Weight Training For Beginners

New to weight training? Well everyone has to start somewhere. Training with resistance (i.e. exercises which involve, in some capacity, lifting a weight) is a great way to improve muscle strength, size and tone whilst also burning fat at an accelerated rate. Most professional athletes include weight training in their regular workout programme, and for many it forms the basis of their training regime.

So, where to start? My first and most important piece of advice is to join a clean, safe and reputable gym with helpful and well-informed staff. This is normally a sign of a good, professional gymnasium and will also mean you have somebody qualified to turn to with any problems while you're training.

I needn't mention the possibility of contracting fungal infections through contact with other user's sweat, and recent studies show that a small amount of the population may contract and spread Hepatitis through porous uptake of sweat. The staff at your gym are responsible (beyond your own experience and research) for your well-being and effective use of gym equipment. You may find that some irresponsible trainers have an overly-competitive streak, and are prone to phrases such as "Put some weighton!"- Ignore them, and find yourself a facility where you can train at your own pace.

The next step is to establish some goals. Do you want to lose weight? Are you conscious of under-defined biceps? Or are you in search of the ever-elusive six-pack? Whatever the aim, you (or your personal trainer, if you have one) should try to gear your regime around these goals without neglecting or over-training any one muscle group. For example, in order to increase chest size and strength, you'll need to include some kind of chest press in your programme. To compliment this, you may also want to add any combination of flys, cable crossovers, dips and press-ups.

However, you should also endeavour to include an equivalent number of exercises to target the latissimus dorsi and trapezius muscles to prevent an imbalance. If you have the less specific goal of an overall tone-up, or simply wish to keep fit, here are my five favourite exercises to help you get started:

1. Dumbbell Press

Allows for a greater range of movement than the standard bench press and requires a lot of effort from supporting muscles surrounding the shoulders and forearms.

2. Lateral Shoulder Raise

Targets the deltoid muscle group in the shoulder, which are often neglected but are easily toned and will lead to good strength gains quickly.

3. Bicep Curls w/ Preacher Bench

The preacher bench really serves to isolate the bicep, whereas in most exercises it is supported at least partially by momentum or the shoulder muscles.

4. Pull-ups

The humble pull-up, in my opinion, is the most difficult exercise in the gym to master. Whilst at first it may feel unnatural, you'll soon notice the rapid gains that good technique can lead to.

5. Jumping Split-Squats (or "Kneeling Gun Drill")

This one's for the masochist in you. A couple of sets will leave you short of breath, and unable to tackle a flight of stairs for a few days. However, you'll build yourself a serious set of pins if you can stick to it. Many new gym users get confused trying to find a "good starting weight" for their chosen exercise.

The only way to find your ideal starting weight is a trial and error process, by which you should determine a weight you can lift comfortably (but not easily) for roughly ten repetitions. Note that this is only a guideline, and the weight and number of reps can be adjusted to suit you personally: higher resistance and lower reps will build power and size, but neglect endurance which is better trained with a lower weight and higher number of repetitions.

If you've already completed these steps, or would like to read more, see Weight Training for the Experienced User..