Concepts of Resistance Training

Let’s get one myth out of the way right off the bat. Weights or weight training will not make you big. Food makes you big. You could lift heavy weights all day, but if you don’t eat, you’ll wither and die. However, if you never touch a weight but eat pizza and drink beer every night, I guarantee you’ll get bigger.

If you want to strengthen, tone or shape your body, resistance training is a must. The benefits are bountiful. However, performing resistance exercise incorrectly is very dangerous. Here are some concepts to help you train with resistance safely:

   •    Maintain spinal alignment – When bending over to put on your shoe it’s okay to round your back. However, if you were to bend over 1000 times, rounding your back would be really bad. In the gym, you’ll be lifting much greater weight than a shoe, so maintaining spinal alignment is crucial.
  
   •    Core strength is a priority – We must address the muscles of the trunk. A house without a foundation will fall.
  
   •    Always warm up – Running on a treadmill, elliptical, riding a bike or a rowing machine is a good start. However, these activities are uniplanar. It’s important to perform multi-planar activities for both the lower and upper body.
  
   •    Stability before mobility – Always exercise on a stable ground first, before moving to unstable surfaces. Balance training has many benefits and has its place. Although stability balls and other balance equipment are popular, it is my opinion that it is impossible to generate any kind of real force. Try and kick a ball or push something while standing on ice.
  
   •    Body weight before external weight – Squat, lunge, push-up, sit-up or exercise with your own body before adding additional weight.
  
   •    Be consistent – You can’t stay awake for a week and then catch up on your sleep. Resistance training is no different.
  
   •    Don’t be a wuss! – One of the biggest mistakes I see is people performing aerobics with weights. The whole point of resistance training is to increase intensity.
  
   •    Stretch after each workout – When you perform resistance training, you shorten muscle fibers. It’s important to stretch the entire body each time, especially if you’re male. Most men are less flexible than women.
  
   •    Stand and exercise – We sit long enough, so stand as much as possible when exercising. Standing incorporates your balance and your ability to stabilize against resistance.
  
   •    Perform multi-joint or compound exercises before single joint exercises - Think movements instead of individual motions. Military press before lateral raises or bent over rows before curls.
  
   •    Never close your eyes when lifting weights, especially over your head.
  
   •    Don’t lift for more than an hour.

John Platero, an internationally renowned fitness educator, is the director of education for the National Council for Certified Personal Trainers. He is the "trainer for the trainers." He hs filmed more than 30 fitness videos and has been published in most of the fitness magazines. As an athlete, John was a champion bodybuilder turned cyclist and has won medals in cycling and mountain biking. You may contact him at johnplatero.com or at NCCPT.com.