Infinity Health and Fitness Blog

Most newbie’s are concerned about starting with free weights and assume machines are more safe and effective. The idea of free weights involves scary giant barbells and scarier even more giant men lifting them. As with everything new you learn in life, you have got to start somewhere.

With that being said, the purpose of my article is to Introduce newbie’s to the concept of training movement patters more efficiently with free weights and not just individual muscle groups while using machines. It also teaches them to set up a resistance training program that incorporates Injury prevention, flexibility, mobility, and strength.

Designing your resistance program does not always have to seem hopeless. The majority of the population just does not know any better. Many people blindly follow programs that they’ve cut out of recent magazines. Most of these programs only lead to serious injury. A lot more people could benefit from a more efficient and effective method of training when using free weights. Here are a few reasons why.

1.       Machines rarely have a purpose with everyday training, unless the program is designed to concentrate on rehabilitation.

2.       They’re much too supportive. Because there’s far too supportive, you use fewer muscle groups at the same time. This means you burn less calories and work body in a less functional way.

3.       They don’t allow them to work naturally. Because many machines work on a fixed path, there’s not much room for working the body throughout different planes of motion.

4.       They don’t allow you to work on weaknesses. Many machines require you to use either arms or both legs to move the weight, so if one side is stronger than the other, that side is probably doing most of the work.

The majority of the trainee’s could benefit from a simple guide where they can learn how to balance their training in a way that will:

1.       Prevent imbalances and weaknesses

2.       More time efficient

3.       Produce much greater results: Increased caloric expenditure, Increased gains of lean body mass, Increased fat loss, Improved nutrient utilization

4.       More value for their training dollar

5.       Develop the central nervous system and Improve intramuscular  and intramuscular coordination

 

Before a list a few suggestions for Resistance training program, lets discuss about what to do before you even consider using free weights. Before going into weights I make sure to Include some soft tissue work (foam rolling), for all my newbie’s. This is used to help with tissue quality, as well as a proper dynamic flexibility routine to help with mobility.

Foam rolling works amazingly for the use of breaking up excess scar tissue, adhesions, and knots that accumulate in muscle tissue through years of sitting at the computer or studying all those hours and forgetting about the most important thing in life, your health.

 

The proper way to improve joint mobility is to conduct dynamic warm up routine’s that could be demonstrated by your strength coach or personal trainer. Dynamic flexibility allows you to target very specific areas such as hips, glutes, and scapula. You are basically preparing your body for movement by stimulating the central nervous system to handle the more dynamic nature of resistance training. 

Here are just a few suggested compound movement patterns that allow you to train several muscle groups at once using dumbbells and barbells.