What is resistance training. How does resistance training work. What are the benefits of resistance training. What types of resistance training exercises are there. How often should you do resistance training. What equipment do you need for resistance training. How to create an effective resistance training program.

Understanding the Basics of Resistance Training

Resistance training is a form of physical activity designed to improve muscular fitness by exercising muscles or muscle groups against external resistance. This type of exercise causes muscles to contract against an external force, with the goal of increasing strength, power, hypertrophy (muscle growth), and/or endurance.

The principle behind resistance training is simple: when muscles work to overcome a resistance force repeatedly and consistently, they become stronger. This adaptation occurs as the body responds to the stress placed upon it during exercise.

What constitutes external resistance?

External resistance can come from various sources, including:

• Dumbbells
• Barbells
• Exercise tubing
• Your own body weight
• Everyday objects (e.g., bricks, water bottles)
• Resistance machines

The key is that the chosen resistance causes the muscles to contract and work against it.

Types of Resistance Training Exercises

Resistance training encompasses a wide variety of exercises and equipment options. Here are some common types:

1. Free Weights

Free weights, such as dumbbells and barbells, are classic strength training tools. They allow for a wide range of movements and engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, including stabilizer muscles.

2. Weight Machines

Weight machines typically have adjustable seats with handles attached to weights or hydraulics. They provide a more controlled environment for lifting, which can be beneficial for beginners or those recovering from injuries.

3. Body Weight Exercises

These exercises use your own body weight as resistance. Examples include push-ups, squats, and chin-ups. Body weight exercises are convenient, require no equipment, and can be performed anywhere.

4. Resistance Bands

Resistance bands are like giant rubber bands that provide resistance when stretched. They’re portable, versatile, and can be adapted to most workouts, offering continuous resistance throughout a movement.

5. Medicine Balls

These weighted balls can be used for various exercises, combining strength training with dynamic movements.

Benefits of Resistance Training

Incorporating resistance training into your fitness routine offers numerous benefits:

1. Increased muscle strength and tone
2. Improved bone density
3. Enhanced metabolism
4. Better balance and coordination
5. Reduced risk of injury
6. Improved cardiovascular health
7. Enhanced mental health and cognitive function

Resistance training is not just about building bigger muscles; it’s a crucial component of overall health and fitness. Regular resistance training can help maintain muscle mass as we age, support weight management, and improve functional fitness for daily activities.

Creating an Effective Resistance Training Program

Designing a resistance training program requires consideration of several factors:

Frequency

How often should you engage in resistance training? The American College of Sports Medicine recommends:

• Novices: 2-3 days per week
• Intermediate: 3 days per week
• Advanced: 4-6 days per week

It’s important to allow adequate rest between sessions, especially for beginners, to allow for muscle recovery and growth.

Volume

For healthy adults, a general guideline is:

• One set of 8-12 repetitions
• 8-10 major exercises targeting major muscle groups
• Two non-consecutive days per week

As you progress, you can increase the volume by adding more sets, exercises, or training days.

Intensity

The intensity of your workouts should be tailored to your goals:

• For muscle mass: Use heavy weights with fewer repetitions (4-6 per set)
• For strength: Use moderate weights with moderate repetitions (12-15 per set)
• For endurance: Use lighter weights with high repetitions (20-25 per set)

Exercise Selection

Choose exercises that target all major muscle groups. Pay special attention to compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups simultaneously, such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses.

Tailoring Resistance Training to Individual Needs

While general guidelines are helpful, it’s crucial to tailor your resistance training program to your individual needs, goals, and current fitness level. Factors to consider include:

• Age
• Gender
• Current fitness level
• Medical history
• Personal goals (e.g., weight loss, muscle gain, sports performance)
• Available time and resources

If you’re new to resistance training or have any health concerns, it’s advisable to consult with a fitness professional or healthcare provider before starting a new program.

Progressive Overload: The Key to Continuous Improvement

Progressive overload is a fundamental principle in resistance training. It involves gradually increasing the weight, frequency, or number of repetitions in your strength training routine. This principle is crucial for continued improvement and helps prevent plateaus in your fitness journey.

How to implement progressive overload:

1. Increase the weight you’re lifting
2. Increase the number of repetitions
3. Increase the number of sets
4. Decrease rest time between sets
5. Increase the difficulty of the exercise
6. Increase the overall volume of your workout

Remember to increase the challenge gradually to avoid injury and ensure steady progress.

Common Misconceptions About Resistance Training

Despite its proven benefits, resistance training is often misunderstood. Let’s address some common myths:

Myth 1: Resistance training will make women bulky

This is a persistent myth that deters many women from engaging in resistance training. In reality, women typically lack the testosterone levels required to build large, bulky muscles. Resistance training helps women develop lean, toned muscles and improve overall body composition.

Myth 2: You need to lift heavy weights to see results

While lifting heavy weights can be effective for building strength and muscle mass, it’s not the only way to benefit from resistance training. Lighter weights with higher repetitions can improve muscular endurance and tone. The key is to challenge your muscles appropriately based on your goals.

Myth 3: Resistance training is only for young people

Resistance training is beneficial for people of all ages. In fact, it becomes increasingly important as we age to maintain muscle mass, bone density, and overall functionality. Older adults can significantly benefit from resistance training, improving their quality of life and independence.

Myth 4: Resistance training is bad for your joints

When performed correctly, resistance training can actually strengthen the muscles around your joints, providing better support and reducing the risk of injury. It’s important to use proper form and start with appropriate weights to protect your joints.

Incorporating Resistance Training into Your Lifestyle

Resistance training should be viewed as part of a healthy lifestyle rather than a short-term intervention. Here are some tips for making it a sustainable part of your routine:

1. Start slowly and progress gradually
2. Find activities you enjoy
3. Set realistic goals
4. Track your progress
5. Mix up your routine to prevent boredom
6. Consider working with a personal trainer to learn proper form and technique
7. Listen to your body and allow for adequate rest and recovery

Remember, consistency is key. It’s better to do moderate resistance training regularly than to have intense but infrequent sessions.

The Role of Nutrition in Resistance Training

Proper nutrition plays a crucial role in supporting your resistance training efforts. Your body needs adequate fuel to perform during workouts and recover afterwards. Here are some key nutritional considerations:

Protein

Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Aim to consume protein-rich foods or supplements within 30 minutes after your workout. Good sources include lean meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, and plant-based proteins like tofu and tempeh.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are your body’s primary source of energy. Complex carbohydrates like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables provide sustained energy for your workouts and help replenish glycogen stores post-exercise.

Hydration

Staying hydrated is crucial for optimal performance and recovery. Drink water before, during, and after your workouts. For longer or more intense sessions, consider electrolyte-rich beverages.

Timing

While the total amount of nutrients you consume daily is most important, timing can play a role in optimizing performance and recovery. Consider having a balanced meal containing carbohydrates and protein 2-3 hours before your workout, and a post-workout snack or meal within 30 minutes to an hour after exercising.

Remember, everyone’s nutritional needs are different. Consult with a registered dietitian or nutritionist for personalized advice on fueling your resistance training regimen.

Safety Considerations in Resistance Training

While resistance training is generally safe and beneficial, it’s important to prioritize safety to prevent injuries and ensure long-term success. Here are some key safety considerations:

Proper Form

Maintaining proper form during exercises is crucial. Incorrect form can lead to injuries and reduce the effectiveness of your workouts. If you’re unsure about proper technique, consider working with a certified personal trainer.

Warm-up and Cool-down

Always start your resistance training session with a proper warm-up to prepare your body for exercise. This can include light cardio and dynamic stretching. End your session with a cool-down and static stretching to aid recovery.

Appropriate Weight Selection

Choose weights that allow you to maintain proper form throughout the entire set. If you’re compromising form to lift a weight, it’s too heavy. Conversely, if you can easily complete more than the prescribed number of repetitions, the weight may be too light.

Rest and Recovery

Allow adequate rest between workouts, especially for beginners. Muscles need time to repair and grow stronger. Overtraining can lead to fatigue, decreased performance, and increased risk of injury.

Breathing Technique

Proper breathing is often overlooked but is crucial for safety and effectiveness. Generally, exhale during the exertion phase of the exercise (when you’re lifting the weight) and inhale during the relaxation phase.

Listen to Your Body

Pay attention to how your body feels during and after workouts. While some muscle soreness is normal, sharp pain or persistent discomfort could indicate an injury. Don’t hesitate to seek medical advice if you’re concerned.

By following these safety guidelines, you can minimize the risk of injury and maximize the benefits of your resistance training program.

What is resistance training? –

Resistance training is a form of physical activity that is designed to improve muscular fitness by exercising a muscle or a muscle group against external resistance.

Resistance training is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against an external resistance with the expectation of increases in strength, power, hypertrophy, and/or endurance. The external resistance can be dumbbells, exercise tubing, your own body weight, bricks, bottles of water, or any other object that causes the muscles to contract.

Maintenance programs are recommended for long term health benefits. Resistance training is being part of a healthy lifestyle rather than as a specific therapeutic intervention.

Currently there is no clear evidence that any particular form of resistance training is most effective for managing musculoskeletal condition.

Therefore, the key is to tailor your prescription the individuals needs of the patient in front of you based on assessment:

Resistance training is based on the principle that muscles of the body will work to overcome a resistance force when they are required to do so. When you do resistance training repeatedly and consistently, your muscles become stronger.

Examples of Resistance Training:

There are many ways you can strengthen your muscles, whether at home or the gym.

Different types of resistance training include:

• Free weights – classic strength training tools such as dumbbells or barbells
• Weight machines – devices that have adjustable seats with handles attached either to weights or hydraulics
• Medicine balls – weighted balls
• Resistance bands – like giant rubber bands – these provide resistance when stretched. They are portable and can be adapted to most workouts. The bands provide continuous resistance throughout a movement
• Your own body weight – can be used for squats, push-ups and chin-ups. Using your own body weight is convenient, especially when travelling or at work.

How much should we do?

