A Beginner’s Guide to the Weight Room

The weight room can be a scary place.

Armed with all sorts of heavy, metal objects – and filled with gargantuan men and women lifting unworldly loads while grunting, screaming, and grinding their teeth in to a pulp (that’s not really what it’s like) – it’s no wonder why some people are afraid to go in there.

But, it doesn’t have to be scary.

In fact, the weight room can be one of the least frightening – and most beneficial – places on Earth.

All it takes is a working knowledge of how to use it.

And an ability to see past the bullshit misconceptions that commonly surround it.

 

 

First, Let’s Talk About Equipment

Because, if you know how to use the equipment, you’ll be half way toward owning the gym and making all of its amazing tools your biatch (yes, that’s a word).

Now, some gyms have more equipment than others, but in most commercial gyms you’ll find one or two of the following:

 

1. Power Rack
2. Squat Rack
3. Curl Rack
4. Smith Machine
5. Bench Press
6. Barbells
7. Dumbells
8. Exercise Machines (covering a wide variety of body parts)

 

Let’s cover each piece of equipment individually.

 

Power Rack

 

The power rack is like the iron throne of the weight room.

It’s where everything you need in a strength training routine takes place.

Squats?

Take place in a power rack.

Good mornings?

Take place in the power rack.

Deadlifts?

Take place in a power rack (or just outside of it).

Overhead Presses?

Power rack.

Barbell rows?

Power rack.

Pull-ups, chin-ups, inverted rows, hanging leg raises, pin push-ups, and bench presses (if there’s no stand alone bench press set up)?

Yep, you guessed it, they all take place in a power rack.

It’s the single, most important piece of equipment that the weight room has to offer.

And if a gym doesn’t have one, well, I’d highly recommend finding another gym.

 

Squat Rack

The squat rack is just like the power rack, only without safety pins (generally) and without as many adjustment holes to change the position of the barbell.

It’s almost as awesome as a power rack…but not quite.

If a gym has a squat rack – but no power rack – it’s still technically an acceptable place to train (no power rack OR squat rack is a no go).

 

Curl Rack

Just as the name suggests, the curl rack is a piece of equipment designed specifically for the performance of…curls.

Or squats, if someone’s curling in the squat rack and you want to be an asshole.

Curls can be done anywhere though, so the curl rack really isn’t that important and probably won’t be something you use on a regular basis.

 

Smith Machine

Again, probably not something you’ll be using on a regular basis.

The smith machine is a squat rack where the bar DOESN’T move freely in space.

It’s useful for some people – namely people who’ve never trained before, have poor movement, or want to use some advanced bodybuilding techniques – but for most people, they’re better off just using the regular squat rack.

 

Bench Press

The bench press is where you bench.

Ha, I know, common sense right (duh)?

It’s a staple of every commercial gym around the world.

And, it’s nearly impossible to find one empty if you go to the gym on a Monday afternoon (you have been warned).

 

Barbells

Your mighty training tool.

The barbell weighs 45 pounds and has a loading capacity of well over a 1,000 pounds.

It’s awesome.

Seriously.

And it can be used in about a million different ways to elicit an awesome training effect.

 

Dumbells

If a barbell is a sword, a dumbbell is a dagger.

Dumbells can be used to load almost any movement pattern in a variety of ways; they just can’t load them as well as a barbell (where weight can be added to a barbell, a dumbbell stays at a fixed weight).

But, what they lack in loading capacity, they make up for in versatility, stability demands, and range of motion.

Dumbells are awesome.

And they should be viewed as worthy companions to barbell training.

 

Exercise Machines

 

Finally, you have exercise machines.

There are far too many to list and/or explain – so I’m not going to do it – but what I am going to do is explain what exercise machines are good for.

In no real order of importance, they’re good for:

 

• Isolating a muscle in a way that barbells and dumbells can’t (which on the side of barbell and dumbbell training, will help you build muscle)
• The use of intensity principles (drop sets, forced negatives, constant tension work, etc.)
• Allowing someone to train who’s injured and/or doesn’t have good movement capacity
• Providing a training response for those that can’t do anything else (for whatever reason)

 

Exercise machines are useful, but not nearly as useful as barbells or dumbells.

