The Basics of Weight Training for College Students
By Rollie Crawford
Spring 2024
Are you a college student looking for a new hobby to pick up? Weight training is a beginner friendly hobby that will improve your overall health and comes with many benefits. According to experts from the Department of Health and Aged Care, weight training (also known as resistance or strength training) is the use of resistance to muscular retraction to build strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles. To put that into simpler terms, having your body overcome a resistance to build muscle. This could be going to a gym and lifting weights or doing bodyweight workouts in your home. Weight training is for everyone. All ages, all body types can participate in this form of working out. It’s a great way to build muscle and lose/gain weight (results will vary based on one's specific goals).
What are the Benefits of Weight Training?
There are many benefits for students when it comes to weight training. The Mayo Clinic states that weight training can develop stronger bones, help manage your weight, manage chronic conditions and enhance your overall well-being.
First, when you are working your muscles, you are also stressing your bones. If you are lifting correctly, this will strengthen and increase density in your bones, which can help reduce the risk of injuries and bone diseases (osteoporosis). Next, you can manage your weight when weight training. Because this training will help increase your metabolism, people use it to lose weight. You can also gain weight with a mix of a good diet and training schedule. After that, weight training can reduce the signs and symptoms of arthritis, back pain, obesity, and more. You’re probably thinking you're too young for those issues, but training now can prevent them in the future. These examples are some physical benefits that can come with weight training. Additionally, it also comes with quite a few mental benefits.
Weight training can help with mental issues, especially anxiety. According to a study pulled from the National Library of Medicine, low to moderate intensity workouts that include resistance training can decrease anxiety levels. Many people who participate in a form of weight training use it as “therapy”. This is important for college students as a study done from Frontiers in Psychology says 43% of students deal with anxiety. Also, 29% showed signs of elevated depression and 24% had elevated stress levels.
North Central College senior Aidan Westerberg says he uses the gym to get in better shape, but to also clear his mind. Westerberg said “I’m typically stressed being so busy with school work” and he also mentioned anxiety affects him too. He makes sure to go to the gym at least three times a week to reduce his mental restraints. He has only been weight training for a couple of months and has seen great results physically and mentally, he encourages others to start their own journey.
What Do I Need to Start Weight Training?
First things first, it is important to have goals and a schedule before you start. Having set goals will help you decide how you will approach your training and will help you see better results. Making a schedule will help keep your workouts spread out allowing your body to recover. Also, as a busy student, it's nice to have a specific time of day marked off for a workout.
One of the glories about weight training is you really don’t need much. Considering your body is a weight, that’s all you need (along with a space you can do exercises in). Tara Mazanec, a wellness expert who specializes in fitness and nutrition says bodyweight exercises are a great way to be simple and effective. Some bodyweight workouts she recommends are pushups, stationary lunges, hip bridges, and more. Most bodyweight exercises can be done in your dorm room which is super convenient for busy students.
Even though you can do weight training with just your body, you can also use free weights and machines. Free weights are resistance training tools that can be lifted and moved in any which way. Some common examples would be kettlebells, dumbbells, and barbells. These three tools can be used to work any muscle group you wish. One benefit free weights offer to beginners is they help build stabilizing muscles as well as the intended muscle group. For example, an article from Healthline says standing dumbbell shoulder press works your shoulders, core, and many other stabilizing upper body muscles (traps, triceps, etc). Personal trainer Kat Miller also says a common weakness for beginners is stability during compound movements. So, working with free weights will help strengthen your body as a whole.
Using machines is also a great way to start for beginners. Machines are made to work a specific muscle group and guide the user. This is perfect for someone new, as good form can be difficult at the start. Miller says that a common mistake for all beginners is bad form. This could also lead to injury, so it is important to practice good form. Machines keep the user in a strict path, not allowing them to have bad form. One downside to using a machine as a starter is, you won’t build the stability muscles that will be necessary in other movements you may try in the future.
Overall, bodyweight, free weights, and machines are all perfect for beginners. It is important to understand what you are using before you get started!
Where Do I Go to Weight Train?
Now that you know the equipment you need, you may wonder where to go to get started. As mentioned earlier, bodyweight resistance training can be done pretty much anywhere. This could be your dorm room, the gym, the dining hall (you might get some looks, but…). This is very convenient for students who are on a tight schedule.
Free weights and machines are most commonly found in a weight lifting gym. Most colleges have an on-campus gym that will have everything you need, also it's free! (well, included in your very expensive tuition). If you dislike your campus gym or have other reasons you don’t want to go there, there is a good chance you can get a gym membership nearby. Just keep in mind that monthly memberships can vary from $15 - $60 a month!
Overall, bodyweight, free weights, and machines are all perfect for beginners. It is important to understand what you are using before you get started!
Gym Etiquette
Every public gym has basic etiquette to follow. It may vary by gym, but the overall rules are the same.
· Pick up after yourself
· Return equipment to designated area
· Throw trash away
· Wipe down equipment when you’re done
· Most gyms will have spray and towels to clean equipment
· Give people space
· Allow others enough space to safely and comfortably do their exercises
· This also leads to being respectful to others (spacing and in general)
· Dress appropriately
· Wear clothing you are comfortable moving around in
There are many other gym rules, but these are a good start for beginners entering a gym for the first time.
