Now that you understand the nutrition behind any given lifestyle, you now need something to complement the nutrition. This of course, is weight-training. No matter what kind of workout you like to do, whether it'd be running, cycling, swimming, you still need to build muscle if you want to build a physique like Chris Hemsworth of Scarlett Johansson.
I know I use these two as examples a lot, but look at them! What guy wouldn't want to look like Chris? And what woman wouldn't want to look like Scarlett? These two are without a doubt the fittest Avengers in real life. The reason is.....they eat right and LIFT WEIGHTS.
Here's a fitness myth I want to debunk right now. I know there are still women out there that are afraid to lift weights, as they think they'll get bulky and look unattractive. Completely untrue! Unless you're taking testosterone boosters, you'll never have to worry about being bulky like a man, no matter how hard you train with weights.
Alright, here we go. I've mentioned before that when you first go into the gym you'll mainly be doing full-body workouts with one exercise per muscle group. You have to get your muscles in shape before you can up the intensity and allow your body to grow the right way. This first part of the series will be for someone just starting out, and we'll be getting into the specifics of which exercise you should be doing for each muscle group and why.
With the full-body workouts in the beginning, you want to pick exercises where you work the middle of the strength curve in each muscle group. Each muscle has a strength curve, a bell-shaped curve where you're strongest in the middle and weakest at the extremes, the extremes being when a muscle lengthened and shortened. For example, have you ever stood up on the tips of your toes to look for something? Have you noticed that when you get to the top of your toe that your calf knots up? That's because the muscle is being fully shortened. Muscle lengthen and shorten. That's how they work, and you need to match each muscle's function with the exercises you're doing. That's how you strengthen and build each muscle.
However, since you're just starting out, you want to focus on the strongest part (middle) of the strength curve of each muscle group as your ability to contract your muscles at this point is likely pretty poor. Along with that, most of the exercises you do should be done with a machine so you don't have to worry about stabilizing your body in order to get a good muscular contraction. Here's a list of exercises to do for each muscle group for the middle of the strength curve. For every exercise you do, make sure you feel the muscle first! Whatever muscle starts a movement will get the highest contraction and do the most work. Also, since you're new to the weights, do 3 sets of 10 and rest 1 minute in between each set. That's a good starting point for sets, reps, and rest time.
Pectoral Muscle
I recommend starting with the chest press machine.
One thing you need to focus on when you're doing this exercise, in order to get good development, is pulling your shoulders back before you press.
This full expands the chest for this portion of the strength curve
As you press, focus on pushing your back into the pad
This will drive more force into your chest as you do the rep, ensuring that the chest is doing all the work
Shoulders
The shoulder press machine is easiest to start out with
Use the grip where your palms are facing ahead of you, not where they're facing each other. Just like in the picture
This style grip will focus on the anterior (middle) portion of the shoulder
The other grip hits the front portion, but there's no need to hit different portions of the muscle yet. Just focus on the main area for now
Triceps
The tricep pushdown with a bar on the cable is the best way to start
You could use a rope is wanted, but I think it's easier for most people to press into a straight bar
To ensure that you feel the tricep throughout the entire rep, be sure to pause when you get to the top of the rep (left side of pic)
Pausing at this point forces the tricep to work because your arm is 90° to the direction of force (the cable)
Back
Cable row is the best exercise to start as this develops good thickness in your back, and hits the lats hard
As you pull, think about trying to pull your elbows behind you, mentally trying to pull them behind your body
This contracts the lat hard
To activate your lat BEFORE you pull, while your arms are fully lengthened, think about pushing your arms down from the shoulder joint, not the tricep
You can practice this by stretching your arms across a table and pressing down to get a better idea
Activating the lat this way before you pull the weight ensures that only the lat will be doing the work
Lower back
Your lower back is a sensitive area, so you want to be careful when training it especially when you're first starting out
Back extensions are the go-to for starters as the risk of injury with this exercise is much lower compared to rack-pulls and deadlifts
To emphasize the lower back contraction, really contract the back hard when you're at the top of the rep
think of trying to stand up perfectly straight while in the apparatus, as standing up straight activates the lower back in general; even if you're standing normally
Biceps
Classic barbell curl
This will be your first real free-weight exercise as you'll have to stabilize yourself instead of the machine, but stabilizing yourself with a barbell curl is obviously pretty easy
You can use a straight bar or e-z curl bar (the one Chris is using in the photo) as both will hit the strongest part of the strength curve for your biceps pretty well
This is a movement where you'll really have to focus on squeezing the bicep before you lift the weight, as this is an exercise that is done wrong all the time with people swinging or trying to use momentum to do the rep. That keeps tension off the muscle, which is what we DO NOT want
Also, DO NOT pause at the top. You'll see people doing this as they think it'll contract the bicep harder. However, when you get to the top of the rep, the weight actually gets lighter since your forearms are getting closer to being parallel to the force (Gravity), thereby lowering the tension and making it easier.
SIDE NOTE: With any exercise you do, along with barbell curls, realize that the hardest part of the rep is the point where you're 90° to the force angle
For the bicep, it's halfway through the barbell curl
Quadriceps
I'll actually recommend two exercises for the quads, as either one will allow you to get a good contraction
The first one is the leg press, and I recommend this for starters since your quads will likely be the muscles that do the most work during the movement, given that they're larger than your glutes and hamstrings
Pause at the bottom of the rep, but hold the weight without it hitting the stack. This will force your feet into the pad, and allow your quads to activate before you move the weight
Also, DO NOT lock your knees after your press as this takes tension off the quad, and also puts tension on the knee joint, which is something you want to avoid at all costs!
Leg extension
This isolates the quads directly, and is also one of few machines where you get to contract the muscle in the shortest part of its strength curve.
If you're just sitting down, extend your leg out. You can feel your quad knot up right? That's because it's hitting the short part of the strength curve, which also activates your nervous system
Be sure to hold the weight for a few seconds at the top of the rep, allowing the quad to contract hard. Yes, it will hurt, but that's how you force muscles to grow!
Hamstrings
The best hamstring exercise to start with is the seated leg curl
This allows you to easily stabilize yourself and isolated the hamstrings to do work
Contract the hamstring hardest at the end of the rep (position in photo)
Think about driving your knees into the pad before you move the weight, as this will drive more force into the hamstrings
Calves
Standing calf raises are the best way to start out
You can do this a variety of ways whether it'd be a machine, smith machine (photo) or grabbing a pair of dumbbells and using a platform
If I had to choose, I'd say smith machine is the best choice as the weight is stabilized for you. That way all you have to do is contract that calf hard without worrying about losing balance
Think about trying to stand up on your big toe when you're at the top of the rep, then think about pulling your heels up into your shin before you start the movement
Abs
Last but not certainly not least, Abs
Nothing beats the crunch machine for starters, not to mention you're pulling your elbows and knees towards each other, working the entire abdominal structure
In order to activate the abs, think about exhaling all the air out of your body as you're doing the rep.
This naturally contracts your abs
Hold that contracted position for at least 2 seconds before doing another rep
And there you go! These are the basic exercises to start out with when it comes to beginners in the gym. Now I'm sure some of you are wondering when the big 3 (bench, squat, and deadlift) are incorporated. We'll discuss that in the next article, Cracking The Muscle Building Code (Part 2).
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