Your Nutritional and Vitamin Supplement Information Resource

posted by Ronald on Apr 1

If you have decided to start a strength training program (and for the more hard core among us - a weight lifting program) there are a couple of things to watch out for right at the beginning.  If you feel your body is not ready for strength training for any reason, talk to your physician. Here is a list of risk factors to help you decide if you should talk to a physician before beginning a strength training program:

• any cardiovascular disease including chest pains at rest or exertion
• family history of coronary heart disease before the age of 55
• high cholesterol - something above 200
• abnormal ECG, or cardiac arrhythmia
• smoking
• chronic hypertension
• extreme obesity
• any chronic muscular or joint problem
• currently pregnant or have delivered a baby within the last three months 
• recent surgery, even minor surgeries 
• a chronic illness like arthritis, diabetes, asthma
• years of a sedentary lifestyle

Here are several tips to get you started with your strength training program…

• Warm up. Warming up gives the body a chance to deliver plenty of nutrient rich blood to areas about to be exercised, to actually warm the muscles and lubricate the joints.
• Stretch - it establishes some flexibility then increases or maintains muscle flexibility if done after your workout too.
• During the first week of starting an exercise program keep it light. Work on your technique.  When strength training it is important to maintain good body mechanics and slowly work up to heavier weights.

Here’s a quick tip to maintain good body mechanics:Go through the complete range of motion.  Move the muscle being exercised slowly and with control.  Remember to breathe.  Maintain a ‘neutral spine’ where you are not bent forward or backward putting excess pressure on disks or cartridge. Never, ever sacrifice form just to add more weight or repetitions.

• The intensity of your workout depends on a number of factors, including the number of sets and repetitions, the overall weight lifted, and the rest between sets. You can vary the intensity of your workout to fit your activity level and goals.   This is a marathon, not a sprint.  You’ll get fit faster by working on form, etc. than pushing extra weight for the sake of pushing extra weight.
• Listen to your body. Stop immediately on any sharp pain.  Sharp pains indicate an immediate problem and ‘working through it’ will only cause more damage.  Your heart rate is NOT a good way to determine your intensity when lifting weights - this is not an aerobic exercise!  It is important to listen to your body based on an overall sense of feeling of exertion.
• The MINIMUM amount of strength training recommended by a leading sports medicine college is eight to twelve repetitions of eight to ten exercises, at a moderate intensity, two days a week. You may get more overall gains with more days per week, sets and resistance but it will depend on how your body responds and recovers.  Adding a nutrtional supplement to help your body rebuild can help with the recovery process.
• Strength training session are recommended to last less than an hour.
• Each muscle that you train should be rested one to two days before being exercised further in order for the fatigued muscles to rebuild.  Note that this is not an excuse to avoid your aerobic exercise on the odd days!
• “No pain, no gain.” This statement is not only false, but it can be dangerous.

For more information on combining the best of strength training and aerobic exercise, read the article - Strength Training versus Aerobics - what’s the difference?  Spring is here and summer is just around the corner - it’s the perfect time to start your strength training and outdoor aerobics program!