Weight training exercise will make you stronger and give you bigger muscles, but the way you work out determines the results you get.
Weight training will benefit just about everybody, but there are certain principles you should follow to get best results. Let’s look first at sets and repetitions. A repetition (rep) is one performance of the exercise, and a set is a group of repetitions. Your goals define how many repetitions you should do. Once you know that, you can decide how heavy the weight should be.
The most often recommended number of reps is 8-12, and this is a good middle ground. This is the best range for muscle building and will give you some strength and endurance as well. Men will see their muscles grow, and women will see theirs firm up. Women will not get as big as men, because of hormonal factors. Very few women will get “big” from a weight training program. Working with light weights and very high reps, aside from some initial gains, is basically a waste of time as far as muscle toning is concerned.
To work more on strength, work in the 4-8 rep range. If you go over 15 reps, you will be working mostly on muscle endurance. Some endurance work can be helpful, but, aside from some specialized goals, you may be better off getting most of your endurance from practicing your sport or cardiovascular exercise. These ranges work for most people, but you can expand the range to 6-15 and experiment to see what works best for you. You should be doing your exercises with a slow, controlled movement and good technique. One set per exercise will work fine for the average person who doesn’t want to spend too much time working out. If you want to do more, you will get better results, but not near, say, twice as much from 2 sets as one. Three sets per exercise works well, but over 4 you get to the point of diminishing returns. If you are lifting weights that are heavy for you, you should do one or more light warm-up sets per body part, whether you are doing 1 work set or several.
Choose a weight that is heavy enough that you are fatigued by the last rep in the range you choose. Stop one rep short of absolute muscle failure (where you can’t do another rep). You can always grind out another rep by compromising your technique, but that doesn’t count. A spotter is essential for free weight squats, bench presses or flies, military presses, triceps extensions, or any other exercises where the weight is over your body. If you work out at home without a spotter, make sure you stop well short of muscle failure, where you’re sure you could do another 2 or 3 reps. You will still make good gains. Always put safety first.
Beginners can start with one set of 8-12 repetitions for 8-10 exercises. Start with a light weight and 10-15 reps for 2 or 3 weeks, concentrating on learning exercise form before you step up to weights that will cause fatigue. If you are advanced and looking for more stimulation, try working a muscle building program of 8-12 reps for 4-6 weeks, alternating with a strength program at heavier weights and fewer reps, and an endurance component, if you wish.
How often? Don’t work the same muscle groups 2 days in a row. If you work your whole body in the same workout, 3 days a week such as Mon., Wed., and Fri. is best, but if you can only do 2 workouts a week, space them out as best you can. Some advanced trainees train each body part only 1 or 2 times a week, but most people should work out at least twice a week.
To summarize: General fitness, 1 set of 8-10 exercises covering major muscle groups, 8-12 reps, 45-60 sec rest, 2-3 times per week. Bodybuilding, 3-4 sets, 8-12 reps, 2 or more exercises per body part, work each body part 2-3 times per week, 30-60 sec rest. Strength, 3-4 sets 4-8 reps, 1 or more exercises per body part, 2-3 times per week, rest 3-5 minutes. Endurance, at least 1 exercise per body part, 1-3 sets, 12-20 reps, 30 sec rest.
Tempo is important. Each rep should take at least 3-5 seconds. Lift to a count of 2 and lower to a count of 3. You can go slower if you like, but faster reps do not recruit the muscle properly and can lead to injury.
Set aside at least 20 minutes for your workout, exclusive of warmup, and try to keep the workout at 45-60 minutes. If you work briskly, you will get best benefits in 45 minutes, as growth hormone tends to decline after that. You can be flexible with workout time. For instance, if you usually work out for an hour but only have half an hour on a given day, just cut back on sets, but don’t skip your workout.
Work the large muscles first, as fatiguing small assistance muscles first may keep you from getting the most out of the large muscle exercises, although this is sometimes used as an advanced technique. The sequence would be legs, back, chest, shoulders, arms, abs. Do all the exercises for the same muscle group before you go on to the next, if muscle building is your goal. Start your workout with an aerobic warm-up of 5 minutes or so, and finish with some stretching, making sure to stretch the muscles you worked.