Resistance Training Fitness Basics
Training with Weights (resistance training) can help you achieve many different effects: from building muscle size and strength to creating definition and tone. By performing simple, often repetitive movements you are able to focus work on a particular muscle or group of muscles. When you Work with Weights, the movement is harder and it will require more physical strength. Although resistance work initially damages the muscles, they actually become stronger as they repair themselves. To understand Resistance Training (weight training) and to help you use your Fitness Programs effectively,  familiarize yourself with the following Basics of Resistance Training:
- Overloading
This is the technical term for making a muscle work beyond its comfortable point of exertion. When you overload your muscles, they are forced to become stronger so as to cope with the increased load. Whenever you work out, it is important to achieve overload. By doing so, your muscles will be working harder than on the previous occasion which will result into constant progress. Consequently, your muscles will grow in size and strength.
- Spot reducing
This occurs when you try to eliminate weight or fat from a specific part of your body and concentrates working only on that part. In effect, you tend to build muscle in that area when, generally, you just need to lose fat from that part. Consequently, although you lose fat, because you gain muscle in the area you focused on, it can have the same visual effect as before. Or worse, it can even make that part more prominent. In general, always work with the body as a whole; do not tackle a specific area of your body that bothers you.
- The plateau effect
When people stop seeing results, they tend to give up on their exercise routines. At this point, you have just reached a plateau. The Plateau Effect occurs when you may be working out but do not see improvements in your Fitness Level because your body is no longer being overloaded. Hence, it is important to vary your workout routines so that your body will be pushed and forced to improve itself.
- Reversibility
Your fitness level could deteriorate even though you're working out. This is the stage after the plateau - the reversibility. This happens when you have been in the plateau stage for a long period and your body has not experienced challenging workouts and overload for some time. Reversibility usually occurs when you don't increase your weights during exercises or when you don't vary your exercise routine.
Weight rooms, with the complicated-looking Fitness Equipment and Fitness Jargons, can be quite enigmatic but intimidating, especially to a beginner. The two words which you will constantly hear in a weight room are "rep" and "set". These terms are applied to exercises that use both Free Weights and weight machines. Being familiar with them will help do you a world of wonders for your Fitness Program:
- "Rep" is short for repetition and refers to one completed movement.
- "Set" on the other hand refers to the number of reps performed steadily and continuously without a break. An example is "three sets of 15 reps" equals to 45 exercise movements.
Another Common Fitness Jargon is "circuit". Circuit or "circuit training" refers to the sequential use of all the machines in a weight room. Since many gyms arrange machines roughly in a circle and you go from one station to the next with just little rest in between, it was called "circuit".
After grasping the Basics of Resistance Training and having a Crash Course on some Fitness Terms, starting your Weight Training now will be relatively easy.
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