Starting Slow on Weight Lifting

Gym exercises didn’t start out with all these machines which allow for spot or muscle-specific or muscle group-specific development. During the early years of the fitness industry, all that was in the gym were rudimentary simple devices like pins, balls, gymnastic devices and weights. Fitness aficionados and bodybuilders relied on weights in the form of barbells and dumbbells.

Though times have changed and gyms and fitness centres have moved towards fitness equipment, the use of weights is still there for the regular guy. For some, there is a belief that you cannot seriously develop muscle mass without the use of weights.

Weights as a category of fitness equipment, which includes barbells and dumbbells, shouldn’t be a cause of apprehension for newbies. There’s nothing to fear while using barbells and dumbbells, as long as you take the necessary precaution and the help of weights or fitness trainer. It’s also comforting to note that the easiest thing to remember about using weights is to start slow. Or in this case to start with lighter weights.

As with most activities, weightlifting in its many forms takes a while before you get the hang of it. Starting weight training with something comfortable does not necessarily mean that you use the lightest available pair of dumbbells. You can test what weight would be best, to begin with. The ideal starting weight depends on the individual. Persons who have led a sedentary lifestyle and weak muscles would have to start with lighter equipment. If you can do 20 repetitions on a given set without breaking a sweat, it might be too light for you. If it’s too hard to do 10 repetitions per set, then you might want to dial down a bit.

At a certain point, it would be time to move on to barbells. Again, starting with lighter equipment, you can move up by adding more bumper plates to the barbell. At some point in a continuous regimen of exercise, you have to decide what weight you can continue with to maintain your goals.