I don't want to become some huge bodybuilder freak, I just want to get in better shape and look better. Should I weightlift?
Absolutely. Weightlifting alone won't cause you to become a roided out giant. It's generally an excellent way to look better, increase overall physical ability, and improve your health.
Are you trying to lose weight? Lift weights. Lifting burns a lot of calories, and if you lift while dieting you'll retain more muscle and lose more fat. Remember, you want to lose fat, not lose weight. If you lose weight at the expense of muscle then you're going to be that super skinny dude who's super flabby and useless.
Are you trying to just "tone up"? Lift weights. Getting toned is just gaining some muscle while losing fat. Lifting weights will cause you to both burn fat and build muscle.
Are you trying to get swole and go full Banemode? Lift weights. (And eat big) If you want to go full hulk, then you definitely have to weightlift. However, it's not just weightlifting that gets you big. You need to eat more calores than you expend while lifting weights in order to gain a significant amount of muscle mass. (See the TL Diet thread for more)
Remember, in the wise words of Rich Piana, "You wanna get big, you gotta eat big."
Sounds good. Where do I start?
There are a lot of good weightlifting programs out there, and I'll be listing a few later on. But as long as you do the regimen properly it shouldn't matter too much which one you pick. However, you'll notice that a lot of the good ones have some things in common.
First, good programs are almost entirely based on compound movements, which are basically lifts that involve the movement of at least 2 or more different joints. For beginners, generally compound movements >>> isolation movements. They do a better job of stimulating overall muscle growth, allow you to work out more efficiently, and they're more practical, they closely resemble the ways you'll be using your muscles in real life. Some examples of compound exercises are Deadlift, Bench Press, Chin-ups, etc. Isolation movements aren't useless or harmful in any way, but they're a bad choice for beginners trying to develop overall muscle growth.
Second, good programs work out the entire body, not just the arms or chest.
Third, good programs make you move large amounts of weight. Doing some girly program where you do a huge amount of reps with a 10 lb barbell won't do you any good (Even if you are a girl). To stimulate muscle growth you have to put a substantial load on it, meaning enough weight that you can only do 5-10 repetitions before needing a rest.
Fourth, good programs use mostly dumbbells and barbells over machines. Free weights are almost always better than machines. Though machines may seem safer and more efficient, free weight exercises are almost always superior to their machine equivalent (Yes, this includes using the smith machine, so stop using it for squatting and benching). The reason behind this is because the machines stabilize the weights for you and force you to move them in unnatural and guided pathways. When you do something like a bench press, you're not only working out the obvious muscle groups you're using to lift up the dumbbell, but you're also recruiting other muscle groups to provide assistance for the main muscle group and to stabilize the dumbbell. Since machines do this for you, you won't be working out those alternate muscle groups, nor training yourself to stabilize any weights you're lifting, for both in weight training and in real life situations.
Alright, I get it now. Can we get to the programs yet?
Hold your horses, I'm almost there. But before we get to the programs, some quick tips.
- Track your progress in writing.
This is so, so important. Bring a notebook, use an app, I don't care what you're doing as long as you're keeping track of how much you lifted and how many times you lifted something every session. Doing this gives you a concrete sense of progression and allows you to focus on beating your numbers from your last session. - Don't be afraid of Barbells or Dumbbells, use free weights when you can.
As mentioned earlier free weights and compound exercises are almost always superior to machines. The key to safely using them is proper form, alongside slowly increasing the amount of weight you're using. This allows you to maintain and practice proper form while slowly ramping up your workouts. Only do an exercise as long as you can do it properly and control the amount of weight you're using. If you can't control it, reduce the amount of weight you're using until you can. - Make sure you warm up beforehand.
A few minutes of light cardio is sufficient. And make sure you do 8-12 reps of each exercise with light weight before doing it with a larger amount of weight. - It's not important what weight you start with, but rather where you end up.
Having trouble lifting the bar while your neighbor is benching 2plate? Suck it up. Weightlifting is a slow and gradual process and your muscles will need time to develop. Start conservatively and add weight or increase reps between workouts and you'll slowly, but steadily increase the amount of weight you'll be able to lift. Push yourself, but don't be stupid. Soreness and stiffness are normal, but genuine pain is not. If you hurt yourself, take some time off until you're back to 100% again, or else you'll end up injuring yourself again. And don't lift on your off days. Your body needs time to rest and build muscle in between workout sessions. Lifting more on off-days doesn't cause you to train faster; you'll over train and start doing worse, not better.
Alright, now it's time for the programs.
Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength, Stronglifts, and Reg Park's beginner's 5x5 are all excellent programs with the same purpose; to quickly build strength. These programs are all designed for beginners to quickly increase the amount of weight they can lift. They make you STRONG. Three workouts a week may seem a bit sparse, but once you're squatting upwards of 2 plates per workout, you'll thank Zeus that you get four resting days a week. Once you begin to stall on all your lifts then you can advance to some more intricate and focused weightlifting programs that are designed to help you increase the amount of weight you can lift.
It's also notable that these aren't extremely aesthetic focused (Reg Park's is probably the best if that's what you're looking for). People like to joke and say that these programs make you go full "t-rex" (meaning you'll have huge legs from squatting all the time and mediocre arms) but you'll only be doing these for a few months. Remember, your goal is long term fitness, not short term. And you'll still look pretty good doing these programs regardless. People who say SS is shit are trolls and people who post progress pics after doing SS for a whole year are idiots.
Oh; and for women, this entire guide still applies. If you somehow start to get visible muscles you don't want, reduce your calorie intake, or reduce the intensity of your weight workouts and make up the difference with more cardio. Without continued heavy lifting, the extra muscles will go away. Remember that gaining muscle is a slow, gradual process.
Here's some Jargon that'll be helpful.
Good luck lifting, guys.
Oh, and make sure you look up videos on how to do the exercises properly on youtube before you try them out, and make sure you start with a low weight. Really get your form down, it'll help a lot in the long run.