How to Start Lifting Weights for Beginners
To gain muscle mass, you need to lift weights. But how to start lifting weights when you’re a beginner? This post tells you how to do it and accompany it with drinking enough water, eating healthy food, and getting proper rest.
Exercises with weights produce several benefits, such as:
- Helping to extend the quality of life and longevity.
- Strengthen the heart and bones.
- Reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
- Accelerate your metabolism to burn fat.
- Prevent chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Keep in mind that when you start training with weights:
- Movements should be slow and controlled.
- Start with your body weight.
- Train with weights two days a week.
- Always prepare your muscles before you start training.
- Don’t forget to work your whole body.
Another vital aspect of lifting weights is breathing. It will help if you breathe in before contracting the muscle and breathe out at muscle contraction. Therefore, be conscious when breathing because if you hold your breath while lifting weights, you will increase your blood pressure.
How to Prep your Muscles Before Lifting Weights
To prepare your muscles, always start by warming up. Regardless of the sports discipline, warming up will prevent injuries and help you perform better.
The warm-up before starting with weights is done in several phases:
Perform a low-intensity cardiovascular exercise
Select the exercise that best suits your needs. It can be cycling, jogging, or elliptical, for about 10 minutes. This routine will activate your muscles and increase your body temperature. Try not to exceed 120 pulsations.
Perform a specific workout
The warm-up for your weight training will need to be complemented with a specific workout in the areas of the body that you want to work. Examples of these exercises can be pull-ups or push-ups if you’re working the upper body. Squats, lunges, and hip thrusts are ideal for the lower body.
You also have to consider the weight with which you start. If you are older, smaller weights will be enough. Try using only the bar before adding discs to your weights to test your capacity.
If you are a beginner and are interested in lifting weights, consider that we all start from zero and gradually increase the weight. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare the muscle, take care of the technique, how to do the exercises, and take precautions to avoid injuries.
Do not forget to warm up before starting. This habit will help you increase muscle performance, activate blood circulation, and prepare the respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems.
Whether you choose to work out at a gym or at home, find an experienced trainer in Orange County to guide you and help you achieve your goals. Personal trainers are skilled, and knowledgeable and will only give you as much weight as you can endure. Start lifting weights with the help of a certified personal trainer and see the immediate benefits!