How to Lift Weights Safely and Effectively

Lifting weights is a popular way to tone or to build muscle mass, and it can become addictive as you begin to see the muscles grow and the self-esteem rise. But overenthusiastic weightlifting can lead to serious and life-long injury. Exuberance and intensity are good if they're harnessed; otherwise they'll threaten to make you get in a hurry. That's one way to get hurt in the weight room, but it's just one of many. Think of these points as things to remember every time you enter the workout area.

Things You'll Need

  • Weights
  • A computer/book
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Instructions

    • 1

      Read up on the exercises you want to try. Use reputable sources such as established muscle building magazines and university kinesthetics Internet material. Learn proper movements and breathing techniques. If you can afford it, have a session or two with a personal trainer. They can help you with learning how to lift weights safely and properly.

    • 2

      Avoid the instinct to let people around you affect your workout. You can become distracted by an attractive person, you can become intimidated by a more fit person, you could get in the way of a faster exerciser. You must tune all others out in the gym, and focus on your improvement alone. Don't be tempted to use too much weight because you'd feel like you look weak otherwise. Don't ratchet weights fast to make it appear easy. Don't swing weights to "cheat" the weight up. If others in the workout area intimidate you, you're better off working out alone.

    • 3

      Use proper posture, motion and speed. Each exercise with weights has a proper stance and starting position, and a proper motion. Every exercise benefits from being performed slowly. Pumping quickly because the weight seems light or because you want to finish quickly, or because you feel a burst of energy, will be less effective and will risk injury.

    • 4

      Focus in your mind on isolating the muscles you're working.

    • 5

      Stop immediately if you feel anything wrong. This is crucial to lifting weights safely. A twinge, a cramp or a weird pain needs to be attended to. If you try to work through pain as a means of continuing your training, you will injure yourself and set yourself back.

    • 6

      Allow yourself adequate rest between days lifting. You can't have three hard days lifting the same muscles without risking injury. Your muscles need more than 48 hours to rest, so most bodybuilders work on a three- or four-day split -- The work the muscles in two body parts a day, such as back and shoulders, biceps and legs, and chest and triceps, then sometimes a day of no workout -- to allow the muscles to repair before their next shock. It's the tear/repair cycle that makes your muscles get bigger.

    • 7

      Be careful about increasing your workload. Every time you ask more of your body, you run the risk of injury. Decrease your rest period between sets when a certain load begins to seem easy, then increase the number of reps (remembering to always do repetitions slowly), and finally increase the weight. Increasing the weight right off the bat increases your risk of injury.