This fortnightly feature was published on July 26, 1996

Be consistent with your workouts

By Anup Deb Nath

MOST men prefer bodies with rippling muscles — the kind seen in magazines or movies and rarely in real life. Weight-training in the only answer to that. With proper weight-training, apart from the muscle tone, your body will become stronger as well as more proportionate.

To achieve your goal, you will have to go about it systematically. Ensure that you train with an experienced instructor’s help. Trying to work out on your own can result in more harm than good. You must tell the instructor what you hope to achieve with the weight-training programme. Do you want to add bulk all over, or add just a little more on your biceps and chest? Whatever it is, once the instructor knows he will guide you how to go about it.

Apart from looking at what you want, also try to identify your weak points. Look out for areas that are out of proportion or are underused in the other exercises that you are doing.

Working with weights means working with four variables that you can control to suit your body and it’s specific requirements: The weights you use, the distance at which you use them, the number of times you move them and the speed at which you move them.

There are some tips you must keep in mind before you begin weight-training.

Select a gym with proper equipment in good condition. The gym should be well-ventilated with adequate space. If you are working out at home then the equipment that you buy should be from a reputed company. The gym should have an experienced instructor who can help you to achieve your goal. He should also forewarn you about injuries and how to strengthen your weak areas.

Be positive in your attitude. Think healthy and try to be consistent in your workout in terms of both the time you train for as well as the effort you put in.

In case you have any health problem (no matter how minor), do take your doctor’s advise before beginning any programme.

Your workout should be on schedule. Talk and socialise either before or after your workout. During the time you have allotted to yourself try to devote your attention to the task at hard. You will achieve positive results this way.

Try to develop a completely fit body with a balanced exercise routine. For the best results from weight-training, ideally it should be combined with about 20 minutes of any aerobic and callisthenic activity. This way the fat will burn off and the muscles you develop will show more.

Keep your focus on the muscle group you are working on. You will thus isolate that particular area and will be able to develop it better. Free weights are considered better machines to help build muscles.

Try to incorporate them in a large segment of your weight-training programme.

Remember that proper breathing is very important. Exhale when you lift the weights and inhale when you lower them. Breathing plays an important role as it supplies oxygen to the muscle cells. Oxygen is essential for muscle contraction and energy.

Remember to lift correctly. It is more important to lower the weights very slowly rather than in lifting. Most people tend to concentrate on the lift and ignore the lowering. Thereby, they lose the benefit of the workout.

Another common mistake is not to complete the range of motion. They either miss out on the top or the bottom range. Remember to go slowly and try to make the movement as perfect as you can each time.

Lifting weights does not merely mean lifting up and down. Remember to hold and squeeze the muscle being used at the point of peak contraction and then slowly release and then finish the movement. This will give you the maximum benefit from the lifts.

Remember to prevent your body from getting bored. As your body gets used to a certain set routine, that routine does not do much for it any more. A varied programme, with new angles and exercises as well as a change in the amount of weight you lift, will keep the muscles in peak condition.

Make a schedule in which you use different parts of the body each day ensuring that the same group of muscles should not be used at least for 72 hours.

If you find that you tend to lose out on the enjoyment of working out alone, take a friend along. That way you will have company and the incentive for the workout.

Weight-training does not mean an oily sweaty body with muscles on the biceps and fat around the middle, as was the norm earlier. Today people weight-train often not so much for the bulging muscles as for a perfectly fit body.