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 Weight Lifting Routines

The best about weight lifting is that it improves your health and you don't depend on external factors like weather or teammates. This is a sport that can dramatically change your physique, for good. Logically, weight lifting gives your muscles more strength, size and power. Another great benefit is the effect that weight lifting has on the metabolism, which is the amount of calories our body burns to maintain its daily functions.

Numerous weight lifting routines exist and simply listing few of them is not the point of this article. You can find such training routines in any given bodybuilding magazine or on the Internet, but what is hard to find are those fundamental principles and techniques that can really help you. The first thing to remember is that regardless of how good a given might be, its just a small fraction of the whole system that will lead to your success. The process of recovery is just as important as the actual workout and that includes what and when you eat, and how much and when you sleep.

The recovery phase includes your daily menu and amount of sleep. If you don't supply your body with all the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals, and get at least 8 hours of sleep, your body never fully recover, so you will never grow, even if you are training harder than Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the days. The most basic principle around which your weight lifting routine must be build is "maximum intensity followed by maximum rest."

Our bodies differ in way that they respond differently to the same exercises, so it's impossible to outline one universal weight lifting routine. Nevertheless, there are some evergreen principles to keep in mind. The first one is to have a proper warm up before you start.

You should never forget to warm up you body well, in order to prevent injuries. The idea here is to get your body to the point where it feels warm. That doesn't mean that you should be sweating before you start your main exercises. Do cardio for 10 minutes before your workout, or stretch.

Any weight lifting routine must be focused around a given individual, depending on how much time he can devote to weight lifting and what his/her goals are. For people that can only find time to train 3 days a week, it's advisable to combine two muscle groups in the same day. Those of you who have more time will find themselves in a position as it is much more effective to train each muscle group separately. Don't worry, you won't over-train, because one muscle group is recovering while you are training the other.

There are several exercises to which weight lifters like to refer as 'classics', because they have stud the test of time, proving to hit the muscles harder than anything else. They work the respective muscle groups harder, and more thoroughly. Bench press is the best exercises for chest, squats are number one for legs. To hit your back the most, perform barbell rows, while the seated military press will give an incredible separation to your shoulders.