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Designing a Weight Lifting Routine Part I

Designing a weight lifting routine can be made very simple, or very complicated depending on your goals. Here at NSG, I like to focus on simplicity. My goal is to make exercise simple enough for anyone to meet his or her goals. I’m not talking about designing a training program for elite professional athletes, I’m talking about giving you the information to design your own routine. One that you’ll enjoy doing, stick with, and get results.

The cornerstone of a good weight lifting routine should be a large, multi-joint movement such as the deadlift or squat (yes, even for women). Working out at home, the deadlift makes more sense, unless you have a squat rack. Even then, the deadlift is safer - especially when training alone, as you can just drop the bar if you get into trouble. You can do the lift outside, or use a few sheets of plywood to protect your floor. Nail a few 2×4s into them to keep the barbell from rolling.

The deadlift is a full-body exercise. It is excellent for building overall strength, and size if that is your goal. If you have no desire for more size, you can keep that under control with an appropriate set/rep scheme, and by controlling your calories.

Proper deadlift form begins with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart and toes just under the bar. Lower yourself to the bar by pushing your butt back first, keeping your back flat, and only bending the knees enough to reach the bar. This is key - the power for this exercise comes from the hips, glutes and hamstrings, with help from almost everything else.

Once you’ve reached the bar, take hold with a grip just outside of shoulder width. Lift the bar up in the same path you went down in. Focus on using your hip, glute and hamstring muscles to squeeze the weight up. Do not allow your back to round. Keep your weight toward your heels. Keep your shins as vertical as possible. Keep your arms straight, and flex your back enough to keep it straight and to keep your shoulders pulled back. Continue up until you are back in a standing position.

Lower yourself back down, again along the same path, keeping tension in your body all the way down. Do not lose tension until the bar is firmly on the deck. You’re more likely to hurt yourself by getting lazy on the way down. Friends, that bar weighs the same whether you’re going up or down, so keep your body tense for protection.

You’ll want to design your weight lifting routine according to your goals. Whatever they are, keep your reps in the deadlift fairly low. Don’t do more than five. If your goal is strength, do three to five sets of three to five reps. If your goal is size, do five to ten sets of three to five reps. Do the deadlift two to three times a week.

The weight you use should be heavy, but not too heavy. Use a weight that you could get 6-8 reps if you really tried, but don’t do more than five. If your goal is strength, rest 2-5 minutes between sets. If your goal is size, rest a little less. No matter what your goal is, do NOT go to failure. Stop when you think you have one or two safe reps in you.

To learn more about building strength with this style of lifting, I highly recommend Power to the People! The entire program in this book consists of only two exercises. But, the techniques taught for increasing strength are some of the most effective techniques in the strength world. There are very detailed descriptions of the deadlift and the side press, as well as more details about designing a weight lifting routine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many great testimonials.