• Two non-concecutive days/weekly
• One set of 8-12 reps for healthy adults
• 8-10 major exercises targeting major muscle groups
• Frequency:
  • novice 2-3 days/ week,
  • intermediate 3 days/week;
  • advanced 4-6 days/week

Specific characteristics resistance training might target include:

• Strength
• Power
• Hypertrophy
• Endurance

What Is Resistance Exercise? / Fitness / Exercises

Resistance exercise is any form of exercise that forces your skeletal muscles (not the involuntary muscles of your heart, lungs, etc.) to contract. An external resistance (such as heavy weights) is used to cause the contractions, and those contractions lead to increases in muscular mass, strength, endurance and tone.

What can you use for that external resistance? Why, anything you want! You can use dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, your body weight, bottles of water, bricks — the list goes on and on! As long as the weight causes muscular contractions, it counts as resistance exercise.

Types of Resistance Exercise

There are three basic types of resistance exercises:

1. Bodyweight — This uses only your body weight to force your muscles to contract. It includes exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, and squats.
2. Free Weights — Using dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells helps to increase the strain placed on your muscles, forcing those contractions and building muscle. Free weight training is considered the most effective form of resistance exercise, as it engages secondary muscles (stabilizers) and leads to more effective muscle growth.
3. Weight Machines — Every gym has dozens of weight machines–Pec Deck, Cable Machine, Leg Extension machine, etc. Weight machines are not as effective as free weights, but they are a safer alternative for those who are new to resistance training.

Planning a Solid Resistance Training Regimen

Every good resistance training regimen should factor in your ultimate goals for lifting. Are you trying to build muscle mass, muscular strength, or muscular endurance? If mass is your goal, you want to work with a lot of weight, but only a few repetitions per set (4 to 6). If strength is your goal, use a bit less weight, but do more repetitions per set (12 to 15). If endurance is your goal, use very little weight but do a lot of repetitions per set (20 to 25).

When planning your resistance training program, take into account the amount of work each muscle/muscle group needs:

• Your chest, back, and legs need more sets (8 to 12)
• Your shoulders and arms need fewer sets (5 to 8)
• Your forearms, calves, traps, and core muscles need even fewer sets (1 to 5)

Make sure to pay attention to the larger muscle groups, as they will burn more energy and build more muscle mass in less time and with far less effort.

Tips for Healthy Resistance Exercise

• Take it slow at first. Give your body time to grow accustomed to the intense workouts!
• Use compound movements. The more muscles engaged, the better. Isolation movements are less effective overall.
• Find the balance between push and pull. “Push” is all about the chest and triceps, but “pull” focuses on the back and biceps.
• Train at the right frequency. Training the same muscles too often leads to reduced muscle growth and can increase your risk of burnout. Give your muscles between 48 and 72 hours to rest between resistance training.
• Have a plan. Hit your resistance exercise hard, and you’ll see better results.
• Work with the right weight. Too heavy, and you won’t reach your rep goals. Too light, and your muscles won’t make progress in terms of strength, tone, mass and/or endurance.

Follow these tips, and your resistance exercise will yield the best results for your time and effort!

6 Flexibility Workouts that Increase Strength

Some people get lucky and are born with fit, toned bodies. Andy Peloquin is not one of those people… Fitness has come hard for him, and he’s had to work for it. His trials have led him to becoming a martial artist, an NFPT-certified fitness trainer, and a man passionate about exercise, diet and healthy living. He loves to exercise — he does so six days a week — and loves to share his passion for fitness and health with others.

What is resistance training? | Nuffield Health

Resistance training is more commonly referred to by gym goers as weight training but the term refers to any form of exercise where you lift or pull against resistance. This could be using dumbells, a barbell, bodyweight, machines, kettlebells, powerbands or any other external resistance. Traditional resistance training uses dumbells or a barbell to perform an exercise for a specific number of repetitions with the aim of improving muscular strength, size or endurance.

What is resistance training good for?

Lifting weights has numerous benefits to the muscles and skeleton that are uniquely attributed to this form of training.

Regular resistance training can decrease the risk of heart disease by lowering body fat, decreasing blood pressure, improving cholesterol, and lowering the stress placed on the heart while lifting a particular load. Improving muscular fitness is very important for enhancing quality of life.

Resistance training improves your strength and can make everyday tasks much simpler. In the form of weight training it can reduce the occurrence of sarcopenia, which is the age-related decline in muscle, and also decrease the risk of osteoporosis. Although all exercise can help with these, resistance training has been shown to be the most beneficial.

Resistance training is the main way you will build and ‘tone up’ your muscles. It is by far the best way to alter your body shape and once you are at the point that you are lean enough to see your muscles, resistance training can give you the shape of arms, legs or bum that you desire.

When should you do resistance training?

Everybody would benefit from some form of resistance training. Whether you are a young aspiring athlete, an obese middle-aged gentleman or an older lady wanting to stay active. Resistance training has unique health and fitness benefits that simply can’t be achieved through any other form of exercise.

The ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) recommends that a resistance training program should be performed a minimum of two non-consecutive days each week, with one set of 8 to 12 repetitions for healthy adults or 10 to 15 repetitions for older and frail individuals. Eight to 10 different exercises should be performed that target the major muscle groups.

Example of a beginners, machine-based resistance training exercise programme

Perform one set of 15 repetitions on each machine with 45 seconds rest between each exercise.

• Leg press
• Seated row
• Leg extensions
• 
  Leg curls
• 
  Lat pulldown
• 
  Shoulder press
• 
  Ab crunch
• 
  Back extension
• Chest press

Last updated Friday 28 December 2018

Why you Need to start Resistance Training now

All workout regimes require balance and resistance training is a key part of any well-balanced exercise regimen. These exercises will help you get stronger, get bigger muscles and tone what you’ve already got. It’ll also help build anaerobic muscle endurance (i.e. doing more reps of heavier weights) and build strength in your joints, helping reduce your risk of injury.

Furthermore, there is also research that suggests it can help you avoid osteoporosis in later life, lower blood pressure and the increase in metabolism that comes with resistance training can also help burn calories and burn fat while you’re building muscle.

What is Resistance Training?

Essentially, resistance training is a form of exercise that involves making your muscles work against a weight or force. This weight force can be any number of things, including free weights, resistance bands, weight machines or even your own body weight.

In order to get the most from a resistance training regime, you ideally need to work out two to three times a week. You should also try and change up your routine every six to eight weeks to ensure you don’t get bored and that you keep improving.

What are the Benefits of Resistance Training?

Resistance training is a core part of any well-balanced exercise regime and with it comes a plethora of benefits. It’s fantastic for both your fitness and your health too. With regular resistance training, you’ll build muscle, improve your endurance, burn fat, improve your strength, get more flexible, and build bone strength, among other positives.

General Resistance Training Fitness Benefits

Resistance training is an important part of any workout regimen and has loads of fitness benefits.

1. It Helps Build Muscle

Firstly – and least surprising of all – resistance training helps build muscle. We all know that lifting weights or working your muscles against a force will help build up your muscle mass and, as a result, you’ll get stronger and your muscles will begin to grow in size.

2. Resistance Training Will Help Improve Your Muscle Tone

It’s perfect for toning up. As well as growing your muscles, resistance training can also help keep you toned and trim if that’s what you prefer – simply keep the weights lighter, but do longer sets.

3. It’ll Help Burn off Excess fat & Calories

Thirdly, it’s great for burning fat. People always think cardiovascular exercise is the only way to burn fat, but that’s not the case. Resistance training will still get your heart rate up a little bit, but it will also get your metabolism working harder too – a crucial element of burning calories and, by extension, fat.

4. You’ll get Fitter

Like all exercise, resistance training will help improve your stamina. This means you won’t get tired as easily as you grow stronger. Resistance training will also help make your joints stronger and improve your flexibility, reducing your risk of injury.

Health Benefits of Resistance Training

As well as fitness benefits, resistance training also has a number of health benefits.

1. It Will Help Improve Bone Density

The first of these is that it can help you build bone density, meaning you’re less likely to suffer from osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) in later life.

2. Plenty of Mental Health Benefits

It can also help improve your sense of well-being. Resistance training can boost your self-confidence, your body image and your mood. In fact, exercise of all kinds has been proven to have a positive impact on your mental health as a whole, helping reduce anxiety and depression.

3. Improved Sleep

You’re also likely to sleep better as a result of incorporating resistance training into your workout regime. This will, in turn lead to a happier and more productive daily life, with the enhanced performance of everyday tasks.

Great Resistance Training Exercises

One of the main benefits of resistance training is that it’s so flexible and you can exercise your whole body during a workout. Here, we’ve come up with a variety of exercises for you to try that are ideal for both beginners and experts.

1. Leg Exercises

The leg press involves placing the soles of your feet against a plate with your knees bent and extending your legs and lifting a pre-determined (and adjustable) weight. This works your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, helping build strength all through your legs. If you don’t have access to a leg press machine, then a squat does a very similar job.

2. Arm Exercises

To complete a tricep press down, you set your weight on the cable machine, stand facing it and press down on the cable handle, bending your arms at the elbow repeatedly. The equivalent exercise with dumbbells are called tricep kickbacks and involve leaning forward with your upper arms close to your side and your arms bent to 90 degrees at the elbow. Then, extend your arms straight, lifting the weights behind you. As the name suggests, this exercise works your triceps, the muscles on the underside of your upper arms – opposite your biceps.

3. Chest Exercises

To work your chest muscles, you can either do a seated chest press or a dumbbell/bar press. The chest press involves sitting at the machine and pushing the levers away from you. Alternatively, you could either lie on your back and raise dumbbells above your chest, bringing them together with your arms straight, or use a bar bell, lying beneath it and pushing it upwards repeatedly.

4. Back Exercises

Finally, to work your back, you can complete pull downs. These involve sitting on the machine and holding the handle at each end and lifting the weights. Alternatively, if you don’t have the correct machine or prefer to use dumbbells, you can perform the two-arm bent-over row. This involves bending forward at your hips, holding a dumbbell in each hand with your arms straight. Then lift them simultaneously first at the elbows and then from the shoulder to work your lat muscles.

Resistance Training Equipment

As mentioned previously, resistance training works by working your muscles against a weight or a force. You’ll find all the equipment you need at your local Everyone Active gym.

• Weight Machines

  You’ll see these all over the Everyone Active gym floor and they are brilliant for resistance training. For starters, there’s a machine for pretty much every muscle group, so you’re bound to find the right workout for you. They also help ensure that you complete the exercise correctly, meaning you’re less likely to hurt yourself while working out.

