You lose lean muscle mass as you age, which can lead to an increase in body fat percentage, according to the Mayo Clinic. Strength training exercises help you replace and preserve lean muscle tissue. Although free weights and weight machines are effective muscle-building tools, you can strengthen your body without using weights.
Identification
A balanced strength training regimen targets all the major muscle groups, including those in the upper body, torso and legs. The American College of Sports Medicine explains that you need to work upper body muscles in your arms, shoulders, back and chest. Strengthen your core by targeting your abs, lower back and obliques, and work lower body muscles in your calves, thighs and buttocks.
Types
Calisthenics are resistance exercises that use your body weight to build muscle strength. A climbing wall also provides a strength workout that targets larger muscles, as well as smaller stabilizer muscles, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Resistance bands are another option for strength building without weights. The ACSM adds that Pilates exercises increase strength, while kickboxing provides a cardiovascular and strength training workout.
Specifics
Exercises that strengthen your core and lower body include bent-knee crunches, the bird dog, front plank, lunges, squats, side plank and cobra, according to the American Council on Exercise. Work your upper body with the Superman move, push-ups, front plank, downward-facing dog, upward facing dog, cobra and pull-ups. Resistance band exercises include leg abductions, lateral raises, hamstring curls, squats, chest presses, tricep extensions, reverse crunches and lat pull-downs. The American Council on Exercise provides illustrations for these moves on its website.
Benefits
Muscle-building exercises, in conjunction with regular aerobic workouts, help with weight management. The Mayo Clinic explains that lean muscle mass burns calories more efficiently than body fat. Strength-building exercises also increase bone density, improve balance and endurance, protect joints and sharpen mental focus, says the Mayo Clinic. Building lean muscle mass also helps relieve symptoms of arthritis, back pain, diabetes, osteoporosis and depression.
Considerations
It's best to skip a day between strength training workouts to give your muscles time to recover. You can alternate cardiovascular workouts and resistance training to improve your overall fitness and enjoy the health benefits provided by both types of physical activity. Although aerobic exercises burn more calories than strength-building activities, the American College of Sports Medicine suggests that you can burn even more calories by combining the two in one session. This type of interval training shifts back and forth between aerobics and calisthenics in a single workout.
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