How to Remember Everything When Lifting Free Weights

(Photo by Karinlouwersephotography on Flickr)

If you’ve watched any of my workout videos you know that there are a few more instructions for various barbell lifts or other free weight exercises than you might find with a common machine.

This is a good thing, because one of the great benefits of lifting free weights is that you’re forced to bring many more muscles into play, that you’re not lifting on a track like you would be doing with a machine, and thus there are lots more factors to track. But it can be tough to remember it all — so here are a few tips on how to keep things straight.

Ask For Help

You might have got away with this using machines, but now that you’ve graduated from those fixed-position “training wheels” and moved over to the free weight section, along with the endless choice of exercises now available to you comes a lot more responsibility in doing the exercises in the right way.

You might think you can figure out how to do things right on your own, but I guarantee you that for the first few times, your muscles will just be getting used to the exercise itself, you’ll probably be gauging what weight to use, and the last thing your brain will be able to do is keep track of the four specific things you were asked to monitor while doing the exercise.

The solution? Get a person to help you. If you’re going to be bold enough to leave the machines behind, be bold enough to talk to other people in the gym at the same time, too. That’s what the gym staff/personal trainers are there for — to impart their expertise to you, and make sure you’re doing things right every time you lift.

Use Visuals

Pre-load one of my workout videos onto your phone (depending on the kind of phone you have). It might seem strange at first, but don’t worry — no one is analyzing every move you make in the gym, as they’re too busy with their own workouts.

Being able to see how I do a specific lift (and to listen to my spoken instructions) can make a huge difference in how you do your exercise — your brain will have a visual guide that it can refer back to.

Make sure you’re working out by a mirror, so you can get the appropriate visual feedback to know where you’re making mistakes. And trust me — we almost never do a lift properly the first few times. It’s just a fact of the gym.

Print Things Out

All my newest videos have full transcriptions, and there are tons of other sites online that explain, in as much detail as you can handle, how to do specific exercises. If it helps, take that text along with you to the gym, and keep reading it over and studying it until you’ve committed large parts of it to memory.

Just Do Your Workouts

Practice makes perfect. Becoming used to how your body responds to various workouts is really the only way to get better at them — all the previous tips are just ways to make it easier, but in the end, it’s only by doing these exercises on a regular basis that you’ll get any better.

Another great benefit is that tons of my workouts have alternative variations — the number of squats out there is legendary, and once you’ve mastered the basics, the variations become a lot more accessible.

So remember — keep a cool head, don’t be afraid to ask for help, use visual or written aids, and work out on a regular basis!