Free Weight Lifting Plan

One thing is certain: there are no short-cuts. Once you decide to build your body by lifting weights, you must stick to it if you expect to see results.

It isn't a system that works for some, and not for others.

If you do stick to it, you will get results—and very satisfying ones. Weight-lifting will work for anyone who stays with it for just a few months.

Here are some terms you should know:

A repetition is one complete motion of a single exercise.
A specified number of repetitions—12, for instance, in the bench press—makes up a single set.
Definition refers to the sharpness of the muscle outline.

How to Exercise

If you are underweight and want to gain, do fewer repetitions with slightly heavier weights, and take four- to five-minute rests between sets.

If you are overweight, or have considerable muscle bulk and want greater definition, do more repetitions with somewhat lighter weights, and take shorter rests between sets. One to two minutes is sufficient.

Breathe regularly while exercising, as often and as deeply as you need. Never try to hold your breath. It is especially good to breathe deeply when doing the bench press.

It is not necessary to put an extra strain or tension on your muscles when exercising. The act of lifting the weight for the proper number of repetitions, and in correct form, will auto-matically tense the proper muscles.

Best time to exercise

Thus, you will be lifting weights one day, and resting the next. The resting days are just as important as the training days. Your muscles will grow, and your body will rest and rebuild itself, on the days off.

People who keep in shape with light calisthenics, or setting-up exercises, often like to do them in the morning, as soon as they awaken.

The best time for weight-lifting, however, is at the other end of the day—in the evening, preferably just before going to bed.

The reason for this will be clear after your first few sessions: weight-lifting is hard work. You will want to rest after lifting, and you won't want to tire yourself out at the beginning of the day.

As with swimming, you should wait at least a half hour after eating before exercising. If you are lifting weights in the late afternoon, plan your training session so that it ends about a half hour before your evening meal.

Food and Weight Control

Nevertheless, all body-builders agree that diet is still the most important factor in controlling body weight. If you are underweight, your diet should include plenty of good, wholesome food: meat, butter, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, and plenty of milk and water every day. You can afford to eat the richer, fattier foods to help you put on a little weight: spaghetti and meatballs, mashed potatoes, and so on. But avoid heavily-seasoned foods.
See Proper Nutrtion for more information.

And of course you should get plenty of rest. If you are under 21, you should be getting at least eight hours of sleep, and nine or ten is better.
If you are overweight, there is no substitute for cutting down on the amount of food you eat. Make sure that your diet is wholesome, rather than sweet or starchy. Keep away from fatty foods; eat baked potatoes without butter instead of mashed, and try to add more fish, chicken, calves' liver, and fresh fruits and vegetables to your meals, as part of the free weight lifting plan.

The Basic Six weight lifting exercises

The page to read next is the Basic Weight Lifting Exercises. This page includes what many experts consider the Basic Six exercises weight lifting exercises: the bench press, regular press, squats, rowing motion, curls, and dead lift.

A great many of the specialized exercises are simply variations of these, designed to build up smaller muscle-groups for better definition.

As we take a closer look at the Basic Six, you'll see that each of them is an important exercise with a definite job to do. If you were to do nothing more than these six exercises, every other day for three months, you'd be astounded at your muscular improvement.
That doesn't mean, of course, that you should do "nothing more than these six exercises" for the next three months. A number of other important exercises are described in Interesting Exercises, and the best program is to do half the total exercises on alternate training days.

For example, let's say that you've decided to exercise on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and rest on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. On the first Monday, you would do two sets of the Basic Six. That means that you would go through the six exercises with the proper number of repetitions for each one, and then start at the beginning and go through the cycle of six exercises again.
On Tuesday you rest. On Wednesday you would do two sets of the exercises in Interesting Exercises, and on the following Monday you would be back on the Basic Six.

Some people prefer to exercise every other day, including weekends, rather than three days a week, especially when they are starting out.

This is perfectly all right; three days of rest per week is sufficient. But of course they should be alternate days.

It would be very poor training to work out for four straight days, and rest for three.

The important thing is to choose a training schedule that you find convenient, and stick to it. Regular training with weights is the real "secret" of successful body-building. Occasional bursts of heavy training will do little if any good, and may be positively harmful.
In explaining the exercises, I have generally used the anatomical names for all muscles.

The information found in and throughout The 7 Habits of Weight loss (www.7habitsofweightloss.com) is not intended as a substitute for the advice or treatment that may have been prescribed by your physician.

Information found here should NOT be construed as definitive or binding medical advice and is NOT intended to diagnose, prescribe, nor endorse any brand of products or services. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new weight loss or exercise regimen or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.