Strength training does not have to be intimidating. Know how to start, what exercises to do and how to work out your muscles properly to gain strength, endurance, flexibility, lean muscle mass and to lose weight. Perform strength training a minimum of two days each week, using bodyweight, resistance bands, free weights, medicine balls or weight machines.
Step 1
Warm up your body by performing five to 10 minutes of low-intensity aerobic activity, or until you break a sweat. This will help prevent injury and lessen fatigue. Then, add some flexibility into your routine with stretching the major muscle groups that you're training in your exercise regimen.
Step 2
Determine eight to 10 exercises to focus on during your workout. Organize these exercises from large muscles to small muscle groups. For instance, chest, back, glutes, quadriceps and hamstring are all larger muscle groups, then biceps, triceps, shoulders and calves. You will want to start with larger muscles first when you have more energy and is necessary because you will be lifting more weight for the larger muscles. Your workout might look like the following: leg press, lunges, chest press, lat pulldown, wide rows, plank, bicep curls, shoulder press and triceps extension.
Step 3
Perform exercises that target both the muscles on the front and back of your body. For example, if you exercise your biceps it is crucial to work your triceps to have a balanced body. Spot reduction does not work, so do not just work out the muscle that you want to see changes in. Instead, be consistent and work out your entire body.
Step 4
Decide on how many times, also known as repetitions, you will perform a particular exercise. If your goal is to build muscular strength, perform one to three sets of five to eight reps, if you want to increase muscle endurance, focus on 15 to 20 reps, and if your fitness goal is to improve muscle power, lift three to five reps.
Step 5
Determine how much weight you will be lifting. The weight should be heavy enough to struggle through the last repetition but light enough to complete all reps with proper form. This may take some trial and error. If at the end of a set the weight feels to light increase, by 5 to 10 lbs. during your second set. However, if the weight is too heavy, your form will suffer and weight should be decreased by 5 to 10 lbs.
Step 6
Focus on exhaling when the exercise is hardest, and inhale when the exercise is the easiest. It can be dangerous to hold your breath in any part of lifting weights. Keep your core strong and engaged when you exhale to take full advantage of targeting your abdominals during every exercise.
Step 7
Work through the full range of motion during each exercise. For example, when performing pushups, allow your chest to almost touch the ground and push back up until you are fully extended.
Step 8
Keep control over every motion, whether you are in the lifting or lowering phase of the exercise. Especially, resist against gravity and do not allow it to lower the weights for you at any point of an exercise.
Tips and Warnings
- Resistance training can be extremely mental, so focus and do not just go through the motions. If you do not have access to training equipment, using your own body weight can provide results. Focus on a variation of pushups, squats, lunges, planks and many more exercises to see at-home results.
- If you are uncertain of proper technique, hiring a fitness and health professional can help teach you how to safely and properly work each muscle group. Fatigue is a risk for injury, so many overhead lifts and multi-joint lifts such as the bench press and squat should be performed with a spotter. You will need to give your muscles the proper rest to recover and should only train them at most every 48 hours. Never stretch before your muscles are warmed up because this can lead to injury. Do not let momentum move the weight for you in your free-weight sets and reps.
Member Comments