Staying healthy is a continuous and conscious process everyone should take seriously. A healthy lifestyle is key to longevity. Many people focus on getting a good balance between work and play. They work hard and then relax, perhaps playing Platincasino table games in their spare time. But this leaves out the part of life where they need to exercise.
Regular exercise helps make you less prone to some diseases. Many of us are all focused on cardio exercises like swimming, cycling, walking and so on. But strength training is also an important part of exercising that we don’t pay enough attention to.
In this article, we will be focusing more on weight training. Keep reading to find out more about compound lifts, progressive overload and the importance of diet.
Focus on Basic Compound Lifts — With Great Form
Compound lifts are exercises that train multiple muscle groups or joints at once. What makes this kind of exercise efficient is that you are doing less to achieve more. Compound lifts are important for people that want to start a strength training routine. They include exercises such as Overhead Press, Deadlift, Bench Press, Squat, Barbell Row, Pull up and Press-up.
You can start with The Push, The Pull, Knee Flexion and more, if you are a beginner. Then you can improve over time by doing Parallel Dips, Clean and Press and more complex exercises that will help you build strength and muscle. You need to maintain good form when you are doing these exercises. Keeping a good form will also help you build the confidence you need to achieve your training goals.
Progressive Overload
When you are exercising you should gradually increase the stress on your body so that you can have a better result. Your body will adapt to the same routine if you don’t create a system to change it at some point in your strength building journey.
One of the important elements of progressive overload is that it helps you to save your body from plateauing. Progressive overload is the most important aspect of building strength and muscle. But this requires more commitment and consistency.
One key thing about progressive overload is that you increase the intensity of your training every day so that you can force the change you want to see. Frankly, you should not expect this to be easy. It gets harder from the day you begin your strength building journey.
However, when your form is down, then maybe it’s time you add more weight to the bar and push a bit. Bear in mind that you need to use weights that are challenging but don’t push too hard. Pushing yourself beyond your limit can cause breakdown or injuries.
Emphasize Your Diet
Generally, fitness trainers will always advise their trainees about the importance of healthy diets before and after workout sessions. Exercise and a healthy diet go a long way in helping you to get the result you need from your fitness training sessions.
So you cannot choose one and leave out the other. Choosing to focus on weight training alone would be counter-productive to the outcome you want. You need to design a healthy eating plan that will conform with your weight-training routine.
There is a general rule that you can use to improve your diet. This rule is the 80/20 rule. The rule is an everyday diet guide that states that you should maintain a healthy diet 80% of the time, and you can be flexible with 20%. For the 80% part of your diet, they should include more water and nutritious food like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and so forth. Then for the 20% part, you can be relaxed a little and enjoy your junk food.
Restrictive dieting is another way you can eat healthily. It requires you to follow a laid down rule about what you can eat and what you cannot eat. Choosing this diet plan may mean you have to give up carbs or fats and other meals that you love. However, some people have seen the result they want through restrictive dieting. But there is nothing special about this approach.
Conclusion
If you want to live long and in good health, you have to pick up healthy habits like exercising and nutritional diets. People tend to leave strength training out of their routine and focus on cardio exercises. But strength training is a vital part of staying healthy for a long and independent life. In building strength and muscle, you can try out compound lifts such as Pull up, Overhead Press, Squat and so forth.
Progressive overload is also a key driver for strength and muscle growth. However, to achieve a better result, you have to push your body past its plateau zone. A healthy diet is also a vital part of strength training.
