Weight training: Improve your muscular fitness
Your friends enjoy using the weight machines and free weights at the fitness center. And you see the results of their hard work — toned muscles and an overall improved physique. You're thinking about starting a weight training program yourself, but you're not sure how to begin.
Edward Laskowski, M.D., a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, recommends 10 basic weight training exercises to work your major muscle groups. Divided into exercises for your arms and shoulders, abdomen and chest, back and legs, you can complete these exercises in 20 to 30 minutes. For greatest benefit, you should do weight training — a type of strength training using weights for resistance — two to three times a week.
The short amount of time required per session is good news for people who already juggle a busy schedule, says Dr. Laskowski. "It means you don't have to be in the weight room for 90 minutes a day to see results. You can be there 20 to 30 minutes two to three times a week and see significant improvement."
Build muscle with only one set of repetitions
Although many theories exist on the best way to build muscle, Dr. Laskowski recommends a single set of each exercise using a weight heavy enough to tire the muscles after a dozen repetitions.
"We like to use a weight that's heavy enough so that on the 12th repetition, you're just barely able to finish it," says Dr. Laskowski.
Start with a weight you can lift comfortably 12 to 15 times. Increase that weight by no more than 10 percent after you can easily do 12 repetitions. Research shows that a single set of 12 repetitions with the proper weight can build muscle just as efficiently as three sets of the same exercise.
Plan to rest one full day between exercising each specific muscle group, to allow for recovery. You can devise daily sessions by working only one muscle group on a given day. For example, on Monday work the arms and shoulders, on Tuesday work the legs, and so on. A more practical alternative would be to work the major muscle groups at a single session two or three times a week.
Weight training: Do's and don'ts of proper technique
Avoid muscle loss
According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM), your lean muscle mass may decrease by nearly 50 percent between the ages of 20 and 90.
"If you don't do anything to replace that loss, you're losing muscle and increasing fat," says Dr. Laskowski. "But if you do weight training, you can preserve and enhance your muscle mass."
This enhanced muscle mass offers several health benefits:
Your body can work harder and longer before you get tired.
You can reverse the declines in strength, bone density and muscle mass that accompany aging.
You can maintain the flexibility of your joints.
You can better manage your weight, when combined with a healthy diet.
You can stay strong as you age, which helps you do routine tasks and remain independent.
Aerobic exercises such as running, walking and bicycling strengthen your heart — also a muscle — by forcing it to adapt to the stress of exercise in a positive way. Similarly, weight training, done properly, challenges your other muscles by forcing them to adapt to the stress of the weights and become stronger.
"No matter what your age, you can combat lean muscle loss by weight training," says Dr. Laskowski.
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