Strengthening exercises develop your muscles, strengthen your bones and help you maintain a healthy body weight, according to MayoClinic.com. A full-body strengthening workout can take a lot of time out of your day, but this workout can be divided over three days for your convenience. For instance, work your upper body on Monday, core region on Wednesday and lower body on Friday. Rest from strength training on the other days to give your muscles time to recuperate and develop. Complete two or three sets of eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise.
Upper Body
Use free weights or strength-training machines to target your arms, shoulders and chest. Use a flat weight bench and barbell or two dumbbells to perform bench presses to strengthen your chest. Alternately, use a chest-press machine. Lie on your back on the flat bench to perform triceps-strengthening skull crushers. Hold a dumbbell at both sides of your head with your palms facing your head and elbows pointed upward. Extend your arms to lift the weight until your arms are perpendicular to the floor. A biceps-curl machine targets your biceps, or you can hold a dumbbell in each hand and curl the weights toward your biceps. Finish your upper body routine by targeting your shoulders with front raises. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and raise your straight arms out in front of you until they are parallel with the floor.
Core
Your back and abdomen make up your core muscles. Strengthening these muscles is particularly important to prevent injury to your spine. Use a back-row machine to strengthen your central back or bend forward at the hips, grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width grip and pull the bar toward your abdomen. Target your abdomen with sit-ups or Roman chair lifts. Stand in a Roman chair with your forearms on the arm rests and your legs suspended below you. Bend your legs and lift your knees to your chest and hold this position for one to three seconds.
Lower Body
Finish your weekly full-body workout by concentrating on your lower body. Use a leg-extension and leg-curl machine to target the front and back of your thighs or use a dumbbell to create the same movement. For leg extensions, sit in a chair with your legs bent and a dumbbell between your feet. Lift your feet off the ground and suspend your legs out in front of you until they are parallel with the floor. Perform leg curls by lying on your abdomen with a dumbbell between your feet. Bend your legs to curl the weight toward your buttocks. Target your glutes, hips, thighs and calves simultaneously with body-weight squats or hold a dumbbell in each hand to increase your resistance. Bend forward at the hips, maintaining a straight back, and lower your buttocks by bending your knees. Continue squatting until your thighs are parallel with the floor or squat as far as possible while maintaining your balance.
Cardiovascular Exercise
In addition to a strengthening workout, perform cardiovascular exercise to help shed any excess fat from your body. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week. To meet these guidelines, perform 50 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on days you perform strengthening workouts. However, you also can perform cardiovascular workouts on days you do not train with weights to burn more calories and fat throughout the week.
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