Free-weight training can be done by beginners all the way up to professional bodybuilders. You can exercise just about any muscle in your body using free weights. It's an effective way to lift weights because using free weights requires that your body make use of stabilizer muscles to balance the weight. This leads to a more intense workout because you're working more muscles than you would on a weightlifting machine.
Free Weights
The most basic type of free weight is the dumbbell, which comes in many different weights, from 1 lb. up to more than 100 lbs. per dumbbell. There are even adjustable dumbbells on the market for greater versatility and speed in switching to a different weight. Barbells are the long type of free weight bar used on the bench press. They are also ideal for deadlifts and squats. Other types of free weights include curl bars for doing bicep curls, medicine balls and ankle/wrist weights.
Upper Body
The primary muscle groups in your upper body include your chest, shoulders and upper back muscles. Exercise the chest by doing barbell bench presses, incline/decline barbell bench presses and dumbbell flies. Exercise your shoulder muscles -- front/side/rear deltoids and traps on the sides of your neck -- by doing dumbbell shoulder presses, military presses with the barbell and weight plates, front dumbbell raises and lateral dumbbell raises. Finish your upper-body workout by exercising your upper back muscles with bent-over barbell rows and single-arm bent-over dumbbell rows. Make sure you have a spotter ready for exercises such as the bench press, in case you can't get that final rep back up onto the rack.
Lower Body
Your lower body muscles include your quadriceps, hamstrings and calves. Strengthen your upper leg muscles -- quads and hamstrings -- by doing barbell squats. Have a spotter on hand to assist you. Another effective upper leg workout is dumbbell lunges. Exercise your calf muscles by doing standing dumbbell calf raises and jump-roping with or without ankle weights.
Core Muscles
Your core muscles are those surrounding your midsection, including your abdominal and lower back muscles. You can grab a barbell plate to add resistance to crunches by holding it on your chest as you do the exercise. One of the most effective exercises for the lower back, which also works the leg muscles as well, is the barbell deadlift. Be sure to use proper technique with every exercise to reduce the risk of injury and maximize the effectiveness of each exercise.
Sets/Reps
For general strength and muscle building, aim for 10 to 12 repetitions per set. for two to three sets. Choose one to three different exercises to target each major muscle group. You only need to exercise each muscle group once per week if you exercise using enough weight so that the final rep is hard to do. Target the upper body on Monday, lower body on Wednesday and core muscles on Friday -- or an equivalent three-day split.
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