But I did. These guys have been a great help and encouragement through some tough times for me and they probably don't even realize it. - Pagangoddess
All weight lifting exercises are dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Statistics show that weight lifting is safer than any other sport. Practical evidence will show that you'll get injured, but less than your friends playing soccer, football or boxing. Injuries in weight lifting are usually caused by bad technique or ego. Nobody will hit your knees like in soccer. Nobody will tackle you like in football. Nobody will hit you like in boxing. If you hurt yourself: it's your fault. So start light, focus on proper technique and add weight slowly but systematically.
Aren't Machines Safer for Beginners Who Don't Know How Much Weight They Should Lift? Because Machines Lock You Into a Movement So There's Less Risk of Muscle Tear and No Risk That You'll Drop The Weight on Yourself.
This is spreading fear about things that rarely happen. I've been lifting for 10 years and am self-taught. I've never torn a muscle or dropped weight on myself. If you start light, focus on technique, add weight slowly but systematically and use your head, you'll be safe. Check the statistics again on weight lifting injury rate vs. other sports. Here are 3 reasons you shouldn't use machines:
- Machines are UNSAFE. They force you into fixed, unnatural movement patterns which can cause injuries. The seat has to be adjusted to your height or you're not pushing/pulling safely. And most machines are isolation exercises, causing muscle imbalances. All of this will get you injuries in the long-term.
- Machines are less effective. Machines balance and control the weight for you while free weights force you to balance & control the weight yourself, like in real life. Exercises that are harder to perform, stress your body more, meaning more strength and more muscle.
- Machines are expensive. You can do hundreds of exercises with just 1 barbell. Saves a lot of money and space, especially if you want to build a home gym.
What About The Smith Machine? It's Safer, Right?
No, it isn't. The smith machine forces your body into unnaturel movement patterns. You have to position yourself correctly under the bar to make sure you don't force range of motion in ways that can cause injuries, especially with heavy weights. And the smith machine balances the weight for you, working your muscles less than free weight Squats. Note that injuries can still happen with a smith machine. Stay away from the smith machine. Squat inside a Power Rack and use the safety pins. Start light, focus on proper technique, add weight systematically.
Do I Need a Personal Trainer to Teach Me How to Do Exercises Correctly?
If you can find a personal trainer that can show you how to Squat & Deadlift correctly, and if you can afford it: get one. You'll progress a lot faster. But most people - including me - are self-taught. They learned exercise technique on their own: by reading articles on the internet and books on how to do exercises correctly and through lots of trial & error at the gym. Personal training can make it easier, but you can learn how to lift without it.
Do I Have to Do Squats/Deadlifts?
Squats & Deadlifts are the 2 most important lifts: they let you use heavy weights and work your body from head to toe. If you could only do 2 exercises, they would be the Squat & Deadlift. Anyone who can Squat/Deadlift heavy weights, has big arms/strong abs. If you want to look muscular and lose your stomach fat: include Squats & Deadlifts in your routine and work at increasing your strength on both lifts.
Some Guy at The Gym Told Me Squatting Below Parallel is Bad for Your Knees.
Consider this:
- Asian people sit in the bottom Squat position daily
- Babies sit in the bottom Squat position while playing with toys
- Millions of competitive olympic weightlifters squat ass to grass with heavy weights with a low rate of injuries.
Knee pain on Squats is usually caused by:
- Improper Technique. Read the article on how to squat and get yourself a copy of starting strength.
- Lack of Mobility. Lack of hip mobility and/or lack of ankle mobility will make your knees compensate, leading to injuries. This is often linked with poor glute activation.
Some Guy at The Gym Said Deadlifts Will Kill My Back. Is He Right?
Deadlifts will kill your back, just like any other weight lifting exercise will, if you don't do them correctly. If you do them correctly, deadlifts will build a strong back. Realize you're already doing Deadlifts multiple times per day: picking something from the floor is a Deadlift. Many people suffer back injuries because they aren't picking stuff up correctly, hence the fear for Deadlifts. In reality, Deadlifts will prevent back injuries by teaching you to pick stuff up correctly: with a flat lower back. Read the post on Deadlift technique and starting strength.
Some Guy at The Gym Said...
Listen, 90% of the stuff you'll hear at the gym is bullshit. 90% of the things your doctor will tell you is horseshit. 90% of the things your co-workers will tell you is chickenshit. I could tell you that I had never had knee problems during the last 10 years squatting below parallel, and that I think doctors are asses for telling you Squatting is bad for your knees while my 10 year Squat experience fails to confirm this. BUT until you try it like I did, you won't understand. So decide what you're going to do, try it for 2 months and then evaluate your choice.
Yeah, But The Guy Trains for 20 years/Is The Biggest Dude At The Gym/Has a Medical Degree/... So He Knows
Irrelevant. Stop accepting what people say - including me - because of their reputation/authority/whatever. Think for yourself and form yourself an opinion based on your research and experience. You shouldn't take anything for granted. Challenge your own beliefs, be open minded and experiment as much as you can.
I Don't Have Access to a Squat Rack or Power Rack. How Can I Squat?
If your gym doesn't have a Squat Rack, they have the wrong mindset and probably won't allow you to Deadlift or Power Clean neither. The long term solution is to find a gym that fits with your mindset or to build a home gym. A Squat rack is safer than the short-term solutions that follow, but also more efficient.
