Weight Training Basics

The body is very adaptable. Muscle groups work together in a graceful pattern that cooperate remarkably with one another.

Remembering that the body is a complex machine that does not operate independently by muscle groups is helpful when attacking a weight training program. When one muscle group cannot handle the load, another will assist to make it easier.

Your Body Movement Is Connected

Event though these muscle groups work together in beautiful harmony, inevitably there will be main events and supporting characters. Your muscles contract because it’s their job. Your brain works together with the nervous system to efficiently produce movement and create connections within the body.

Muscle Group Characteristics

The agonist muscle group works the hardest in one particular movement. Your body has motion and the agonists are the superheroes, if only in that specific event. When you perform a simple bicep curl, the agonist muscle group is your biceps.

These prime movers supply the main source of power for the specific motion that is being performed.

The antagonist movement react against against what the agonists are doing. This muscle group is like the supervillians in the movie of your body. The antagonists must slacken so that the agonists can perform the task. Using the example of the bicep curl, the antagonists are the tricep muscle group. There is damage being done to your body if your triceps cannot relax while performing a bicep curl.

The stabilizers in the body maintain the position of the body while the agonist and antagonist muscle groups perform the motion of the body. It is common to overhear in the gym people talking about ‘this movement works the stabilizers’. The stabilizers are not a specific muscle group but all of your abdominal and spinal muscles working against the main action in the body. To go back to the bicep curl example, the stabilizers can work the forearms, shoulders, midsection or the thighs and calf muscles if the bicep curl is done while standing.

Tendons and Ligaments

The connective tissue in the body such as ligaments and tendons perform the function of holding your joints together, connect muscle to bones, supply the body with lively, springy and useful energy, and behave like tight elastic bands to stretch one part of the body away from or towards another. During a jump, the body uses the muscle groups in your legs but also the springy, elastic fire of the tendons.

It is important to remember that you are using the entire beautiful symphony of muscles, stabilizers, tendons, ligaments and energy stores within the body when performing simple or complex movements. It is best to combine the body’s movements to get the entire orchestra to play simultaneously. You will notice progress from the simplest bicep curls, squats, push-ups and sit-ups, which utilize complex systems of muscles and stabilizers to give you a fit, trim and toned body ready to move mountains! Remember, it’s not how much weight you lift, it’s how you lift the weight. Repeating movements trains your body further to built muscle structure and allow the body to get stronger.

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