Want to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently? Strength training to the rescue! Strength training is a key component of overall health and fitness for everyone.
Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program. Here’s what strength training can do for you — and how to get started.
Use it or lose it
Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes with age.
Your body fat percentage will increase over time if you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose over time. Strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age.
What Is Strength Training Workout Routines?
Strength training comes down to two things:
- Movement of any weight against “resistance”(including your body weight) – Doing any exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.
- Progressive overload doing slightly more than last time (consistently lifting a heavier weight or doing one more rep). Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and rebuild themselves. These microscopic tears (that don’t hurt) force your muscles to go through hypertrophy, meaning they grow bigger and stronger so they can meet the demands of the exercise.
That’s all there is to it: do some resistance training and attempt to make it more and more challenging, and you’ll grow stronger.
This means if you drop down and do ONE knee push-up right now, technically, you’ve done a strength training workout.
It also means you are officially following a strength training routine if you do two knee push-ups tomorrow.
Strength Training Workout Routines Are Helpful
Develop strong bones
By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
Manage your weight
Strength training can help you manage or lose weight, and it can increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories.
Enhance your quality of life
Strength training may improve your quality of life and help you maintain independence as you age.
Manage chronic conditions
Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression, and diabetes.
Sharpen your thinking skills
Some research suggests that regular strength training and aerobic exercise may help improve thinking and learning skills.
Consider the Strength Training Workout Routines
Strength training can be done at home or in the gym. Common choices may include strength exercises at home or training exercises without equipment.
Bodyweight
You can do many exercises with little or no equipment. For example, try pushups, pullups, planks, lunges, and squats.
Bodyweight exercises to build muscle at home
You don’t have to pump iron to get stronger. All you need is yourself and some creativity to get those muscles moving.
Chest
- Push-up: 3–6 sets of 6–12 reps: The push-up is one of the most efficient bodyweight exercises you can do to build strength in your chest and triceps. But it also gives your shoulders, core muscles, lower back, and lower body a workout for strength training exercises for men.
- Burpee: 6 per minute for 15 minutes: Need a more explosive exercise? For a full-body cardio workout, the burpee may be the ultimate bodyweight exercise mash-up, working your chest, core, arms, back, glutes, and legs.
- Pull-up: 3 sets of 2–5 reps: The pull-up can be intimidating, especially when you’re just starting. But it’s a great bodyweight exercise to work your shoulders, upper back, and biceps. Start with just a few reps and work your way up as you get stronger.
Arms
- Plank-up: 3 sets of 5–10 reps: Doing any type of plank exercise will make your arms stronger, but doing plank-ups is especially effective for strengthening the triceps and biceps muscles in your arms strength training at home for beginners.
- Triceps dip: 2 sets of 10–12 reps: You’ll need a chair, box, ledge, bench, or staircase to do triceps dips. This move will quickly strengthen your triceps (and your pecs!), which tend to need a targeted workout to grow.
- Inchworm: 3 sets of 4–6 reps: This bodyweight move is (almost) as much fun as it sounds. This is one creepy-crawly exercise that will have you feeling like a little kid again while building your triceps, shoulders, chest, abs, glutes, and quads.
Legs
- Step-up: 3 sets of 15 reps (each side): Got a staircase? Or a box? Then you can do this leg workout. Step-ups are a simple beginner exercise that can give you stronger quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Just take one step at a time.
- Lunge: 3 sets of 15 reps (each side): There are dozens of lunge variations you can do, but even just a classic lunge builds up your quads and glutes. Plus, it strengthens your hamstrings.
- Squat: 3–5 sets of 8–12 reps: Squats are popular with weightlifters, leading to the misperception that they can be done only with weights. But even squatting with your bodyweight alone can give you strong leg muscles if you do it with good form. It is the beginner strength training routine for weight loss.
Resistance tubing
Resistance tubing is inexpensive, lightweight tubing that provides resistance when stretched. You can choose from many types of resistance tubes in nearly any sporting goods store or online for Strength Training Workout Routines
Free weights
Barbells and dumbbells are classic strength training tools. If you don’t have weights at home, you can use soup cans. Other options can include using medicine balls or kettlebells.
Weight machines. Most fitness centers offer various resistance machines. You can invest in weight machines for use at home, too.
Aerobic activity
Get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise over a week. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefits. But even small amounts of physical activity are helpful. Being active for short periods throughout the day can add up to provide health benefits.
Strength training
Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each exercise, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions as Strength Training Workout Routines.
Cable suspension training
Cable suspension training is another option to try. In cable suspension training, you suspend part of your body — such as your legs — while doing bodyweight training such as pushups or planks.
Getting started
If you have a chronic condition or are older than age 40 and haven’t been active recently, check with your doctor before beginning a strength training or aerobic fitness program.
Before beginning strength training, consider warming up with brisk walking or another aerobic activity for five or 10 minutes. Cold muscles are more prone to injury than are warm muscles.
Choose a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions. When you can easily do more repetitions of a certain exercise, gradually increase the weight or resistance for Strength Training Workout Routines.
Research shows that a single set of 12 to 15 repetitions with the proper weight can build muscle efficiently in most people and can be as effective as three sets of the same exercise. As long as you take the muscle you are working to fatigue — meaning you can’t lift another repetition — you are doing the work necessary to strengthen the muscle. And fatiguing at a higher number of repetitions means you likely are using a lighter weight, which will make it easier for you to control and maintain the correct form.
To give your muscles time to recover, rest one full day between exercising each specific muscle group.
Also, be careful to listen to your body. If a strength training exercise causes pain, stop the exercise. Consider trying a lower weight or trying it again in a few days.
It’s important to use proper techniques in strength training to avoid injuries. If you’re new to strength training, work with a trainer or other fitness specialist to learn the correct form and technique. Remember to breathe as you strength train.
When to expect results
You don’t need to spend hours a day lifting weights to benefit from strength training. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute strength training Strength Training Workout Routines and sessions a week.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines above for most healthy adults.
Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier
As you incorporate strength training exercises into your fitness routine, you may notice an improvement in your strength over time. As your muscle mass increases, you’ll likely be able to lift weight more easily and for longer periods. If you keep it up, you can continue to increase your strength, even if you’re not in shape when you begin.