Prioritize barbells first.

Dumbells second.

And then, if you want to, finish up a workout by adding in a couple of machines.

 

 

Alright, So How Do You Structure a Workout or Training Program?

That’s a bit outside the scope of this article – and something I’ve written on extensively in my free E-book that you can get by signing up for my newsletter – but a few quick tips to get the ball rolling:

 

1. The majority of your training time should be spent in a power rack or squat rack.  Or at least, the most beneficial and taxing exercises – that you do FIRST in your workout – should take place there.

 

2. On that same note, the majority of your training time (special populations aside) should be devoted to barbell and dumbbell training, with a small amount training time being devoted to machines.

 

3. Start with barbell exercises, and move to dumbbell exercises and machines as you progress through your workout (you always want to start with the most technical and taxing lifts).

 

4. A full body split done 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) where you perform an exercise for each body part and/or movement pattern would be a good place to start for most beginners.

 

5. Start with higher volume (think 3-5 sets for 6-12 reps per exercise), and progress to lower volume with a higher intensity/load (3-5 sets for 3-5 repetitions).

 

6. Focus on adding weight in a SAFE and CONTROLLED manner from one week to the next.

 

That should get you started.

If you have any questions – or want a more detailed and individualized response – feel free to send me an email.

 

 

Cool…Now Let’s Knock Out Those Misconceptions

 

Misconception #1 – Women Don’t Belong in the Weight Room

This is bullshit, and not something worth spending any time on.

Women, you belong in the weight room just as much as men do.

Period.

 

Misconception #2 – Training in the Weight Room Will Make Women Bulky

No, it wont.

If it were that easy to get bulky, I’d be freakin huge (look at some of my most recent pictures and you’ll see that’s not the case).

You know what training in the weight room will do for women, though?

It’ll make them strong.

It’ll make them athletic.

It’ll make them confident.

And it’ll help them get “toned,” “curvy,” “defined” or any other word women like to use as a disguise for the word “muscular.”

The weight room won’t make you bulky.

Steroids will make you bulky.

And unless you’re planning on taking a stack of testosterone, I wouldn’t really worry about getting huge.

 

Misconception #3 – People Are Watching and/or Judging You

Man, wouldn’t it be cool to be the center of attention?

Unfortunately, you’re not (neither am I…don’t take that the wrong way).

In fact, the chance of you getting more than two people to notice more than your shoes in the weight room is pretty darn slim.

People aren’t watching you.

And, if they’re not watching you, there’s no way they could be judging you.

But, let’s just say someone IS watching you.

That they ARE judging you.

Honestly, who freaking cares?

First and foremost they’re a shitty person (who you wouldn’t want to associate with anyway).

And secondly the time they spent watching you is time they could have been spending making themselves better.

They’re not getting any better.

You are getting better.

And after awhile, the tables will turn and YOU’RE the one who’ll have the ability to judge them (but don’t, because that’s a shitty thing to do).

 

Misconception #4 – People are Mean in the Weight Room

Not really.

In fact, the biggest and strongest people tend to be the nicest and most humble.

There’s a reason people who train are called “brothers and sisters in iron.”

We’re a family.

And what do families do?

They look out for each other.

 

Misconception #5 – People Working Out in the Weight Room Are Unintelligent Meat-Heads That Are Only Concerned with Their Bodies

Some people are.

Some people aren’t.

I’m not an unintelligent meathead.

Neither is anyone I’ve ever worked out with (I’ve worked out with A LOT of people).

The stuff you see on TV isn’t a real representation of what it’s like to train in the weight room (or at the most, it’s a representation of the 1%).

Most people?

They’re just people.

Sure, some of them are unintelligent assholes.

But the rest are nice, genuine, and extremely intelligent human beings (who just happen to have the ability to snap you in half).

The good news is YOU get to choose the people you hang around.

 

Misconception #6 – Guys Will Stare at Girls in the Weight Room

This really isn’t a misconception.

Guys WILL stare at girls in the weight room…they just can’t help it.

But, you know what ladies?

There are a lot of heavy objects lying around.

If you get to a point where you’ve had enough, just “accidentally” drop a dumbbell on his foot and I guarantee he’ll stop looking at you.