Guide to Fitness
Your complete guide to fitness
Everything you need to know — training, nutrition, recovery, and technique — explained simply and built to last.
How weight training actually works
The basic principle: break to rebuild
When you lift weights, you’re creating tiny tears in your muscle fibres. This sounds bad — but it’s the whole point. Your body repairs those tears and builds the fibres back a little thicker and stronger than before. Do this consistently over time and that’s how muscles grow.
The key is giving your body enough stimulus to trigger this process, then enough rest to actually do the rebuilding. Training hard without recovering is like digging a hole and never filling it in.
Reps, weight, and what you’re training for
Not all lifting is the same. The number of reps you do and the weight you use determines what you’re training for. Here’s the breakdown:
For most people starting out, the 8-12 rep range is the sweet spot. You’ll build real muscle and get stronger without overly taxing your joints or nervous system.
Progressive overload: the rule that drives all progress
Your body adapts to what you throw at it. If you lift the same weight for the same reps every session, progress stops. Progressive overload means slowly increasing the demand over time — by adding weight, doing more reps, or reducing rest time.
Easy method: Pick a weight you can lift for at least 6 reps. Each session, aim for more reps. Once you can do 12 clean reps, add weight and start again from 6. That cycle is all you need.
Sets, rest, and how to structure your work
A standard working set is 3 sets of 6-10 reps. Rest between sets matters more than most beginners realise:
- 1-3 minutes for muscle growth: Shorter rest keeps accumulated fatigue high, which drives hypertrophy.
- 3-5 minutes for strength: Full recovery lets you perform near-maximally on every set.
- Big compound lifts: Squats, deadlifts, and heavy bench press tax your whole system — always lean toward longer rest.
A superset means doing two exercises back-to-back without rest. Useful when short on time, but straight sets with proper rest produce better muscle and strength results. Giant sets push muscles into endurance territory — not ideal if size and strength are your goals.
Training splits: organising your week
A training split is how you divide muscle groups across the week so each one gets trained and then has time to recover. Recovery is when the muscle actually grows.
Push / Pull / Legs
- Push: chest, shoulders, triceps
- Pull: back, biceps
- Legs: quads, hamstrings, glutes
Arnold Split
- Chest & back
- Arms & shoulders
- Legs
Upper / Lower
- Upper body day
- Lower body day
- Great for 4-day weeks
Full Body
- All groups each session
- Ideal for beginners
- 3x per week
The best split is the one you’ll consistently follow. You can also build a custom split that fits your schedule.
Free weights vs machines
Both are effective. Free weights require your body to stabilise the weight and recruit more supporting muscles. Machines let you isolate a target muscle more directly and train to failure more safely. Use both.
Leg day note: Your legs contain the largest muscles in your body. Heavy leg sessions cause more full-body fatigue than almost anything else — plan your week with that in mind.
CNS fatigue and heavy lifting
Big compound lifts don’t just tire your muscles — they fatigue your central nervous system (CNS). Your CNS controls all muscular output, and when it’s run down your performance drops across the board. Heavy powerlifting sessions need longer rest between sets, fewer sessions per week, and more careful recovery planning.
Calories, metabolism, and body composition
Most calories are burned without you doing anything
Exercise is only a small part of how many calories you burn each day. The majority comes from your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — the energy your body uses just to keep you alive. Your BMR is influenced by muscle mass, body size, age, and lifestyle. More muscle means a higher metabolic rate every hour of every day, even at rest.
Think of it this way: muscle is like an engine, and calories are fuel. More engines running means more fuel burned constantly — not just during your workout.
Why beginners should prioritise weight training over cardio for fat loss
Cardio burns calories during the session. Weight training builds muscle, which raises your daily calorie burn permanently. A person with more muscle burns significantly more calories at rest than someone with less. Cardio is great for heart health and endurance — it’s just not the fat loss shortcut most people think it is.
Fat loss is mostly decided in the kitchen
The fundamental rule: consume fewer calories than your body burns. This is a calorie deficit. When you’re in a deficit, your body turns to stored body fat as fuel instead.
Don’t think of food as bad — think of it as fuel. Carbs and sugar aren’t your enemy. Most food isn’t unhealthy; regularly eating more than your body needs is what causes fat gain.
What to eat and when
Protein: the building block of muscle
Aim for around 2 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. An 80kg person should target roughly 160g daily. Spread it across meals throughout the day rather than trying to hit it all at once.
Timing your food around training
- Before training: Easy-to-digest carbs and sugars give muscles quick fuel. Caffeine sharpens focus and CNS output — a coffee 30-45 minutes before works well.
- After training: Your metabolism is elevated and muscles are primed to absorb nutrients. Best time to eat protein and carbs for recovery.
- Before bed: Most repair and growth happens during sleep. A slow-digesting protein source like cottage cheese before bed supports overnight recovery.
Supplements worth knowing about
- Creatine monohydrate: One of the most studied supplements available. Draws more water into muscle cells, improving hydration, performance, and making muscles look fuller. Aim for at least 5g per day.
- Electrolytes: You lose sodium, potassium, and magnesium through sweat. Replacing them after intense sessions helps hydration and recovery.
- Caffeine: Genuinely effective for pre-workout performance.
Nutrients from all food groups are needed for a healthy body. Get the basics right through real food before worrying about supplements.