• Free Weights

  Again, you’re more than likely to see a dedicated free weights area at just about all Everyone Active gyms. Free weights are great for resistance training as they’re completely flexible, meaning you can work all areas of your body whenever you like. It’s important you study how to use them properly, however, as you can hurt yourself by either using them incorrectly, or using weights that are too heavy for you.

• Resistance Bands

  These are literally just giant elastic bands that offer different levels of resistance. You anchor them round something, be that on your foot, a pole or anything else that’s suitable – and sturdy! You then pull the band, with your arm, leg or any other part of your body you want to work and use the resistance offered by the band to build muscle. You’ll find these at most Everyone Active gyms, but they’re generally pretty reasonably priced and easy to use at home too, so there’s no excuse!

• Your own Body Weight

  These are the most fundamental resistance exercises you can do. You don’t really need any equipment for these, although kit such as exercise balls and the TRX machine allow you to mix it up a little bit, rather than just sticking to the same old press-ups and sit-ups.

Resistance Training Exercises

It’s important that you mix up your resistance training regime. For starters, it stops you getting bored, so you’re more likely to stick to it and will therefore get more out of your work outs. As a result, we’ve put together some examples of resistance training exercises for beginners and experts alike.

Beginners’ Resistance Training

Before you get going, it’s worth chatting to your doctor about what you intend to do – especially if you have any pre-existing medical conditions, to make sure you’re safe to do so.

It might also be worth hiring a personal trainer for at least a couple of sessions to help ensure you’re using the equipment correctly and that your form is correct. This is important because if you do not use the kit properly, then you’re more likely to injure yourself while working out.

A beginner’s resistance training regime should include the following to begin with:

• Between eight and ten exercises that work the body’s major muscle groups. These include the core, shoulders, legs, arms, back and your chest. These should be performed at least twice and a maximum of three times a week.
• You should begin with one set of each exercise, of at least eight repetitions (reps) each. But you shouldn’t do any one exercise more than twice in one week.
• As you progress, increase it up to two to three sets of eight to 12 reps for each exercise
• Once you can comfortably complete 12 reps of an exercise, then you should look to progress further by increasing the weight or resistance on the movement you’re doing.

Advanced Resistance Training

Once you’ve mastered the basics of resistance training and, most importantly, your body’s got used to it, you can start moving on to some more advanced techniques and exercises. This could be as simple as just increasing the weight or resistance that you are working against. Or, you could change how long you hold the weight or resistance at your muscle’s maximum potential, reduce your rest time between sets or increase the number of sets or different exercises you do.

Is There a Difference in Resistance Training for men and Women?

The short answer is yes, but here comes the slightly longer answer. Quite simply, men produce 10 times more of the hormone testosterone than women do and so will build muscle mass much more easily than women. But that’s not all, women and men differ in their muscle mass distribution, especially in the upper body.

Additionally, women tend to mature earlier than men, allowing them to begin resistance training earlier. However, due to the fact that, on average, women have less muscle mass than men, they are also more likely to suffer from deconditioning. This phenomenon is where the woman loses muscle mass quickly after a short period of non-activity. This is why women should always keep their resistance training going, even at a lower intensity when they’re concentrating on other exercises, to stop the muscles from deconditioning.

What’s the difference between resistance and strength training?

Luckily, resistance training is possible to do using just your bodyweight, according to two of Stylist’s Strong Women ambassadors Caroline Bragg and Emma Obayuvana. They’re here to clear up the confusion around this style of workout, explaining the difference between resistance and strength training and when you should do each of them. 

What is the difference between strength and resistance training?

CAROLINE BRAGG

“Resistance training could be mean using body weight, or a resistance band, free weights or anything where you’re pushing or pulling against something with added resistance.  Strength training, on the other hand, is more about building strength and utilising time under tension – which means lower reps at a higher weight.”

EMMA OBAYUVANA

“Resistance training generally means that you’re building muscle by using resistance, which can come from your own body weight, from free weights (like dumbbells), or from using machines. Whichever you choose, you’re using resistance to increase the strength of your muscles. In that sense it ties into strength training, but strength is not the main goal of resistance training. Strength training is where you are lifting heavy at low reps and specifically training to get stronger.”

What are the benefits to resistance training?

EMMA OBAYUVANA

“Resistance training improves your bone density. We lose muscles as we age, but if you are doing resistance training, you’ll be building more muscle in your body so the rate at which your muscle atrophy will slow. Generally, resistance training applies to everyday life. So it’s functional training. So you’ll see the direct benefits, such as when lifting a box you’ll know how to lift correctly and be strong enough to do it. It also has psychological benefits because you’re going to feel a lot more confident about yourself and your abilities, have a better quality of sleep, and be able to recover better.”

CAROLINE BRAGG

“It depends. There is benefit to doing a body weight exercise, like planks, push ups and squats. And you can do higher reps with resistance exercises and therefore you build endurance up.” 

Should you do more strength or resistance training?

CAROLINE BRAGG

“Well I would always start with resistance training, because that can mean introducing anything, even just body weight. Work on this first to get your form right first, such as learning to nail a bodyweight squat with perfect form. Then you add load and you can start to build strength.”

EMMA OBAYUVANA

“I would say that this entirely depends on someone’s goals. One person’s goal could just be to get into training with free weights, so adding in resistance alone is great, but if your only goal is strength then you would need focus on the programming around that. However, you can do both. You can have a couple of days a week where you’re focusing solely on your strength, and you will be lifting heavy for low reps. Then after a good recovery time you could have a day where you just focus on general resistance training.”

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here’s why it’s so effective for weight loss

Weight lifting, also known as resistance training, has been practised for centuries as a way of building muscular strength. Research shows that resistance training, whether done via body weight, resistance bands or machines, dumbbells or free weights, not only helps us build strength, but also improves muscle size and can help counteract age-related muscle loss.

More recently it’s become popular among those looking to lose weight. While exercises such as running and cycling are indeed effective for reducing body fat, these activities can simultaneously decrease muscle size, leading to weaker muscles and greater perceived weight loss, as muscle is more dense than fat. But unlike endurance exercises, evidence shows resistance training not only has beneficial effects on reducing body fat, it also increases muscle size and strength.

The ‘after-burn effect’

When we exercise, our muscles need more energy than they do when resting. This energy comes from our muscles’ ability to break down fat and carbohydrate (stored within the muscle, liver and fat tissue) with the help of oxygen. So during exercise, we breathe faster and our heart works harder to pump more oxygen, fat, and carbohydrate to our exercising muscles.

What is less obvious, however, is that after we’ve finished exercising, oxygen uptake actually remains elevated in order to restore muscles to their resting state by breaking down stored fat and carbohydrates. This phenomenon is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) – though more commonly known as the “after-burn effect”. It describes how long oxygen uptake remains elevated after exercise in order to help the muscles recover.

The extent and duration of the after-burn effect is determined by the type, length, and intensity of exercise, as well as fitness level and diet. Longer-lasting exercise that uses multiple large muscles, performed to or near fatigue, results in higher and longer-lasting after-burn.

Exercises that engage more large muscle groups enhance after-burn effect.
Photology1971/ Shutterstock

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and high intensity resistance training are most effective at elevating both short and long-term after-burn. The reason HIIT-type exercises are thought to be more effective than steady-state endurance exercise is because of the increased fatigue associated with HIIT. This fatigue leads to more oxygen and energy required over a prolonged period to repair damaged muscle and replenish depleted energy stores. As such, resistance exercise is an effective way to lose excess fat due to the high calorie cost of the actual training session, and the “after-burn effect”.

Long-term fat loss

Resistance training can also be effective for long-term weight control, too. This is because muscle size plays a major role in determining resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is how many calories your body requires to function at rest. Resting metabolic rate accounts for 60-75% of total energy expenditure in non-exercising people, and fat is the body’s preferred energy source at rest.

Increasing muscle size through resistance training increases RMR, thereby increasing or sustaining fat loss over time. A review of 18 studies found that resistance training was effective at increasing resting metabolic rate, whereas aerobic exercise and combined aerobic and resistance exercise were not as effective. However, it’s also important to control calorie intake in order to lose fat and sustain fat loss.

Resistance training exercises should engage the largest muscle groups, use whole body exercises performed standing and should involve two or more joints. All of these make the body work harder, thereby increasing the amount of muscle and therefore RMR. An effective resistance training programme should combine intensity, volume (number of exercises and sets), and progression (increasing both as you get stronger). The intensity should be high enough that you feel challenged during your workout.

The most effective way of doing this is using the repetition maximum method. For the purpose of fat loss, this should be performing between six and ten repetitions of an exercise with a resistance that results in fatigue, so that you cannot comfortably do another full repetition after the last one. Three to four sets, two or three times a week for each muscle group is recommended.

The repetition maximum method also ensures progression, because the stronger you get, the more you will need to increase resistance or load to cause fatigue by the tenth repetition. Progression can be achieved by increasing the resistance or intensity so that fatigue occurs after performing fewer repetitions, say eight or six.

Resistance training helps with excess fat loss by increasing both after-burn after exercise, and by increasing muscle size, thereby increasing the number of calories we burn at rest. Combining it with a healthy diet will only further increase the loss of excess body fat – and may also provide other positive health benefits.

Beginners Guide to Resistance Training

What is Resistance Training?

Although it might sound a bit technical, ‘Resistance Training’ is just another name for exercising your muscles using an opposing force i.e. dumbbells, resistance bands, or even simply your own body weight.

Resistance training, toning, strength training and weight training are one and the same activity; they require the use of resistance to increase muscle strength and size.

So how does it work? During resistance training muscle fibres are broken down, which leads to the body repairing them, resulting in your muscles growing stronger.

Not only does this help you to build strength, it helps to tone and sculpt your body shape (don’t worry, you have to go a long way with a lot of hard work to look like a weight trainer!)

Muscle is also a metabolically active tissue – the more muscle you have as a proportion of your body weight, the more calories you’ll burn at rest. Great news for those of us who are trying to lose or maintain weight.

If you’re looking for some specific info on resistance training, you can jump straight to any of the topics we cover here:

What are the Different Types of Resistance Training?

As mentioned, anything that works your muscles using a resisting force is classed as ‘resistance training’. This can take many forms – some of which need a bit of equipment, and some of which don’t:

Your Body Weight

Sit ups, squats, push ups, leg raises and planks are all examples of resistance training. These types of strength exercise require only you, and a little bit of space to workout in.

