First of all, thank you.

So many guys like to focus on one aspect of weight training, then one day, they realize how disproportionate their muscle groups are. I really love looking at the guys at the cycling races. They have incredibly awesome legs, but their upper body look like little girls. Yuck. Can you say "osteoperosis" and "decreased bone density"?

I also think it would be a good idea to talk to a personal trainer. If you have the trainers who roam the floors of the gym, they would be a good resource to begin with. A lot of personal trainers can be cool, but they will want to cut that conversation short, since they get paid to train, not to talk. Even better, if you can hire a personal trainer to take you through about two personal training sessions (that's not including the complimentary consultation to address your needs and find out what your current strength capacity is right now). Look for a trainer with solid credentials- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) are two very good certifications with solid personal trainers who have superior knowledge. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is also very good, but the other two aforementioned are so much better.

Training with free weights is the best way to go because it promotes better balance between the opposing muscle groups, as well as muscle groups on both sides of the body. Free weights also prevent you from using other muscle groups when you're working the muscle you're exercising (ie: using the bicep machine also activates the shoulder girdle, whereas free weights done with good form for the bicep curl isolates the bicep and doesn't use the shoulder girdle). Not to say machines don't have their place... I definitely believe in using machines for variety and to help me when I begin increasing my weights. But the majority of what I do for upper body is with the free weights. I never really saw a difference in my upper body until I incorporated free weights into my routine. The biggest downside I can see with using free weights is that sometimes, it is difficult to increase your weights if your gym doesn't have the 2.5 pound weight differential. For instance, I would love to increase my bench presses with my dumbbells, but to go from a 50 pound weight to a 55 pound weight is too much for me. I can't get the 55 pound weight lifted. But the 50 pound weight is definitely getting too easy for me to lift too. At Gold's Gym, they have a 52.5 pound weight, which would be perfect for me. I could ease into the 52.5 pound weight, then eventually transition to the 55 pound weight. But at my gym (Crunch), there is no 52.5 pound weight. So I'm stuck until I can get the strength to lift the 55 pound weight. Aaaah.... 50 is too easy and 55 is too much. I'm in a catch-22, but I usually am anyway. The more I increase the weights, the harder it becomes for me to increase it as easily back in the day when I was lifting with 12 and 15 pound weights. Anyway, that's my only real caveat with you for working with the free weights. Otherwise, I consider free weights an incredible resource for you to use for weight training.

Whatever you do, never let things get stale for you. If you can't increase your weights, find variety and hit that muscle in different ways. For instance, if you're doing bicep curls for 3 months, spend another month doing hammer curls. Then increase your weights for the biceps and go back to curls again. Then maybe use the bicep curl machine every now and then and play with the weights. Then go back to doing some hammer curls for a few weeks. Then back to bicep curls. Then try to increase your weights. Mixing things up will do your muscles a whole world of good. And never work the same muscle group 2 days in a row. Allow your muscles recovery time. Muscle growth happens from tearing the muscle (the lifting part), then allowing the muscle to repair itself. Don't make the mistake of not giving the muscle time to heal. Perpetual tearing without time to heal will never allow for muscle growth. And finally, there is a window of time after your training session when you should replenish the muscles with some carbs (just a few hundred calories) so your muscles can replace the glycogen stores used during the workout session. I know some folks in the fitness profession don't believe it, and some folks in the fitness profession do. Anywho... that window is somewhere between 30 minutes to an hour. So take the time to get some good carbs and a little protein in there right after your lifting ends. A simple energy bar would do the trick.

Oh! And stretch. After a 5 minute warm up, you can start your lifting, and when you finish, spend time stretching those muscles. Over time, your muscles will become more flexible, and limber muscles will contract with greater intensity, which leads to more strength.

Koffee