Lifting form and technique
Bench press
- Create a stable base: Slight arch in the lower back, feet driving into the floor, shoulder blades squeezed tight and pressed into the bench.
- Bar through the palm: Grip so the bar runs through the centre of your palm — not your fingers. Keeps wrists straight and force efficient.
- Tuck your elbows: Around 45-75 degrees from your torso — not flared out. Protects shoulders and uses your chest properly.
- Engage your back: Your lats and upper back create the stable platform you press from.
- Brace and hold: Full-body tension on every rep. Brace your core hard and hold your breath through each rep.
- Bend the bar cue: Think about trying to bend the bar inward — this engages your lats and keeps elbows in the right path.
On explosiveness: If you feel stronger than your bench numbers show, the issue is often explosiveness off the chest. Speed work — lighter weight moved as fast as possible — trains this and can unlock new personal bests once the bar clears the sticking point.
Close-grip bench builds lockout strength. Paused reps remove momentum and build starting strength. Tempo reps increase time under tension. All three fix specific weak points in your press.
Benching three times per week is optimal. Start with higher volume at lower weights, then gradually add weight and reduce volume over your programme cycle.
Deadlift
- Brace before you pull: Deep breath, maximum core tension. Don’t pull until fully braced.
- Engage your back: Pull shoulder blades down and back before the bar leaves the floor.
- Sink at hips and knees: Back stays flat. Force comes from driving hips forward, not jerking with your lower back.
- Chest up, eyes forward: Letting your chest drop invites a rounded spine — where lower back injuries come from.
- Bar stays close: Should almost graze your shins. The further it drifts, the more stress on your lower back.
- Flat spine throughout: Neutral to slightly flat — not hyperextended, not rounded.
Squat
- Foot position: Hip-width or slightly wider, toes angled out. Some people squat better with a closer stance — experiment.
- Initiate with hips: Push hips back and down, not just bending your knees. Think of sitting back into a chair.
- Depth: Hip crease below top of knees for powerlifting standard. 90-degree knee bend for general training.
- Longer femurs: People with longer upper leg bones often need to lean forward more — normal anatomy, not poor form.
- High bar vs low bar: High bar suits upright squatters and most beginners. Low bar allows more weight but requires more forward lean.
- Drive out of the hole: Chest up, brace hard, drive knees out in line with toes as you rise.
Isometric exercises
An isometric exercise puts muscles under tension without movement — a plank is the most common example. Useful for core training, calisthenics, and rehabilitation. Wall sits, static holds, and L-sits all fall into this category.
Rest, recovery, and why it matters as much as training
You grow outside the gym, not in it
Training is the stimulus. Sleep and rest are when the actual adaptation happens. If you train hard without recovering properly, you’ll stall or go backwards. Most muscle repair and growth occurs during sleep. Consistently getting 7-9 hours per night is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your results.
Rest days and muscle group recovery
Individual muscle groups need roughly 48-72 hours to recover after being trained with significant intensity. Larger sessions like heavy leg days require more recovery than smaller isolation work. CNS-heavy lifting also needs extra systemic recovery time regardless of how your muscles feel.
Active rest is fine: Walking, light stretching, or a gentle swim helps recovery without adding meaningful training stress.
Rest periods between sets
- 1-2 minutes keeps fatigue high — better for endurance-focused or lighter hypertrophy work.
- 2-3 minutes is the sweet spot for most hypertrophy training — enough recovery to perform, enough fatigue to drive growth.
- 3-5 minutes for heavy compound lifts and strength work — full recovery to perform near-maximally every set.
Hydration and electrolytes
Even mild dehydration reduces strength output and slows recovery. During intense exercise you lose electrolytes — sodium, potassium, and magnesium — that your muscles need to function. Drink enough water throughout the day and replace electrolytes after heavy sessions with sports drinks or electrolyte tablets.
Athletic performance: cardio, speed, and power
VO2 max: your engine’s capacity
VO2 max measures how efficiently your lungs absorb oxygen and how well your body uses it during exercise. It’s one of the best overall indicators of cardiovascular fitness and long-term health. The most effective way to improve it is high-intensity cardio — pushing your cardiovascular system near its limits. Interval training (short bursts of near-max effort with rest) is the most time-efficient method.
The difference between strength, power, and speed
- Strength is the ability to move heavy weight regardless of speed. A heavy deadlift is pure strength.
- Power is moving heavy weight quickly — strength and speed combined. Think of an Olympic weightlifter.
- Speed is moving your body quickly — accelerating and maintaining velocity. Think of a sprinter.
All three are trainable and complement each other. Strength forms the base that power and speed are built on.
Plyometrics and athletic training
Plyometric exercises — box jumps, broad jumps, bounding, medicine ball throws — train your muscles and nervous system to produce maximum force in minimum time. They develop power and jumping ability, and bridge the gap between gym strength and on-field explosiveness in a way regular lifting alone doesn’t cover.
Speed development: Running faster comes from quicker leg turnover, hip flexor strength, and more force per stride. Sprints and plyometrics train all three directly.
Cardio and strength training: keep them separate
Combining heavy lifting and cardio in the same session pushes muscles into an endurance state that works against strength and size gains. Separating them into different sessions or days lets you train each quality properly — better strength results from your weights, better cardiovascular gains from your cardio.