It is possible to build muscle, burn fat, and improve overall health by lifting weights.
Everyone should avoid common mistakes when lifting weights.
Overtraining, ineffective workouts, and skimping on food and sleep can hurt progress.
Lifting weights is a great way to increase your fitness and strength, with benefits like muscle building, stronger bones and joints, and support for your cardiovascular system. Anyone can start training with weights.
Avoid common mistakes while lifting to get the most out of your workouts. You can feel drained in the gym without getting the results you want.
Insider habits like overtraining and under eating could stall your progress. You can get back on track by incorporating new tactics into your fitness routine.
Exercising too much can cause harm.
Overdoing it with heavy lifting can lead to less muscle growth.
Chris Duffin, a world-record-holding powerlifter and co-owner of Kabuki Strength, told Insider that athletes who try to do too much exercise or workout too intensely can end up slowing their progress, burning out, and increasing the risk of injury.
More is not better. He said that you want to do the least amount to get the result you want.
Duffin said that beginners should work out three times a week for 45 minutes. More experienced athletes can see the benefits of working out just twice a week, so there's no need for long hours of exercise.
There are red flags of overworking in the gym that include persistent fatigue or soreness, moodiness or irritability, decreased range of motion, and inability to finish workouts or lift the same amount of weight.
Losing sleep can affect the growth of muscles.
Trying to hit the gym first thing in the morning can cause you to lose sleep.
The side of overtraining that is recovering is not as well known.
Recovering from a workout requires sleep to support your body in getting stronger.
Gains can stall and damaged muscle tissue can't be repaired without sleep.
Duffin says it's a problem for athletes who get up too early in the morning to train. Morning workouts are not worth it if you don't get enough sleep.
It's like bending over to pick up a dime and not having the $10 bill in front of you. He said it doesn't make sense.
Seven to nine hours is a good nightly goal for adults. Some studies show that dedicated athletes may need more than 10 hours a day.
Rest days can be less effective if active recovery is skipped.
Rest days are essential, and active-recovery workouts like low-impact cardio or light weights can improve blood flow to make them even better.
Research suggests that the best recovery may include movement, even though rest days are nonnegotiable.
Light exercise can help promote healing and relieve sore muscles.
Stan Efferding, a world-record-holding powerlifter, pro bodybuilder, and coach, says that good strategies include sled pushes or biking. He previously told Insider that they work by stimulating blood flow to reduce soreness after a tough lifting session.
Efferding suggests starting your active recovery immediately after a gym session by incorporating the same exercises as in your workout but with lighter weights and more speed.
Walking, jogging, or swimming are low impact ways to get your blood flowing.
Not having a plan will stall your progress.
It can be hard to improve over time if you do a random set of workouts in the gym.
Any amount of exercise is better than nothing, but working out without a plan limits how quickly you improve and build muscle, experts say.
Duffin said people are trying to find a secret sauce. "They'll try an approach for a month and then hop to the next thing, but the only way you can learn what works for you is to stick with something."
Staying with a program for at least six months is a good start.
Programs that focus on specific styles of weight training are examples of popular formats.
Writing your own workouts takes time, knowledge, and experience, so following a program designed by qualified experts is the best bet for most people.
A good coach will know how much work you can benefit from, so set programming can help prevent overtraining.
Not challenging yourself week to week may lead to problems.
If an exercise or workout becomes too easy, you're not benefiting as much as you could be.
Consistency is important to a good fitness routine, but it doesn't mean doing the same thing every time. As your body adjusts to the workout, it will get less difficult. If it becomes too easy, your gains can stall.
"Progressive overload" is a concept in fitness that requires you to challenge your muscles to grow.
Duffin said that you need to increase the intensity and volume to get results.
Adding more reps or sets to an exercise is the simplest way to increase a workout's difficulty. Duffin suggests an increase of between 10 and 15% over the course of four to six weeks.
If your workout includes four sets of 10 reps at 20 pounds, you could work up to four sets of 10 reps at 22 pounds or four sets of 11 to 12 reps at 20 pounds.
Your body needs energy to grow muscle.
Food is fuel to support strength and muscle building, and eating a little extra can help improve your gains.
Many people who start a new strength-training routine make the mistake of starting a new diet at the same time.
To build muscle effectively, you need to be in a surplus of calories, which means eating more food than you burn off in the form of exercise and daily activities. Cutting calories too much can affect your progress.
If you want to maximize your gains, you may even want to consider eating extra, which is a common practice among fitness professionals.
For best bulking results, aim for a calories surplus of 10 to 20% above what you need to maintain your weight, according to a nutrition and fitness coach.
He said to be consistent with a bulking routine for at least three to four months.
Gaining may be more difficult if you skim on carbs.
It's possible to keep you fueled for better workouts if you balance your meals with the right amount of calories.
Eating enough is important, but what you eat is equally important.
Getting enough of the essential ingredient for repairing muscle tissue is important to a lifting routine.
According toNorton, he should eat about gram ofProtein per pound of body weight. Eggs, chicken, fish, yogurt, and peas are good sources of good-quality meat and dairy products.
Many experts recommend that you prioritize whole foods over supplements because they can sometimes be high in sugar.
Carbohydrates are needed to provide energy during the workout and can help you recover after a gym session. Fruits, whole grains, and root vegetables are good sources of calories.
Try to eat a wide variety of foods, and avoid the extremes of either low-fat or low-carb diet.
Fish, olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds are healthy fat sources.
If you do isolation exercises instead of compound movements, your progress can be slowed.
A single muscle at a time may be less effective than compound exercises that work the whole body.
If you want to improve your fitness, you may want to stop using the weight machines.
According to experts, exercises that only involve one muscle group aren't the most efficient way to make gains. This category includes cables, weight machines, and dumbbell exercises. They target small muscles, like the arms or the abdominals, which don't offer much of a burn.
You can build strength with compound movements that work many muscle groups. If the exercise recruits big muscles like the legs, it can help burn fat.
There are examples of squats, presses, and deadlifts. Noam Tamir, the founder and CEO of TS Fitness, previously told Insider that compound exercises are great for beginners to get quick results.
It can be a good option for more advanced athletes who want to target specific muscle groups.
You can't leave the gym if you don't prioritize your goals.
Taking your weightlifting to the next level requires some focus after you've made some gains.
Beginners can improve quickly doing any strength-training program.
Gains happen more slowly as you progress in your fitness career. Progress can stall if you don't focus on any particular skill or goal.
Duffin said to prioritize what you want to achieve, rather than trying to do it all.
He said that you can't expect everything to get better at once.
Duffin said that targeting one muscle group to train twice a week can boost your progress more than full-body workouts.
If you see gains in that area, you can shift your focus to another area and repeat for six weeks.
Periodization is the technique of creating blocks to emphasize one goal and it works to improve not just muscle groups but also skills, like Olympic lifts.
It takes time for muscle growth.
Taking the time to exercise consistently can help you meet both your performance and body goals.
According to experts, the top mistake people make in the weight room is not waiting long enough to see the results you want.
Too many athletes have unrealistic goals or timelines that can lead to frustration, burnout, and quitting.
It takes a long time to build muscle. Beginners can expect to gain up to 7 pounds in three months. Research shows that 2 to 4 pounds in the same time period is a reasonable pace for experienced athletes.
Trust the process instead of rushing. Tracking your progress in multiple ways is one way to stay focused and motivated.
Performance achievements are a good reminder that you're on the right track, even if you don't see it in the mirror.
Duffin said a slow, steady approach is the best way to ensure longevity of your gains.
He said that strength training continues to be progressive over time.
The original article is on Insider.
