Pixie's Pad

This is intended to be an introduction to the concepts of weightlifting. I'm not going to go into detail about the intricacies of how/why things work, but I will put a “(search: terms here)” on anything that I encourage you to resarch yourself for verification or further info. I'm not going to be providing workout plans – that's also something you can look into yourself – but I'll give you a good foundation of info so that you'll be better equipped to do your own workouts.

Disclaimer: I'm not a qualified trainer or instructor or anything. I did neuroscience at uni which involved some physiology and anatomy modules and I have a fair understanding of how the body works. Mainly though, a few years ago my best friend decided she wanted to be a personal trainer and I was helping her study and get through her courses, training with her, helping her develop exercise plans and test workout routines, etc. We worked together for a few years doing this; that's where most of my knowledge and understanding of this stuff comes from.

You know your own body. Only do what you find comfortable and accessible to you. Don't do anything that causes any amount of pain from anywhere while doing it. If you have doubts or want a more educated opinion, check with your GP or consult a physiotherapist or something.

Core concept of weightlifting

Weightlifting involves the practice of repeatedly breaking down your muscles so that they repair themselves stronger (search: muscle repair). The core principle of weightlifting is to damage your muscle sufficiently that it takes an amount of time to heal and rebuild, at which point it will be stronger, but not so much that you do so much damage that it hampers muscle repair and growth.

Some amount (but not too much!) of pain after a workout is normal and an indication that the workout was effective (search: muscle microtears pain / DOMS / Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), and usually you can mitigate some of that pain by using a foam roller, rolling pin, tennis ball, etc. over your muscles to massage them. Any pain/stiffness should only be noticeable when you move the muscle groups you worked out, and shouldn't be enough that you need painkillers. If your pain is extreme or lasts more than a day or two, you overworked yourself, and that's a good indicator to lighten your routine. Conversely, if you experience no soreness or stiffness in your muscles at all after a workout, you can probably bump it up a notch.

One of the reasons I see people deciding not to weight lift is that they're afraid they'll 'bulk up', especially for people who want to maintain a petite or slim figure. This isn't true – there's more below, but you can change your approach to weightlifting to bulk up or slim down.

With weight lifting, you're not just burning calories while doing the workout, but your muscles will continue consuming energy while they heal and repair (search: repairing muscles burning energy / muscle afterburn). This actually increases down the line; the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.

So, if you're weight lifting regularly but not increasing your calory consumption, you'll tend to lose weight rather than bulk up. If you increase your calory intake and compensate with things like protein shakes, you're more likely to bulk up. You can tailor your weightlifting depending on what results you want to achieve.

Gear required

Having dumbbells and barbells and weight plates and benches and racks is all very nice, but not necessary. Absolutely get proper gear if you can afford to and have the space for it, but don't let it be a barrier to entry for you if you can't.

As long as you can lift something with good form that's heavy enough to put strain on your muscles, you're good. You can use 400g food cans, 1kg/2kg bags of flour or rice. 1L of water weighs 1kg; you can do a bunch of stuff with a 5L water bottle with a carry handle on the lid. Your supermarket might sell cheap plastic sports drink bottles that take 2L of liquid and have grips or handles in them – that's 2kg dumbbells right there. Get some sturdy bags or use multple plastic carrier bags inside each other and fill them with sand. Fill several 1L bottles with water, arrange them in a plastic bag, wrap it up tight with duct tape including making yourself a handle – you can make 2, 3, 4, 6kg weights that way pretty cheap.

The kinds of exercises you can do might be a bit more limited based on how you can hold the weight you've made, but you'll always have options. 5L water bottles with the handles on the lid can be held to your chest with your arms wrapped around them for squats, lifted from the handle for things like bicep curls, held over your head in both hands for overhead presses, etc. Anything where you can keep the weight steady and balanced with a good grip on it will work.

The only other thing you'll need to do is stretching, so if you have a hard floor, I'd recommend getting a yoga mat or gym mat or something otherwise your butt will get sore when you're sitting down stretching your legs.

Muscle groups and rest days

Now that you know that weight lifting involves breaking your muscles, you'll hopefully understand why rest days are important; your muscles need time to heal, re-form, and strengthen, before you work them again. Not doing this can actually decrease your gains and improvements as you'll be working out damaged muscles that might not re-form properly.

With this in mind, a great approach to weightlifting is to split your workouts to target muscle groups/body parts and spread those out across several days. For example – arms on day 1, back and shoulders day 2, legs and core day 3; I'd personally put another rest day in here and do something stretchy and aerobic like walking/yoga/swimming, then by the time you get back to arms, your arms have had a full three days of rest and will be ready to go again.

Rest days are vital in weight training, so don't feel guilty or lazy for taking them; they're an integral part of progression and building your muscles in a healthy way.

