Many of the people who I have trained have strong feelings (pun absolutely intended) about weight (resistance) training and building muscle. Some people are worried about getting injured, others are worried that they are going to end up looking like the Hulk. Other people lift weights religiously but have an impossible time trying to build muscle. Almost all of these people, regardless of their views, worry that they don’t know enough about weight training and get overwhelmed by all of the information that is out there about it. So what should you do?
It depends on your goals, but almost everyone (sport-specific athletes aside), will benefit from doing a little bit of everything.
Why?
Because our muscles serve so many different purposes. They allow us to, among other things, walk and run, carry heavy things, keep all of our bones and joints in place, and they help us look good when we’re naked (that toned look that everyone wants is a mix of being lean and being muscular). Doing all of these things requires you to train in different ways. Training to move heavy things for a short amount of time is different from training to carry lighter things for a longer amount of time, and training to get big muscles is different from training to get strong muscles.
Resistance training may sound complicated; however, there are a few key principles and exercises that will serve as your bread and butter and will get you to where you want to be.
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