To learn more about gym etiquette, got to Healthline and see what Danielle Hildrith, certified personal trainer and registered nurse has to say!
What If People Judge Me?
It is normal to feel anxious or nervous when trying something new. You may even feel like others will make fun of you or straight up judge you. Dr. Barbra Backer Condon did a study about trying something new. She specializes in nursing, but the overall message can be applied to just about anything. Dr. Condon had multiple people in her study saying after they tried something new they were excited, met new people, and had an amazing experience. And that’s exactly how you may feel about starting weight training, especially with the gym being a very welcoming place.
Kat Miller said “my gym is extremely welcoming... it is a community” and it’s not uncommon to find gyms like this! She also shared that it’s normal to feel like people are staring at you or judging you. Even as someone who has been lifting for over 10 years, she still gets that feeling. She said it’s important to be confident in yourself and to remember no one is really watching you at the gym. In a positive way, no one really cares, everyone is there for their own workout.
Kat also mentioned having a gym partner or two makes going to the gym easier. It’s not needed, but having a friend by your side can make the gym going experience much better!
What Beginner Workouts I Should Do?
It is very important for beginners to start with basic workouts. As mentioned before, beginners can use bodyweight, free weights, or machines to start with. Some of the exercises look the same even with different equipment, some look pretty different. Here are some basic movements for each type of equipment.
Bodyweight exercises:
· Chest
· Push ups
· Incline push ups
· Back
· Back extensions
· Plank push ups
· Pull ups (if you have a bar to use)
· Arms
· Dips
· Side plank
· Core
· Planks
· Sit-ups
· Mountain Climbers
· Dead bugs
· Legs
· Squats
· Single leg squats
· Step ups
· Lunges
Free Weight Exercises:
· Chest
· Dumbbell chest press
· Back
· Single arm dumbbell row
· Arms
· Bicep curls
· Overhead shoulder press
· Legs
· Weighted lunges
· Weighted glute bridge
· Weighted squat
Machine exercises vary on what your gym offers. Not every gym has the same machines, some enjoy using the same machines, some enjoy trying new ones. Every machine you encounter will tell you what muscle group it works and how to use it. Machines can replicate most of the free weight exercises, so you can interchange one for the other based on your goals.
How Do I Go Beyond the Basics?
If you are someone who already understands the basics and is looking for a more intense style of training, there are multiple options. Two popular styles of training are bodybuilding and cross fit. They are very different, but both are hardcore.
What is Bodybuilding?
Bodybuilding is a style of weight training that has an end goal of looking muscular and having a developed physique. This would mean your muscles are all proportionate and aesthetically pleasing. Most bodybuilders do similar workouts to what was mentioned before, but sometimes they do more advanced movements. Bodybuilders also have to spend lots of time in the kitchen. According to Fitman, gym owner and head performance coach, you have to put as much effort into your diet as you do your workouts. There is not one right way to eat because everyone’s body is different so it’s best to find what works for you. It is common for serious bodybuilders to follow a workout and diet program. These basically tell you what to do and when (for exercises and eating). Personal fitness coach, Stephen Grabon, says busy college students enjoy being on a plan as they don’t have time to write their own workouts. You can take bodybuilding very seriously or you can make it a casual hobby. Either one will show results and get you in good shape.
What is Crossfit?
Crossfit is a high intensity functional strength training. It focuses on implementing movements that will build stamina, strength, and speed. The functional movements are meant to simulate things you do in your everyday life. According to experts from Health.com crossfit workouts include a full warmup, a specific skill, workout of the day, and a cooldown. The specific skill is usually a functional compound movement that will show up in your workout of the day. The workout of the day will be a variety of conditioning and weight lifting movements for a consistent amount of time or repetitions. This style of training is more stamina based, whereas bodybuilding is you do an exercise then sit and rest for a couple of minutes.
Both bodybuilding and crossfit are great advancements from basic weight training. There are lots of welcoming communities that enjoy helping passionate beginners.
Do I Ever Have to Stretch?
Stretching is one of the most important parts of weight training. Experts from BMC Research Notes did a study on athletes warming up and stretching before lifting weights. They state that the point of a stretch/warmup routine is to increase range of motion (RoM). RoM is how far you can stretch a specific body part, such as a muscle or joint. The study says the larger RoM, the more optimal the workouts will be. This will lead to properly strengthening the intended muscles. Stretching also helps with stability, which again will make workouts more effective. One of the most important parts of stretching is to prevent injury. Unstretched muscles can be tight (having a poor RoM) and can lead to them being torn if not careful. The BMC experts stress that you have a proper stretching routine for before and after your weight training.
Below are some beginner stretches to incorporate into your routine:
· Routine for non-flexible people
All in all, weight training is a great activity to get into as a college student. It comes with many physical and mental health benefits and everyone can do it. I hope you’ve gained enough knowledge from this and you feel comfortable enough to start your own journey. I’ll see you guys in the gym!
Rollie Crawford is a junior attending North Central College; he is pursuing a marketing degree. Rollie has many interests and hobbies, one of them being bodybuilding. He has been weight training for three years and enjoys every part of it. He enjoys doing research and learning more about the topic. He also enjoys assisting his friends who are new to weight training and looking for guidance. He hopes to bring his weight training knowledge into the marketing world and find a way to do both.