5 Ground Rules for Strength Training

If you are just starting your weight-lifting journey, it can be a daunting task. With the advent of social media, there are so many Instagram fitness people showing off their heaviest or most complicated lifts. These videos, while impressive to an experienced strength trainer or lifter, can leave fitness professionals leery, as complicated lifting can shy newbies away from fitness (which is not a good thing). I’m here to give novice lifters a few tips, or rather, ground rules, on how to approach strength training.

1. Make a dynamic warmup a priority.

There are two types of warm-ups: a general warmup and a dynamic warm-up.

A general warm-up is considered anything that increases the temperature of your body or gets your brain ready for a workout: a walk, a few minutes on the stationary bike, or a quick start on the elliptical.

A dynamic warm-up is specific to the exercise you are about to participate in, so a sprinter might do walking lunges or high knees, and a power lifter might do bodyweight squats or rows with a band depending on what muscle group they are working.

While a general warmup for 5-to-10 minutes is important, a dynamic warmup for the same amount of time is equally essential to make sure mobility of the movement patterns are being targeted. Mobility is not flexibility. It is defined as the body’s ability to move throughout its entire range of motion in a given movement. It is all about control and synchronicity within the muscle groups around a particular joint (e.g., the rotator cuff around the shoulder or the muscles that bend and straighten the knee). So, if you are doing a workout that is focused on squats that day, do a few sets of 10-15 bodyweight squats and calf raises, slow and steady, to get the muscles primed to take on additional load.

2. Stick to the basics first.

Social Media platforms, like Instagram or TikTok, are flooded with people doing complicated moves with kettlebells or barbells. While they seem impressive, they are not for beginners! When starting out, stick with these fundamental movement patterns: The Squat, The Hinge, The Row (or Pull), The Press (or Push), and Lunge/Gait (walking).

Learn how to move with control throughout the entire range of motion within each movement (think mobility). Each of the movement patterns has a specific set of muscle groups that work together to ensure proper mobility and function. This is how I break down these movement patterns:

The Squat’s Major Muscle Groups: Glutes, quadriceps, calves, and core

The Hinge’s Major Muscle Groups: Glutes, hamstrings, and core

The Pull’s Major Muscle Groups: Latissiumus Dorsi (the Lats), rear deltoids (shoulder), and biceps

The Push’s Major Muscle Groups: Pectoralis (the Pecs), front deltoids, and triceps

The Lunge’s Major Muscle Groups: Hip stabilizers (abductors/adductors), quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and core

When you break down the body by movement pattern, you can easily see which muscle groups are worked when. Then, you can plan exercise days accordingly! Alternating upper body days with lower body days will make sure you never work the same muscle group in a given day.

3. Start light to get the movement right.

Just because a weight is light, if it is challenging to you at the time you use it, you are building an adaptation to the stress placed on the muscles. This causes them to grow in order to handle the stress the next time without causing injury to the connective tissue that supports the health of those muscles and the joints they control.

This is called progression, and it takes time. As you are able to lift the weight easier and have to increase the repetitions to make it more difficult, that is usually an indicator it’s time to increase the weight. If you do not have the ability to increase the weight and you are lifting it more than twenty repetitions, consider slowing down the tempo of the exercise. This makes the muscle have to work a different way to make that weight more challenging.

If you are trying to increase muscle size or want to become leaner and toned, you will have to invest in more weights. Lifting light weights for long periods of time will only increase your muscles’ ability to lift light weights for long periods of time; it will not change the size. And no, you will not get bulky by lifting heavier weight!

4. Control the weight; do not let the weight control you!

This builds on the previous ground rule.  This is key to making sure you are not lifting too much too soon, especially for beginners. Being able to control the weight throughout the entire movement is key to building power, stability, and strength.

Think of a bicep curl. When you curl the weight up to your shoulder, that’s the power contraction which builds force production (the ability to lift a load with speed) in the muscle. When you hold the weight at a 90-degree bend in the elbow, this builds endurance and stability in the ligaments and tendons in those muscles that control the elbow joint, preventing injury. Lastly, when you slowly bring the weight back to the starting position, this increases true strength in the muscle. All are key to well-balanced muscles all over the body!

5. BREATHE!

I know it seems silly to have this as a tip, but a lot of people hold their breath while they lift weights. It is essential to breathe during a workout to make sure blood circulates to get oxygen and other nutrients to those working muscles. Also, you can faint when holding your breath while exercising at high intensities due to the extreme fluctuations in blood pressure, and no one wants that. Experienced weightlifters do use a bracing technique called the Valsalva maneuver that allows for intra-abdominal pressure to build, acting as a weight belt under extreme loads (but this is not necessary for beginners).

When lifting weights, inhale at the starting position, exhale at peak exertion, and inhale back to starting.

Bonus: When in doubt, ask!

If you are ever questioning something, there are tons of fitness professionals that are happy to help. Consider group fitness classes that have a combination of cardio exercises with weights or a beginner’s class at your local gym. You can always seek the help of a certified fitness professional, like a personal trainer or strength coach that can give you an intro session all on your own.  I hope these tips motivate you to be confident in your ability to start building muscle!!