I have been doing weightlifting for a while now and I do enjoy it. It’s convenient and can be relatively quick. I usually spend 45 minutes to an hour, 2-3 times a week and that has been enough for me to get reasonably good results. The pump is what I like the most about weightlifting. It’s the feeling you get when your muscle is working hard (shrinking to lift the weight). You actually feel the blood flowing through your muscle. It’s this feeling that could potentially make weightlifting addictive, as you want to feel the pump more and more frequently.

There is a certain level of technique you should know to do weightlifting. This applies mostly to free weights using barbell and dumbbells. Machines can also be used mostly for beginners, but you won’t get very big just by using machines. You need to activate several muscles at ones to simulate the muscle during an exercise and that is achieved mainly with free weights.

Muscle growth rate and speed varies from individual to individual. Genetics plays a role here too. A person is born with a certain ratio of slow (type 1) and fast (type 2) muscle fibers. The best results from strength training and weightlifting are obtained from those that have more type 2 muscles in their body composition. Those with more type 1 are more successful with endurance sports like running, biking, swimming etc. Studies show that a person with more type 1 can still do weightlifting, but the results will be slow and not at the extend of their counterpart with more type 2 muscles. This is because it is only these muscles that grow in size.

Keep an eye on future posts where some of the topics will be: balance between cardio and weightlifting, optimal program, classical exercises etc.

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