Resistance Bands

Small and portable bits of kit which provide resistance when stretched. They come as rubber bands or tubes, sometimes with handles and attachments, sometimes as a continuous ring. They don’t take up much space and are easy to use wherever you are.

Weights

Including dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, weighted bars… in fact anything that has a bit of heft to make your muscles work a bit. In gyms you might see sandbags, tyres, rubber cylinders with handles… at home you can use bottles of water, cans of beans, or even sacks of potatoes!

Weight/Resistance Machines

These are contraptions you’ll generally see in the gym, and we’d advise having a member of staff show you how each one works. They use either weights or hydraulics to provide resistance for your strength training.

Suspension Training Equipment

Looking a bit like sturdy straps, they use gravity and your body weight to provide resistance for a good strength workout. There are exercises for the whole body. You’ll see these in gyms attached to frames, and you can get them for home to hook over doors etc (another great portable option).

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How Many Calories Does it Burn?

As resistance training is more about strengthening and building your muscles rather than getting your heart rate up (although you will increase your heart rate a little while working out), it’s a lower calorie burn activity than cardio such as running, cycling, aerobics etc.

However, don’t let this put you off as there are many benefits to resistance training, not least of which is increasing the amount of muscle you have – which helps you to burn more calories overall, even at rest.

As a general rule, an average woman* will burn 50-100 calories for 10 minutes of strength training, depending on the level of resistance/effort… Toning exerises such as sit ups, squats and leg raises burn 53 cals per 10 minutes, moderate training with weights 66 cals per 10 mins, and suspension training around 99 cals per 10 mins.

An average man* will burn between 55-110 calories for 10 minutes training along a similar scale.

The tables below show how many calories you’ll burn with the different types of resistance exercises, for 10 and 30 minutes.

*Based on an average woman of 5’5″, 11st and aged 40, and an average man of 5’10”, 13st, aged 40.

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Getting Started

To get the best out of resistance training, it’s something you need to do regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day (in fact it’s good to have rest days in between), but a little and often is better than a big workout then nothing for a few weeks…

Contrary to popular belief, this type of training shouldn’t hurt – you may feel a little stiff in the muscles the day afterwards, but it shouldn’t be enough to impact your day (especially if you warm up and cool down properly).

So you want to choose a plan that is accessible and easy to follow, without requiring a huge time commitment. Our personal trainer’s Home Workout Plan is a great place to start.

If you are completely new to resistance training, or have any injuries or disabilities that this type of exercise may affect, you should consider getting some advice and instruction from one of the following:

• Your Doctor – if you have any health complaints
• A Fitness Instructor
• A Personal Trainer
• Your Physiotherapist

Planning and Progressing Your Training Program

• Warm up with 5-10 minutes of cardiovascular exercise such as walking, jogging, cycling or skipping – gradually increasing in intensity.
• For the most effective total body workouts, include exercises that work all of your muscle groups-  i.e. legs, back, chest, shoulders arms and core.
• Make sure that opposite muscle groups get worked equally i.e. back and chest, both arms, both legs, quadriceps and hamstrings (the muscles in the front and back of the upper leg).
• Start your program with compound exercises that work more than one muscle at once – i.e. a medicine ball squat works the core, legs and buttocks at the same time.
• Plan to complete exercises that only work one muscle at the end of the programme i.e. the Bicep Curl.
• Cool down with another 5-10 minutes of cardiovascular activity, slowly decreasing in intensity.
• You should take the time to stretch the muscles you’ve been working, holding the stretches so you can feel them, but they don’t hurt, for around 30 seconds each.

Sets and Repetitions

To get the most out of your resistance workout it’s important to ensure that you are working out at the right intensity. Check out the guide below to work out how many sets and repetitions of each exercise you should be completing to achieve your aim.

A Repetition (rep) is one complete movement of a certain exercise. 

A Set is a number of reps performed in sequence, without a rest.

Example Exercise: Bicep Curls

• Sets: 2
• Reps: 15
• Rest period: 30 seconds

This means that you should complete 15 bicep curls, rest for 30 seconds then complete another 15 bicep curls.

You can do this either with both arms at the same time, or one at a time (two sets with each arm).

Decide what your aim is and then follow the sets/reps guide below. ..

• Weight Loss and Muscle Endurance – Follow these guidelines if you want to burn more calories and increase your overall muscle strength to help with weight loss, alongside a calorie controlled diet
• Increase Muscle Tone – If you want more muscle definition then this is the level that you should be working at
• Build Muscle Strength and Size – If you want to really build your muscles and improve your strength for short bursts of heavy activity then these are the exercise ranges that you should be adhering to

How Heavy?

As a guide, you are using the correct resistance/weight if the last rep is tough enough that you can only just complete it without losing your technique.

If you know that you could do another 5 more then the weight is too light or you aren’t using enough resistance! Conversely, if you have to use momentum to get through the set then the resistance/weight is too heavy.

How Fast?

As a general rule try to exercise in time with your breathing – i.e. with a Shoulder Press breathe out as you lift the weights and breathe in as you lower them. If you can’t complete the exercise without holding your breath then you’re using too much resistance/weight.

Progression

If you want to achieve results you should challenge yourself, gradually. As your body adapts to meet the challenge that you set for yourself the exercises will get easier. This is the time to change something.

If you stay in your comfort zone with the same work-out for months on end you won’t see the results you want to… But remember, this is because the work you’re doing means you’re getting stronger and more toned.

So how do you gradually increase the challenge? There are a few aspects of a resistance workout that you can change to ensure your body is getting the most out of your resistance workouts, you should only change one variable at a time:

• Sets – Increase the number of sets that you are completing.
• Rest – Decrease the rest period in between sets.
• Reps – Increase the number of repetitions you do of each exercise.
• Resistance – Increase the resistance level or use heavier weights.
• Variation – Mix it up a bit so your body isn’t getting into a fixed routine – instead of completing one exercise at a time, why not try a circuit? Complete one set of each exercise then start at the beginning again for the second set.

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Resistance Training Workouts

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What are the Benefits of Resistance Training?

Resistance training can be used to achieve a variety of beneficial results and most individuals would benefit from 1 – 3 resistance workouts a week, in conjunction with regular aerobic exercise. Assuming most of us aren’t planning to compete in any body building contests in the near future, we’ll concentrate on the more functional benefits of resistance training…

• Improved Body Shape – Increased muscle tone is best achieved by completing a combination of resistance and aerobic workouts.
• Increased Muscle Strength – As well as making your body look good, resistance training can be used to increase muscle strength for more functional reasons i.e. improved posture, digging the garden or carrying the shopping etc…
• Increased Muscle Power – More advanced resistance training programmes that include performing exercises with increased momentum will improve muscle power. i.e. for throwing a netball or kicking a football or swinging a golf club.
• Increased Metabolic Rate – Muscle tissue is metabolically active and the more of it you have the more calories you will burn – even at rest! Making losing and maintaining a healthy weight much easier.
• Improved Bone Health – Regularly participating in resistance based exercise helps to maintain peak bone mass and avoid the onset of osteoporosis. From the age of 30, bone mass starts to decline, resistance training can help to maintain bone density and delay this degenerative process.

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90,000 Strength training – what is it and why?

The cult of strength, muscularity has existed for a long time, confirmation of this is easy to find, for example, in the culture of Ancient Greece. Legends about the exploits of heroes who possessed remarkable power belong to this period. At the same time, the first dumbbells appeared – attributes for the development of the strength of athletes. Even Herodotus described in the life story of Milo of Croton the basic principle of strength training: an athlete daily carried a calf on his shoulders, which gradually became an adult bull.

The peak of popularity of this trend came in the 1980s, it is associated with the name of the famous bodybuilder, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now, strength training is necessarily included in the training plan of athletes and is available to visitors to sports clubs.

Strength training: what is it?

Most often, strength, or anaerobic, is called bodyweight and resistance training aimed at increasing muscle strength.At the same time, energy consumption is anaerobic – due to muscle glycogen, without the participation of oxygen.

There are sports that focus on strength training. These include, for example, weightlifting, discus throwing, bodybuilding, shot put. Strength training is also used by representatives of team sports (for example, football, basketball, rugby, volleyball), because such training develops strength endurance.

Intelligence officers (military, police, Ministry of Emergency Situations) also use strength training in training programs.

Ordinary visitors to sports clubs choose strength training to change their body, make it fit, expressive, and improve health.

Principles of Strength Training

In strength training, the following are important:

• variations in the number of repetitions of exercises and approaches;
• exercise pace;
• Manipulation of workload weight;
• training plan tailored to the trainee’s goal.

Point effect

During strength training, only the muscles that you load work, develop, grow. A plan is needed to address all major muscle groups. There must be a recovery break (one to two days) between workouts on the same muscles. If during a lesson you perform a full range of exercises for all muscle groups, then you cannot train every day. If on one day you train only the upper or lower body, then you can do it every day – provided that the workouts are alternated.

Constant voltage

For muscles to work, they need to be tense. Additional equipment helps to create the necessary tension during anaerobic load: weight equipment such as dumbbells or barbells, exercise equipment, expander. Some exercises are performed with resistance to your own body weight, such as push-ups or pull-ups.

Working at the limit

When strength training, muscles must be loaded in the truest sense of the word.By increasing working weights, you stimulate the muscles to work in an enhanced mode, they have no time to get used to or relax.

How to choose the weight? It is necessary that in each approach you can repeat the movement 12-15 times, and then, gradually increasing the working weight, reduce the number of repetitions to 6-8. It is important that the last repetitions are given with effort, be a challenge to overcome.

The need to adapt to increasing stress makes the muscles grow! After intense workouts, the muscles receive microtraumas, and the body recovers them “with a reserve”.The increase in muscle fibers is called hypertrophy.

Strength Training & Fitness

Strength training is part of most fitness programs for effective fat burning, as well as a tool for shaping the body. Strengthening the muscle corset is accompanied by a “tightening effect”, has a positive effect on health. But building muscle volume through fitness is an impossible task.

The inclusion of anaerobic activity in fitness programs leads to an acceleration of metabolism (active metabolism).This ensures a decrease in the percentage of fat mass: weight loss does not occur during exercise, but during recovery after it and in everyday life.

