How Working Out With Light And Moderate Weights Helped Me

Today I love to share about my weight training experiences. I believe my experiences would be beneficial to my readers, though it may vary with other fitness experts. I am going to share how light and moderate weights helped me to achieve and sustain my health and fitness.

I realized that I enjoy lifting light and moderate weights instead of heavy ones, to keep myself fit and healthy. Lifting heavy weights caused me many injuries. During my adolescence to young adulthood, I was inspired by my friends who were into weight lifting and body-building sports. My peers encouraged me to lift heavy weights to build an impressive and strong physique. I listened to what they suggested and did similar workouts as them. Returning home with a pump and feeling strong like a hulk, gave me an uncanny sense of jubilance.

At the beginning of my training phase, I struggled with mental competition and ego. I felt incomplete and disappointed when I was unable to lift heavier than other huge guys at the gym. On the other hand, I felt great lifting heavy, in front of peers who struggled to lift those weights.

I read magazines, books and watched videos to sustain my motivation in lifting heavyweights. The feeling of adrenaline encouraged me to return to those heavy weights daily. The ‘kick’ I gained from lifting, blocked my thoughts about the adverse effects of repetitive movements with heavyweights, with limited rest in between.

As years passed, I was glad about those amazing results. However, I felt chronic pain and inflammation in my joints and tendons. During the initial stages of training, I was possessed by ego and lacked body awareness. I didn’t realize my body was signaling to me through the pain. Putting pain aside, I continued with my repetitive heavy lifting movements.

Looking physically good superseded my body’s need for self-care and recovery. Some days, on top of lifting heavy, I added an hour of skipping and jumping jacks to maintain a lean and muscular physique.

I suffered several injuries those years and some of my most painful experiences were tendonitis, joint dislocations and fractures. I realized that repetitive heavyweight training took its toll on me when I was unable to move at ease. I had to rely on a wheelchair and crutches for about three months. My doctor told me to refrain from training till full recovery. I was informed that going back to the same training patterns after recovery, might lead me to more severe conditions.

I wasn’t able to work out for about three months which led me to put on weight and feel weaker. I didn’t like feeling weak and being unable to exercise. Hence, I filled up two plastic bottles with water and did slow bicep curls while sitting on my bed.

After doing 15 to 20 repetitions, I felt the pump and the adrenaline rushing again. I decided to work out a solution that could best fit my needs. I needed to stay strong and fit, and most importantly, safe from injuries!

That’s when I started lifting light and moderate weights. When I say light and moderate, I am referring to weights that we could lift for 8 to 15 repetitions till we reach failure. Lifting light and moderate weights helped me to have shorter rest periods. I could perform full body workouts which raised my metabolic rate and improved my cardiovascular health.

My injuries healed gradually and I recovered better from my workouts. As age catches up over the years, working out with light and moderate weights helps me to stay fit and healthy without taxing my joints and tendons. Moreover, I am able to work out consciously; building strong mind and body connections. I remain focused and alert in my concentric and eccentric movements.

An important lesson that I learned from self-experimentation is that lifting heavy is good for compound movements where various muscle groups work together in building lean muscle. However, excessive training with heavy weights with limited rest will harm our physique. It is imperative to have good rest days between heavy weight training. It is never about who is stronger or weaker than us, but it is about our daily efforts, body awareness, consistency and discipline in maintaining a healthy body and mind. Light and moderate weights have helped me to achieve and sustain these goals. I hope my experiences could give you some insights and motivations to achieve your health and fitness goals.

Thank you for reading my insights.