The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends strength-training all your major muscle groups at least twice a week. Meeting these recommendations builds the strong muscles, bone and connective tissue you need for sporting activities and everyday movements, such as lifting a child or hauling heavy bags of grocery. Strength training also contributes to weight loss, good posture and a sculpted body shape.
Sets and Repetitions
If you're just starting out with strength training, you don't have to spend hours in the gym. A single set of 12 repetitions for each exercise is enough to build strength and endurance. Once you can do more than 12 repetitions with good form, increase the amount of weight you're lifting slightly. This ensures that your muscles will continue developing in response to the increased stimulus instead of reaching a plateau.
Basic Technique
Following the basic tenets of proper strength-training technique improves your performance and reduces your risk of injury. Warm up with five to 10 minutes of cardio exercise before you lift. Keep the weight under control at all times, aiming for a count of at least two on the way up and three to four on the way down. Finally, keep breathing --- breathe out as the weight goes up and inhale as you lower it.
Dumbbell Chest Press
The dumbbell chest press works your chest, triceps and shoulders. Lie face-up on a weight bench. If no bench is available, you can use the floor or bed as a makeshift bench. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and extend both arms straight up over your chest, palms facing toward your feet. Lower the weights down and out until your elbows are even with your shoulders, with your wrists over your elbows. Repeat. You can substitute push-ups instead of the dumbbell chest press if you prefer.
Lat Pull-down
Lat pull-downs work every major muscle group in your back, plus your shoulders and the pulling muscles in your arms. Grasp the pull-down bar's handles --- they may offer wide, narrow or neutral grips --- and pull them down with you as you sit. Slide your thighs beneath the padded knee bar, then pull the handles down toward the top of your chest. Extend your arms back up but don't let your shoulders rise up around your ears. Repeat. You can substitute pull-ups for lat pull-downs if you prefer.
Squats
Squats work every major muscle group in your lower body except for your calves. Start by sitting down in a chair. Note how your hips thrust back and out to reach the chair seat. Then step away from the chair and squat down as if you were sitting down again. Stop when your thighs are horizontal. Your knees and toes should line up, pointing in the same direction, and your back should be flat but inclined slightly forward in the down position, so your shoulders are over your heels. Stand back up and repeat.
Calf Raises
Your calf muscles are only minimally involved during squats, but they are large enough that you shouldn't neglect them. Calf raises tone the muscles that help absorb the shock of every footfall and power every walking or running step and jump you make. Place the balls of both feet squarely on a sturdy wood block, a stair step or the rectangular base frame of a weight lifting machine --- anything you won't slide off of and that won't tip beneath you. Point your toes, lifting your heels. Lower your heels until they're roughly level with your toes and repeat.
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