What is the benefit of strength training?

Suitable for various trainees’ goals (weight loss, strength development, endurance, bodybuilding).

By acting on certain muscle groups, they help to correct the figure.

They strengthen not only muscles, but also tendons, ligaments, bones.This helps us to move correctly, avoid injuries, and reduce the risk of joint diseases.

Caution, contraindications!

Before engaging in strength training, adequately assess your own health, take into account possible restrictions.

Strength training has no absolute contraindications. Even a child’s age is not an obstacle to training, provided that a trainer supervises and controls the technique of performing exercises.Actually, children get acquainted with basic strength exercises already in elementary school.

What cases and conditions require consultation with a doctor?

• Pregnancy (especially second, third trimesters)
• Various diseases of the heart, cardiovascular system (arrhythmia, high blood pressure, tachycardia, etc.)
• Various diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system
• Infections, inflammations proceeding with a high temperature
• Serious diseases, spinal injuries
• Post-transaction period
• Varicose veins
• Thrombosis
• Hemorrhoids

Strength training: with or without trainer

Are you serious about sports and strength training? An experienced mentor will help you achieve results faster.And it will save health, which is easy to harm with thoughtless loads and clumsy exercises.

• The coach will assess your physical fitness, take into account your body type, and help you clearly formulate the goals of the classes.
• The coach will create an individual training plan for you. Will correlate your needs with the peculiarities of work and recovery of different muscle groups. Will recommend how many times a week to practice.
• In strength training, exercise technique and breathing are of great importance.The coach will explain “how to do it right”, will follow the rhythm and technique during the lessons.
• There is an opinion that strength training is monotonous and boring, but an experienced trainer will correct the load in time, suggest alternative training options.
• Research has shown that having a professional companion has a positive effect on exercise performance. It will help to put the weight on, cheer you up, encouraging you to take action.

Strength training: more types than meets the eye

Strength training in its purest form is the lot of athletes, powerlifters, bodybuilders.But a competent combination of anaerobic loads with coordination exercises, stretching, cardio exercise allows you to effectively burn fat, emphasizing the body’s relief. Depending on the proportion of strength exercises in the program, the intensity of their implementation, the number of repetitions, the focus on different muscle groups, different types of training are formed.

The THE BASE club has excellent conditions for strength training. We have prepared for you fully equipped gyms, state-of-the-art fitness equipment, experienced trainers and a wide range of workouts that make sports an exciting hobby.

Pay attention to these strength training options.

GYM CLASS (Crossfit Studio)

A worthy alternative to classic gym workouts. It gives muscle building, helps to strengthen muscles and ligaments. Under the supervision of an experienced trainer and using free weights, already trained students can load muscles more and more, achieve muscle hypertrophy and muscle growth.

To learn more

GRIT STRENGTH (Studio Les Mills)

A program that combines anaerobic barbell exercises and high-speed plyometric loads (jumping movements).This combination gives excellent results: increased endurance, muscle tone, active metabolism, quick correction of body relief.

To learn more

TOTAL BODY STRENGTH (Studio Exos)

Circuit training of basic anaerobic exercises to form a muscle corset. Includes work with free weights and additional accessories (for example, rubber bands). Balanced solution to develop whole body strength, increase endurance, improve coordination of movements.

To learn more

STRENGTH & POWER (Studio Exos)

A program for advanced athletes aimed at burning fat and gaining muscle mass. The first block of training includes exercises on special frames with a barbell, as well as basic exercises with free weights. Next, aerobic load is connected – circular and functional work for the development of the whole body and strength endurance.

To learn more

Sign up for strength training at THE BASE

• TOTAL BODY STRENGTH

• GYM CLASS

• STRENGTH & POWER

Strength training

Any movement we make – walking or driving – uses muscles.Muscle is a unique structure. They can contract and relax, thereby producing energy. Muscles are metabolically active, i.e. the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate (the number of calories you need) at rest and during sports training. With the right training – strength training – the muscles become more pliable, stronger, and increase in size.

Strength training is an essential part of a good athletic training plan.They are so important that they include 2 components (out of 5) of Physical Fitness at once: muscle strength and muscle endurance.

But if you don’t know anything about strength training, how do you start? Straight from this article! This overview article will tell you everything a beginner needs to know, as well as provide some tips for experienced athletes as well.

Definition

Strength training is a complex of sports exercises with a constant increase in weight load, aimed at strengthening the musculoskeletal system.

Other names

Weight training, iron training, bodybuilding, resistive training.

Benefits

Regular strength training increases the size and strength of muscle fibers. They also strengthen tendons, ligaments and bones. All of these changes have a positive effect on your physical condition, appearance and metabolism, while reducing the risk of joint disease and muscle pain.

Muscles are metabolically active tissues.This means that the more muscle mass you have, the faster your resting metabolic rate. Thus, strength training is an essential part of the weight loss process. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you can’t judge by weight alone. You can burn fat, increase your muscle mass and strength, but your weight will remain the same or even increase.

Without regular strength training, muscle size and strength decrease over time. An inactive person after 20 years old loses 250 grams of muscle mass per year.After 60, these losses double. But this is completely avoidable. Through constant strength training, you can live your entire life with stable muscle mass and periodically repair lost muscle tissue.

Basic principles

Strength training is based on four basic principles.

Voltage principle:

The basis of strength training is the creation of tension in muscles (or muscle groups). Muscle tension is created by working with loads.Loads are weight (dumbbells, barbells, etc.), exercise equipment, elastic bands, or the weight of your own body (push-ups, for example). Read more about the three ways to load muscles:

Gymnastics (body weight):
You only use your body weight to train your muscles. However, this method is ineffective for deep muscle training and strength development. However, gymnastics is great at training major muscle groups and is sufficient to maintain muscle strength levels. Examples of exercises: push-ups, pull-ups, squats, swinging the press, Pilates.

Fixed Load:
This training method uses a fixed load throughout the exercise cycle. For example, you do bends at the elbow with 5 kilogram dumbbells to train your biceps – the 5 kilogram weight remains constant for the entire duration of the exercise. In this way, all major muscle groups can be strengthened. Examples of exercises: dumbbells, elastic bands, and some machines.

Variable load:
In this training method, the load is changed directly during the exercise.This creates a more consistent load throughout the movement. For example, when lifting weights, it is easier to lower the weight than to lift it (since gravity interferes). Some machines use different angles and gravity to create the same amount of effort when lifting and lowering weights (i.e., lowering is as hard as lifting).

Overload principle:

This principle states that for progressive muscle training, the load must be constantly increased, forcing the muscles to work harder and harder.The main task is to prevent the muscles from getting used to constant weight.

Everyone starts with a certain load level. In order to become stronger, it is necessary to constantly increase the load on the muscles, forcing them to adapt to new conditions. Muscles gradually begin to grow. There are two main types of power overloads, depending on the type of muscle contractions:

Isometric means Same Length. These are high-intensity muscle contractions that do not change their length. In other words, your muscles work very intensely, but they themselves remain motionless (there is no lengthening / contraction of the muscles).Isometric exercises are good for variety, as well as for maintaining the gained physical shape, but they do not allow increasing strength, since they do not work enough on the muscles. For example: maximum effort against a stationary object, such as a wall, or holding a certain position with effort. Exercises: yoga, incline board, etc.

Isotonic means “the same effort.” When you lift weights or work with an elastic band, your muscles contract and lengthen in response to the given load.This happens with every repetition. However, the force generated by the muscles will vary throughout the movement – the greatest force occurs when the muscles are fully contracted. Unlike isometric exercises, isotonic workouts help build strength.

Point effect principle:

Says that only that muscle or muscle group that you train will be “pumped”. Those. if you constantly do an elbow flexion, then the biceps will become larger and stronger, but no other muscles will be affected.Thus, when strength training, it is important to pay attention to all major muscle groups.

Principle of loss of strength:

If there has been no training for a long time, then all your strength gains will be lost. Muscles will weaken in less than 2 weeks!

Basic Elements: Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type

Always remember the basic principles of any workout – Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type.

Frequency: Number of workouts per week.
Each muscle group should be trained at least 2 times a week and a maximum of 3 times a week, if you have the time and desire. Exercising once a week is fine for keeping fit, but clearly not enough to “pump” your muscles. Be sure to rest 1-2 days between workouts on the same muscles or muscle groups. Rest days allow your muscles to recover from the small tears that come with strength training – that’s how you get stronger.For example, if you do the full range of exercises on Monday, then you need to rest until Wednesday or Thursday (1-2 days). If you decide to break up your strength training and train the upper body, for example, on Monday, and the lower one on Tuesday, then this is okay, since different muscle groups work.

Intensity: How much weight / load
This is a rather difficult point and if you are a beginner you will have to spend some time trial and error. The intensity of the workout should make you sweat.When you do the last repetition, the muscles should be tired and stressed to such an extent that another repetition can no longer be done. Many people do not follow this principle because they do not know that this is the correct way of strength training. They just lift the weight a specified number of times and that’s it.

For example, if you are going to perform biceps pumping by bending your arm with dumbbells at the elbow 10 times, then you should not stop at exactly 10 repetitions, but continue the exercise until you feel complete muscle fatigue and you can not do another repetition.You can keep doing more reps (at least 25), or simply increase your weight to such an extent until you feel maximum fatigue already on the 10th rep. Remember that there are many different types of loads: weight, tubes and poles, your own weight, additional tilt, exercise equipment. What weight / load you work with is directly related to the number of repetitions.

Time: Number of repetitions and sets
One repetition is an action from the starting position to the ending position and vice versa.Most people do about 8-15 reps. A set is one set of repetitions (e.g. 8-15). Most people do 1-3 sets with rest in between.

How many reps should you do? There are two approaches, which depend on what you want to achieve – to develop strength or increase your endurance and tone. If you are working to develop strength, then the experts recommend doing fewer reps (8-10). And since you will be doing fewer reps, you will need more weight to get tired by the end of 8-10 reps.If you are working on endurance and tone (to reinforce your aerobic workouts), then 10-15 repetitions will be better. Naturally with less weight.

Ideal number of approaches is a constant cause of controversy and disagreement. In principle, it is correct to adhere to the rule 1-3 of the approach. Research shows that doing 2 sets is not particularly different from doing one. And doing 3 approaches is no better than two. The only difference is 1 or 3 sets. If you perform the exercise correctly (to maximum fatigue), you can maintain and even build strength, doing just 1 approach.But if you have free time, then the best option would be to start with 2 sets.

