One of the absolute best ways to lose weight or stay in shape during college is to lift weights. However, there is a right and a wrong way to lift weights, and if you screw it up, you’ll probably just end up hurt and even more out of shape. These weightlifting tips will help you figure out what you’re doing before you get going so that you can keep the extra weight off or get into better shape for the summer.
First, decide what you’re weightlifting for. If you’re lifting as your primary form of exercise, then you need to be doing cardio circuits that will work both your muscles and your heart. If you’re going to be lifting in order to build muscle, you can use a cardio circuit, but you might also lift heavier weights with fewer repetitions so that you build more muscle more quickly.
Next, learn about the type of lifting that you want to do. Here are a couple of options:
If you’re lifting as a primary form of getting or staying in shape, then you want to do quick rotations that will get your heart rate up. You can actually do this in place of walking, running, biking or whatever else if you do it right. Every other day or so, you’ll want to do a circuit of several different exercises, probably alternating the ones that you do each day. When you do a circuit, you’ll lift smaller weights and use more repetitions, and you’ll lift until your muscles are exhausted. A circuit repeated two or three times should take about half an hour.
If you’re lifting as an addition to your cardio and wish to build up some bulk, then you can also do circuits. However, this time, you’ll lift more weight with fewer repetitions. You’ll still lift until your muscles are exhausted, but you should get exhausted much more quickly this way.
Then, you’ll need to learn several exercises and put together a circuit for yourself. You can find some great circuits online, and you can also get ideas from fitness magazines of all sorts. Ideally, you’ll have two or three different circuits that hit up several muscle groups each. You might focus primarily on legs one day and then move to arms the next day, but you need to be getting all of your muscle groups worked. One thing to think about here is finding circuits that have functional workouts, which are moves that work several muscle groups at once and that are useful for everyday life sort of activities, such as moving groceries or backpacks.
Finally, before you start lifting, be sure that you have your form down properly. Doing an exercise with proper form is imperative because lifting weights in the wrong way can cause you some serious injuries. In order to avoid this, be sure that you consult with an experienced weightlifter, check out your form in a mirror, or even download videos of various weightlifting moves before you start lifting a lot.
Crystal is the owner of GreekForMe – a licensed fraternity and sorority store that features Greek Merchandise [http://www.greekforme.com/custom-greek-merchandise.html] and other Greek gear for fraternities and sororities.
In her free time, she volunteers at her children’s school and also actively supports Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society.
