The New Experience of Power Lifting

Ever since I started lifting weights way back when I ran the intention was to build up my overall physique and endurance. Weight lifting for endurance consists of moderate weights but many repetitions, typically around 20 to 25. An overall body workout, like the name implies, works all the major muscle groups. In the program I used for years there were fifteen different exercises to do each set, with three sets making up the workout. Normally I would complete the entire session in around an hour and a quarter. Now I’m using a weight regime designed for swimmers which employs cycles and splits the workouts between muscle groups – I feel very sophisticated. My present cycle is intended to develop ‘power’, the ability for short, fast movements. There are at most only four exercises per set, and the number of reps for each exercise can go from twelve to as low as two. I can finish an entire ‘power’ workout in under forty minutes, and that includes about two minutes each set to change my bench’s configuration. As I’m not gung ho about weights I find this marvelous! On the other hand the amount of weight I’m using each exercise has gone up significantly. The end result is a completely different workout. When I lift weights for endurance I’m fully recovered within half an hour of finishing and, so long as I don’t exercise later on the same day, can go on with my daily chores without any noticeable impact. After one of these power workouts, however, I feel a definite fatigue which remains with me for most of the day. All from such a relatively short period of exercise … quite amazing.