by Kevin O'Connell

Created on: October 18, 2008   Last Updated: January 13, 2009

Even someone new to weight training belongs in a commercial gym. A membership is cost effective, the environment is stimulating and educational, and there is no comparison to a home gym as to equipment and variety. Choose a place close to home that is clean, bright, airy and well maintained.

Weight training, or resistance training, is most effective when incorporating both free weight and machine exercises. Free weight exercise utilizes both barbells and dumbbells. The resistance, or weight load, is varied by adding or subtracting plates. Plates vary from 1 1/4 to 100 lbs. Machines, depending on the manufacturer, rely on cables, bands, and cams to move weight plates that are fixed in stacks and varied by the placement a pin. The principal difference between free weights and machines is the range of motion. Free weights allow for a more natural range of motion relative to the muscle group but require greater recruitment of stabilizing muscle to balance the bar or dumbbell while in motion. Machines use handles and levers that are fixed in a particular line of motion which minimizes the use of stabilizing muscles and restricts to a degree natural tendencies. Machines, especially cables, maintain muscle contraction throughout the range of motion, while contraction is often relaxed at the top and bottom of free weight movements.

Regardless of which you select as a novice, always practice the movement with no weight if using an Olympic barbell (45 lbs), a weight load that is easily managed when using fixed weight dumbbells or barbells, or when using any type of machine for the first time. All muscle movement is dictated by nerve pathways. Practicing slow, controlled repetitions teaches these nerves how to fire, thereby learning and imprinting the movement. Depending on the complexity of the movement as many as 2000 repetitions may be required to establish muscle memory.

The body's muscle groups are commonly divided as to legs, back, shoulders, chest, and arms. The legs and the back make up the largest percentage of the body's muscle mass. The other groups by comparison are much smaller and require less volume of training. For the average person seeking fitness, well being, and appearance, a four days a week routine which trains each group once is sufficient. No more than 45-60 minutes a session is necessary. The routine can be every other day, or two days on/one day off/two days on/two days off. Either one allows for sufficient recuperation to allow the muscle to repair

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