Engage core muscles when you lift weights
Beware of overdoing it, trainer advises
Weight training or strength training is an important part of a full-body fitness program, but you have to know proper form and technique for your workout to be effective and safe, says Chris Tse, a personal trainer at Blitz Conditioning.
He recommends spending at least one session with an expert, like a personal trainer, to learn the basic moves of lifting — the press, row and squat — and how to do them correctly.
The most common mistake beginners make is not engaging the core muscles, Tse says. Weight machines don’t require you to engage your core because they balance the weight and maintain form for you. Free weights or dumbbells require you to involve your core muscles in every movement, he says.
Engaging core muscles involves pulling your abdominals back toward your spine and holding in that position as you raise and lower free weights, remembering to keep breathing. Breathe out as you lift and breathe in as you lower.
Overtraining is another common error. You don’t have to lift weights for hours at a time or several times a day. Tse recommends two hours a week of heavy lifting — where you choose heavier weights you can only raise and lower using proper technique a small number of times — to build muscle.
“For most people, they should just hit pretty much every muscle group they possibly can with weights. The other days they should do cardiovascular workouts.”
Many people think strength training is about lifting the most weight, and try lifting weights that are too heavy — sacrificing proper technique and risking injury, he says.
Others are so focused on how they want their muscles to look — toned or large deltoids (shoulder muscles), for example — they don’t spend any time working the muscles that stabilize the deltoids and maintain the joint, resulting in injury to their rotator cuff muscles.
Last week, Tse demonstrated the press movement used in strength training with the Flat Bench Shoulder Press. This week he demonstrates the row movement used in the Back Row:
Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart, weights in hand.
Bend knees slightly, engage core muscles and lean forward, pushing bum back, so back is parallel to the floor.
Bend elbows and pull up weights in a slow and controlled manner, keeping arms tight at your side, pulling shoulder blades together.
Lower arms and then pull or row them up again.
Do 8 to 12 repetitions.