Much has been written about the best ways to train with weights and home gyms. The science has evolved quickly over the past few decades. This article gives a brief history of this thinking, broken down by the choices that confront the beginning home gym user. How Hard - In order to make a muscle grow, it must be worked hard. There is no lazy man's strength workout. "No pain, no gain" is wrong, but close. Pain is not good. However, the expression is just a convenient way to say "No hard work, no significant progress." This makes it unlike aerobics, where calorie-burning can take place through a relatively comfortable workout. The way this need for hard work is usually expressed is that each set of exercises should be done to "failure," that is, until you cannot do a single additional repetition. Working out this way is also known as "intensity." Experts are continually disagreeing over how much resistance to use. They also disagree on how many repetitions to do and how fast or slow to do them. Your objectives are the biggest single determinant of the right answers. These actually may even be the wrong questions. A better one may be how much time you muscles should be under resistance. Another area of disagreement is whether it is better to do partial repetitions or work a muscle through its full range of motion. How long - Harder may be better, but longer is not. It is not possible to workout with maximum intensity for a long period. 30 minute should do it. After 45 minutes, the release of your muscle-building hormones drops off dramatically. How Often - Since you worked your muscles to failure, it will take them awhile to recover and grow. This is when the strength building really takes place. More often is not better. Working your muscles while they are still recovering just delays your progress, and could even prevent it. It takes young people a couple of days to recover, while older people do better on a week or more of rest. This difference is largely due to the reduced release of growth hormone as we age. Intense weight training can actually increase the release of growth hormone, but it requires adequate rest to benefit from it. One way people reconcile the need for intense, brief workouts with their desire to work out and make quick progress is to work some parts of the body one days and other parts on other days. The Real Problem - There is a danger of the beginning trainee getting caught up in distinctions any finer than those discussed above. The mostly likely thing that will hold him back is a lack of discipline. After expecting fast results with some of latest fad workouts, some home gym users lose their motivation. Home gyms suffer the same problem that commercial gyms do. Typically, someone will begin enthusiastically, but soon drop off. By just working out consistently, you will get results. Don't quit!
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