What makes a good weight training system? All of these systems will follow basic strategies to help you with your efforts to gain muscle and generally get in shape.
The first thing you will find in a good weight training system is that it will contain compound exercises. This is the technical term for exercises that will work more than one joint. Think of a bench press: Work your shoulders, elbows, and wrists. Using more joints means you can lift more weight, building muscle faster. The other benefit is that more muscles are worked per exercise, so you get better value for the time you spend on a weight training system.
You should also plan your weight training system to focus on the largest muscles to start with, so go with your chest and back first. This helps the smaller muscles warm up and will allow you to lift heavier weights, further increasing any gains you get from weight training.
Design your routine to work the larger muscle groups, like the chest and back, first, before working the smaller muscles, like the biceps and triceps.
This helps warm up your smaller muscles and allows you to lift heavier weights, simply because your smaller muscles help both in lifting and in maintaining correct form.
Finally, tailor how much you lift and how often to what you want. If you’re looking for maximum strength, go as close as you can physically lift and do very few reps – 5 or less. If you’re more interested in resistance, then you want to do as many reps as possible, so you’ll need less weight, around half the maximum you can lift.
Any weight training system can be tailored from the ground up to meet your needs and put you on the path to substantial fitness improvements in weeks.