by Stephanie Sublett

Created on: April 22, 2009   Last Updated: April 23, 2009

The secrets to weight training success are: tailoring your approach to your goals and the amount of time you have, varying the way each muscle group is utilized, and knowing how to break through a plateau.

Have a clear goal. Your approach will depend on your goal. Do you want to trim or add inches? If you want to trim your body, do high numbers of repetitions (at least 20 per set) at lower weight, and eat a lean diet. If you want to gain inches, do few repetitions (5-8 per set) at a high a weight as you can per set, and eat a protein-rich diet to support muscle building. If you need to balance an asymmetry, than you bulk up the weak muscles and trim or maintain the strong ones.

If you have a limited amount of time, then optimize your workout using clever sequencing. Instead of staying in one place between sets of one exercise, do a complimentary exercise in between. Go back and forth between adductors/abductors, abs/laterals, biceps/triceps, hamstrings/quadriceps, etc. Gym equipment is often laid out with complementary exercises side-by-side. Since muscles need to rest, do half you exercises one day, then the other half the next day to have shorter workouts each day.

Vary the exercises covering specific muscle groups. First do exercises that work multiple muscle groups. Examples are squats and push-ups. Then move on to single muscle exercises such as calf raises and bicep curls. You do not want to tire a single muscle group (such as pectorals) and then rely on it for an exercise that requires that muscle in combination with others (such as the bench press). That would strain the other muscle groups and you might develop bad form.

Vary the way you use each muscle group. There are many ways to do push-ups. Mix them up. There are several bicep curls. Use them all, either within a single workout or over the course of a week. Muscle confusion is the concept that maximizes the speed and effectiveness of weight training.

Use free weights instead of machines. Using the auxiliary muscles and tendons to stabilize a motion is more effective than using a machine with a set path of motion. It can mean the difference between having big muscles that have a narrow range of motion, and having useful muscles that can adapt to new scenarios.

Break through a plateau. To do this you need rested muscles, and short focused workouts. Your growth hormone peaks after about half an hour, so workouts longer that 40-45 minutes may create diminishing returns. Cardio workouts should also be limited to every other day, since they minimize your testosterone levels, which can limit your weight lifting potential. Only do an exercise every other day. Take a week or two off every couple of months. If you hit a plateau, that is the time to take a week or two to let your body recover. Remember that muscle building requires muscle tearing and repair. Give your body time to do this.

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