Be sure to rest 30-90 seconds between sets. This time is best spent stretching your muscles, catching your breath, and taking a sip of water.

• In addition to rest between sets, there is another training option (especially useful for those who are limited in time) – CYCLIC TRAINING . With this approach, instead of resting, you just start training other muscles.Those. you perform, for example, pumping biceps, and then without rest you move on to triceps. In such a cycle, you can include both 2 exercises (and repeat the cycle 1-3 times, and then move on to the other two), and your entire workout as a whole. The main advantages are maintaining heart rate (it turns out just like in aerobics) and saving time.

Type: What activity counts as training

Try to train all major muscle groups: arms, neck, torso, back, legs.Remember that in addition to the visible muscles (biceps, torso, abs), it is necessary to train the reverse muscles – triceps, back, lower back and hamstrings. Don’t forget the obliques, hips, abductors (abductors) and adductors (abductors). It is necessary to work out the upper and lower body equally well. Do not focus on one muscle group and neglect others. This can lead to uneven distribution of muscle mass, and therefore to injury and pain.

Cautions:

Correct body position:

Performing exercises from the correct positions is very important, as it helps to isolate and focus all the load only on certain muscles.Plus, the correct positions help prevent injury.

• Trainers are more suitable for beginners. On them, everything is already prepared for the correct execution of the exercises. Many simulators even show which muscle groups work and how to perform the exercise correctly.
• Weight lifting requires more training and skill. After training on simulators, you have enough experience and knowledge to start training with different weights. Correct body position is extremely important when working with weights! It is best to work with weights in front of a mirror and use special benches.Constantly monitor the clarity of the exercise, the position of the body and joints. Control your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles. Your back should always be straight and your abs tight. If you work with heavy (for you) weights, then be sure to ask someone to look after you and hedge.

Correct Breathing:

When doing strength training, you must breathe correctly. Many people “like” to hold their breath, which is actually very dangerous (high blood pressure) and wrong.During aerobic exercise, we breathe more frequently and faster. The same should happen during strength training.

Only then will the muscles be able to receive enough oxygen and will be able to remove all harmful substances. This increases the efficiency and productivity of your workouts! We will teach you:

• During the strenuous phase of the exercise (lifting weights), exhale sharply and completely.
• During the light phase of the exercise (lowering the weight), inhale deeply.

Try to maintain this rhythm throughout the exercise and in each set.In the beginning, you have to control yourself, but very soon it will become a habit. The main thing is not to hold your breath!

What is strength training: strength exercises for women

Coach Valeriy Babich knows firsthand how often one has to deal with the prejudiced attitude of the fair sex to strength exercises.Today he will help dispel myths and stereotypes that have arisen around such a wonderful activity as weightlifting.

“I don’t want to become a man” – such a complaint most often arises from lovely ladies at the sight of exercise equipment. Too prominent muscles, coarseness, ugly figure outlines, unfemininity … Is this really the case? Let’s figure it out.

To begin with, let’s immediately dot the “and”.To become truly like a man, a woman will have to make a truly titanic effort. There is no need to judge by professional athletes about their possible results: even you will not recognize them in those moments when they are not “dried” before the shows.

The male figure is formed under the influence of male sex hormones, even the structure of the muscles in women is somewhat different. If you do not take such drugs on purpose, you do not threaten to see a mustache rolling in the mirror.

Why do ladies need strength exercises? The answer to this is provided by the very nature of our metabolism. The main “firebox” for calories in your body is the muscle base. The more muscle you have in comparison to fat, the more calories you burn in the most normal movement just to work them. The best way to replace stored fat with muscle is through strength training.

What happens in our body during and after strength training? The muscles fill with blood, delivering the necessary substances throughout the body.The cardiovascular and adrenal-sympathetic systems are mobilized. Our metabolism is significantly accelerated, including the burning of energy reserves, which are stored in our fat.

Read also
Best video workout options for the evening: Exercise for 7 minutes a day

And here, strength training has a big advantage: after the end of the workout, the metabolism remains elevated for 5-6 hours! You have already returned the dumbbells and the barbell in place, resting, but still burning calories in an enhanced mode.

You can do strength exercises in different ways. This type of athletics will allow you to perfectly control where and which muscles are working now and what else you have to work on.

This compares favorably with cardio, where the whole body gets a shake, but the load, as a rule, constantly goes to some one muscle group.

What important things can women gain from strength training

1. Perfect posture, flexibility and grace due to the strengthening of the muscular corset around the spine, the habit of adhering to the exercise technique and stretching during warm-ups.
2. A tucked up abdomen and strong abdominal muscles in the correct position, protecting the internal organs from drooping and misalignment. This will be especially appreciated by future mothers.
3. Slender, toned, beautiful body, which can be “dried” at your discretion, if you like relief outlines, or leave the features smooth.
4. Excellent work of metabolism, supplying the whole body with blood, getting rid of congestion, muscle clamps and associated painful sensations.
5. The ability to hear your body and the mass of positive energy that a grateful body gives due to the release of happiness hormones during power loads.

When combined with the right sports diet, weightlifting can do wonders. How to choose exercises and a diet and start working on yourself, the blog of the famous trainer Valery Babich on Facebook will tell you, where you will find a lot of useful recommendations.

Strength training is the very moment at which it is time for us to abandon stereotypes.Be sure to include them in your plans when you go to the gym!

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Strength training for girls: exercises + plan (photo)

If you have dumbbells of different weights available, then you can work on muscles even at home.

We offer you an effective strength training plan for girls at home + a ready-made selection of exercises, thanks to which you can change the quality of the body, making it elastic and relief.

Rules of strength training at home

Why do girls need strength training:

• for muscle tone and getting rid of body flabbiness
• for round buttocks and getting rid of cellulite
• for strong back muscles and a healthy spine
• to speed up metabolism (muscle burns more calories at rest than fat)

1.To do strength training at home, you will need dumbbells. It is advisable to have a set of dumbbells of different weights or collapsible dumbbells. For example, for small muscle groups (triceps, biceps, delts) you need lighter dumbbell weights, for large muscle groups (chest, back, legs) you need a heavier weight. In addition, gradually you will need more dumbbell weights to to progress in your workouts.

2. How much dumbbell weights to use? It depends on your goals.If you want to tone your muscles a little and tighten your body, then you can use a small weight of dumbbells (2-5 kg). If you want to seriously work on the relief or build muscle mass, then the weight of the dumbbells should be taken more (5-20 kg).

3. If you have small dumbbells, then you can perform exercises with b to more repetitions (15-20 repetitions). In this case, work is underway on light muscle tone, body strengthening and fat burning. If you have heavy dumbbells and want to work well on muscle relief, then perform a small number of repetitions (10-12 reps) with maximum weight: so that the last repetition in the approach is performed at maximum effort.

4. Perform each exercise in 3-5 sets, rest 30-60 seconds between sets. Rest 2-3 minutes between exercises.

5. If you do not have dumbbells or are unable to purchase them, you can use rubber equipment to perform strength exercises. At the same time, you can purchase very compact and inexpensive equipment, for example:

Even if you have the necessary set of dumbbells, this equipment can be useful for additional load.

6.If you are just starting to train or have a little training experience, we recommend that you first look at these articles:

7. Do strength training 3-4 times a week for 40-60 minutes. It is enough to train one muscle group 1-2 times a week. A detailed plan is presented below.

8. Be sure to warm up before training and stretch after training:

When stretching, pay particular attention to the muscles being trained. Stretching well after a workout can help increase your range of motion, improve exercise efficiency, and avoid tight muscles and injuries.A good pre-workout warm-up will help you prepare your body better and avoid injury.

9. If you want not only to tone your muscles, but also to speed up the process of fat burning, be sure to include cardio training in your lesson plan. This can be jogging, brisk walking, tabata workouts, exercise bikes, or ellipsoids. It is enough to do 60-90 minutes of cardio a week (for example, 2 times a week for 30-45 minutes or 4 times a week for 15-20 minutes). Be sure to see:

10.Always do strength training in sneakers to avoid joint problems and varicose veins. Wear comfortable clothes made from natural materials. In case of varicose veins, compression stockings can be used.

11. Without changing your diet, you cannot improve your body even with regular exercise, so we recommend starting counting calories. If you want to lose weight, then you need to eat a calorie deficit. If you want to gain muscle mass, then you need to eat with a surplus of calories and enough protein.If you want to maintain weight and tighten your body, then select the “weight support” option.

Home strength training plan for girls

If you want to tone your body or build muscle mass, we recommend doing strength training at home 3-4 times a week. The most effective are split workouts, according to which you will train different muscle groups according to the following principle:

• Back + biceps (“pulling” muscles).During back exercises, the biceps of the arms are also involved, so it is logical to perform these muscle groups together. Abdominal exercises can be added to them, if time permits.
• Chest + triceps (pushing muscles). During chest exercises, triceps are involved, so these two muscle groups are most often trained together. Also on this day, you can additionally work on the deltoid muscles (shoulders), since they also receive a load during triceps exercises.
• Legs (this includes the gluteal muscles). Usually, there is a separate day for the legs, but you can also train the deltoids (shoulders) or abs on this day. If you need additional emphasis on the hips or buttocks, you can train the legs 2 times a week.
• Shoulders (deltoids). A separate day can be allocated to the shoulders (by adding abdominal exercises to them). But most often, girls add shoulder exercises to the muscles of the legs or muscles of the chest and triceps.
• Press (muscle corset). It makes no sense to set aside a separate day for the abdominal muscles. You can train them at the end of each session for 5-10 minutes, or add a full set of exercises on the least busy training day.

Based on this principle and the number of training days per week, there are several training options to choose from. Below is a strength training plan for girls and exercises with dumbbells.

Strength training 3 times a week

Option 1:

• Day 1: Back and biceps + Abs
• Day 2: Legs + Shoulders + Abs
• Day 3: Chest and triceps + Abs

In this case, the workouts will end with a short abdominal segment of 5-10 minutes.

Option 2:

• Day 1: Back and biceps + Abs
• Day 2: Legs
• Day 3: Chest and triceps + Shoulders

Since the legs are often a problem area for girls, it can be distinguished a separate day only for the hips and buttocks, and distribute the exercises for the upper body over 2 days.

