The do’s and don’ts of strength training

Strength training has many advantages, but you don’t have to spend hours lifting weights each day to reap those advantages. It is sufficient to work out your major muscle groups—legs, hips, back, belly, chest, shoulders, and arms—for 20 to 30 minutes twice a week to see benefits and maintain your strength and tone.

 

You don’t need to spend money on a home gym subscription or pricey equipment. Cheap resistance bands can be used to work out almost all of the muscles in the body, and they also fold up small enough to carry in a bag or suitcase, so you don’t have to stop working out while you’re away from home or on vacation. Even more, workouts exist where you may use your weight as resistance.

 

  • To lower your chance of injury, warm up before and cool down after strength training.
  • It’s crucial to acquire the proper techniques if you’re new to this kind of workout to prevent harm. Numerous community facilities provide free exercise classes. Apps and online video instructions are also beneficial, as is working out in front of a mirror to make sure your form is consistent.
  • Majority of people benefit from reaching muscular fatigue after 10 to 15 repetitions of activity when choosing the proper weight or resistance level. While you can increase the number of sets of each exercise to three, starting with one set is ideal and can be just as effective.
  • You can re-stretch your muscles as you advance and get stronger by increasing weight or using a band with additional resistance.
  • When training the same muscle area, wait 48 hours to give your muscles a chance to heal. You can alternate between full-body strength training sessions and aerobic workouts, or work out your upper body one day and your lower body the next.
  • Strength training should never make you feel uncomfortable, always pay attention to your body and disregard the saying “no pain, no gain”!