Lifting weights can be a great way to get exercise, strengthen your body, and improve your overall health. However, if you don’t have a lot of experience with lifting weights, getting started can be a little intimidating. So to help you not feel like you’re getting in over your head or putting yourself in danger, here are three tips for starting a new weight lifting regimen for anyone just beginning, be it a fit young adult or a senior in an assisted living facility. 

Consider Starting With Body weight Exercises

When you’re just getting started with weighted exercises, one of the best places to begin is with body weight exercises. You really don’t need a lot of equipment in the beginning of your weight lifting journey, since you’ll need to build up those muscles slowly over time in order to be able to lift those heavy weights anyway. 

Some of the bodyweight exercises you should start with could include push-ups, lunges, and squats. Then, once you’re able to do some of the most basic of body weight exercises to the point that they start to feel easy to you, then you can graduate onto adding some weight in addition to your body weight. Doing exercises like bench press and weighted squats will use those same muscles but will work them harder with the more weight you add. 

Always Start With A Warmup

Once you’ve figured out what exercises you want to get started with in your weight lifting, you should begin your workout by warming up your body appropriately. By taking the time to adequately warm up, you’ll reduce your risk of pulling a muscle or otherwise injuring yourself while doing your more heavy weight lifting. 

To warm yourself up, you can start with a brisk walk or jog to get your body physically warm. You should then stretch out the muscle groups that you plan on targeting with your weight lifting so that they’re ready for the added stress of the weights you’ll be working with. 

Use Slow Movements

When you’re doing your weight lifting exercises, you’re going to get the most out of your effort if you focus on doing each movement in a slow and controlled way.

While it might be easier to just move through the motions as quickly as possible and get that heavy weight off of you, the longer you’re able to draw out the movements and the more stress you’re able to hold with those muscles, the more benefit you’ll see. So if you can lift more slowly and use slower movements, the gains should come much quicker. 

If you’re thinking about starting a new weight lifting regimen, consider using the tips mentioned above to get your get going on this journey.