Strength Training
It's always a good time to incorporate fitness into your routine.
It's common knowledge that individuals need to keep their bodies moving to stay healthy, but what if we tell you that there is a workout regimen that can not only help you maintain your body, but it also benefits your heart, strengthens bones and muscles and improves the overall balance of the body? Would you be interested? We have just the right thing for you.
According to the American Heart Association, strength training, also known as weight or resistance training, involves physical activity that is specifically designed to improve the muscular strength and fitness of an individual by focusing on a specific muscle or muscle group against external resistance. These physical activities involve free weights, weight machines, or one’s body weight.
The basis of strength training is based on a combination of factors, which is called FITT. It is important for individuals to understand their body muscles and how they work (F-Frequency of training, I-Intensity of training, T-time spent, T-type of exercise). There are various types of exercises that are used to target specific muscles or muscle groups while strength training, and they can be classified under equipment type, muscle target type, or even fitness goal wise, but majorly they are differentiated into two categories:
A compound injury involves more than one joint and a large muscle group.
Isolation: involving only one joint and one muscle
These are some of the most effective strength training exercises that you can include in your workout routine. Please note that these exercises can be included as strength training exercises at home.
Deadlifts: Deadlifts are one of the most effective exercises for strength training. With a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and arms relaxed at the front of your quads. Hinge forwards at your hips and bend your knees slightly as you push your butt back while keeping your back flat. Lower the weight slowly along the shins. Make sure your torso is parallel to the ground.
Push through your heels to rise and return to the starting position, keeping your core engaged. As you lift, keep the weight close to your shins.
Glute Bridges: This is one of the strength training exercises that target one of the largest muscles in the lower body, the glutes. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width apart. You can hold a dumbbell in each hand and rest the weight under your hip bones. Then move on to squeezing your glutes and abs. Push through your heels to lift your hips a few inches off the floor, making a straight line (like a bridge), and hold for a few seconds, before returning to the starting position.
Push-ups: Push Ups are one of the strength training exercises that may seem like it’s easy, but trust us, it’s not. It’s one of the exercises where you have to move your body weight. Start in a high plank position with your palms flat on the floor, hands shoulder-width apart. Your shoulders should be stacked directly above your wrists and your legs extended behind you. Keep your core and glutes engaged. Bend your elbows and lower your body to the floor. Push through the palsy of your hands to straighten your arms. You can drop your keys while going down if needed.
Dumbbell Chopper: For Dumbbell Chopper, you need to get comfortable and at ease with your rotational movements, and you can start that off with a woodchopper and swiftly switch to a dumbbell chopper. You have to stand with your feet wider than hip-width, keep your core engaged and hold a towel, dumbbell or hands clasped. Raise your arm diagonally in front of your body to the upper right of your reach, allowing your torso and toes to rotate naturally to the right as you twist. Now chop the weight down to the left side, allowing your torso and ankle to rotate. Repeat and then switch sides.