It is important to follow an exercise program that addresses all the components of fitness.

Strength

Improving your strength need not mean lifting heavy weights and developing bulging muscles. Strength can be improved in many ways but normally involves either moving against resistance (e.g. dumbbells, machines, bodyweight) or exercise where muscle tension is maintained without moving (e.g. yoga, isometric exercises).

One of the most popular ways of building strength is weight training, using one or both of:

• Machines that guide you through a movement while applying resistance, which may change through the movement depending on the machine design.
• Free weights (using barbells, dumbbells, and a wide variety of benches) to perform exercises where you control and balance of the weights as well as following a movement.

Exercising using free weights is not for beginners as it requires balance and experience to maintain control of the weights.

Whether machines or free weights are being used, weight training involves repeating a controlled movement (such as pushing or pulling) that works a particular area of the body. For example, pushing a weight away from you at right angles to your chest (a Bench Press) mainly works the chest, shoulders and triceps. The movement is repeated a number of times (known as repetitions or 'reps') before resting for a short time - this makes up a 'set'. The exercise may be repeated in one or more subsequent sets.

It is very important when weight training to add a specific warm-up (e.g. the same movement but with light weights) before each exercise, work the whole body each week, and ensure you rest for long enough between workouts.

Flexibility

Flexibility is about improving the range of movement of your joints by gently and progressively stretching muscles. Good flexibility helps you improve your performance in the rest of your exercise program and many sports, it can aid in recovery and avoiding injury, and has an impact on day-to-day physical tasks. Flexibility also has a role in maintaining good posture.

A stretch should be held at a point where you begin to feel the muscle stretching but not painfully, for around 30 seconds. If you feel the stretch in the muscle ease you can stretch further until you just feel the stretch again. Do not 'bounce' when you stretch as this can lead to injury.

You should stretch all the major muscle groups of the body, but spending more time on the lower body. Good technique is important to ensure you stretch the correct muscles. Talk to an instructor if you do not know what stretching exercises to do or you are unsure of the correct technique.

It is important to warm-up before doing stretching exercises as warm muscles are more flexible.

 

Suggested reading on flexibility:

Stamina

Stamina is also known as aerobic fitness, or endurance. Having good stamina means you can undertake an aerobic workout (e.g. running, cycling, rowing and aerobics classes) without feeling exhausted, and your heart and lungs are well-conditioned to exercise.

You can improve your stamina with many kinds of exercise, but the key is to get your heart and lungs working harder than usual for a continuous period of 20-30 minutes or more, at least 3 times a week. As your level of stamina improves, you will need to increase the intensity, duration or frequency of your workouts to continue improving.

An accurate way to train is by monitoring your heart rate, ensuring that it stays within a range that fits with your needs and ability. To do this you first determine your maximum heart rate with a properly conducted treadmill test, or use the formula of 220 minus your age. Then exercise within a certain range by checking your pulse regularly or using heart rate monitoring equipment:

• The healthy heart zone is for beginners who want to improve overall fitness or lose weight, and is 50 - 59 percent of maximum heart rate.
• The fat burning zone is for those who have been exercising regularly for some time and want to lose body fat, and is 60 - 69 percent of maximum heart rate.
• The aerobic zone is to improve aerobic capacity or athletic performance, and is 70 - 79 percent of maximum heat rate.

More information on heart rate monitoring equipment is available from manufacturers' web sites, such as Cardiosport and Polar.

Back to contents

It is important that you are ready to work out when you go to the gym. Check the following:

• You have eaten properly recently (this means a meal mainly consisting of slow-burn carbohydrates such as pasta, rice and potatoes) - you need energy to train!
• You have not eaten a meal within the last hour - you do not want to feel sick, and your circulation will be directed to your digestive system so you can absorb nutrients from your food.
• You are well hydrated - drink water frequently throughout the day and sip a drink during training
• You are wearing warm, loose clothing and have showering kit and a change of clothes

Back to contents

• You are unused to exercise, have or suspect you have a medical condition, are over 35, or overweight. If any of these apply ask your doctor what kind of exercise is suitable for you
• You are ill, even with just a cold - you need time to recover from your illness and the demands weight training puts on your body will not help. You could also infect other people
• You are hungry or exhausted - without enough energy you could feel faint or dizzy when exercising, which is at best unpleasant and at worst dangerous
• You are injured - you need time and treatment to recover. You can, however, include exercises that do not affect the injured body part. Bear in mind that an injury can put many exercises out of bounds; for example a wrist injury will make most upper body exercises difficult except machines where the weight is not supported by the hands, such as the Pec Deck. When injured do not train with heavy weights or concentrate too much on one side of your body, as this will only make the imbalance worse.
• You feel pain while exercising. A certain level of "muscle burn" is normal while weight training, but this is different from the pain of injuring yourself. Learn how exercise should feel, stop exercising if you experience pain and seek help.

Listen to your body and learn when it is telling you to rest and when it is OK to push yourself!

Back to contents

These three elements are key to a good workout and avoiding injury.

