The Nerdist Way_ How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) - Chris Hardwick [51]
It is also worth noting that these exercises can be used by both men AND women and possibly some third, as-yet-to-be-discovered sex. The reps, or repetitions, can be the same for everyone. The variable will be the weight you use. And your potential for asexual reproduction.
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
It’s a generally accepted rule that if you want to tone your muscles (pronounced “mus-kulls,” à la Popeye), you’ll want to use lower weights but higher reps, and if you’re looking to pack on meat, heavier weights but lower reps. Don’t worry about meatpacking right off the bat. The truth is, you have a huge potential for growth anyway if you’re a beginner because you’ve never really used those areas before. The following is a good, basic starting table:
This, however, is just a guideline. Your individual choices should be based on your comfort level and ability to do each motion comfortably and correctly. Tom emphasizes this and has therefore NEVER had a client injure himself or herself in twenty-five years.
You will see rep suggestions listed below each excercise. Don’t kill yourself to meet them and don’t cheat with poor form to eke out those last few. It’s OK to go to failure. “Failure” here means “until you can’t do any more reps with good form,” or more specifically “muscle fatigue.” “Failure equals success in workouts,” Tom always says. In other words, it’s not the number that counts. If all you can do is five reps, then your muscles are being worked to their limit. If that is painful for ANY reason, next time try a lighter weight.
LINE ∙ SPEED ∙BEAUTY
Tom ALWAYS advises going slower and lighter in the beginning. When I first put on gloves and started flailing my arms in a boxing-like attempt, he told me, “Line. Speed. Beauty.” In other words, get the basic form down slowly FIRST so you can see how it feels. Then you can jerk off your ego by showing how fast you can do it. THEN you can worry about making it look perfect and seamless. This applies to lifting weights, or any exercise for that matter. Go slowly and constantly check in with your body to make sure nothing hurts. ALWAYS focus on good technique first. Even if you can only afford a trainer one time a month to keep you on track with your technique, it’s worth it.
NONLABOR CONTRACTIONS
When lifting a weight, it’s all about those contractions, or the squeezing of a muscle at the peak of the move. So let’s say you start with five-pound dumbbells. If you can do fifteen to twenty reps of that, huzzah! Stay slow, keep practicing your form, and keep your body still. If you’re curling, for example, you don’t want to be shifting your body around to help you complete the move. The movements should be localized to your target area. This will prevent owies. You would curl the weight up and give the biceps a little extra squeeze before lowering it. Nothing violent or aggressive. You’re not trying to attack yourself or freak out other people at the gym.
If you can easily do twenty to thirty reps with the five-pound weights, congratulations! Now start the process over with eight-pound weights. These may sound light, but if you’re doing a high number of reps with proper form, you will be AMAZED by how heavy eight pounds feels. As such, the highest weight Trainer Tom has on his weight shelf is twenty-five pounds, and I have never felt like I needed any more than that.
POSTURE
This will be tricky for Nerds. We have notoriously bad posture. When lifting weights, it’s a good rule of thumb to remember, “Sluts Ferociously Bite Big Sausages, Then Lick Balls” (or SFBBSTLB).
S: SHOULDERS back.
F: FEET shoulder-width apart.
B: BEND a little at the knees to take the strain off your back.
B & S: Keep your BACK STRAIGHT (i.e., don’t hunch; keep your spine in a line).
T: TIGHTEN your abdominal muscles to hold your back in place.