There are clever plans, millimeters, ideal, and then there is that of joining the gym, hitting the weights hard and, in a few days, maybe weeks, having a great body like Wolverine. This approach is perfect, unbeatable, but reality imposes subtle nuances. "You have to move slowly and be patient. If you have never been physically active or, at least, if you have not worked specifically on force, neither your joints nor the tendon and ligament system are used to carrying weight. The plan starting is going to be giving the relevant signals to the body to adapt progressively, "explains José Cano, personal trainer, director of Fitroom and world champion of bodybuilding and Mister Universo 2003. Another nuance, this more hopeful. No need to join the gym: gaining muscle strength is a goal that starts at home.
You've been looking at your dumbbells out of the corner of your eye, as if they weren't with you, and it's normal that the first day you stand in the gym you feel intimidated. "You see people in excellent physical condition and you feel terrible. You can even obsess that everyone looks at you badly. I suggest to beginners who start from scratch not to go to a gym. At three square meters, the weight of the own body or a few small scales and a little guide to do it with good technique is enough ". That is the starting point that he maintains in his book Those damned 5 kilos . "While you are getting safety, the priority in those first days or weeks is to do the movements well. With a one kilogram weight you will not be injured, but as the load is increased, if the technique is inadequate, there is much risk".
But what weight do you start with? "For an older person it may be that a kilo is enough. Others will be able to lift five on their first day. And the same with machines: it may be 15 or 40, depending on the muscle groups involved. A trick to know what is the weight Proper that we can mobilize in each exercise is to do 15 to 20 repetitions and that the last ones cost a lot, but that we can finish them. If you do not get to the last one, you have to put on less weight. If you get too loose, look for a bigger dumbbell or a resistance level goes up in the machine (for example, 30 to 40 kilos in the leg press) ".
And how much time should be devoted to it? Every 15 or 20 repetitions constitute what in slang is called a series (there are different types). "You have to repeat 3 or 4 sets of each exercise, leaving a minute or two of rest between each one. The rhythm should be slow and smooth, without jerks. There will be time for HIIT or to play with the rhythms." Although you look good at the end of the last series, do not overdo or put more weight than necessary. "If we come upstairs, the next day we will pay with tremendous laces. It is a physiological response of the body, but for the brain it is as if the alarms of something negative go off. Everything hurts, you cannot move and you start to think that This is hell, which is not for me, that if I don't go tomorrow ... You start with excuses and you end up leaving training after the first session. " At most, spend an hour on alternate days. "We'll start three days a week. Not one more. The body needs time to recover. And the head, too."
As for which exercises are best for the beginner, nothing to try to emulate the videos of Sergio Ramos or Cristiano Ronaldo. "It begins with multi-joint exercises, in which many muscle groups are involved at the same time and in synchrony. The classic example is the squat, where not only glutes and quadriceps participate, but also adductors, hamstrings ...". Other examples are the "deadlift", which consists of lifting the weight from the ground and which requires the work of the entire posterior muscular chain (lumbar, hamstring, gluteus, twins ...). There is also the "bench press ": lifting a weight lying on your back and raising your arms (pecs, triceps and anterior deltoids).
When should the load be increased?
If all goes well, in a few weeks you will begin to collect the fruits of so many hours. "They are seen first in areas with little fat, such as the pectorals or the arms. In the abdominals it takes longer, especially if you have to eliminate love handles first." You will notice that you lift the weight effortlessly and that you reach the last series like a rose. It is time to level up.
"This step does not happen all at once. For some users, after two weeks, you can sequence a training session with more load and more specific exercises according to the objectives that have been set, ranging from losing weight to hypertrophy. But there are also Genetics that have a hard time creating new muscle fibers. Or people with impoverished muscle masses for having done Atkins, Dukan or ketogenic diets, that cannibalize you internally, you run out of muscle. When you re-train you have to rebuild before hypertrophying or get stringy. That makes it take longer to see results. "
A common mistake after the first few weeks is to want to focus more on one area than on others. "They tend to want the upper body more, to show arm or pecs on the beach. They focus on the buttocks. But you have to work in a balanced way all the muscle groups, otherwise we may suffer an injury or end up with a deformed body like those men with wire legs and pecs and huge arms. "
To eat? Everything, even pasta
There is a current among those who do a lot of strength work that urges to eliminate a good part of carbohydrates from the diet , especially cereals, and to prioritize proteins, healthy fats and vegetables. "It is a mistake, they are unnatural nutrition guidelines. The human body is adapted for protein, but it needs carbohydrates and healthy fats. You do not have to run away from legumes or whole cereals (pasta, rice ...). eliminate is the pastry. As for protein, strength training, and more hypertrophy, it generates micro-breaks in muscle cells that must be replaced by consuming amino acids. But eating a little more protein is enough, "explains the dietitian. -nutritionist Virginia Gómez, better known as Enraged Dietitian.
If the normal is between 0.8 and 1 grams of protein per pound of weight per day, if you hit the weights hard you can increase it to between 2 and 2.5 grams. "Rarely three, since most studies do not report noticeable improvements from 2.5 to 3 grams of protein." And how is that calculation made? To give you an idea, a 150 gram chicken fillet is about 45 grams of protein; one of hake of 150 grams, 32 grams; and two large eggs, 13 grams. Peace of mind, it's not just about eating these products. In the Spanish Food Composition Database there is plenty of information to know the nutrients of numerous ingredients with which to make the menu.
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