Warm-up for at least five minutes by doing an aerobic exercise - jogging, cycling and rowing are all good. This gets your heart and lungs working and warms up your whole body by directing your circulation to the muscles. You could do a full aerobic workout before weight training, but keep it short so you don't exhaust yourself. You should also do a specific warm-up (e.g. the same movement but with light weights) before each exercise

Only after warming-up should you begin stretching. Stretch your whole body but you can favour body parts that are inflexible, sore or the focus of your workout. Talk to an instructor if you do not know what stretching exercises to do or you are unsure of the correct technique.

Once your workout is complete you should spend five to ten minutes cooling down. This is moderate aerobic exercise - a little easier than the warm-up to slowly bring your heart rate back to normal. It is important to find a balance of exercise intensity between actually raising your heart rate and letting it drop too quickly, but a rule of thumb is about 75% of your warm-up intensity - if you cycle at 80 rpm to warm-up then cycle at 60 rpm to cool-down.

Back to contents

Poor technique (or form) is often seen among people who weight train and leads to unproductive workouts and injury. Poor form is anything that results in an exercise working the wrong muscles or increasing the chance of injury; it can consist of swinging, leaning to one side, or adopting an awkward posture, and may be caused by:

• Using a weight that is too heavy from the start of the set and having poor technique throughout it
• Trying to do too many reps with a weight, so starting the set with good technique but degenerating
• Not learning the correct technique in the first place but copying from others with poor form, or just making it up
• Poor posture

The following hints may improve your technique but are not a substitute for proper tuition by an instructor:

• Learn the proper technique for an exercise and which muscles or muscle groups it is designed to work. Learn the function of these muscles.
• As a general rule, breathe in on the easy part of the movement (e.g. when lowering the bar in the bench press), and out on the part that requires most effort (e.g. when pulling the bar down in a lat pull down). Take several breaths between reps if required.
• Pick a weight that you can comfortably do ten repetitions with and adjust it slightly up or down if you want to perform less or more reps. Exercises for smaller muscles (e.g. biceps, abdominals) call for smaller adjustments of weight
• Perform an exercise at the correct speed - particularly avoiding quick movements
• If you can feel your technique getting worse during an exercise, or the wrong muscles being worked, pause and consider lowering the weight or correcting your technique
• Do not get persuaded into using a weight that is too heavy for you to maintain good form throughout the set
• Most exercises require you to keep your head up and back straight, with a few exceptions - particularly lower back exercises. Learn the correct posture for exercises and correct yourself if you begin to falter.
• Grip bars with an even spacing and use the correct grip: overhand grip means palms face back when arms are straight down; underhand grip means palms face forward when arms are straight down; mixed grip means one hand should be overhand and the other underhand.

 

Suggested reading on technique:

Back to contents

Strictly speaking, "free weights" means barbells and dumbbells, but the term can be used to describe the whole apparatus found in a free weights gym: barbells (standard and olympic gauges), dumbbells, metal plates to load onto barbells, safety collars, an endless variety of benches, and lots of mirrors to check technique.

Training with free weights can be an immensely satisfying experience, due to the great demands on mind and body necessary to have a safe and productive workout. Because of this, you should bear in mind the following when training, or considering training, with free weights:

• You should not be a beginner at weight training. It is important to make some initial gains in strength and balance using machines, and understand how weight training feels before moving on to free weights.
• Train with a partner if possible and take turns to "spot" each other - this means one of you does a set while the other assists by correcting your technique and helping you if you begin to struggle
• If you cannot train with a partner you should use weights that you are sure of being comfortable with, and use equipment such as the safety rack - a metal cage with pins positioned to catch the bar if control is lost, and the smith machine - a bar on a pair of rails, which can be hooked on safely at regular intervals. If you really must use a heavy weight without a partner, ask an instructor to spot for you.
• Always put collars on the bar. Even if you are using light weights it is easy to lose balance momentarily; without collars the plates can slip along the bar and cause you to lose balance further, possibly causing you to lose control of the bar.
• Good technique becomes crucial with free weights - learn using light weights with the help of an instructor or experienced friend, and check your technique constantly using a mirror. If in any doubt ask an instructor
• Exercise with free weights is particularly demanding on the body - pay extra attention to all the other points!

Back to contents

The second most common mistake in weight training, after poor technique, is not allowing sufficient time between workouts for the body to recover.

As a rule of thumb, at least 48 hours is required between workouts. For experienced weight trainers, 24 hours may be sufficient when completely different muscle groups are being exercised - but bear in mind that recovering from a weight training session puts demands on the whole body, rather than just the muscles that are exercised - consider the intensity of the workout and the relative size of the muscles being worked when deciding how much recovery is needed. For example, a tough workout on the large leg muscles might require two or three days recovery, while a normal workout on the smaller muscles of the arms should require only one or two days.

Consistent failure to recover sufficiently can lead to a condition known as "overtraining". This can be mild and easily corrected by taking a short break and then reducing the frequency and/or intensity of workouts, or more severe when a longer break from training and slow resumption is needed to solve the problem. Some of the symptoms of overtraining are:

• Decreased strength
• Longer than average recovery time after a workout
• Elevated waking pulse rate or elevated morning blood pressure
• Increased joint and muscle aches
• Headaches
• Tiredness, listlessness or insomnia
• Loss or decrease in appetite
• Injury
• Illness that is hard to shake off or recurs

If you suffer from any of the above, consider taking a break from weight training and consult your doctor. The key, as before, is to learn to listen to your body!

Back to contents