If you want to become stronger, there are a variety of strength training workouts you can do to help you achieve results. Besides making you stronger, resistance exercises help boost your metabolism, burn fat, increase lean muscle mass and give you a more toned look. You can tailor your strength training workout to suit your fitness level and goals.
Strength Training 101
The American College of Sports Medicine advises doing 8 to 12 reps of 8 to 10 strength-training exercises twice a week for good health. You can adjust your program to suit your goals and level of fitness. If you want to build bulkier muscles, for instance, do a lower amount of reps with a higher amount of weights. If you want more lean muscles and endurance, do more reps with lower weights.
Resistance Training Exercises
If you want to get stronger all over, do a variety of exercises that target your major muscle groups, including your core, shoulders, arms, legs, chest and gluteal muscles. You can use free weights such as dumbbells and barbells, weight machines or your own body weight for resistance. Some effective strength training exercises that you can do with weights include back extensions, squats, lunges, chest press, triceps extensions, bicep curls, shoulder press, lat pull-downs and leg press. To find the right weight amount for each exercise, choose weights that you can complete a full set with but that feel somewhat challenging the last few reps.
Calisthenic Workouts
Calisthenics workouts can build your strength without using weights. Some popular calisthenics exercises include crunches, pushups, squats, lunges and back extensions. You can also use an exercise ball for some calisthenics, especially for exercises targeting the core muscles. Planks strengthen the core and arm muscles. To do a plank with an exercise ball, lie on your stomach on the exercise ball, with your arms and legs out straight. Your hands should rest on the floor, and your body will be parallel to the ground. Walk your hands out until the ball is under your thighs. Keep your shoulders above your hands and tighten your abs. Hold for 3 seconds or as long as you can.
Considerations
Consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise program. If you experience any sharp or lasting pain while working out, stop and rest. Call your doctor if the pain persists or occurs in your chest. Weightlifting strengthens your muscles by breaking them down and rebuilding them. Do not do weightlifting routines on consecutive days as your body needs at least one day of rest between sessions to allow your muscles to recover and rebuild.
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