Why DIY Weight Training Is A Bad Idea

Are you looking to lose more calories when you exercise? Do you want to take your fitness journey to the next level? If you do, weight lifting, resistance training, and strength training are just what you need. Weight training requires more energy than other forms of exercise, causing you to burn more calories. At the same time, it challenges the body and builds your muscles and physical strength.

To engage in strength training, it’s vital to work with an experienced trainer as it is an intense form of activity that can be dangerous if performed incorrectly. However, you may argue that paying for a personal trainer or strength and weight lifting class is more expensive than going at it alone. But, if you develop an injury, you end up spending more money on recovery. At the same time, a lack of understanding of the process can minimize or slow down your results.

If you’re still considering weight training on your own, here are three reasons why fitness experts believe DIY weight training is a bad idea.

1. Immediate and long-lasting injuries
Without the right instructions, coaching, and support, you can easily injure yourself when weight or strength training. The extent of your injuries could be immediate or long-lasting, which may require you to give up exercise for weeks or indefinitely. Similarly, not knowing how to rehab the injury properly can cause the injury to continue.

2. Chronic pain
As you train without supervision, you could do irreversible damage to your body during some of the critical lifts like squats and deadlifts. This can lead to chronic pain that makes it difficult to do everyday activities. It can also reduce your flexibility and mobility and intensify the condition of your injury.

3. Strength imbalances
Usually, when you exert yourself, you use your dominant muscles more. This can lead you to neglect smaller but critical muscle groups essential for stability, injury prevention, and overall performance. As a result, you may face strength imbalances that prevent you from lifting correctly. Before lifting weights, you need to learn how to strengthen your muscles and then learn how to lift correctly.

Requirements to weight train by yourself
If you were to weight train on your own successfully, you’d need to understand that proper form and technique are necessary to keep you from being injured. It would also be beneficial to have an idea of what exercises are most effective in training particular areas of weakness. Other factors that play a critical role in successful weight training but are often ignored by most beginners are:

a. Proper pre and post-training nutrition

b. Proper rest between sets

c. Breathing during lifts

d. Adjustments to the weight for desired results

Do things right - Hire a professional!
A professional weight trainer can not only help you perform your movements correctly but also detect any pre-existing conditions that can keep you from exercising optimally. These conditions can be the result of poor flexibility or prior injuries that weren’t appropriately rehabbed, causing strength imbalances or poor movement patterns. A good coach will also be able to push you appropriately and help you stay on course with your desired goals.

Tips to remember when hiring a weight trainer
When enlisting the services of a weight trainer, you should look for a professional who has excellent reviews. Read the comments on their online reviews and see if they offer an atmosphere and level of professionalism that you are looking for. The professional you are considering should also be concerned about teaching you the basics and improving your technique first. The intensity and amount of load you can lift will come eventually. Whenever lifting weights, it is most important to lift correctly first to avoid injury and slow results.

Pricing is another aspect you need to consider when hiring a professional trainer. The price of professional training usually depends on the size of the training sessions you’d like to attend. If you feel you need one on one attention, it will cost you something between $75 to $85 per session. Small groups of two to four clients will cost between $30 to $40 per session. Larger groups at a high-level fitness studio will cost between $15 to $20 per session.

If you’d like to try out weight training with personal fitness trainers in Pittsburgh, PA, reach out to Panthro Fitness. We are seasoned professionals and are fully-equipped with the necessary knowledge and tools to build your form and technique when it comes to strength training. We all have either master’s degrees in kinesiology or exercise science, as well as various training certifications. So, besides strength training, we offer other programs to help you stay fit and active.

To learn more about our services, please click here or get in touch with us by clicking here.