If you are into weight training teach me something about it?

[thegreenyogi]

So I am noticing that these days weight training has kind of become " fashionable" amongst men and women and I know nothing about it but I am curious. What I want you to do is provide tips, tricks and information concerning weight training if you practice it. You can even go as far as to illustrate the pros and cons, reasons why one should do it and the misconceptions. Share your knowledge.

[Sonorous]

Here are the most important things I've learned:
- Doing something is better than nothing
- Ideally don't go to failure every set. This will decrease the frequency to which you can train due to needing longer recovery. Ideally only go to failure on the last set if failure is what you seek.
- In terms of the same volume, frequency of training matters more than intensity. Someone can put 40% intensity 4 times a week & receive greater results than someone else doing 100% intensity 2 times a week with the same total volume.
- The best warmup is one that is fast & simple: Warm the body by moving around & do warmup sets that reflect the weight being lifted. For instance, if I'm only doing one light set, I only need like one light warmup set or possibly none at all if it's light enough. If I'm doing a heavy set that will require a lot of strength, I'm gonna need a few warmup sets. Ideally in this order: 12reps of my 30rep max, 8reps of my 20rep max, 4reps of my 10rep max. And of course, do more sets if you plan on moving some ludicrously heavy weights or 1 rep max type stuff.
- Make the eccentric movement slower & more controlled than the concentric of the movement.
- For best muscle growth (hypertrophy) & least risk of injurt, stay within the 8-20rep range. Anything more & you're dipping into endurance. Anything less (at max intensity) & you're training more for strength. If a weight or variation is too difficult/heavy or too easy/light to stay within that window, choose a different weight or variation.
- Organize workout so that the most fatiguing exercises or the ones you care about the least are at the end. For instance, I like pullups so I usually put them higher. But they're more systemically fatiguing since they're compound & target a large muscle group so sometimes if I know I'm going to be doing a lot & need the energy, I'll push the pullups to the end of the session. Same with legs.
- Eat for the energy & recovery you need. Prioritize carbs around training window. Ideally mostly carbs before training. Then carbs & protein after training. Bonus points if the carbs are starchy in nature.
- If you want to build muscle, eat a slight caloric surplus of 100-500cals. Anything past +500cals & you'll put on more fat than muscle.
- Try to at least eat your bodyweight or more in carbs because carbs pull water into the muscle, replenishing glycogen stores more quickly which will aid recovery. My recovery is always slower when I do lower carb. I still try to eat my bodyweight in carbs even when I'm in a caloric deficit. So I'm able to lose weight while also training to a similar intensity due to keeping carbs higher.
- Rest a muscle group at least 48hours after training it. I can't tell you how important this is. We have to give our body time to repair the muscle. Muscle growth doesn't happen in the gym. It happens when we sleep & a bit throughout the day via muscle repair. Especially through muscle protein synthesis (by eating 24-37grams of protein in a sitting).
- The only types of form you should avoid are ones that put unnecessary or dangerous strain on the body. Bad form with heavy weight matters more than bad form with lighter weight. Everything else isn't bad if it's not dangerous. It's just different & will yield a different muscle building or strengthening result.

Let me know if there's anything else you want to know about working out because I've learned a lot of things through the years.

[thegreenyogi]

Thank you for this really detailed explanation. If anything else comes to mind I will let you know. Much appreciated!!

[Sonorous]

No problem. Oh and I'd add that working out shouldn't take more than an hour a day for most people. Someone can get great results by simply working out a total of 2hours a week. Working out with intention of course.

[Zack-Bann]

Sure here are the basics:


Training your muscles until fatigue through progressive overload and repetitive motion is the way to activate the growth process


Eating and sleeping does the rest


If you eat carbs you will build more muscles but also gain some fat


If you don’t eat carbs and stick to protein you will lose fat but keep your muscles healthy
They will then turn stored fat into muscle tissue


There are thousands of contradictory theories about lifting but the bottom line remains:
move around heavy weights, eat and sleep, make gains


And no it does not make women masculine.

[thegreenyogi]

Very Helpful! Thank you!

[Staximus]

I did a little in high school but after that I was pretty much stronger than everybody else, so I stopped. A lot of my friends lifted weights for many years and I've seen a lot of them injure themselves doing it. My advice is to start with light weight, something you can lift about 20 times. That way you're less likely to hurt yourself

[NathanDavis]

I only do sports... but I am sure of one thing... do hydrate!! always...

[Anonymous]

I don't think it suits you, you'll look too masculine

[strateguy632]

Just jogging