Body Building
If you are planning to join a gym this is a must-read for you. If you’ve never been to one before, the chances are you will be suckered into choosing the flashiest gym in the neighborhood, one that is part of an established chain or one that promises the most drastic results. You need to realize that most claims made by them are marketing gimmicks to lure consumers. Getting results from a gym is dependent on many factors – your personal dedication level, the rapport you share with trainers and fellow gym-goers, the crowds that throng the gym during peak hours, the different types of programmes they offer and most importantly the quality of the staff. You also need to watch out for shady deals, fast weight loss packages and similar offers that seem to be too good to be true. Here are some things you should keep in mind while choosing a gym:
Location
Never ever pick a gym that is far away. Your gym should ideally be located near your home or office. It should be easily accessible at all times. If you have to travel for long to reach your gym, the chances are that you’ll soon start finding excuses not to go there.
Facilities
This is the first thing you’ll be shown the moment are given an introductory tour. Every decent gym should have the following – treadmill, elliptical, spinner, stationary cycle, rowing machine, stepper, free weights, weight machines and abdominal machines (most gyms have more than one kind). These are the very basic facilities you should look out for. Don’t be fooled by gyms which have more than one variety of similar machines. The aforementioned ones are enough for a good workout. You should check for their condition and maintenance. Also try and visit the gym during the time you’d want to regularly workout so you can gauge how crowded the gym is at that moment and if the machines and equipment are available.
It would also be a wise idea to take a closer look in the locker room to see if there is enough locker space to keep your belongings. You should also check the condition of toilets, steam room, massage room (if any), etc. Besides basic hygiene, good maintenance of the aforementioned facilities will give you an insight on the gym’s overall efficiency and maintenance-levels.
Personnel
More than the facilities a gym’s credence is determined the quality of personnel they hire. Check how good the trainers, dieticians and other staff members are. There are some easy ways to do this.
Most gyms have trainers of two varieties – personal trainers or general fitness instructors. The moment you enter a gym you can see whether they’re paying attention to clients, giving them instructions, checking their postures or just milling around talking among themselves. Good ones will never do the latter. Their physical condition will also be a yardstick. Good trainers will always be physically fit themselves.If you intend to opt for a personal trainer (you should if it’s your first time), ask the management to give you a trial version with him. The rapport you share with him/her is very important, so you should try and get to know the person. In case of dieticians, you should ask for their credentials and see whether they have done an accredited nutritional course which allows them to practice as nutritionists or dieticians.
Crowd
Another important feature of any gym is the kind of crowd that hangs out there. If you observe any regular gym-goer, you’ll realise that they tend to develop a close personal bond with others who work out there. This helps build a sense of camaraderie among them and in the long run your gym crowd will become your support group which will help you follow a healthy lifestyle.
Offers
Before you settle on a gym, always compare the prices. Most gyms will have a variety of saver deals – couple offers, discounts at different times, various weight loss packages and a variety of other offers. Don’t get fooled by them. Always compare them to basic offers (yearly membership). I will give you an example. A gym offered me a yearly membership fee and a 30 kg weight loss package for Rs 30,000 for a year. It also had a five kg package which cost just Rs 15,000 and the yearly membership is fees were somewhere around Rs 10,000. The weight loss packages usually have some free dietician meetings and massages thrown in. But to be honest I never found them useful and they were a waste of money. Plus the 30 kg weight loss package offers nothing different from the 5 kg package. So be very careful about offers from a particular gym because they usually give the same service irrespective of what various offers say.
Different programmes
Another thing you should check before joining a gym is what different alternatives they offer to your run-of-the-mill cardio machines and weight training. Many people tend to get bored with regular workouts and these sorts of group activities not only breaks the monotony but also helps you broaden your horizon and find more exciting ways to stay fit. Look out for separate classes for activities like aerobics, spinning, power yoga, Pilates, etc. Check if they’re being offered by professionals or the regular gym instructors. If it’s the regular gym instructors, the chances are they aren’t very good. Another thing you should keep in mind is whether these classes are part of the package the gym offers.
