Free weights are very versatile and can be used to target all of your major muscle groups and many minor ones as well. For the home trainer, free weights present a viable alternative to resistance-training machines. When combined with a simple exercise bench, dumbbells and barbells provide an effective workout for developing muscle tone, endurance, size or strength. The main consideration for home trainers when using free weights is safety. Many home trainers work out alone, which means that the exercises selected should involve the minimum amount of risk while still being effective.
Dumbbell Squats
Squats target all of the muscles in your lower body, especially your thighs and butt. Traditionally performed with a barbell across the shoulders, squatting without the aid of a squat rack or power cage is risky. Dumbbell squats provide a safe alternative. With a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your hands by your sides. Push your butt back, bend your knees and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your chest lifted and your lower back slightly arched, with your abs held tight. Drive down through your heels and stand back up.
Barbell Bent Over Rows
This exercise targets your latissimus dorsi or lats for short. These muscles sit on the sides of your upper and middle back. The most common way to exercise this muscle is by performing lat pulldowns using a resistance machine, but barbell bent over rows do the job just as effectively. Grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width overhand grip and stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and bend forwards from your hips until your upper body is close to parallel to the floor. Let your arms hang straight down from your shoulders. Keep your chest lifted and your abs braced throughout this exercise. Bend your arms and pull the bar up and into your lower abdomen and then lower the weight back down to arms' length.
Dumbbell Bench Press
The most common chest exercise is the barbell bench press. While this is a very effective exercise, there is a risk of getting pinned beneath the bar if you fail to complete a repetition. The dumbbell bench press is much safer because you can simply lower the weights to the side if you get stuck. Lie on your exercise bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms extended. Hold the weights over your shoulders with your palms facing down your body. Bend your arms and lower the dumbbells to your shoulders and then push them back up to full extension. If you don't have an exercise bench, this exercise can be performed while lying on the floor --- the so-called floor press.
Barbell Biceps Curl
One of the most effective biceps-building exercises, the barbell curl, can safely be performed by home exercisers because there is no risk of injury if you fail to complete a repetition. That being said, it is important to keep your upper body still and not use your back to swing the weight up because this can lead to back problems. Grasp the barbell with a shoulder-width underhand grip. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms extended so that the barbell rests across your thighs. Holding your shoulders down and back, bend your arms and raise the bar up to shoulder-height. Slowly extend your arms and return to the starting position. This exercise can also be performed using dumbbells for variation.
References
- "Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness"; Matt Brzycki and Fred Fornicola; 2006
- "Never Gymless: An Excuse-free System for Total Fitness"; Ross Enamait; 2006
- "Strength Training Anatomy"; Frederic Delavier; 2010
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