One of the most common questions I’m asked in the gym regarding resistance training is “Russ, how much weight should I lift on this exercise?” Whether you are training to build muscle, tone up or lose fat, you have a perfect weight to lift on every single exercise and today I’m going to show you how to nail it every single time. Today’s video shows a simple four-step system which will help you determine the exact weight to use – and this works whether you are trying to build lean muscle mass, tone up or simply lose some body weight.
It’s an all-too-common situation… People get all motivated to start a resistance program which will help them build the body they’ve always wanted and then BOOM! It hits them. They have no clue how light or heavy they need to be lifting, or how many reps to do for that matter. If that’s currently your situation, good news, the solution is not as tough as you may think. Follow the four steps below and you’ll be able to ensure the weight you lift is perfect for whatever type of physique you are trying to build in the gym:
Rule #1: No two people are the same
That’s right; don’t just jump in after your pal and think you’ll be alright lifting what he or she lifted. Everyone is different.
Rule #2: Set your goal
If you haven’t set a goal (i.e. what you want to look like in a year) then you aren’t actually aiming for anything. That puts you in a gym version of No Man’s Land. Set a long-term goal for yourself now, and every day begin doing something to get you closer to achieving that goal. Also, break up the journey by setting multiple short-term goals along the way. So if you decide you want to build a physique like Jason Statham or Sylvester Stallone for example, you may need to split your journey up into sections where you focus purely on gaining size or purely on losing fat. That’s okay – and actually far more productive than people who say “I want to lose fat AND build muscle….” Focusing on one thing at a time allows you to attack it and achieve it without compromise. Furthermore, just by having a goal, something that is real and attainable, you’ll become far more serious regarding your workouts and you’ll begin looking at exercises in a “How can this benefit me for what I actually want to achieve?” kind of way instead of just doing it because other people are.
Rule #3: Let your reps be your guide
By figuring out the optimal rep range for your goal you’ll be able to use this as a benchmark to see if the weight you are using is adequate or not. If you are looking to increase size you should be aiming for around 6-8 reps in your set, if you are looking to go for fat loss and getting more lean switch that rep target up to 15-20 reps instead. Some folks like to shoot for a middle ground between the two (10-12 reps) but ultimately whatever your goal from Rule #2 was will help you make this choice for yourself.
Rule #4: Progress
This is the most important rule of all. You see, our 4 rules put you on the map, your setting your goal gave you a destination point, but it’s your own progress which will get you there. There’s little point in finally getting your ideal lifting weight on an exercise if you’re not going to see things through in the long-term and progress when the time comes, right? You see, that 50kg Bench Press may seem really hard today if it’s the first time you have done it but in a month’s time it’s going to feel relatively easy. So how do you know when you need to put the weights up? Simple: Use your rep range to tell you when you must increase resistance. For example, if you are aiming for 15-20 reps and you find that you get to twenty but aren’t even feeling any problems yet then you’d be better just increasing the weight rather than pumping out hundreds of unnecessary reps. By the time you reach your target number of reps you should be feeling like you want to stop and rest. The same goes for increasing the weights too, though, do not increase your weight until you know you are ready to do so (i.e. you can perform your total number of target reps with good technique).
As usual, there’s more from me on the facebook page – enjoy your next workout!
Russ
One of the most popular questions I get asked in the gym is “Hey Russ, should I do my cardio workout before my weights session or after it?” In today’s video I’ll answer this for you and explain the method behind our explanation, because we feel there’s nothing worse in the gym than doing something without understanding why you’re doing it, right?
Just aim for around 8-10 glasses of water per day (coffee, juice and tea don’t count – just straight up water). You’ll easily achieve that goal by simply replacing some of your regular drinks throughout the day with water.
Be honest, how many folks do you know who go to the gym and do the exact same workout program over and over again? I know quite a few myself! There is one simple word which will kickstart your muscle building (and fat loss) goals into a high gear and today I’m going to show you exactly why. That word, my friends, is 
Most folks who purchase home gym kit find it difficult to construct quality workouts with the options they have available. Today we’re going to show you how the most simple, often kit-free, exercises can combine with your range of home gym equipment to make a great workout to help with 
Did you know: Around 75% of guys and girls don’t train their legs correctly in the gym. In many cases they don’t actually train their legs at all. In today’s post 
Allow me to explain; You see, when we train our legs two things happen. First of all you’ll notice your upper & lower body will look in proportion and you’ll feel way stronger. Secondly, with massive exercises such as Squats our body is forced to release natural growth hormone which actually 
The mind muscle connection is a simple game of focus. Knowing how to zone in on the exact area of your body which you are working, knowing how to think of nothing else but that muscle and knowing how to use that muscle to do the movement is a fine skill to have in your workout arsenal. For example, when I’m training people in my gym I often see folks on a Pec Deck machine using a combo of their arm strength and momentum to push the weights into the finish position. As you may know, Pec Deck is actually a chest exercise. So what better way to do this exercise than to, err, use your chest?! Try this simple technique with me now; put your arms out to each side as if you were in the starting position of a Pec Deck right now. Your arms aren’t going to do any of the work here, they are merely tools to pull the weight amost like levers and pulleys. Now tense your chest. Notice how your arms automatically begin coming in in the exact motion of a Pec Deck machine? There you go!! That’s exactly what we’re looking for. Not only did you perform this exercise with a strict technique but you also used the exact muscle which it was intended for.