You can gain muscle mass in your thighs by following a rigorous resistance-training program using free weights. Lifting weights helps promote hypertrophy, or muscle growth, by introducing stress to targeted muscles during the resistance training. Use compound, heavy movements like squats and leg presses to recruit multiple muscle groups and increase muscle mass in your legs. Before starting an exercise program, please consult a physician.
Your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscle groups are recruited when you're sprinting around the bases, throwing, moving laterally or squatting down to get a ground ball. To develop the muscular strength of your legs, ...
Back exercises with free weights strengthen your entire back and shoulders by pulling your shoulder blades behind you. Lifting exercises involve moving a weight against gravity to any height, such as to your shoulders or over y...
No weight lifted on any machine is the same as using free weights. In all cases, less effort is required to stabilize the weight, making the lift easier. In some cases, the Smith machine itself has a counterweight that reduces ...
Strength training is an essential part of an overall fitness plan, and free weights -- or dumbbells -- are an effective means of achieving resistance to build lean muscle. According to the American College of Sports Medicine,...
If you're bored with weight machines and want to change your workout, start training with free weights. Dumbbells and barbells are types of free weights. Free weights engage core muscles that are not stimulated by weight machin...
Top bodybuilders like Ronnie Coleman build their big, muscular, powerful physiques by using free weights as the basis of their training. The bodybuilders mantra is: "Free weights! you've got to lift big to get big" It is exh...
Large muscle groups--such as your back, chest and legs--are capable of lifting much larger and heavier weights than smaller muscle groups, such as your shoulders and forearms. But if you're just starting out, are recovering fro...
According to Mayo Clinic.com, strength training helps build muscle and strengthens bones. Although lifting heavy weights will add visible bulk to your body and make strength gains more apparent, lifting smaller free weights wil...
Dumbbells, barbells, weight plates, medicine balls, weighted vests and ankle weights are examples. All of these tools give you freedom to move through multiple planes of motion. Free weights simulate real-life lifting situation...
The two most popular options for resistance are free weights and machines. While both are considered effective, the National Strength and Conditioning Association believes that free weights may offer some benefits over machine...
You can use light weights to increase lean muscle tissue and boost metabolic rate without overloading or bulking your muscles. Using light weights and performing an exercise for at least eight to 12 repetitions is a technique t...
Free weights are an affordable, versatile option for strength training. They do not restrict movement and recruit more muscles than do weight training machines. Free weights are a smart addition to a home gym. They are user fri...
Using free weights is an efficient way of improving fitness and strength. Weight lifting helps increase bone density as well as burn unwanted calories, and increase strength, muscle endurance and muscle size. Unlike weight mach...
You do, however, gain the benefits of stabilization, functionality and burning extra calories during a workout because you're using more muscles. As with all weight training, focus on lifting the proper weight--you should be ab...