Types of workouts

There are a few different approaches people use to creating workouts but all revolve around the core concept of 'work your muscles enough so that they break down and need to rebuild'. Usually a workout will involve several sets of repetitions (reps), where a 'set' is a group of reps (e.g. 10 bicep curls), and a 'repetition' is a single execution of an exercise (e.g. 1 bicep curl). Three sets of 10, then, would be 10/10/10 for 30 reps in total.

The differences in approaches involve changing the number of sets or even having time-based instead of rep-based sets, or changing the number of reps in a set, or changing the rest time between sets. The most common approach is a 1:1 or 1:2 work:rest ratio, where if you do reps for 30 seconds, you rest for 30s or 60s before the next set of reps. Some people for this reason find it easier to do timed sets rather than fixed number sets, or you can work out how many reps of each exercise you can do in a fixed time and work from there.

Bodybuilders tend to do high reps with short rest periods (and this will also give you a more cardio-intensive workout if your goal is to improve overall fitness and not necessarily just Get Stronk), whereas power lifers do a lower number of reps with higher weights and longer rest periods. You can see which you're most comfortable with, or most enjoy doing, and go from there.

For simplicity's sake, it's fine to do the same number of reps per set (like 10/10/10), but you can mix it up by doing something like 12/8/6 which will let you do sets with heavier weights by compensating for muscle fatigue in the later sets. Personal preference, see which you enjoy.

The type of workouts you do, in terms of number of reps and sets and rest periods, depend on what you want to achieve;

Endurance: Doing more reps per set will increase your endurance (you'll be able to work out under load for longer periods of time), but you'll be using lighter weights because you're doing more reps (15-20+ per set for three sets), and you'll want to decrease your rest time (30 to 60s) between sets. This is good if you're doing weight lifting to complement an endurance sport like cycling.

Bigger Muscles: GAINZZZZ! (search: Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy) If you want to bulk up and increase your muscle size, do fewer reps per set (5-10 or so), but more sets (3-5), and middle-ground rest between sets (60 to 90s)

Strength and Power: If you're looking to get stronger and be able to lift more without necessarily bulking up (search: Myofibril Hypertrophy), drop the number of reps per set way down (1-5), work with heavier weights, and push your rest time way up (up to 5 minutes between sets).

This powerlifting style of working out also affects your CNS (Central Nervous System), hence the longer rests between sets – do your own research on this before starting, and having good form is very important with powerlifting or you'll risk doing yourself a serious injury. You may also need a weight belt, gloves, etc., and probably best to do this under supervision. Insert a million disclaimers and warnings here; powerlifting is hardcore and not something to attempt on your own at home unless you really really know what you're doing.

General tips

The most imporant principle through all of this is that you only do as many reps and sets as you're able to while keeping proper form. It's fine to struggle at the end of a set, like needing to rest a few seconds before executing the last one or two reps, but only if you're still able to maintain good form. If you can't, lower the weight you're lifting or drop the number of reps per set.

Maintaining proper form is essential to not hurting yourself when weightlifting, and you should look up guides and videos on how to do each exercise before attempting it. Instructional videos will show you how to stand, where to lift from, how to move, how not to execute the exercise, etc. – but one other important principle that extends universally across all weightlifting (and exercise in general, really) is don't over-extend your joints so that they 'lock'. Always keep a slight bend in your knees and arms, and never fully extend. This helps prevent joint injury.

STRETCH!! Stretching is vital, both before and after your workout (search: stretching before and after exercise). Stretching pre-workout will increase blood flow to your muscles, limber them up, and decrease the risk of 'pulling a muscle' or injuring a joint. Stretching afterwards helps ease out lactic acid build up and aligns your muscle fibers so that they heal correctly. Having a god pre- and post- workout stretch will also help reduce post-weightlifting muscle ache. Do Not skimp on stretching. Your muscles will thank you for it. If you find that any particular muscles are sore from DOMS after a workout, search for how to stretch that particular muscle. If your leaning towards doing more cardio-intensive weightlifting workouts, doing something like walking around the block or 5-10 minutes of cycling or rowing will also help your body 'wind down' after your workout.

Small note: if your wrists get sore or feel weak, you can do wrist curls with weights that will target and strengthen your wrists – search it :)

What next?

All that's left is actually making your own workout plan. I usually do five or so different excersies per workout, targeting muscle groups, so on an arms day I might do:

Standing bicep curls 10/10/10 Standing hammer curls 10/10/10 Overhead press 10/10/10 Front lateral raises 10/10/10 Side lateral raises 10/10/10 Concentration bicep curl 10/10/10

Using the search engine of your choice, search for 'weightlifting excercises for upper body', or 'dumbbell workouts for shoulders', etc. Test them all out, find which ones you enjoy doing that you can execute easily and without pain, and work them into your sets. Start small and light while you gauge your own strength and endurance levels. Keep a weightlifting journal so that you can track your improvement over time. If it helps with accountability, post to the social media of your choice after every work out. You'll probably also get some other people interested in weight lifting that way too!

Enjoy :D