Training weights are key to weight training exercises in view that they determine the training intensity, workout efficiency and exercise safety. In this, we are referring to their poundage. Choosing the optimal training weights is a key component of success in bodybuilding. Any errors in making that choice are never forgiven, and in most times, it is penalized with adverse consequences.

To begin with, when a body builder is choosing which poundage he or she will use, he or she must have the required intensity level in mind. Both the number of sets and reps must be determined before hand, so as to determine how heavy the training weight ought to be. The optimal weight should be the one that allows a body builder top reach muscle failure with eight – ten reps of a set. A weight that is light enough for the body builder such that he can not reach absolute muscle failure by the tenth rep is too light while that weight with which it is impossible to reach the eighth rep before absolute muscle failure, is too heavy.

Secondly, besides reaching the optimal muscle fatigue level, an optimal weight should enable the body builder to complete the desired number of reps in good exercise form. If the body builder has to contort the body, flinch, coil, heave and bounce the weight before lifting the maximal number of reps, the exercise weight is far too heavy. The exercise weight should therefore be at an average where maximal exercise efficiency is achieved without having to result to improper form. Exercise efficiency as regards form cannot be overemphasized for it can make the workout either successful in stimulating muscle gains or detrimental to the muscles already accumulated.

This brings in the issue of workout safety. It is very important for a body builder to understand that it is the emphasis on safety that makes it possible to accumulate gains in bodybuilding. Accidents in the gym consequent to carelessly handling training weights can nullify the entire training program in an instant. Careless mistakes can forever ban a body builder from ever attending a workout session. As such, one can never be too careful when it comes to training safety.

The weights used during the workouts have a lot to do with workout safety. When a body builder chooses a weight that is far too heavy than his or her body is able to handle, accidents become more probable. An increase of risks to accidents and therefore injuries, always accrue when the weight used in training exceed the body builder’s ability. It is easier to loose control of a barbell that is heavier than you can handle than it is with a barbell within your weight class.

Physiologists usually advice body builders to choose a training weight that corresponds with a third of their body weight, for most exercises although several exercises require far less poundage for effective, safe and efficient workouts. The overall guiding principle ought to be that a weight used in training must at all times be within the ability of the body to handle and control.

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