Weight lifting as a ritual of strength training is as old as our recorded time. Ancient Egyptians would lift sacks of sand to strength train for hunting and military duties more than 2000 BC. Greek strongmen and athletes would lift stones to develop strength and athletic abilities. Despite the fact that humans have a historical fascination with strength and muscle development, only a few have familiarised themselves with this topic. It is scientifically proven that weight lifting with progressive resistance helps our body in growing muscle and overall physique development. It amazes people to watch sports superstars Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Daniel Ricciardo to share their weightlifting stories every now and then.
We have mentioned some basic weightlifting techniques for you to get most out of your workouts.
Choosing the right weights
The idea of weight lifting is not to lift too heavy nor too light. If you lift too heavy ,you tend to cheat by losing proper form. While lifting feather light also doesn’t put sufficient stress on the muscles to grow. A big mistake made by most beginners is trying to use more weight than their muscles are capable of lifting. Once you’ve chosen the weights, try to lift in front of the mirror. During back exercises like barbell rows and deadlifts, keep your back straight and upright. Secondly, make sure you don’t bend your knees in front of your feet. It cause knee pain by shifting the pressure from your glutes and hamstrings to your knee joints
Warm up before lifting weights
Maximum number of injuries are caused when people dive right in lifting as heavy as possible. Think of your muscles as elastic bands. Elastic bands lose their flexibility on cooling. Muscles also behave in a similar way. So, always try to do 5-10 minutes of cardio or calisthenics before lifting. In the last part of warm up, make sure you do a few warm up sets of reduced weight before lifting heavy.
Full range of motion
Weight lifting has its maximum benefits when an exercise is done through its longest range of motion. This allows you to simulate the maximum amount of muscle. This maximum muscle contraction leads to the stretching of the opposite muscle. For example, bench press done in a strict full range of motion will make your shoulders and back flexible and stronger.
Necessary equipment for better execution of lifting exercises
Resistance training demands more than only a tracksuit and pair of shoes. There are a lot of options in gym gear that help you lift easily.
- You should wear a suitable belt if you find difficulty in maintaining your back straight in exercises like barbell rows and deadlifts.
- If your hands are affected by the exposure of heavy weights, you may use wrist wrap or gym gloves.
- Knee wraps are also a good option to protect your knee joints from heavy squats & barbell lunges.
Best breathing technique for weightlifting
It is often noted that most immature lifters breathe only once or twice in a set. This spikes lactic acid in our body and causes soreness in the muscles. You should try to breathe deeply in every rep. The most common practice is to inhale on the easy part of the movement (usually the lowering phase) and exhale on the hardest part(usually the upward phase). This breathing pattern helps in the supply of fresh oxygen and builds your training rhythm.
We should understand that our body is designed to lift weights instead of sitting all day long to a computer screen. Most people ignore these exercises as they aren’t as joyful as running or swimming. However, people aspiring to achieve an ideal physique should also do weight training just as they do running and dieting.
