Before you ask: no, barbells are not strange alien devices which will turn you into The Hulk just by being in the same building. But more on that later.

Weights are a fundamental component of fitness training. Whether you want to get stronger or just shape up, exercising with weights regularly will get you there. While the barbells and dumbbells are relatively recent developments, the idea of getting stronger by lifting heavy stuff has been with us for time immemorial. There are artefacts from ancient Greece describing progressive weight training, and it likely that they weren’t the first people to figure it out.

Now, don’t just run out and grab the first heavy thing you find. As with any other exercise, you need to learn the form; with weights this is even more important as you’ll be loading your body up well above what it’s used to carrying. Doubly so in a bench press or overhead press, because that load will be up in the air right above your soft squishy body.

Do it right

Weight training is one area where you might really want to find someone to show you the ropes. Failing that, get hold of a good book describing the techniques and practice using an empty barbell – even a broomstick will do in the beginning, since your first focus should be to get the form right rather than lifting elephants one handed. Rippetoe’s Starting Strength is the go-to book for us.

Once you get the hang of the movements, you can start to add weight slowly. The key word is slowly. You can’t add 20kg on the bar every other day and expect your body to keep up. Most sensible programmes recommend increments of 2.5kg per session or even per week. The deadlift is a special case as it mechanically  allows you to lift much heavier weights than most other techniques, and it’s quite possible to make it work in increments of 5kg.

This progression allows you to keep improving at a constant rate without hitting a plateau right off the starting blocks.

How many sets of how many repetitions of what kind of lift is the subject of much debate, but 5 sets of 5 for most lifts seems to be a good rule of thumb to begin with, while a lower number of sets is usually recommended specifically for deadlifts . Unless you are following a specific programme, you could start with this and adjust as you go along. With regards to lifts, we’re very partial to squats and deadlifts, although we also like cleans  a lot!

Ditch the machines

All these exercises are done with free weights, rather than with machines. Machines make lifting easier, so you can probably lift heavier weights than you could freely, but remember this is about you getting stronger than you were yesterday, not about getting the biggest numbers possible. Besides, machines restrict your movements, so you’re not training all the smaller bits of you which keep you steady.

The only lift which requires some assistance is the bench press. While you can get away with it if you’re lifting very light weights or using dumbbells, you really want to have a rack to press in. This can save your bacon if you fail a heavy press, as otherwise you could end up trapped under the bar.

When lifting, try to return the bar to the floor, rather than dropping it. Quite apart from the damage you can inflict on the floor, lowering the bar (the negative) should be considered part of the exercise.

Recovery is as important as exercise

Once you’ve gotten started with weights, especially as you start to load up further, you may start to notice two things (apart from soreness). First, you’re going to be really tired. This should hopefully not be a surprise, but don’t try to work against it. You need to give your body time to recover after lifting, so don’t try to lift heavy weights every day to allow your muscles time to repair themselves. It’s this repair phase that makes you stronger, not the lifting itself.

Second thing, you’ll probably be feeling real hungry. Again, don’t fight it, even if you’re trying to lose fat. Remember your body is trying to repair itself, so it needs material for those repairs. If you deny it food, it won’t use stored fat here, it will just reabsorb healthy muscle tissue and recycle that to repair with. That leaves you weaker and still hungry. So definitely, eat up – just don’t pig out on sugars and junk food!

The good news is that once your body starts burning up energy to repair, it goes on for quite some time – it’s still burning calories as you sit at your desk the next day, patching itself up.

All this calorie burning brings us back to the hulk thing we mentioned in the beginning. When you’re doing heavy weight training, it will take you a ton of food to maintain your weight. If you wanted to bulk up, you’d need way beyond than that, as your body would need a surplus of material to build itself up that much. It’s really not going to happen unless you try really hard to make it happen, and even so it’s a long way there!

As usual, remember that lean muscle is denser than fat, so don’t be surprised if your body weight increases. You should notice that you’re much leaner even though the scales say you’re heavier.

Don’t worry

While we’re on the subject, another myth about weight training is that it will make you slow. Unfortunately this myth has been floating around for the best part of a century, despite clear evidence to the contrary – no one could accuse Bruce Lee, Mas Oyama, or practically every professional boxer of being slow. Just doesn’t happen, especially if you’re also working on your mobility.

If you want more advice or some pointers about lifting, The Art of Manliness and Mark Rippetoe have released an excellent series of video tutorials which you can find on youtube:

So there you go. Remember to lift responsibly, eat well, rest properly, and please don’t accidentally decapitate yourself with a bench press beyond your abilities.

Header image: Getting Big, Eric McGregor (CC BY 2.0)