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Fitness

Designing A Weight Training Program

Posted by Admin on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 09:55 PM

If you want to pack on some serious muscle mass and you are not currently training on a regular basis, then I recommend starting off with strength training for your first several weeks or so to build a good foundation and to learn proper execution of the exercises. You are required to get stronger to get bigger so its important that you build a solid foundation.

After a few weeks of intense strength training, then you might want to progress to mass training with heavier weights to bulk up for several months. After that, a suggestion is to move on to utilize aspects of endurance training to improve your muscle definition, cardiovascular fitness, and overall athleticism.

Now let’s move on to talk about how you can develop your own customized weight training program. You need to make sure to identify your specific weight training goals.

Why do you want to lift weights? What is it that you are trying to accomplish? What changes in your body would you like to see? How do you want your clothes to fit? Try to be as specific as possible. The more tangible and concrete your goals are, the easier progress will be to measure, and the more likely you are to reach your goals.

For example: just saying that you want to gain weight is not specific enough, that could mean adding on several pounds of belly fat or seeing more pounds on the scale but not noticing any appreciable changes in your body’s musculature.

An example of a more specific goal would be something like "I want to gain 20lbs of lean muscle in one year" and in the process increase my muscle mass from head to toe. Of course you can be more specific than that and as a result your program will be that much more targeted. By having well defined goals it enables you to design and tailor your weight gain training program to meet your specific needs.

For some people their goal might be as simple as wanting to increase their muscle mass, while others might want to lose body fat and increase lean muscle. In either case it is equally important to set goals and timelines.

When you are defining your goals, it's important to consider your current fitness levels. Not only do you want to set goals which are measurable, but you want to make sure they are realistic. By accomplishing smaller steps, getting to the finish line will seem a lot more achievable and it will help with motivation.

Weight lifting requires that you are constantly eating, so you fuel your body with a constant supply of protein and calories, to facilitate muscle growth. While supplements can be a convenient way to consume additional calories and as a way to have more protein, you should never rely on liquid meals and supplements like weight gain pills to increase your appetite. Proper diet and nutrition is key to gaining weight when you are lifting heavy and exercise will make you feel hungrier. Forget the magic bullets there aren't any.