Today at work (as you know my work is at the gym) I saw some crazy weight lifting. Actually what I witnessed is common and what I see on a regular basis encouraged me to write a post. There are a few things that you might be doing that hinder your strength gains. It's good to know that strength training is safe and easy when done properly, but can make you weak and sore if done wrong.
Oopsie #1: Too Many Reps With Not Enough Weight
I swear I hear the following line at least once a day from a female student "I build muscle really fast and I don't want to get huge so I'm just lifting really light." So what she is saying then is "I don't want a tone slender arm that has nice definition. I'd rather have flabby arms." A toned arm is sexy. Please ladies quit doing bicep curls with 3lb weights. It doesn't matter if you do 100 reps all you are doing is wasting time and potentially hurting yourself. I promise you will NOT bulk up. We don't produce enough testosterone for that to happen. When you do tons of reps you are sending many weak signals to your muscles to contract -vs- sending a few strong impulses. These weak impulses will eventually fatigue the muscle, without adding muscle mass. The goal of strength training is the opposite….a lot of tension without fatigue. This is accomplished best when using heavier weights and less reps. Don’t be afraid of those 10lb weights sassy girl.
Oopsie #2: Stretching Before Your Workout
You are wasting time going through an extended stretch routine before your workout. Chances are you are doing your bod more harm than good. If you hate to stretch or if you think you don’t have time to stretch have no fear. Stretching before your workout doesn’t have any real benefits. When you stretch before your workout it makes you weaker as does stretching in between sets. You should make sure your muscles are ready for exercise though so I encourage you to do a warm up or move through the range of motion you are about to do.
But this does not mean you should quit stretching at the end of your workout. YOU MUST STRETCH! It makes me annoyed when people work their bodies to the max and then instead of giving their muscles some love they just leave the gym.
The next time you pick up a weight I encourage you to make the conscious decision to push yourself. Go to the next level but take a few minutes to warm up to prepare the body for exercise.
