Weight training

Weight training can be the most effective technique for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It provides functional benefits and may improve overall health and well-being.

Common concerns

Is weight training the same as bodybuilding?

Although weight training is similar to bodybuilding, they have quite different goals. Bodybuilders compete in bodybuilding competitions, so they train to maximize their muscular size and develop extremely low levels of body fat. In contrast, most weight trainers train to improve their strength and endurance while not giving special attention to reducing body fat below normal. Weight trainers tend to focus on compound exercises to build basic strength, whereas bodybuilders often use isolation exercises to visually separate their muscles, and to improve muscular symmetry. Pre-contest training for bodybuilders is different again, in that they attempt to retain as much muscular tissue as possible while undergoing severe dieting.

Related Topics:
Bodybuilding - Body fat - Symmetry - Dieting

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However, the bodybuilding community has been the source of many of weight training's principles, techniques, vocabulary, and customs. One worrisome trend has been the spread of anabolic steroid use into neighbourhood gyms.

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Is nutrition relevant for weight trainers?

Most people think of dieting in terms of weight loss, but weight trainers can also adjust their diet to improve the results from their workouts. Adequate protein is required for building skeletal muscle. Various sources advise weight trainers to consume a high protein diet with anywhere from 0.6 to 1.5 g of protein per pound of body weight per day (1.4–3.3 g per kg) http://www.healthybiz2000.com/rxsports/articles/bp2.htm http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/1997/08aug/muscle.htm. However, many medical professionals believe that consuming more protein than the Recommended Dietary Allowance provides no benefits. Protein that is not needed for cell growth and repair nor consumed for energy is converted by the liver into fat, which is then stored in the body. Some people believe that a high protein diet entails risk of kidney damage, but studies have shown that kidney problems only occur in people with previous kidney disease http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14944.asp.

Related Topics:
Dieting - Diet - Protein - High protein diet - G - Pound - Kg - Recommended Dietary Allowance - Kidney - Kidney disease

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A light meal consumed one to two hours prior to the workout ensures that enough glucose is available for the muscles. Water is consumed throughout the course of the workout to prevent poor performance due to dehydration http://www.gncproperformance.com/articles/article/Default.aspx?id=48&lang=en. A protein shake is often consumed immediately following the workout, because both protein uptake and protein usage are increased at this time http://www.cruciblefitness.com/nutrition/etips/nutrition_protein_synthesis.htm. Glucose (or another simple sugar) is often consumed as well since this quickly replenishes any glycogen lost during the exercise period. Some weight trainers also take supplements (such as creatine) to aid muscle growth. However, the effectiveness of some products is disputed and others are potentially harmful.

Related Topics:
Glucose - Water - Dehydration - Glycogen - Supplements - Creatine

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Do women who train with weights look "bulky"?

Very few women can develop large muscles, no matter what program they follow; they simply lack the testosterone required to achieve this http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/strengthtrainingforwomen_1. Normally the most that can be achieved is a look similar to that of a fitness model. Muscle is denser than fat, so someone who builds muscle while keeping the same body weight will look slimmer.

Related Topics:
Model - Denser

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The results obtained by female bodybuilders are extremely atypical: they are self-selected for their genetic ability to build muscle, they perform enormous amounts of exercise, and they often take anabolic steroids, or other supplements with similar effects. The muscular look is exaggerated by their very low levels of body fat.

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Are light, high-repetition exercises effective for toning muscles?

Some weight trainers perform light, high-repetition exercises in an attempt to "tone" their muscles without increasing their size. This comes from misunderstanding the meaning of the word "tone." What most people refer to as a toned physique is one that combines reasonable muscular size with moderate levels of body fat. Muscle tone is a physiologic term that refers to the constant, low-frequency contractions that occur in all muscles all the time, even at "rest", which prepare them for future activity. This continuous slight tension in torso muscles contributes to maintaining good posture. High-repetition exercises should increase muscle size, but will not improve the latter type of muscle "tone.". Even performed as aerobic exercises they will have limited benefit, since aerobic exercise is most effective when it engages the whole body.

Related Topics:
Tone - Aerobic exercise

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Is weight training safe for children?

Orthopedic specialists used to recommend that children avoid weight training because the growth plates on their bones might be at risk, but recent studies have shown that this concern is unfounded. The very rare reports of growth plate fractures in children who trained with weights occurred as a result of inadequate supervision, improper form or excess weight. "Growth plate injuries have not occurred in any youth strength training study that followed established training guidelines."http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/fitness/strength_training.html The authors of DeLee & Drez's orthopaedic sports medicine, 2003 found similarly: "Review of the recent literature... ...reveals that there is no reason to prevent children from strength training in a well supervised, well-designed program." 8 This finding is in line with medical practitioners belief that young children must be supervised around weight training equipment. Like adults, they may be injured if a weight is dropped, or if they perform an exercise incorrectly. But, being children, they may also forget to follow the safety guidelines, or be tempted to act irresponsibly.

Related Topics:
Orthopedic - Bone - 8

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Can weight training help me slim down?

Yes, but not via the low weight/high rep approach that is usually used. Five minutes of crunches will expend only a small fraction of the energy used up in five minutes of running, because the abdominal muscles are so much smaller than the leg muscles. Instead, high weight/low rep exercises can be used to maintain (and possibly even increase) the body's muscle mass while dieting. This helps to prevent the metabolic slowdown that otherwise often limits the effect of dieting, and causes post-diet weight gain. http://www.edrugstore.md/Content.jsp?target=BodyResponsetoDieting

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