I maintain a very effective weight lifting program, and I wanted to share what I have learned through the years of practicing it.
To start with, Ive learned that ultimately you have to pace yourself - work up to something rather than jump in to the deep end. So here is my 4 step plan:
Step 1. Start with the lightest weight. Bench pressing puts a lot of strain on your arms, so by starting light (
see fig 1), you are warming up the joints, preparing them for the pain.
Figure 1
Step 2. Having warmed up your joints in your arms, its time to increase that load a bit. Remember to lie flat distributing all the weight rather than bearing it on a specific point (
see fig 2).
Figure 2
Its time to increase difficulty as well as weight. This is where things start to get a wee bit tricky. The purpose of this stage is to give you a mental workout aswell as physical. Its all about attitude and approach. Do it without looking. (
see Fig 3) Think - Concentration not strength. Think - If a man speaks in the forest and there is no woman there to hear it, is he still wrong?
Figure 3
Step 4. The last step in this workout marathon is the chest expanding triple-backweight overload endurance lift. To succeed at the stage has taken me at least 6 years of practice. The key to this is realizing that even when you think your arms can't hold more - some how they over time expand to hold more than you could ever have imagined or dreamed of (
see fig 4). And its not just the size of the load - your self confidence increases as you learn what you are capable of. You not only lift the load, but hold it steady and sure with 100% certainty.
Figure 4
At this time I am planning to start a quadruple-backweight overload endurance lift. I will let you know how that goes in due course....
I also gotta give credit to my "personal trainer" for continually showing me what Im capable of. Thank you.
