Strength Training Exercise for An Active Lifestyle

Strength training will certainly help you lead a more active lifestyle and is an important part of a balanced diet and exercise plan. Strength training is an effective method for improving health, re-proportioning and sculpting the body, improving performance in sports and everyday activities requiring physical strength. Improving strength with weight exercise routines is also popular today for the older population to help reduce the risk of osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become brittle and are more likely to break. Strength training has also been implemented in rehabilitation programs for low risk cardiac patients

How does a well balanced weight training exercise program create such wonderful benefits? Strength training sometimes called resistance training, involves using your muscles to work against a resistance weight. Performing a basic strength training exercise such as the “Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Press” leads to increased muscle proteins (actins and myosins); the major components of muscle tissue. It also increases stronger tougher connective tissue, the ability to develop muscular force quicker and most likely an increase in lean muscle mass.

The majority of muscle atrophy (muscle wasting away) in the general population results from disuse. Individuals who sit during their jobs and senior citizens with decreased physical activity can loose muscle tone and develop significant muscle atrophy. This type of atrophy can be reversed or eliminated with strength training exercises.

A few simple strength training exercises to reduce muscle atrophy in the legs and help prevent knee injuries such as a meniscus tear (torn cartilage) are Dumbbell Squats and Seated Leg Extensions. Both routines together focus on strengthening the quadriceps, a large muscle groupon the front of the thigh, and help support and protect the knee joints.

I encourage you to train frequently with free weights because they offer tremendous versatility – your choice of exercises to perform is virtually unlimited. The use of free weight barbells require a higher level of balance and coordination forcing you to use other muscles to stabilize the body to perform the exercise. For example, if you’re doing a Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press, you’re not only working your shoulder muscles but also your abdominal and leg muscles to help you perform the routine. If possible I always recommend doing free weight training routines standing rather than sitting to optimize the workout.

It is common to hear that weight machines are safer to train on than free weights. This is basically true in that bars, weight stacks and plates are stationary and away from the person lifting on a machine. Also performing an exercise in a slow controlled movement on a machine reduces the possibility of injury to muscles, tendons and joints.

If you decide to use free weights, you must always be aware of the correct lifting technique. Beginners should always use a weight that allows the exercise routine to be performed a pre-determined number of repetitions. For example if the exercise is simply dumbbell arm curls, you should be able to perform 1 set of 10 curls comfortably and without bending your back. If the weight is too heavy, you’re probably going to sacrifice form, not complete the required reps and potentially set yourself up for injury.

As for me, I like to do a lot of different free weight routines for the upper body and exercises on machines for the lower body. For the upper body I frequently use dumbbells to do standing shoulder press, standing bicep curls and standing triceps extensions. For leg exercises I like to do barbell squats, leg extensions and leg curls on the weight machines.

Whether you use machines or free weights, the key is to train on a regular basis,vary your workout routines, and make fitness a part of every day living. Individuals who follow regular exercise programs maintain their fitness levels, while those who do not can expect to lose as much as one pound of muscle per decade. Research has shown that strength loss in older individuals is as much about sedentary living as it is an outcome of the aging process.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am and is filed under Body Fitness Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.