Over the years, like many people i tried to improve myself in the gym, not only to get in shape, but to do something that i can feel proud of in order to improve my confidence, stay healthy, and yet stay competitive in sports i liked to challenge myself in. However it was always about getting fit, and eventually it stressed my motivation levels, i needed purpose to go to the gym, going there forcing myself just made me want to think of it less, let alone go and actually do it. The philosophy behind my motivation is part of the reason why i am a better person today.
Everyone needs something to feel proud of, a sense of belonging if you will, pride in your efforts and talent perhaps? Who knows we all have our reasons. In every human being the need to achieve mastery is one of our glories we hold dear and virtuous, it builds confidence and conviction in people. Of course all know as people how easy it is to confide in those who are confident. Your mood will improve as you get in shape, and naturally you learn ways to improve your eating habits which in turn aids in your health even more so. Exercise is one of many ways to improve that mental fortitude, but i stress the fact that it is a necessity and not a luxury to exercise to make yourself healthier, it is imperative to do this. Why stop their though? even if you are fit, your body of work is never done, it can always adapt. To help you stay motivated one should always strive to gradually adapt yourself and grow in ways, you feel like you are born anew. Your body is no different then your mind, you learn intelligently complex skills to improve your ability to think with reason and logic, whereas you train your body to get stronger, faster, more durable to prolong yourself in this world.
Before i became a weight room instructor i needed to get out of my comfort zone from the typical fitness gym you commonly see located in various areas of the city. I eventually ventured to private type, garage type gyms that were solely built for the bodybuilders,athletes, and strongmen alike. These guys were all intimidating not only in appearance but also performance wise, the amount of weight lifted was astounding, for someone used to seeing the average person lift mediocre weights, the weights lifted by these guys gave me a shock indeed. As i started training with them i saw, that with understanding of periodizations programs, fundamental basics of progression in weight training, and realizing the simplicity rather then complex methods of training it was achievable to perform the feats these guys were doing. Fortunately the average person you typically see in the gym is capable of being just like all these strong individuals, its no secret on how they train. What the difference tends to be though is mindset, these guys had a drive and motivation to succeed, not only in the weight-room, but in life. Going back on philosophy though, once you start seeing results and improvement that mindset comes on automatically for anyone.
What i first noticed is trends. Personal Trainers who have a lot of influence on the general public on what they should be training for the best results seem to focus to much on trends, right now its the P90x, before this it was all the bosu balls and exercise while balancing. At some point for the men it was the craze on the 300 workout done by the actors in the movie 300. These are no different then new diet crazes, but that's a whole other topic entirely. Weight training is not very complex, it does get complicated slightlyas one gets stronger, faster, and in better shape then the average joe, the good news though it is not overly profound in that nobody would realize what they are really capable of. I will provide some simple examples or exercises anyone that is capable, who has no history shoulder, knee problems, or hips and back injury. (If you do have injuries go to a local doctor and get yourself cleared, so you do not compound your injuries further.)
There is the conventional bench press everyone knows about. Then there is the dead lift you may have heard about or not, and then there is the omen or gloom and doom everyone has heard of but does not want to venture doing, or scared of the consequences the "squat". These are known as the big three exercises, in order of importance squat,dead-lift,bench. a good way to start off is doing 5 repetitions a set each exercise so 2 sets of 5 repetitions starting off an exercise of less then moderate difficulty, resting between sets should be around 1-2 mins. every 2 weeks increase the weight by 5 pounds. Eat and sleep properly rinse repeat, until you reach a plateau then its back to the drawing board. Now the free weights (dumbbells), machines, and other accessories are all secondary lifts meant to do AFTER any of the big 3 exercises are done. They are to be done with more repetition and less rest.
If you are training for strength, rules change slightly for how you would go about this. You can increase your strength without much increase in bodyweight. first you build your body to condition itself to lift the heavy weight safely so as to not injure yourself, you also want to be sure you have mastered the lift. Then you will work in the heavy set range with LITTLE repetitions, sets accompanied with LONGER rest. so 3 sets of 2-3 reps with 3-5 mins rest, the longer rest ensures you are adequately rested up to take the next set without fatigue, so you can lift the weight easier and safer with no break in form. The big lifts are usually done first, and the heaviest lifts are often lifted with the big three which is either the squat the bench, or the dead lift, these exercises also are not to be done in a single workout session as its to much work for the body to handle for most people. Often times it is rotated being done on separate days also known as a split routine. This kind of training is very important training tool for athletic improvement as it will not cause huge increases in muscles, but will provide you with strength and power if trained properly, these kind of trainings improve your ability to move your body extremely well especially if you get to the point where you can lift more times your body weight. Power lifters, and olympic lifters, along with any power type athletes train similarly and often excel in these exercises.
Now if you are training for strength endurance you are all to familiar with this kind of weight training, many people do it, many sports require lasting strength from long battles with your competitor it is a very nice quality to have when you know you can outlast him/her. this type of training requires moderate amount of intensity of weight lifted with little rest. It is very popular for avid weight trainers because it feels psychologically like you accomplished more out of the session tiring your muscles out completely, aesthetically its also pleasing as it provides a nice "pump" where the muscles are gorged with blood, if one is to have low body fat you can see the enhanced physique, because of this it is the training of choice for bodybuilder. If you are not patient and time is money, it is efficient way of cutting down time and getting the best bang for your buck training not having to wait around and mope doing random work outs here and there like in strength training method. However to much of this can lead to injury and stagnation of potential weight to be lifted if one decides to go that route. There needs to be a balance, as its easy to get carried away with strength endurance exercises. Bodybuilders workouts can fall in this category where as they will lift sometimes till they pass out. Workouts of this caliber are 4-6 sets of 8-12 for weights, plus cardio.
Triathletes and combat fighters and athletes, decathlete who participate in sports requiring extreme cardio endurance yet possesses elements of power and strength, do a mix of Olympic lifting with lots of high intense training with moderate weight. Combat fighters train a mix of heavy weight lifting along with endurance based exercises, as do decathletes. Cross-fit people are notorious for this but the difference is in that their philosophy is that the training is different everyday, which is not the best alternative for athletic development, as consistency is key. These exercises are made into a number of different movements made to be done in a circuit fashion, where they would do each exercise to the best of their ability under a certain amount of time. They would gradually increase in intensity as time under exercise is longer, and rest becomes shorter.
This is the basics of what one should know, feel free to ask questions or email me at senrizeroshi@yahoo.ca for more indepth answers.
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