But the most important thing you’ve to realise is that the gym or fitness trainer is not going to be the deciding factor for you to achieve your fitness goals.. Before you join a gym, you have to make sure that you are in the right frame of mind. The choices you made before should have no bearing on your present state of being. Different people have different expectations from a gym – some want to lose weight, some want to gain weight, while others simply want to get fitter. Whatever your goals, you need to make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing comes between you and your work-out.
weight training benefits everyone – men, women, elders and even children (above 13 and not hardcore weight training). You can’t get that well-toned or defined look without strength training. It’ll help you bulk up and/or tone the neck, chest, shoulders, biceps, abdomen, forearms, thighs, calves, triceps, back (upper, middle and lower) and hamstrings. It’s equally important for weight gain, maintenance, shaping up or weight loss.
Benefits of weight training
For those looking to lose weight, weight training helps build lean muscle (which promotes faster weight loss). It also boosts metabolism and helps tighten the skin. It ups testosterone levels which is a key fat-burning hormone besides keeping a host of cardiovascular diseases at bay. It prevents sagging skin (this can be a very embarrassing problem for weight losers), helps target stubborn areas like inner thighs or abdomen, builds muscle strength and endurance and improves your posture. Quite simply as I discovered, it’s impossible to lose weight effectively without it.
For those looking to gain weight, weight training is as required as for those looking to lose it. People who are usually thin are called ectomorphs and they have a very high metabolism which means that they tend to burn up calories faster than the rest of us. For them, weight training combined with a proper diet is necessary to bulk up.
For women, it can keep osteoporosis away, improve flexibility, posture, strength, endurance and also improves cardiovascular health. And women who are scared that they will start looking like muscular caveman can rest assured that will never happen. Muscle hypertrophy, the kind we see on male bodybuilders is usually fuelled by testosterone. A woman’s body on the other hand secretes only about 1/100th of the amount of this hormone and unless a woman takes steroids, it’s impossible for her to look that bulky! Read more about benefits of weight training for women.
For older people, weight training helps slow down muscle mass loss that comes naturally with age. It also increases bone density which can help prevent the onset of age-related diseases like osteoporosis and arthritis. Now that you’ve read about all the health benefits, here are some tips you should keep in mind before you start weight training:
1. Consult a physician
Before you start any new fitness regime, it’s vital to consult a physician and get a total health check-up. Make sure you don’t have any heart problems or conditions like diabetes which can affect your workout and diet.
2. Get a professional trainer
If this is the first time you’ve ever set your foot in a gym it would be a good idea to get some professional assistance. Weight training is all about proper posture and form and you need a professional to show you how it’s done. Posture refers to the position you take before you start and form the movements you make during each exercise. Improper posture and form can lead to variety of injuries, the most vulnerable areas being the lower back and shoulder areas. Also there are a variety of different ways to go about it – machines (for various body parts), dumbbells and barbells and you need a trainer’s help to navigate the gym in the early days.
3. Warm up before and stretch afterwards
Not warming up properly before weight training could lead to injuries. Spend a few minutes warming up before you start exercising. It should ideally target the muscle group you’re going to target. For example, if you’re going to do lower body exercises, do some squats before. Basically, you’re giving your body a chance to experience the stress you’re going to put it through so you’re ready for it. Stretching afterwards will loosen up your muscles and prevent injuries. Failure to stretch also coincides with cramps and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
4. Start slow
Do not start with heavy weights. It takes time to gradually build up your strength. Initially, you should look to learn the basics and do light weights. Since you’ve never moved those particular joints before, it will take time to master. Slowly, they’ll become more flexible and you can gradually up the number of sets and reps you do.
5. Get proper rest
One of the aspects of strength training that’s often ignored is the rest phase. It’s vital to recuperate your muscles so that the wear and tear caused by strength training can be repaired. To begin you with you should only do strength training three days a week and do cardio on the others.
6. Proper diet
One of the most important facets of strength training is a proper diet. It’s not just about what you eat, but when and how much. For example, you should immediately have something after your workout to help repair the muscles (protein shake). Since weight training essentially means your muscles go through a lot of wear and tear, adequate proteins are required to repair them. For this you need a diet high in protein. Some food items you should definitely eat while weight training is turkey, chicken, fish, egg whites, etc. Don’t fret if you’re a vegetarian you can easily make up for your protein requirements through dry fruits, pulses, sprouts, dal, groundnuts, etc. You can also increase your protein intake with whey protein shakes. However, don’t neglect other food groups like carbs, fibres or fats. Consult a dietician before you start out to help you customise the perfect diet.
