Why Weight Lifting Must Be A Part Of Everyone's Fitness Regime

Weight lifting also known as weight training or strength training is not just for bodybuilders. Many people focus on cardio exercises only when trying to get in shape, but weight lifting is incredibly important for every fitness plan of both men and women.

It's well known that bodybuilders and other people who want to modify the muscle on their body use weight lifting to do so, but it's important to know that even if your aim is to lose weight only, it's critical to include strength training in your program.

According to health and fitness experts, lifting weights is not just for creating impact on the muscle, it also play an important part in the weight loss process.

It has been shown that people who do cardio only and don’t do any resistance training in their program end up experiencing the negative effects of long term calorie restriction - loss of muscle mass and slow down of the metabolism.

And of course, muscle loss and/or metabolic slowdown would be counterproductive to most fitness goals, so you must do what whatever is necessary to avoid these effects. Weight lifting is a great form of resistance training that will allow you to maintain your muscle mass and keep your metabolism at optimum level to keep burning calories effectively.

So how do you fit weight lifting into your program?

How often you should lift weights, the type of weight lifting exercises to do, reps, sets etc. are all determined by the specific goals you want to accomplish. Each one of the Visual Impact programs includes specific guidelines on lifting weights to achieve a variety of fitness goals for your body including losing fat, building muscle, gaining strength, increasing muscle density etc.

Click Below To Learn More About Each Visual Impact Program

Fitness Program For Men To Build Muscle And Lose Fat
Fitness Program For Women To Tone Muscle And Lose Fat
Fitness Program For Both Men And Women To Lose Fat

How To Know The Best Muscle Building Exercises For Your Body Parts

It is not easy to decide which exercise is the best for each person, simply because we are all built differently. There may be an exercise that works fine for one person, but do not give any good results to someone else.

For instance, the 'bent over barbell rows' is recommended by most people as the so called king of back exercises, however I cannot for the life of me feel it working my back. On the other hand, one arm dumbbell rows work great for me. Don't believe that any single specific exercise is a must for a particular body part.



Why Beginners May Need To Work With The Basic Lifts

I understand why trainers suggest the standard compound lifts for each body part. These lifts are key in providing the best "bang for the buck" and are the top exercises for functional strength. The problem is, however, at times it takes weeks to months for a beginner to feel anything with some exercises.

It Takes Some Time to Establish the Mind-To-Muscle Connection

The big compound exercises are important and should be used, but they are the exercises that take the longest to "feel". Over time you will develop a strong mind-to-muscle link and you will really be able to milk these exercises, but until that happens I recommend that you work a little more on exercises that you can really feel.

Give Priority to Exercises that Work for You

During the first four years of lifting weights, I performed seated behind the neck military presses. I heard this was the greatest exercise for getting wider shoulders. Honestly, I was terribly weak at these and they never at no time felt like they were working my shoulders.

My partner was working his way up to one hundred and eighty five pounds for five reps and I was stuck at one hundred for five reps for four years. After I figured that I was not getting any results from doing this lift I decided to do seated dumbbell military presses and stuck with them ever since. I also do some nautilus military presses and they work fine for me as well.

My Workout Partner Hated Barbell Curls

I love flat bar barbell curls however this dude did not feel them in his biceps. He liked concentration curls and Preacher Hammer Curls a lot more, but I get nothing out of these. Therefore, the point is that you need to choose exercises that work for you well. Do not believe you have to stick to what is generally recommended. If what is recommended doesn't work, you have do what works for you.

The Exercises That Don't Work For You Now May Improve Over Time

If you hate incline barbell presses now, do not think that it will always be this way. Over a period of time they may become your favorite. I used to dislike flat bench dumbbell flyes and preferred cable crossovers. I only felt dumbbell flyes working my shoulders and cable crossovers really seemed to really hit my chest muscles. It is not the same anymore. Flat bench dumbbell flyes is now working my chest very hard, so much so I have to avoid doing too much in this exercise.

What I Recommend  

Spend most of your time on the exercises that feel great for you now and give them priority. If you do 3 exercises for a body part, make sure at least 2 of them are working the target muscle group. Do those 2 first, and then use one exercise that is suppose to be the best for that muscle group. Over time you will have a compilation of top exercises which will be unique to you.

How To Gain Maximum Muscle Tone By Lifting Heavy Weights

Getting An Understanding Of Muscle Tone And Muscle Definition

In order for one to choose the most effective way to increase muscle tone, you must first understand what muscle tone is. Muscle tone is residual tension in a relaxed muscle.

What this means is that your nervous system is tensing the muscle to a certain extent while you are in a relaxed state.

Muscle Tone is a By-product of An Alert Nervous System

Essentially any part of the body with significant muscle tone has a strong mind to muscle connection in that body part.

Whenever a person desire additional muscle tone in a certain body part they will have to increase the efficiency of the nerve impulses to that body part.

Never forget that muscle tone is not a "muscle fiber" issue, it is a "nervous system" issue. This is the top mistake that persons make in their quest to increase muscle tone.

The Reason The "Light Weight and High Rep Approach" Isn't Effective

''Lift light weights for high reps'' is the mainstream advice that fitness trainers tell their clients to develop muscle tone. Lifting light weights gives you an illusion of increasing muscle tone.

High reps generally give the muscles a great pump. When the muscles are pumped up they will look more toned, but when the pump is gone the muscle tone is gone.

If you want muscle tone for the time you are spending in the gym then lifting high reps and light weights will allow you to gain this. But, if you desire to have great muscle tone 24 hours a day, then you need to take a different approach.

Lifting Heavy Weights Will Make Your Nervous System More Efficient and Increase Muscle Tone

The only way to lift heavier weights is to develop the magnitude of your muscle -or- increase the efficiency of your nervous system.

If you're aiming to gain muscle tone, then you should try to get progressively stronger without getting bigger. A great way to do this is to lift for 3-5 reps for 5 sets or so.

Do a basic strength workout, but then hit the cardio really hard after that workout. Keep your calories low as well.

Why Don't Most Strength Trainers Have Great Muscle Tone?

Most dudes you see in the gym who are lifting heavy are also not doing any cardio and they are consuming a ton of calories.

They are trying to become as huge and strong as they can be.

That should not be your goal! If you want to get amazingly defined then focus on gaining strength while reducing body fat.

Learn a Lesson from Olympic Level Athletes

Have you ever seen a middleweight boxer in person? These people are amazingly ripped. So are gymnasts.

These guys focus on getting stronger while maintaining or losing weight.

These athletes have unbelievable muscle tone as a byproduct of their training. They aren't even focusing on muscle tone, yet they have more muscle tone than most bodybuilders.

Keep in mind that most of the pictures you see of bodybuilders are after they have pumped up and have dehydrated themselves almost to the point of heart failure.

Lift Heavy, Get Stronger and Increase Muscle Tone...What's Not to Like?

Follow a basic strength training program and hit cardio hard. Train like an elite athlete and you will create an amazing body. Leave all that "pumping up" nonsense to the Mongoloid bodybuilders.