How to Create a Weight Training Routine
The best way to create a weight training routine is to follow advice from professionals. Once you have the basics down, you can easily tailor your weight routine to suit your specific needs and goals.
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Instructions
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Tailor Your Routine to Body Building
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Build up your muscles by keeping your routine under 70 minutes. After about 70 minutes, your body will no longer build muscle effectively. Over training can actually slow your progress.
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Schedule each set (round of continuous lifting) to contain between 6 and 15 reps (repetitions). High reps help increase blood flow to the muscle for maximum building.
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Minimize the time you rest between sets. Experts recommend no more than 90 seconds of rest before moving on to another set. Short rest periods stimulate growth hormone release.
Tailor Your Weight Training to Body Sculpting
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Tone and shape your muscles by alternating weight training with cardiovascular workouts. Trading off prevents you from gaining too much body mass.
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Keep weight training sessions to between 30 and 60 minutes.
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Plan to perform more basic resistance weight training. Exercises such as squats and chin ups effectively shape your muscles.
Create a Body Building Weight Routine
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Establish a beginner's routine and perform it on three non-consecutive days each week.
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Set your weight bench to a 75 degree angle. Lay down and perform ten reps of dumbbell bench presses. Rest less than one minute. Complete another full set of 10 reps.
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Reset the weight bench to a flat position. Perform the same two sets of dumbbell presses as in the previous step. Rest for less than 60 seconds between sets.
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Stand next to the weight bench and perform two sets of lateral dumbbell lifts. Keep your elbow slightly bent, and raise the dumbbells to about shoulder height.
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Execute two sets of dumbbell curls. Keep your rest period short as before.
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Sit on the weight bench and place your ankles under the leg curl attachment. Perform 2 sets of 10 reps.
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Stand with feet together and dumbbells held at your sides. Stride forwards with one foot. Bring that foot back and repeat with the other foot. Do two full sets of 10 of these lunges.
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Lay face down on the weight bench. Place your ankles under the leg curl bar. Lift your legs to perform two sets of ten rep calf curls.
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Tips & Warnings
Create new routines by adding one set for every month you have been weight training.
Don't jump into heavy weight training right away. You could do serious damage to your muscles. Be sure you recognize your body's signals that it's time to stop, including shortness of breath, dizziness, sudden aches or pains and overwhelming fatigue.