Strength training 4 times a week

Option 1:

• Day 1: Back and biceps
• Day 2: Legs
• Day 3: Chest and triceps
• Day 4: Shoulders + Abs

Option 2:

• Day 1: Back and Biceps
• Day 2: Legs + Shoulders
• Day 3: Chest and Triceps
• Day 4: Legs + Abs

The second option is suitable for those who want more work intensively on the formation of elastic hips and buttocks.

Strength training 5 times a week

Option 1:

• Day 1: Back and Biceps
• Day 2: Legs + Abs
• Day 3: Chest and Triceps
• Day 4: Shoulders + Abs
• Day 5: Legs

Option 2:

• Day 1: Legs + Abs
• Day 2: Back and Biceps
• Day 3: Legs + Abs
• Day 4: Chest and Triceps + Shoulders
• Day 5: Legs + Abs

The second option is suitable for those who want to work more intensively on the formation of elastic hips and buttocks.

Strength exercises for girls at home

We offer you a ready-made selection of strength exercises for girls at home for all muscle groups. The article indicates the number of repetitions, but you can increase them if you are engaged in a small dumbbell weight. Rest between sets 30-60 seconds, between exercises 2-3 minutes. If you find it difficult to perform any strength exercises with dumbbells (for example, for the legs), then you can train without dumbbells for the first time.

The numbers 5 x 10-12 mean 5 sets of 10-12 reps.

Exercises for the chest and triceps

1. Push-ups (3 x 8-10)

Or push-ups from the knees:

2. Raising hands with dumbbells (4 x 10-12)

If y you do not have a platform or bench, you can connect two stools or chairs. If there is no suitable furniture, you can do it on the floor.

3. Chest Dumbbell Press (4 x 10-12)

4.Push-ups for triceps (3 x 10-12)

5. Press for triceps (5 x 10-12)

6. Abduction of arms to triceps (4 x 10-12)

Back exercises and biceps

1. Dumbbell row (5 x 10-12)

2. Deadlift (5 x 10-12)

3. One-handed dumbbell row (4 x 10-12 per arm)

4. Flexion of arms for biceps (5 x 10-12)

Either Flexion of arms for biceps with change of arm (5 x 10-12)

5.Hammer Curl (5 x 10-12)

If you have a horizontal bar, start your back and biceps workout with pull-ups. Even if you don’t know how to pull up and have never done it before, be sure to check out our article for step-by-step instructions on pull-ups.

Exercises on the shoulders (deltoids)

If you train your shoulders along with your chest and triceps, or simply do not want to train this muscle group especially hard, then leave only exercises No. 1,3,4 or reduce the number of approaches.

1. Press of dumbbells for shoulders (4 x 10-12)

2. Raises of arms in front of you (4 x 10-12)

3. Raising arms to the sides (4 x 10-12)

4. Raising the dumbbells to the chest (4 x 10-12)

5. Raising the arms in an incline (4 x 10-12)

Exercises on the legs and buttocks

We offer you 2 sets of strength exercises on your feet: a simpler option and more complex. You can choose only one option according to your level of training, or you can mix the exercises at your discretion, or alternate both options with each other on different days.

Option 1 for beginners:

1. Squat with dumbbells (5 x 10-12)

2. Lunge in place (4 x 10-12 per leg)

3. Back lunges (4 x 10-12 per leg)

4. Dumbbell swing (4 x 10-12 per leg)

5. Lateral lunge (4 x 10-12 per leg)

Option 2 for advanced:

1. Squat with dumbbells (5 x 10-12)

2.Forward lunges (4 x 10-12 per leg)

3. Sumo squat (5 x 10-12)

4. Bulgarian lunges (4 x 10-12 per leg)

5. Bridge on one leg (5 x 10-12)

6. Diagonal lunges (4 x 10-12 per leg)

Abdominal exercises

Depending on the time you have allotted for ab exercises, you can only do 1 round or change the number of repetitions.

Round 1:

1. Twisting (3 x 12-15)

2. Elbow plank (3 x 40-60 seconds)

3. Bicycle (3 x 12-15 on each side)

4. Swimmer (3 x 12-15 per side)

5. Double twists (3 x 12-15)

6. Shoulders in the bar (3 x 10- 12 per side)

Round 2:

1. Leg Raise (3 x 12-15)

2.Spider (3 x 8-10 per side)

3. Boat (3 x 10-12)

4. Superman (3 x 15-17)

5. Russian turn (3 x 12-15 per side)

6. Side bar (2 x 10-12 per side)

7. Scissors (3 x 12-15 per side)

Thank you for the gifs youtube channels : Live Fit Girl, HASfit, nourishmovelove, Linda Wooldridge, Lais DeLeon, amynicolaox, Noel Arevalo, FitnessType, Selena Lim, Puzzle Fit LLC.

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Functional Strength Training | Republika

Functional strength training has become very popular in the modern world. This name was given to training aimed at strengthening the muscles involved in daily life.

Functional training is a kind of strength training, which aims at the all-round development of physical activity by improving such five physical qualities of a person as strength, flexibility, speed, coordination and endurance.

In the process of functional strength training, almost all muscle groups are worked out, including deep ones. This is achieved by constantly changing the position of the body (sitting, lying, standing). The main effect is possible with regular training, which takes place at a high pace, but not more than 60 minutes. Exercise is about honing your exercise technique, not building muscle.

The main benefits of functional strength training are the following effects on body and body:

– the work of the circulatory, cardiovascular and respiratory systems improves.

– a beneficial effect on the musculoskeletal system, including for its various diseases. Functional strength training, with the approval of a physician, is very beneficial for curvature of the spine.

– muscles are in good shape, the body takes on beautiful shapes.

– weight and volume are being adjusted,

During functional strength training, the most common exercises are performed:

– Squats,

– Lunges,

– Push-ups,

– Slopes,

– Turns of the trunk.

Simple exercises have an amazing effect. They perfectly prepare the body for many instructors recommend combining them with the use of various weights: fitness bands, fitness balls, weights, barbells and dumbbells.

Despite the seeming simplicity, it is desirable to perform functional strength training in a fitness club. The Sports State [Republika] in Moscow believes that the exercise processes should be supervised by an experienced instructor. He will help and point out mistakes that can lead to unpleasant consequences.Based on your physical condition, he will select a program and make it up from the necessary proposals. Functional strength training primarily focuses on flexibility and endurance. And too much stress can have a negative effect on an unprepared organism. That is why it is important to conduct functional strength training under the guidance of an experienced trainer, and also consult a doctor before choosing them.

All the fitness clubs of the [Republika] chain in Moscow have a doctor who will tell you if certain workouts are right for you.Our instructors have extensive experience. Together with them, you can easily realize your sports wishes and achieve quick results in fitness.

Come to our fitness clubs and sign up for functional strength training. For all of our future Republicans, we have privileges and terrific conditions.

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Strength training – why and how to do strength training

Strength training helps to strengthen muscles, increase their strength and volume, as well as spend a lot of energy, which is important for people who want to lose weight.However, strength training for weight loss is not the best option for shedding unnecessary pounds. Endurance training will be much more effective here. But why exactly strength training is needed and what it can be is the topic of today’s conversation.

Strength development

Strength training is practiced everywhere – in schools, the army, sports clubs. The strength training method varies from regular squats without weight to heavy powerlifting in the gym.

When a person first goes to the gym, often their main goal is to pump up volumes. Such a thing as muscle strength fades into the background. As a result, many stop practicing without seeing a noticeable “explosive” result.

However, it is important how many muscle fibers in a muscle work for the result, not its thickness. Your strength primarily depends not on the volume, but on the functional usefulness of the muscles. This explains an amazing phenomenon: a person with thinner arms than you can squeeze 100 kg from the chest, but you cannot.

Strength training is aimed at general physical training of a person. For beginners, push-ups, pull-ups and squats are enough. For those who want to know the true capabilities of their body, training with iron will come in handy.

Strength fitness involves many areas. All kinds of strength training are designed for different degrees of physical development. Therefore, everyone can choose the most suitable strength training methodology. The main thing, remember, you need to train regularly, otherwise the results will go away the same way they came.

Strength Training Options

Good strength training involves working on all the muscles in your body in many ways.

Home Workouts

In most cases, these are non-resistance exercises, reminiscent of a mixture of exercise and gymnastics. This technique of strength training is typical, in particular, for the military, and has been practiced for a very long time.

Strength exercises at home from the outside are similar to circular training: you squat, push up, swing the press, do other exercises.Such strength fitness develops endurance, strengthens the heart, and somewhat increases strength indicators.

Strength training without iron is used in various types of wrestling as a warm-up or for general strengthening training. Often a partner acts as an additional burden.

Horizontal bar and parallel bars

The method of strength training of the armed forces of any country also implies training on the horizontal bar and parallel bars. The soldier must be able to pull up and push up on the uneven bars.His body must be strong and flexible in order to effectively carry out the assigned combat missions.

Look at people who are into street workout. They do not look pumped up, but their muscles are an order of magnitude stronger than that of an ordinary person who is not familiar with the horizontal bar.

We can say that strength training on horizontal bars is an almost harmless physical activity. Its harmfulness manifests itself only at the moment when you jump from the horizontal bar to the ground – try to do it softly and on your toes, not on your heels.In the latter case, you create an artificial concussion for the whole body (from heel to head) and a traumatic load on the spine.

Beginners can be advised to perform a strength complex on a horizontal bar and parallel bars without weight. That is, you are doing without weights, being content with your kilograms. Further, the strength program can be complicated by the addition of various elements to it: strength gains, overturns, etc. But all this should be mastered when your muscles can safely tolerate 15-20 pull-ups and the same amount of push-ups from the uneven bars.

Next, when you can complete the specified number of repetitions in your strength training, you can stop there, or you can start working with additional weight. In the latter case, it is time to move to the gym.

Powerlifting

The whole range of powerlifting exercises is based on the chest press, squats and deadlifts, their various combinations and lead exercises.

In weightlifting, the snatch and jerk is a mixture of the squat and deadlift.Overhead lifting is practiced separately using an army bench press.

Classic triathlon is a press, squat, deadlift. Of course, it makes sense to work only with these 3 exercises only for those who aim to develop their maximums in them.