Short Term Solutions:
- Steinborn Lift. Get the bar in position by doing the steinborn lift then Squat. This lift is named after Milo Steinborn, a strongman from the 1930s who could steinborn lift 550lbs then squat it for 5 reps. Not the most practical/safest way to get the bar on your back, but it will get you strong (especially your abs will get strong this way). Make sure the collars on your barbell are tight and secure.
- Bottom Squat. Elevate the bar from the floor using 2 boxes, get under it and squat up. This turns the Squat into a Deadlift, removing the stretch reflex. It's a lot harder to Squat this way vs. regular Squats, regular squats become piece of cake after a few months doing bottom Squats. And you can squat safely this way: the boxes catch the weight if anything goes wrong.
- Power Clean + Front Squat. Clean the bar from the floor to your upper chest, then Front Squat. Problem: you're doing front squats instead of squats and your front squat is limited by your power clean. You also don't get as much posterior chain development as with Back Squats.
My Gym Won't Allow Deadlifts. What Should I do?
Find a gym that allows you to Deadlift or build a home gym. You need to Deadlift and Squat if you want to get good results. Failure to do both lifts leads to sub par results. If your gym doesn't allow you to Deadlift, they don't share the same mindset and you're better of training somewhere else. Either that or subpar results, you choose.
Do I Need to Wear a Belt?
Belts give a false sense of security. If you lift with bad technique, you can still injure your back even if you wear a belt. No need to use a belt as a beginner. Start light, focus on proper technique, add weight progressively. Read the guide on weight lifting belts.
I Don't Want Callus on My Hands. Should I Use Gloves?
Gloves add inches to the bar, making grip harder. Gloves also prevent correct gripping technique.
- Learn to Grip The Bar Correctly. On pulling exercises: bar close to fingers. On pushing exercise: bar close to wrists.
- Use Chalk. If your gym doesn't allow chalk, look into liquid chalk.
- Trim Callus. Don't overdo it. You don't want the surrounding skin to weaken which would cause torn calluses. Read the guide on minimizing callus formation.
Which Exercises Can I Do For My Grip/Forearms/Wrists?
Grip Training for Beginners (you can't Squat 1.5x your body-weigth for at least 1 rep yet, that is a Squat with hips going lower than knees)
- Squeeze bar hard. On all your exercises. Grab the bar as hard as you can, squeezing it hard.
- Heavy Deadlifts. Don't use any straps, grab the bar hard and pull. Use chalk or liquid chalk of necessary.
- Pull-ups/Chin-ups. Grab the bar as hard as you can and pull hard.
- Farmer walks. Walk 100-200 feet with the heaviest dumbbells you can handle to get that distance. This not only works your grip, it also works your whole body hard.
- Lunges. Dumbbell lunge, reverse lunge, walking dumbbell lunge, bulgarian squats, etc all that stuff will work your grip hard, especially when working in the 5-8 rep range.
- Thick Bar lifts. Get an apolon axle or make a thick bar. Thick bar deadlift, thick bar curls, thick bar reverse curl, thick bar overhead press, thick bar rows, thick bar bench press, thick bar everything.
What Is The Best Exercise for The Abs?
The primary function of your abs is to stabilize your torso from the front, while your lower back supports its from behind. Squats, Deadlifts and Overhead Press work your abs this way. I don't like beginners to add ab exercises, because your whole focus should be on getting your squat up to 1.5x body-weight for at least 1 rep, with hips coming lower than knees. When you can do that, your waist will be smaller, and you'll have strong abs. If you don't want to listen, and still want to add ab exercises, add 1 of these 2 post workout:
- Reverse Crunches 3x12, lower the weight of the dumbbell behind your head until you can do them without counter-weight.
- Prone Iso Bridges 3x30sec, progress to 1 leg version, then try this.
- Heavy Lifts. Heavy Squats, heavy Deadlifts, heavy Overhead Press, Rack Pulls, Quarter Squats, ...
- Overhead Lifts. Overhead press, Push Press, Overhead Squats, Waiter Walks, Turkish Get-ups, Bent Press, Windmills
- Resisting Rotation. Suitcase Deadlift, bent press, Turkish Getups, Pallof Press, Windmills
- Front Loading. Front Squats, Zercher Squats, Reverse Lunge Clean Grip, ...
- Crunch Variations. Reverse Crunch, bar rollouts, dragon flags, ...
Articles on the Squat:
Videos on Squat Technique:
Articles on Deadlift
- How to Deadlift
- 5 Ways to Avoid Lower Back Pain on Deadlifts
- Why Your Shoulder-blades Must be Over the Bar on Deadlifts
- How to Lower the Bar Correctly on Deadlifts
- How to Grip the Bar Correctly on Deadlifts
Other Exercises:
- How to Bench Press
- How to Overhead Press
- How to do Pull-ups & Chin-ups
- How to Do Dips
- How to Do Push-ups
- How to Do Power Cleans
- How to Do Barbell Rows
- How to Do Pendlay Rows
- How to Do Rack Pulls
- How to Do Box Squats
- How to Do Front Squats
- How to Do Reverse Crunches
I Want to Post Videos, Any Tips?
Read Sifaan's Guide
SitemapIndex
RSS Feed