Monday, March 21, 2016

The Importance of Strength Training and Best Strength Training Exercises





According to studies, there is a type of exercise that strengthens your bones, improves your balance, benefits your heart, and even helps you lose weight. The type of exercise that allows you to do all of these is strength training. Contrary to the popular belief, strength training is so much more than bodybuilders lifting weights. Strength training benefits all sorts of people including those with health conditions such as heart problems and arthritis.
There are many benefits of strength training. This includes shedding a few pounds off your body, protecting your muscle mass and bone health, becoming stronger and fitter, developing better body mechanics, preventing some diseases, boosting your metabolism, and improving your energy levels/mood. If you want to achieve all the aforementioned benefits then you simply need to incorporate of the following four strength-training exercises in your exercise regime.

Bodyweight Squats

One of the best strength training exercises is bodyweight squats. In order to perform this exercise, station your toes in a forward facing direction and stand with your feet and hip separated apart. Without allowing you knees to surge ahead of your toes, sit back as if you’re sitting in a chair. Until your hamstrings, quads and glutes engage and come back up to standing, do not stop sitting back. It is important that you create 90-degree angle in your knees. 8 to 12 repetitions are what you need to complete. When this becomes easy, start adding weight to the exercise.

Single-Leg Deadlifts

Another great strength training exercise is single-leg deadlifts. In order to perform this exercise, lift the opposite leg behind you after bending one knee and hinging it forward towards the waist. It is important that you do all this while holding a barbell or free weight slightly in front of your body. Until the weights come below your knees, lower them and keep them very close to the top of your legs. Come back to the standing position after engaging the glute of the leg on the ground and your hamstring. Switch to the other leg after you’ve performed 8 to 12 repetitions.



Core work

Core work is another important strength training exercise. You can use any one of the hundreds of exercises meant for strengthening core. Some of the best exercises include reverse crunch, bicycling, planks, and crunches. All of them are equally effective and you need to make them a part of your daily workout routine.

Single-Leg Squats

The final exercise that I am going to recommend is single-leg squats. In order to perform this exercise, sit with your hips back, bend your knee, balance yourself on one foot, and squat down. Extend your leg back to standing after your knee is down in a 90 to 110 degree angle. Rest the toes of your hovering foot on the ground if you find this too challenging. Switch to the other leg after completing 8 to 12 repetitions.