This article will cover the basics of strength training for those who are starting out. It will give you the essentials f to undergo strength training for beginners.
First of all, you need to establish or create a strength training programme or routine that fits into your lifestyle and objective. Don't start off by blindly doing strength training exercises without knowing what you want to achieve. Put down in a notepad what is the period of your training, what strength levels do you want to achieve during that period and what do you want to eventually accomplish after the strength training. Strength training for beginners is about proper planning and sticking to the plan.
Related to the first point is that people have different objectives in doing strength training. As a beginner, you need to know what you want. Many athletics for example, undergo strength training to improve their game. However, the type of programme for each type of sports will be very different. You don't expect soccer strength training to be the same as baseball strength training. Each type of sports requires a different approach and focus. Decide on what you really want before embarking on any strength training.
For strength training, using the right equipment is very important. On the market, there are many different types of equipment to choose from. From strength training shoes to strength training weights, a beginner might not know how to choose the right equipment. The general guideline I have is always to start at the basic first. Don't go for expensive stuff and focus on things that fit your objectives. If you want to focus on upper body strength training, then go for cheap weights and not on shoes for example. The thing I am trying to say is that strength training for beginners need not be an expensive activity.
Finally, I want to point you to some online resources that I found
useful. There are many strength training videos and tips etc on the
Web. Problem is that you don't know how good are these information.
Here are some advice. First, do a search on Google for the term
'strength training for beginners'. It has a powerful relevance engine
so you are likely to find good information on the first result page
that it presents to you. Likewise, go to Youtube and repeat the search.
Since Youtube is powered by Google, its search result is likely to be
useful as well. Finally, go to Delicious which is a bookmarking web
service for people to save their bookmarks. Since people only bookmark
information that are useful, doing a search there will likely to yield you
good information as well.
Hope this article can enable you to learn how to do strength training for beginners.
Comments
2009-08-28 1:40am PDT
I agree with every word. I started as a desperate guy wanting to lift 30 pounds, 6 times a week, and that delivered little results due to me constantly quitting. I went down to a more realistic start, and im a different person today.
Reply to this Comment
2010-07-21 9:11am PDT
I'm glad that you emphasized different training for different sports! Many people think one routine will benefit all athletes and individuals the same. Everyone will respond differently to training, and it's all about finding what's effective for you. Great overview!
Reply to this Comment
2010-09-29 6:17pm PDT
A very informational article that serves IB well...Done very well, and clearly knowledgeable on the subject matter.