Top 10 Pillars of Strength Training (1 to 5)

1. Exercise is always better than doing nothing at all, but strength training is better than everything else.

You can do strength training by means of zumba, P90x, Insanity, jog, jump rope, walk, or strength train hard. All of them are better than sitting on the couch while watching TV. If you want to improve your overall health, and sculpt your muscles then strength training is right for you. The benefits are limitless that it would take another article to tackle the subject because it is too long. For this reason, I won’t be talking about the benefits here.

2. Training vs. Working Out

Though, your goal is not for a strongman competition, bodybuilding show, marathon, or track & field championship; you are training because you want to be in better health and to be in better shape. Training is different from working out since training is a mindset while working out seems to be more like a chore or a leisurely hobby or even worse a chore. If you can talk to someone in the gym then, you are not training hard enough.

3. Cardio

Cardio is either praised or vilified; it all depends on your point of view. Cardio is just a training tool. Some people only do cardio. Though it is better than doing nothing at all, you haven’t maximized the full health benefit of cardio if you won’t include some strength training on the side. Cardio, when combined with strength training, is an excellent way to maximize your strength training with active restoration.

4. Machines vs. Free Weights

By all means, free weights is always superior to machines since they allow the body to move in natural movement patterns, allow for less muscular imbalances, are better for progressive overload, and are a truer gauge of strength and stability. Machines can give much more health benefit if they are properly combined with free weight based program. Machines are better for those who are new lifters because they lack the coordination to perform with free weights. By starting with machines leading to free weights, the extreme beginners can see sky rocketing progress

5. Check Your Ego at the Door

Don’t mind other people who lifting too much weight. Let them be and just proceed with your normal routine. Lifting weights with some intention of showing off with friends is no good. You won’t get any health benefit from that; it would just cause some injury on your part. I have seen it before maybe a hundred times in the gym. Most of the guys in the gym would often lift weights that are hard for them to lift. They force their body to lift the weights even though; their body is saying that they could not lift anymore. Honestly, I think of them as the clown of the gym because they look funny whenever they do that. Those who are veterans at lifting weights would never show off just to impress others since they know that lifting weights is not for people who want to be the talk of the town. Lifting weight is for a person who wants to have a healthy and impressive body.