Strength Training Exercises
Strength training exercises – the term to some conjures up images of a life devoted to grunting, straining, sweating, stinky socks and clanking weights. This can all be the case if you wish, but for the majority of exercisers that have a life outside the gym, a sensible workout plan has to be employed.
The first thing in embarking on strength training exercises is to evaluate what kind of condition you might be in. This of course is after you visit your doctor and get an okay to start a program. If you are a desk jockey for the last twenty years, you've got to start slow. Maybe you're moderately active but have never focused on actual strength training – you might be able to jump ahead in the line of training exercises, so to speak. Many of us are going to be in these types of categories.
Muscle groups, workout routines and training splits are something you will hear about with any examination of strength training. Traditionally these muscle groups contain all the muscles in your back, chest, arms, shoulders and pelvic and legs. We hear a lot about the "core" the area of a body. The most infamous muscles of the core are "six pack" abs, which promoters tout on late night infomercials, but rectus abdominis muscles are only a small part of any core strengthening exercises. They happen to get the most play, but there are many other muscle groups that will benefit from strength training exercises, such as those mentioned above.
How to go about it…
If you are moving off the couch for the first time in a decade or so, it might be better to use your own body to help you with strength training exercises. This can be done in a number of ways. One of the best examples is simply doing pushups. Other body weight exercises include pull ups, lunges, squats (with no weights), crunches and reverse crunches. Here you are using the body's own weight to increase strength.
Weights are generally the way when you've progressed enough with body weight exercises and you want to increase strength and target fat loss. Stress must be put on a muscle to break down the fibers only so the body can rebuild the muscle on top of those fibers and increase strength and, often, lean muscle. Choose weights that will enable you to do about 15 repetitions without having to rest. This should be a challenge but not impossibility. Do two sets of each. When you become more advanced you can experiment with one rep max calculation and use.
Prior to beginning, however, get warmed up by doing about ten minutes of cardio workout. Run, use and elliptical machine or walk briskly. Get the heart going and the muscles warmed. As you progress you can add additional weights to your sets.
Many studies have been done on strength training exercises, and it's generally agreed that it's never too late to start and that a regular program can greatly increase your quality of life.
