I was in a training program for small business owners last year and received an assignment to find something in my business that I felt was the symbol for our business. After looking around our gym a bit, I realized our 15 lb bars were pretty emblematic of what we do here. Not all gyms have 15 lb bars, and ours get a lot of use. They’re important for beginner lifters, and for working on some movements that require a lighter weight. The 15 lb bar is a staple of our inclusive approach to strength training.
That being said, is it safe to go right to barbell lifts? Some people think you need to achieve certain benchmarks before progressing to lifting a barbell. Generally, this is based on their own theory of movement, not on specific data, or research. There is nothing inherently dangerous about a barbell. What can be dangerous is progressing too quickly, adding too much weight or too much volume to a movement. Lifting weight in the shape of a barbell isn’t inherently more dangerous than lifting the same weight in the shape of, say, your groceries, dog, or kid. Here’s a few key points to ensuring safety as a beginner.
Don’t Skimp on the Warmup
You want your warmup to include some general, nonspecific warmup movements (we’ve talked about warmups before, and suggest more detailed reading here or here). After that, you should do reps with a lower weight and gradually increase to your working weight. This gives your body time to acclimate to the load you’re working with and helps prep you for the movement. Even if your working weight is relatively light, we still recommend doing some warmup sets. It’s good practice, and helps you get some more reps in.
Practice Good Technique
As a new lifter, your technique isn’t going to be perfect, and you don’t need to be executing every lift with perfect technical precision before adding some weight. At the same time, you want to work on moving well. Focus on the things that have the most impact on the overall movement pattern and maximize safety in the lift. (Hint: good coaches can help with this!)
Use Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is the principle of gradually increasing the challenge of your strength program in order to force your body to adapt to the program. You can progress by increasing the weight you’re moving, increasing the number of reps, increasing the number of sets, or some combination of these. We’ve talked about progressive overload before, and it is a staple in all of our programs. Progressive overload is one of the most evidence supported principles in fitness.
Use Spotters, Safety Rails, and Learn to Bail
Sometimes you fail a lift. There’s lots of reasons it happens, but it will eventually happen to you. You want to learn to fail safely before it happens. There’s different ways to fail a lift depending on whether you are in a rack with rails, or have a spotter. Just make sure you know how to safely fail if you need to!
As a new lifter, getting right under a barbell can feel daunting. Barbells look scary if you aren’t acclimated to them! That said, they are just one of many tools to help you build strength. Like any tool, learning to use it well can change your lift. It sounds silly, but I’ve watched it happen! We’d love to help you learn to lift, get comfortable under a barbell, and feel stronger (maybe even the strongest you’ve ever been!). Our coaches can help, and the first step is scheduling your free no sweat intro.
