Regular exercise plays an important role in your overall health. Some exercise regimens, such as aerobics classes and bicycling, focus on improving your lung capacity and cardiovascular health, while other workouts concentrate on building muscle mass and increasing strength. Check with your doctor before beginning a muscle-building regimen, especially if you have an existing health condition or physical limitations.
Muscle Mass
Although genetics plays a major role in the size and shape of your muscles, strength training can help you define, tone and strengthen your muscles. Resistance training can help increase the amount of muscle mass by creating small tears in muscle fibers. Your body repairs these tiny tears by laying down additional muscle fibers, increasing the amount, and size, of muscle tissue. Whether you lift free weights or use resistance machines, the level of difficulty, as well as the number of repetitions you perform, will help determine how your muscles respond. For instance, when performing bicep curls, pull-downs, leg extensions or bench presses, use as much weight as necessary to make the 11th or 12th repetition difficult to complete. As you build strength, you will be able to increase the weight and continue to challenge your muscles.
Free Weights
Basic weightlifting tools, such as dumbbells and barbells, allow you to perform a variety of exercises that build different muscle groups. This type of equipment includes individual discs that let you adjust the amount of weight on the bars for specific exercises. A balanced regimen includes exercises that strengthen both your upper body, such as curls and bench presses, and lower body, such as squats and deadlifts.
Kettlebells
Kettlebells are similar to dumbbells and barbells, but require different types of exercises that include numerous muscle groups in each movement. A kettlebell is a rounded weight with a handle at the top. Most kettlebell regimens use swinging motions to lift and control the weight. Typical exercises require squatting and standing while swinging the weight upward and outward with your arms. Some movements include twisting while lifting and swinging, helping to build your core muscles, as well as your upper and lower body.
Resistance Machines
Resistance machines provide a useful tool that helps you build muscle mass in specific muscles. Although these are generally more expensive and cumbersome than free weights, resistance machines allow you to focus your exercise regimen on individual areas of your body, such as your biceps or quadriceps. These machines often contain hydraulics or pulleys and cables. Adjustments allow you to increase or decrease the difficulty of the movement.
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