Health Tips : What’s a healthy weightlifting schedule?

Weight training is an important component of fitness. As in any training program, rest is an essential factor. It is important to leave a day between exercising a specific body part or muscle for reap the advantages of your hard work.

That’s because weightlifting may cause micro-tears in the muscle fiber(s) that temporarily reduce strength. These tears are thought to cause some soreness you feel after a new exercise or tough workout.

During this crucial rest time, your muscles are building protein and getting stronger. It takes about two days to heal the muscle fibers torn by weightlifting.

If you want to lift weights every day (remember to take at least 1 day per week off for rest), focus on different muscle groups in three-day cycles, leaving two days in between the same group. For example

• Day one – back and biceps

• Day two – chest and triceps

• Day three – legs and abs

• Day four – repeat day one

Other tips to consider for safer weightlifting

• to help prevent injury, begin with some light cardiovascular exercise to warm up your muscles.

• Avoid rushing through your weightlifting workout – slow and steady is the way to go.

• Limit your weightlifting motions while making sure you are keeping correct form. When you are not certain that you are weightlifting properly, ask a personal trainer for some assistance.

• Don’t forget to inhale and exhale usually while you lift.

• Rest muscle groups adequately between workout sessions (as mentioned above).

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 9:47 am and is filed under Fitness Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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