3 Must Know Weight Lifting Basics
Lesson 3

You've made it to the final lesson. This is a big one... moving into program design so that you can play around with your workout but still be guaranteed results.

So... without any further chit chat, here you have it:

The 3 Fundamental Guidelines For Creating Your Own Weight Training Program

Write down your plan and your ideas.

Creating your own workout routine can be a very rewarding experience. The issue comes when you start to run out of ideas. It helps to consistently meet new people, read tons of books, conduct tons of research, and experiment at the gym... all to create an impressive lineup of new exercises to add to different routines. That part is really fun but it is also really time consuming. So...

It is possible to do everything yourself from scratch, but actually using a physical personal trainer or finding a weight lifting community like this one is the smart way to go. But having a decent understanding of how to create a functional routine will help you achieve your weight training goals. Besides, when you understand different aspects about creating a routine, you can take routines you have been given and make some small changes to keep things fresh and more effective for you. After all it is your body and nobody knows your body like you do.

There are 3 guidelines that if followed will help you put together a functional and effective routine... a routine that will build muscle and burn your fat! Or sustain muscle levels, build strength, bulk up... whatever the case might be. I just feel strange sometimes always saying build muscle burn fat.

1. Know Your Goals

This is the most important step because if you don't know where you want to go, then how are you supposed to move in any direction. Sure you can start to do something but how are you supposed to know if it is going to take your body and mind where you want them to be?

Goals do and should change very frequently. It is good to have an overall dream. This dream should be something that stretches your mind and would be really difficult to obtain. However if you don't have this, once you hit your initial goals, you may just stop. It is really important to always be setting new goals once you reach current goals... always be chasing that dream. And don't be surprised if you get it a lot faster than you think.

Now, designing a routine that targets fat loss will be completely different that a routine that targets building maximum muscle. It helps to define your goals if you think about 3 distinct groups. Endurance, strength, and power... these groups will help you find your goal.

Endurance is the ability of your muscles to work for an extended period of time. In this case, you will be doing exercises that require very little rest and many reps to complete. This will be extremely helpful when you need to do long extended actions in your everyday life. Not to mention you find any task very easy to do and it will help initially spike your energy levels.

Strength is the ability of your muscles to build new muscle fiber and lift heavier and heavier weights. This is a level we want to spend some time in. Here you will be doing some moderate resting and fewer reps but the actions themselves will be a lot more intense. This intensity is what will require your muscles to rest a little more. Strength is all about building some muscle size and having that muscle fest on your body fat... get slim, get ripped!

That leads into power, which is the ability of your muscles to exert great force at great speeds. You will need some big time rest because you will be going from still position to an explosive move. This is great for building a special kind of strength. Mainly used for athletes but it has been proven through many test that maximum amounts of muscle are built at this stage... it is an advanced stage of weight training.

2. Total Body Exercises

It is smart when designing your own routines to stick to the full body weight training exercises. These full body exercises mean multi-joint or compound exercises. They are very easy to work into a good length routine and they build so much functional strength that once you master these, you will be able to do many advanced exercises and advanced routines... like the power routines. Examples of total body exercises include... the squat, dead lift, row, pull up, etc...

Why these total body exercises?

Again they help you build over all strength and not just targeted strength. If you can complete these exercises with proper form, then you are on your way to completing any exercise for the most part. Form is so important because it ensures you are recruiting the proper muscles for the exercise and not developing any muscle dysfunctions.

If you can, keep your routines to 8 different exercises. That should be just enough to get you in the gym and out in 45 minutes... that includes warming up a little and cooling down with some stretches.

3. Don't Be Shy

It is one of the hardest parts of weight training... doubting yourself. For most people, I think they are a little gun shy and don't want to experiment... which is probably why you see so many people doing the same old things in the gym.

When you are designing your own routine, you have to make it fun and effective with some interesting exercises. Or ones that push you.

I remember when I really started to take my weight training seriously... about 6 years ago. I was nervous to try some of the best exercises because people who were a little more experienced would be watching. At least I thought they would be watching...

The sooner you can experiment and have fun working out, the better off you will be and the faster your results will come.

Get more information about exercises to lose weight and make sure you check out our fitness courses podcast where we talk about current fitness events and give you help to get great results.