Weight training facts for kids
Weight training is a common way to make your body stronger. It uses the pull of gravity with things like weighted bars, dumbbells, or weight stacks. These weights push against your muscles, making them work harder. Weight training uses many different tools and movements to help specific muscle areas and types of body motions.
It's important to know that "weight training" is not the same as bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, or power-lifting. Those are sports, and weight training is just one part of how athletes train for them.
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Understanding Your Workout: Reps, Sets, and More
Weight training shares many ideas with other kinds of strength training. They all use "repetitions" (or "reps"), "sets", "tempo", and "rest" to help you get stronger.
For any exercise, "reps" mean doing the same movement over and over without stopping. For example, lifting a weight up and down 10 times is 10 reps.
A "set" is a group of reps followed by a short rest. If you do "3 sets of 10 reps," it means you do the movement 10 times, then rest. Then you do it 10 more times, rest again, and finally do it another 10 times before a longer rest.
The "tempo" of an exercise is how fast you do each movement. Imagine someone doing a movement in 2 seconds, while another person takes 10 seconds. The person moving slower will take much longer to finish 10 reps. Often, moving slower makes the exercise harder.
"Rest" means taking a break. It's very important in weight training. During rest, you don't do any movements. The amount of rest between sets can be different for various types of weight training, from as little as 30 seconds to as long as 8 minutes.
Weight Training vs. Bodybuilding
Weight training is similar to bodybuilding, but they have different goals. Bodybuilding uses weight training to make muscles look bigger and more defined. The main goal is how the muscles look, not necessarily how strong they are. Bodybuilders also try to have very low levels of body fat.
Many people who do weight training focus on getting stronger and being able to do difficult things for a long time. They don't usually worry about getting their body fat super low.
Staying Safe While Weight Training
Weight training is a safe kind of exercise if you do the movements slowly, with control, and carefully. Just like with many activities, doing it wrong or without care can lead to injuries.
Why Good Form Matters
Each weight training exercise is designed for a specific muscle or group of muscles. This is called the "primary" muscle area for that exercise. After several reps, the movement might become difficult. Sometimes, people try to use other muscles to help, by jerking or changing the movement slightly. This is called "bad form."
Bad form can cause injuries because those other muscles might not be strong enough to handle the weight. For example, when doing a squat, if you lean too far forward, you might use your back muscles. But the squat is meant for your leg muscles. Keeping your back straight helps your legs do the work safely.
Stretching Before You Start
Many people who do weight training spend about 5 minutes stretching their muscles. They use special stretching movements and body positions. Scientists say that stretching can help lower your chance of getting hurt.
Warming Up Your Muscles
"Warming up" also helps prevent injuries. A "warm-up" means doing a few sets of an exercise with a much lighter weight before you start your main workout. These sets help get blood flowing to your muscles, making it safer to lift heavier weights.
Breathing Right During Exercise
How you breathe is also important. There's a very small chance of feeling dizzy or having a serious problem if you hold your breath while straining during an exercise. That's why many experts suggest breathing out during the hardest part of the movement (like when you lift the weight up) and breathing in when you lower it.
Staying Hydrated: Drink Water!
Just like with many types of exercise, it's important to drink enough water when weight training. Some people suggest drinking about 200ml of water every 15 minutes. "Sports drinks" like Gatorade are not usually better than water for staying hydrated, but they might help replace some salts your body loses during exercise. Be careful not to drink too much water, as that can also be risky.
Why a Spotter Can Help
Some weight training exercises need a helper, called a "spotter," to make them safe. For example, the bench press involves lifting a weight directly over your body. Many people use a spotter for this exercise. The spotter stands behind the person's head. If the person can't lift the weight on their own, the spotter helps them move the weight back up to the starting position.
Many exercises can be done safely without a spotter, especially those using exercise machines. However, it's always safer to do weight training when other people are nearby who can help if you get hurt.
Understanding Pain
If an exercise causes a sudden, sharp pain, like being cut, that's a bad sign, and you should stop immediately. But all weight training exercises will make your muscles feel tired and cause a small, mild strain in the area you're working. When people say "no pain, no gain," they mean this tired feeling and mild strain will help you get stronger. But sharp, sudden pain is bad and means you might be injured.
Sharp pain might also mean you didn't warm up enough.
Getting Medical Advice
Many people talk to a doctor before starting weight training to make sure they are healthy enough. If you are older or have had medical issues in the past, it's especially important to get medical advice before you start.
Different Kinds of Weight Training
Smooth vs. Explosive Movements
Most people think of "isotonic" weight training when they talk about it. This means lifting with a smooth, steady speed during your reps.
"Plyometric" weight training uses quick, explosive movements. This type of training helps people jump higher or hit with more power. Because these exercises can involve sudden, jerky motions, it's even more important to do a long warm-up and stretch before trying them.
Working One Muscle vs. Many Muscles
An "isolation" exercise is designed to work only one muscle or a small group of muscles. A "compound" exercise works a larger area and uses more muscles at once. It's still good form to do a compound exercise that uses more than one muscle area if the exercise is designed that way.
For example, a pull-up uses your arm muscles to help your back muscles. This is a compound exercise. A bicep curl only uses the muscles on the front of your arm. This is an isolation exercise.
Many isolation exercises need special equipment. Compound exercises often feel more natural. Isolation exercises can be useful if one muscle is weaker than others that work with it in a compound movement. Also, bodybuilders often use isolation exercises to shape their muscles.
Health Benefits of Weight Training
Weight training makes your bones stronger, which helps prevent bone loss and a condition called osteoporosis. By making your muscles stronger and improving your balance, weight training can also help older people avoid falls.
Weight training is also important for keeping your muscles strong if you are on a diet to lose fat. Without weight training or other strength training, a person on a diet might lose muscle along with fat when they lose weight.
Related pages
Images for kids
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A full body workout can be performed with a pair of adjustable dumbbells and a set of weight disks (plates).
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An early plate-loading barbell and kettlebell
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A woman doing weight training at a health club with her coach standing behind her.
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A dumbbell half-squat.
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Lifting straps
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The leg extension is an isolation exercise.
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The weight stack from a cable machine.
See also
In Spanish: Entrenamiento de fuerza para niños