All said and done there’s far more to weight training that’s been mentioned here but it’s surely enough to get you started. Go pump some iron. We will soon follow up with workouts for the various individual muscle groups like the back, chest, biceps, triceps and lower body.
Location
Never ever pick a gym that is far away. Your gym should ideally be located near your home or office. It should be easily accessible at all times. If you have to travel for long to reach your gym, the chances are that you’ll soon start finding excuses not to go there.
Facilities
This is the first thing you’ll be shown the moment are given an introductory tour. Every decent gym should have the following – treadmill, elliptical, spinner, stationary cycle, rowing machine, stepper, free weights, weight machines and abdominal machines (most gyms have more than one kind). These are the very basic facilities you should look out for. Don’t be fooled by gyms which have more than one variety of similar machines. The aforementioned ones are enough for a good workout. You should check for their condition and maintenance. Also try and visit the gym during the time you’d want to regularly workout so you can gauge how crowded the gym is at that moment and if the machines and equipment are available.
It would also be a wise idea to take a closer look in the locker room to see if there is enough locker space to keep your belongings. You should also check the condition of toilets, steam room, massage room (if any), etc. Besides basic hygiene, good maintenance of the aforementioned facilities will give you an insight on the gym’s overall efficiency and maintenance-levels.
Personnel
More than the facilities a gym’s credence is determined the quality of personnel they hire. Check how good the trainers, dieticians and other staff members are. There are some easy ways to do this.
Most gyms have trainers of two varieties – personal trainers or general fitness instructors. The moment you enter a gym you can see whether they’re paying attention to clients, giving them instructions, checking their postures or just milling around talking among themselves. Good ones will never do the latter. Their physical condition will also be a yardstick. Good trainers will always be physically fit themselves.If you intend to opt for a personal trainer (you should if it’s your first time), ask the management to give you a trial version with him. The rapport you share with him/her is very important, so you should try and get to know the person. In case of dieticians, you should ask for their credentials and see whether they have done an accredited nutritional course which allows them to practice as nutritionists or dieticians.
Crowd
Another important feature of any gym is the kind of crowd that hangs out there. If you observe any regular gym-goer, you’ll realise that they tend to develop a close personal bond with others who work out there. This helps build a sense of camaraderie among them and in the long run your gym crowd will become your support group which will help you follow a healthy lifestyle.
Offers
Before you settle on a gym, always compare the prices. Most gyms will have a variety of saver deals – couple offers, discounts at different times, various weight loss packages and a variety of other offers. Don’t get fooled by them. Always compare them to basic offers (yearly membership). I will give you an example. A gym offered me a yearly membership fee and a 30 kg weight loss package for Rs 30,000 for a year. It also had a five kg package which cost just Rs 15,000 and the yearly membership is fees were somewhere around Rs 10,000. The weight loss packages usually have some free dietician meetings and massages thrown in. But to be honest I never found them useful and they were a waste of money. Plus the 30 kg weight loss package offers nothing different from the 5 kg package. So be very careful about offers from a particular gym because they usually give the same service irrespective of what various offers say.
Different programmes
Another thing you should check before joining a gym is what different alternatives they offer to your run-of-the-mill cardio machines and weight training. Many people tend to get bored with regular workouts and these sorts of group activities not only breaks the monotony but also helps you broaden your horizon and find more exciting ways to stay fit. Look out for separate classes for activities like aerobics, spinning, power yoga, Pilates, etc. Check if they’re being offered by professionals or the regular gym instructors. If it’s the regular gym instructors, the chances are they aren’t very good. Another thing you should keep in mind is whether these classes are part of the package the gym offers.
But the most important thing you’ve to realise is that the gym or fitness trainer is not going to be the deciding factor for you to achieve your fitness goals.. Before you join a gym, you have to make sure that you are in the right frame of mind. The choices you made before should have no bearing on your present state of being. Different people have different expectations from a gym – some want to lose weight, some want to gain weight, while others simply want to get fitter. Whatever your goals, you need to make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing comes between you and your work-out.
weight training benefits everyone – men, women, elders and even children (above 13 and not hardcore weight training). You can’t get that well-toned or defined look without strength training. It’ll help you bulk up and/or tone the neck, chest, shoulders, biceps, abdomen, forearms, thighs, calves, triceps, back (upper, middle and lower) and hamstrings. It’s equally important for weight gain, maintenance, shaping up or weight loss.