From the point of view of influence on the figure, this will not bring cardinal changes (strength cannot be judged by appearance). Therefore, if you want not only to develop strength, but also to change your proportions, it is recommended to include additional exercises for specific muscle groups in the strength complex.

When it comes to spinal health, people with back problems can stop deadlifts and squats (or limit them to their own weight). The squat can be replaced with a leg press. But now nothing can completely replace the deadline. It is better to do hyperextension instead.

Heavy training should be planned in such a way that one muscle group experiences the load once a week. It makes no sense to train more often. Instead of a second hard workout in one week, you can give a light one in order to pump the target muscle group with blood.

The morning period is not the best time to lift weights, it is better to train during the day and in the evening. Strength training in the morning will not be as effective as at a later time, since the body is still asleep. Exceptions to the rule are people who are nocturnal. For them morning is like evening for the rest.

After a powerful strength workout, it makes sense to pedal a stationary bike or work on an ellipsoid.

Circuit training, crossfit

Crossfit develops endurance and strength at the same time.This is strength training for all muscle groups. Sometimes all these groups work on the same day, which is not always correct and safe.

Partial exercises can be done at home, as already mentioned. A more serious crossfit strength training program can only be implemented in a gym.

Important points

No matter how you train, before you start exercising, pay attention to a number of recommendations:

1. The complex of strength exercises in the gym is always performed after a good warm-up.Loading cold muscles is not only ineffective, but also extremely unsafe, especially if you are working with weights. You can also get injured on the horizontal bar or parallel bars. By the way, despite the apparent simplicity, strength exercises at home should also be done after active warming up.
2. Review your diet. For hard physical training, you will need a lot of protein and carbohydrates.
3. Rest your body between workouts for at least 2 days.That is, if you trained today, the next training in the same strength style should be the day after tomorrow. Muscles take time to recover.
4. Listen to your body. Sharp pain during exercise indicates an injury. You shouldn’t continue to work with weights through this pain until you understand the source of it.
5. Strength training program must be written by a qualified professional. Otherwise, you risk losing time or health.

Since a diploma or certificate does not always indicate the proper level of practical skills and knowledge of its owner, it is possible to collect feedback on the work of one or another trainer.

It is good if a person has a medical or biomedical education, and has more than one year of gym behind him. Then he will be able, at least not to harm, but ideally help by developing a safe and effective power complex.

Injury Prevention

Now let’s talk about what inept strength training can turn out to be. Of course, it’s hard to hurt yourself by doing your homework without weights. But those who work with iron, and everyone else, should pay attention to some important points:

1. Know your diagnoses.You can really give up on some of them, but others, in certain conditions, pose a threat to life. Before active strength training, you should consult with your therapist.
2. Should not be exercised on a full stomach.
3. Ensure that the indoor climate is normal. There should be no drafts or stuffiness, the temperature should be comfortable.
4. In the gym, until you work out the basic exercises and stretch yourself, you do not need to take large weights.

There are many strength training methods. Experiment, choose what is right for you and gives results in your particular case. And, of course, remember that you have one health, and you train to strengthen it, not destroy it.

Strength training for women

Despite the abundance of information about sports and fitness, many misconceptions and biases associated with training still dominate the minds of many. Women especially have a lot of illusions about strength training.Most of the ladies, even those who regularly visit fitness clubs, extremely rarely appear in the gym area, because they consider the “rocking chair” exclusively for men to build huge muscles. And at the same time, the older a woman is, the less likely she is to see her in a gym with free weights or on strength machines. Although ideally it should be the other way around! Let’s try to at least partially eliminate the gaps in knowledge on this topic.

Strength training has amazing effects on the body and should be incorporated into your training program whether your main goal is health, weight loss, or a toned body.Strength training boosts your metabolism (metabolism) while developing muscle mass, and this helps you lose weight. Strength training reduces the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes (acquired), and the combination of strength training and a healthy diet improves overall quality of life.

A purely feminine question – strengthening bones

It is necessary to dwell separately on the fact that as a result of strength training, bone mineralization and density increase.This is important for both sexes, but for women it has a special meaning.

Bone mass decreases with age in both men and women, but the female body after menopause loses bone density much faster. This is directly related to the decrease in the amount of estrogen. Bone is a living tissue, and it is constantly renewed and reconstructed throughout our life. When the body has an optimal amount of estrogen, the body is able to continually build and reconstruct strong bones.After the onset of menopause, against the background of a decrease in the amount of estrogen, the body is no longer capable of building and reconstruction as before. This leads to a decrease in bone density, they become more porous. This wasted bone condition is called osteoporosis. As a result, bones become more fragile and more prone to fracture. Hence, such a large number of fractures “out of the blue” among women after a certain age. Moreover, most often these are complex fractures in the hips (femoral neck), back and wrists.Against the background of osteoporosis, fractures not only easily occur, but take a very long and difficult time to grow together with an increased risk of re-fracture.

Drug treatment for osteoporosis exists, but the results are very controversial – most do not see any improvement in bone health, but there are side effects from taking drugs.

Strength training can adequately counter bone mineral loss. When doing strength training, muscles and bones work against gravity.This is also true for aerobic physical activity (walking, running, aerobics, etc.), but the effect of strength training is much stronger. This is due, among other things, to the fact that, unlike many other types, the power load can be selected absolutely individually, not only for each individual person, but also for individual parts of the body of each person. Strength training can be started from the most tender childhood, and the upper age limit simply does not exist – the age-appropriate load can be selected for any person even at 90 years old.Not all types of exercise can be said the same.

At the same time, if you are jogging or walking, then your leg bones will be strengthened more, but this effect will not be expressed for the upper body – and here strength training is indispensable.

Bones are living tissue that is constantly renewed throughout life, and at the same time reacts to stress by increasing its density. The relationship here is direct: the more stress the bones are subjected to, the stronger they become.Thus, it is possible to influence the age-related decrease in bone density, significantly slowing it down.

Contrary to the prevailing stereotype, a gym is absolutely not necessary for strength training, especially at the initial stage. A large number of very effective strength exercises can only be done with your own body weight. In our teaching aids, basic strength exercises are collected and described in detail, which, if desired, can be modified by adding any available equipment – dumbbells, body bars, rubber, etc.(Participants of the seminar receive these manuals free of charge, and the technique of execution is very detailed in practice).

• 75 strength exercises without equipment for the shoulder girdle, pelvis and legs

• Available in print and electronic version for download (part 1)

• By adding weights to basic exercises, you can easily increase the load

• 40+ strength exercises for the back and abdomen, in electronic and printed form (part 2)

And the simplest small equipment, if used correctly, can completely replace a fancy gym (unless, of course, you are going to participate in bodybuilding competitions).Great results can be achieved with only a pair of dumbbells, rubber bands or medicine balls. You just need to be able to use it!

When to start?

It’s never too late for anyone to start. Research shows that strength training improves bone density even in very elderly people. The adaptability of the human body to new conditions is amazing, most of us are capable of much more than we used to think.Despite the fact that we will never have the same bone density that we had at the age of 20, by continuing to exercise, we can keep our bones denser for a very long time.

What if I grow huge muscles?

If it were that easy, then a few women bodybuilders would be happy! .. But in reality, pumping up big muscles for most women remains in the realm of fantasy. To build more or less pronounced muscles, a woman will have to practically live in the gym for quite a long time, train seriously several times a week, follow a special diet, and, most likely, additionally use special sports nutrition.

Muscle building is much more difficult for women than for men. First, men have more testosterone than women. In addition, men initially have more muscle mass, their bodies are more muscular than women. However, even men find it difficult to build muscle. To do this, they also need a specific diet and special training used by bodybuilders.

We will discuss the strength training methodology for women in detail at the Strength Training seminar

So with the usual training regime (3-4 times a week, with strength training included a couple of times), women should not worry about too much muscle mass.With this regimen, strength training develops beautiful, textured muscles when properly combined with cardio training. But it is necessary to remember about the “appetite trap” – this is how we called a common situation among those who began to train hard.

Appetite Trap

More muscle mass means higher metabolism. This is the reason for the increased calorie consumption after training, during the period of muscle recovery after strength load, i.e. calories continue to be burned even at rest.The more muscle mass, the less fat mass.

Muscle mass acquired in adolescence and maintained in middle age ensures a slower loss of strength and muscle mass in the later years of our lives.

Only here you need to remember about the “appetite trap”, especially for those who first start training at a not very young age. The following happens: some time after the start of regular strength training (from 2 to 3 weeks on average), there is a sharp increase in appetite.This is logical, since muscle tissue begins to require additional energy to maintain itself (it needs to recover after exertion!).

If at the same time you start to increase your calorie intake compared to your usual level, then the muscle tissue will receive its increased nutrition, the muscles will slightly increase, but the existing adipose tissue will not go away, because its feeding has not decreased. And, thus, the total volumes will slightly increase without the manifestation of the relief.

And it often happens that in this situation, the food is increased too much (hunger requires something!), Justifying it by the fact that “well, I’m training now!” It is especially dangerous to increase the consumption of carbohydrates, and they are what you just want the most! It is because of this that it is widely believed that they do not lose weight from the gym, but “swing” and gain weight.

What to do: Monitor your diet very closely in the first 1-2 months of training to make sure your calorie intake has not increased! If you leave your nutrition at your usual level (just don’t be fooled! :)), then after a while you will notice that the body has tightened, the body fat has decreased, and your muscles have slightly emerged.The general impression will be that you have lost weight and tightened. If at the same time you purposefully work on certain muscle groups, then you can form a slightly different silhouette, body proportions, which is impossible with conventional diets and weight loss, when the overall silhouette remains unchanged even when dropping a large number of kilograms. (don’t worry, you need a special sports nutrition to get real big muscles).

The main thing is to hold out for these first couple of months.If you handle them without increasing your calorie intake, then you will get used to the new regime, and you will calmly adhere to your usual diet.

Strength Bonuses

In addition to maintaining bone density, strength training for women reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and helps prevent cardiovascular disease.

Strength training improves posture and a sense of balance (balance). The correct technique for many strength exercises involves a neutral spine with the shoulders down and out, while rowing exercises require the shoulder blades to be brought into the spine.During the exercise, the entire body (joints, muscles and even the brain), being in the correct position, tries to hold the burden.