Weight Training - Back to Basics

(Before starting any fitness routine, contact your doctor for a complete physical and advice to ensure that you are healthy and have no underlying problems that could worsen during an exercise regimen.)

Have We Forgotten the Basics?
It seems today that with new terms, exercises and equipment, we have forgotten the basics. New training philosophies and exercises seem to have pushed aside the basics and fundamentals of basic resistance and weight training. It seems we may have lost the art of strength training which was in the past the bread and butter of fitness and health. When I say “Strength Training” I mean training that sets a program to continually increase resistance (weight) to improve overall strength. This may be through machines, free weights or dumbbells. Scientific studies have provided valuable knowledge and great strides in developing a better understanding of this training. Gone are the days of just lifting tremendous amounts of weight with no strategy on how to lift more. Strength training today is not the same as it was in the past. But it does have its roots there and because of those in the past, we have been able to continue to progress this training to make it the most widely used type of fitness training. Most don’t know they are using these basic roots when they go in and use machines or dumbbells in their daily workout. The problem is that they do not have the knowledge to continue to progress their strength through the use of progressive lifting.