should know is that it’s one of the best things you can do to get that body you want. The whole purpose of this article is to help you come to terms with the wide array of terminology used in the weight training world. Whether you are speaking to a personal trainer, reading from a book, or listening to a salesperson it’s always good to know what they’re talking about.

Maybe you have thought about joining a gym or thought about buying a piece of gym equipment. Either way you’re probably going to get bombarded with some terminology that you don’t understand. The gym and people within in it tend to use terms that would baffle most, and this article is about trying to understand these terms so that you know and feel comfortable with conversations regarding weight lifting in the future.

Some of the basic terms used are:

Routine : The range of exercises you carry out make up a routine. Whether it be a whole body routine or a half body routine (upper or lower body) it is more popular that a routine is split up over 3 days a week, so that you have time for your muscles to recover in time for your next workout. Always remember and take into consideration the time it takes for your muscles to recover when designing a routine. The best way to design your routine around this is to separate the 3 training days with a day off in between. So you would train Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Repetitions (Reps) - Let’s say your doing push ups shall we. Taking into consideration the normal technique of a push up is lying down with 2 hands placed shoulder width apart flat on the floor. You then push up keeping your back straight, and at the top of the movement you lower yourself back down again and repeat. Doing this once counts as one repetition (rep). The amount of reps that are recommended is very important as any more or less could bring upon the results that you didn’t desire. For instance - If you did more reps than recommended then you could decrease muscle growth and just increase your stamina. Whatever your goal is the amount of reps reflect it.

Sets - If you do 10 push ups then rest a minute and do another 10 thats 2 sets all together. A set is defined by the exercise then rest affiliation. Sometimes personal trainers will recommend doing less reps in each set. Say, 1 set for 10 reps, then 1 set for 8 reps, and so on.

Spot - If anyone asks you while you’re in the gym do you need spotting, don’t take it as an insult, because they’re not saying you have spots, they’re simply asking you if you want them to assist you if you’re lifting a heavy weight. This is particularly useful if you want to lift to failure.

Free weights - These are simply weights that free of machinery, they include dumbbells and barbells. You have to physically load the weights onto the bar.

Rack - The rack which is sometimes known as the pwer rack is used for many exercises. It’s the big metal contraption with holes drill dup both sides so that you can slide a safety bar in. A rack can be used for squats, chin ups, and a wide variety of other exercises.

Circuit routine - A circuit routine combines a number of cardio exercises with weight training. This is where you perform a variety of weight training exercises back to back without having a rest period in between. A circuit routine like this is generally used as a form of toning up and cutting to get rid of those few extra calories.

Negative - You may here someone in the gym saying something like “Why don’t you add some negatives”. What they mean by negatives is the lowering of a weight. Say in a bicep curl, you lift the weight up and then you let the bar down. The negative is the part were you let the weight down. This is know as the negative porion of a rep and it can be very effective at stimulating muscles. Some people increase the amount of time on a negative rep than they do on the positive rep, which in turn increases more muscle tension and allows for more muscle growth.

Some less than obvious muscle terms :

Pecs - Pectorals (Chest)

Lats - Lattisimus Dorsi (Muscles in your back that flare out)

Hams - Hamstrings

Glutes - Gluteus Maximus (Butt Muscles)

Traps - Trapezuis (The muscle that goes from your neck to your shoulders)

Bi’s - Biceps

Tri’s - Triceps

Quads - Quadriceps (Your thigh muscles)

Delts - Deltoids (Your shoulder muscles)

Abs - Andominals (Your stomach muscles)

Right, go to the gym right now and ask a personal trainer for a 3 on 1 off mass building routine with reps containing an increased negative motion at a tempo of 1-3-1 with special emphasis on your glutes and delts….Only kidding.

If you’re a beginner I do hope you have learned something from this article. If you are experienced at weight training then you’ve just wasted your time because you should already know this LOL.

Get straight to enjoying the many benefits of weight training, be stronger, leaner, and more confident within yourself starting tomorrow.

All the best in health.

Wesley McDermott



Thanks to Wesley McDermott for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:

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Can you answer jbw328’s question about Bodybuilding?:

I just joined 24hour Fitness and cant afford a personal trainer. I am hoping to to find a good beginner circuit weight training work out to assist with my weight loss. Any suggestions are appreciated!
What is Premier Fitness? A club? A magazine? Thanks!

Bodybuilding Workout Program

Bodybuilding is a popular sport that is finding an increasing number of takers these days. People are much more aware of fitness and health, which explains the reason for the increasing number of people opting for a bodybuilding workout. For many enthusiasts a workout means a quick trip to the neighborhood gym, while for many others it means exercising in the privacy and comforts of the home. Wherever you may be heading for, one thing that you must remember is that performing exercises without proper technique puts you in risk of injury. You will also not reach your maximum potential this way. It is therefore important that you learn the proper exercise techniques first before you think of building huge muscles.

If you are someone who is just about beginning a bodybuilding workout, you can always seek the help of a personal trainer. This way you will be able to learn the proper techniques. In order for the exercises to be effective you will need to combine a lot of elements. Typically a bodybuilder’s workout is divided into weight training, flexibility training and cardiovascular work. Weight training is the one that helps in building and sculpting muscle. Flexibility training helps to improve the flexibility of the muscles, as the name suggests, apart from keeping them limber. Cardiovascular exercises such as aerobics and running help in improving the cardiovascular health by increasing the heart rate.

Patience is the key to building solid muscles. A lot of times people take up bodybuilding workout very enthusiastically and then suddenly stop it, since they did not achieve immediate results. Commitment is perhaps the most important thing to building muscles. While someone who is trying this as a hobby can do with a one hour visit to the gym, for those who are serious you will need to spend many hours at a stretch at the gym.

This is a sport that requires some kind of strong commitment and a lot of sacrifices to be made. You should properly plan a bodybuilding workout and then stick to the working routine. The plan should include working out certain groups of muscles on certain days. All this does need a bit of advanced scheduling and planning. In the end what separates the really successful bodybuilders from the rest is their individual commitment to exercising regularly. Enthusiastic participation in a well planned bodybuilding workout schedule is the key to success in this competitive field.



Thanks to John Howard for contributing this article to our Bodybuilding blog:

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Can you answer Answers??’s question about Bodybuilding?:

I cant afford a personal trainer or advicer, whats a good place to find out about bodybuilding, diet and health? books, computer programs, websites???

cheers

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