Benefits of weight training
For those looking to lose weight, weight training helps build lean muscle (which promotes faster weight loss). It also boosts metabolism and helps tighten the skin. It ups testosterone levels which is a key fat-burning hormone besides keeping a host of cardiovascular diseases at bay. It prevents sagging skin (this can be a very embarrassing problem for weight losers), helps target stubborn areas like inner thighs or abdomen, builds muscle strength and endurance and improves your posture. Quite simply as I discovered, it’s impossible to lose weight effectively without it.
For those looking to gain weight, weight training is as required as for those looking to lose it. People who are usually thin are called ectomorphs and they have a very high metabolism which means that they tend to burn up calories faster than the rest of us. For them, weight training combined with a proper diet is necessary to bulk up.
For women, it can keep osteoporosis away, improve flexibility, posture, strength, endurance and also improves cardiovascular health. And women who are scared that they will start looking like muscular caveman can rest assured that will never happen. Muscle hypertrophy, the kind we see on male bodybuilders is usually fuelled by testosterone. A woman’s body on the other hand secretes only about 1/100th of the amount of this hormone and unless a woman takes steroids, it’s impossible for her to look that bulky! Read more about benefits of weight training for women.
For older people, weight training helps slow down muscle mass loss that comes naturally with age. It also increases bone density which can help prevent the onset of age-related diseases like osteoporosis and arthritis. Now that you’ve read about all the health benefits, here are some tips you should keep in mind before you start weight training:
1. Consult a physician
Before you start any new fitness regime, it’s vital to consult a physician and get a total health check-up. Make sure you don’t have any heart problems or conditions like diabetes which can affect your workout and diet.
2. Get a professional trainer
If this is the first time you’ve ever set your foot in a gym it would be a good idea to get some professional assistance. Weight training is all about proper posture and form and you need a professional to show you how it’s done. Posture refers to the position you take before you start and form the movements you make during each exercise. Improper posture and form can lead to variety of injuries, the most vulnerable areas being the lower back and shoulder areas. Also there are a variety of different ways to go about it – machines (for various body parts), dumbbells and barbells and you need a trainer’s help to navigate the gym in the early days.
3. Warm up before and stretch afterwards
Not warming up properly before weight training could lead to injuries. Spend a few minutes warming up before you start exercising. It should ideally target the muscle group you’re going to target. For example, if you’re going to do lower body exercises, do some squats before. Basically, you’re giving your body a chance to experience the stress you’re going to put it through so you’re ready for it. Stretching afterwards will loosen up your muscles and prevent injuries. Failure to stretch also coincides with cramps and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
4. Start slow
Do not start with heavy weights. It takes time to gradually build up your strength. Initially, you should look to learn the basics and do light weights. Since you’ve never moved those particular joints before, it will take time to master. Slowly, they’ll become more flexible and you can gradually up the number of sets and reps you do.
5. Get proper rest
One of the aspects of strength training that’s often ignored is the rest phase. It’s vital to recuperate your muscles so that the wear and tear caused by strength training can be repaired. To begin you with you should only do strength training three days a week and do cardio on the others.
6. Proper diet
One of the most important facets of strength training is a proper diet. It’s not just about what you eat, but when and how much. For example, you should immediately have something after your workout to help repair the muscles (protein shake). Since weight training essentially means your muscles go through a lot of wear and tear, adequate proteins are required to repair them. For this you need a diet high in protein. Some food items you should definitely eat while weight training is turkey, chicken, fish, egg whites, etc. Don’t fret if you’re a vegetarian you can easily make up for your protein requirements through dry fruits, pulses, sprouts, dal, groundnuts, etc. You can also increase your protein intake with whey protein shakes. However, don’t neglect other food groups like carbs, fibres or fats. Consult a dietician before you start out to help you customise the perfect diet.
All said and done there’s far more to weight training that’s been mentioned here but it’s surely enough to get you started. Go pump some iron. We will soon follow up with workouts for the various individual muscle groups like the back, chest, biceps, triceps and lower body.