So, I’ve been seriously weight training four times a week for about eight weeks. I’m no expert — I can only call upon my own mistakes and experiences in the past and what I’ve learned from them. Also, I’ve found a lot of sound advice and myth debunking from the two books written by Ove Rytter, Effektiv Bodybuilding and Avancerad Bodybuilding. These are some of the things I’ve learned so far.
Ready? Okay, here we go:
Keep it short: Your weight training routine shouldn’t take more than 45 to 75 minutes, an hour being the best. After 75 minutes the hormones that help build muscle and burn fat drops. You’ll gain less muscle, burn less fat and your body needs more time to recover.
Don’t rest more than 90 seconds between sets: Or you’ll explode! Just kidding. You’ll get through your training on time,and it helps to improve your cardiovascular system. When I do smaller muscle groups (triceps, for instance) I rest about 30 seconds between reps, bigger muscle groups (legs) get up to a full minute.
Water is your friend: So drink it, damn you.
It’s not about how much you lift, it’s about how well you do it: This is the most prevalent myth of all: If you don’t lift “heavy” weights, there won’t be any results at all. The opposite is actually true. I quote Effektiv Bodybuilding, where Over Rytter writes:
Many times, using heavier weights means that you are working less with the muscle you’re training. This is because you are forced to use other muscle groups and cheat during the excercise, to be able to lift the weight at all. [my translation from swedish]
Weight training is all about technique. To perform an excercise right, you have to be able to lift the barbell. To test wether or not your using too heavy a weight, stop and hold at any given time during the rep. If you can’t, you’re probably using too much weight.
Get a diary: I’m serious. Write down your training routine in it, keep a record of the number of reps/sets, weight and the time you start and finish. To measure your progress, you have to know the total weight you’ve lifted during your training that day and how long it took you to do that. You can also easily check your progress.
It’s okay to look – but not to stare: You are in a large room with a lot of people wearing tight clothes and doing all kinds of interesting things with their bodies. Hey, how could you not look? Just remember that the same rules of courtesy apply in the gym as well as outside in the real world.