Types Of Exercises For Muscular Strength

Though you may be getting in 30 to 60 minutes of cardio exercise per day, your workout regimen isn't complete without a solid dose of exercises for muscular strength. Strength training isn't only for male bodybuilders. Doing various types of strengthening exercises helps you lower your body fat proportion, improves your stamina and reduces your risk of developing injuries.

Free Weight Exercises

Exercises that use free weights typically involve performing movements against the weight of a medicine ball, one barbell or two dumbbells. Free weight exercises are well-suited to people who have already built up some strength using exercises with resistance bands, weight machines or body weights. Examples of exercises with free weights are bicep curls, dead lifts and chest presses.

Resistance Bands Exercises

Resistance bands are lightweight tubing or flat bands that are resistant when they're stretched, much like a rubber band. You can incorporate resistance bands into a variety of traditional exercises, including bicep curls, upright rows, knee extensions and crunches. Begin all resistance bands exercises by holding the band where it starts to offer resistance, gradually shortening the section of band you're using to build up tension as you grow stronger.

Weight Machine Exercises

Weight machines, or resistance machines, generally use a pulley and stack of weights to provide resistance as you perform each exercise. You will find a variety of weight machines at most fitness centers, or you can purchase an all-in-one styled weight machine for home use. Examples of exercises you can do with a weight machine are tricep push-downs, bicep curls, chest presses, lat pull downs and crunches. Each exercise you do with a weight machine should be slow and deliberate. The weight stack you're lifting should never touch the rest of the stack in between repetitions.

Body Weight Exercises

Body weight exercises such as lunges and crunches are activities you can do to strengthen your body with the use of little to no exercise equipment. An example of equipment you may use with a body weight exercise is a Swiss ball, or exercise ball. For example, you could do push-ups with the ball under your shins, squat against a wall with the ball behind your back or perch your glutes on the front end of the ball as you do crunches.

Basic Tips

Get introductory tips from a weight training instructor. She will offer you safety stategies and start you at a safe and effective weight load. She will also likely recommend that you strength train at least twice per week and do exercises to include all major muscle areas in your body, including your arms and legs, hips and back, chest and abdomen. To get the most out of your exercise routine you should try at least eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise and do one to three sets of each repetition groups.