Weight Lifting Tips: Here's How to Get Great Results From A Safe & Effective Weight Lifting Program 

If you want to put yourself light years ahead of most people in the gym, avoid many common mistakes and get great results from your training, then pay close attention to the important Weight Lifting Tips in this 4-Part Series...

There are core principles to a safe & effective weight lifting program, but unfortunately, myths & misconceptions plague the fitness industry causing massive confusion amongst people.

It can be difficult to sift through the bad and contradictory advice that you hear from ill-informed sources. The weight lifting tips you'll learn in this section are based on sound science and decades of research and training, so rest assured that applying these tips will put you on the fast track to getting results.

Remember, almost any type of strength training will bring SOME degree of strength & muscle development, especially in beginners. The point here is not about getting "some" results, its about doing things safely, efficiently and in a way that brings much better results for months & years to come. Get started with this 4-Part Series below:

Part 1: Warming Up and Stretching (see below)

Part 2: Exercise Selection, Technique, Tempo, Mind-Muscle Link & Breathing

Part 3: Exercise Sequence, Sets, Repetitions, Rest & Frequency of Training

Part 4: Progressive Overload, Body Part Splits, Cardio & Overtraining Prevention

Note: if you're in a rush, there's quick "summary points" at the bottom of the article, BUT we highly recommend that you read everything on this page to get the most out of this super important info...

And if you're in a super rush, see our Beginner's Guide to an Effective Weight Lifting Program

Part 1: Warming Up and Stretching

Warming up raises your body temperature, creates blood flow to your muscles and literally lubricates your joints to prepare you for activity. As you can imagine, this promotes safety and injury prevention, while helping you actually perform better. Before starting a workout, its a good idea to do some light intensity cardio for 5-7 minutes, until you break a light sweat. Treadmills, elliptical trainers and exercise bikes are all fine.

Also, perform at least 1 warmup set for each muscle group that you're training. So, if you're doing a full body workout, you would need about 5-7 different warmup sets at a light intensity, spread throughout the workout right before training the specific muscle group.

Stretching increases range of motion in the joints and improves muscle elasticity, the ability of the muscle to return back to its natural shape. The best time to stretch is after you've completed your initial warmup, but make sure to keep each stretch light and no more than 30 seconds per muscle group.

Deeper, longer stretches can actually reduce strength & power for a period of time, so its not a good idea to do deep, long stretches before weight training. Another good time to stretch is in between sets, but once again, don't stretch too deep unless you're doing an advanced specialization routine.

Don't stretch a cold muscle, make sure its properly warmed up before performing any kind of extended stretching. Warming up the muscle fibers and increasing blood flow will allow the muscles to be more elastic and responsive to stretching, helping to prevent strains and pulls. Warming up is also key in avoiding the stiffness and cramps that can come with intense training.

The cool-down is another important part of each workout. In order to prevent excessive blood accumulation, which can reduce cardiac output causing lightheadedness and slower recovery, its advisable to perform a 5-7 minute cool down session just like your initial warmup, along with a few light stretches for the muscle groups you worked on. 

Cooling down will not only help you feel much better after a workout, but it may also help with reducing soreness and speeding up recovery by possibly allowing for a faster shuttling of nutrients to the stressed areas.

Summary Points:

• Warming up promotes safety, injury prevention and better performance
   
• Perform a 5-7 minute light cardio warmup before lifting weights
   
• Perform atleast 1 light warmup set per muscle group
   
• Stretching increases range of motion and improves muscle elasticity
   
• Best time to stretch is after the initial warmup, between sets and after a workout
   
• Light, 30 second stretches are enough to see positive benefits
   
• Cooling down prevents excessive blood accumulation and aids recovery
   
• Perform a 5-7 minute cooldown just like the initial warmup 

Move on to Part 2: Exercise Selection, Technique, Tempo, Mind-Muscle Link & Breathing

Part 3: Exercise Sequence, Sets, Repetitions, Rest & Frequency of Training

Part 4: Progressive Overload, Body Part Splits, Cardio & Overtraining Prevention

Workout Routines: Build Muscle | Burn Fat | Gain Strength/Power 

Related Article: Beginner's Guide to an Effective Weight Training Program