Strength training is paramount to any fitness routine, even if your goal is simply to lose weight.
Strength training increases your muscle mass, which in turn raises your Basal Metabolic Rate. It also does wonders for your endurance and strength. While muscle weighs more than fat, it actually takes up less volume. This means that, with a higher muscle percentage, your jeans will fit looser even if you weigh the same amount as before.
When done correctly, strength training routines also accelerate your heart rate and provide many of the same benefits as cardiovascular exercise.
The following is a sample full-body strength training routine I have developed. It should take approximately 45 minutes to complete. To get the most out of strength training, attempt to do these exercises twice a week and move as quickly as possible from one exercise to the next.
Detailed instructions for all of these exercises can be found online. If you are unfamiliar with any of them, be sure to look at these instructions before going to the gym.
Each exercise in the set is intended to be repeated three times before moving onto the next set.
Sample Strength Training routine
Set 1
- 15 Bicep Curls using 10-lb dumbbells
- 15 Squats using 10-lb dumbbells
- 15 Tricep Kickbacks using 10-lb dumbbells
Set 2
- 12 Lunges, each side, using 10-lb dumbbells
- 100 Calf-Raises using 10-lb dumbbells
- 15 Shoulder Side Raises using 8-lb dumbbells
Set 3
- 15 Bent-Over Rows using 8-lb dumbbells
- 15 Deadlifts using 10-lb dumbbells
- 25 full Leg Lifts
- 25 crunches
Hopefully this routine will help plan your next trip to the gym.
But remember, all of your exercise does not need to be planned in such a rigid fashion. Sometimes on a beautiful day, taking your puppy on an impromptu hike is much more enjoyable than hauling free weights around the gym.
We are meant to enjoy those beautiful days.
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