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Weight lifting
If you want an effective workout, weight lifting is hard to beat. Over the past twenty years the sport has undergone a gradual transformation as more and more people, from athletes through to the elderly, have come to appreciate the benefits.
Weight lifting covers a whole range of variations, from hard core body building workouts that can take two hours per day, through to short twenty minute routines designed to tone and shape muscles.
At its simplest, weight lifting works on the principles of progressive resistance and adaptation. Understand these, and you'll understand how to structure your workouts for long term effectiveness.
Progressive Resistance and Adaptation simply mean that the workout that you struggle to complete this week will feel much easier three weeks from now (Adaptation). That means you must gradually increase the level of difficulty (Progressive Resistance). You can do this by:-
Adding more resistance
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Decreasing the rest time between exercises
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Performing more exercises (sets or reps)
The problem is that most people don't adapt. They stick to the same old workout for months or even years on end. If, on the other hand, you regularly challenge your body by varying the intensity, using the methods suggested above, you will find that this is a form of exercise that will reward your hard work with clear and tangible results.
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