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Strength and Resistance Training

Strength and Resistance Training A successful workout or fitness plan incorporates exercises that help you increase your ability to overcome resistance. Aside from helping you lift your children easier or lend a helping hand on moving day, strength training can also help you build and tone muscle, boost your metabolism and either lose or manage your weight.

8 Fit Facts Found in Strength and Resistance Training

Energize Your Life with Strength Training

Are you living the life you want to live? Is a decrease in your physical strength and energy getting in the way of enjoying your favorite activities? Regular cardiovascular exercise is a well-known way to preserve stamina and to prevent chronic disease that can slow you down.

Strengthen Your Abdominals With Stability Balls

One of today’s most versatile pieces of exercise equipment looks more like an overgrown beach ball than a useful fitness tool. The stability ball—an extra-large, inflatable orb designed to improve balance while targeting specific muscle groups—has grown in popularity since its mainstream introduction in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Strength Training 101

You do not need to be a bodybuilder to benefit from strength training. A well-designed strength-training program can provide the following benefits: Increased strength of bones, muscles and connective tissues (the tendons and ligaments)—This increased strength decreases the risk of injury.

Steering Clear of Strength Plateaus

Consider this: It’s been a few months since you first started weight training and you’re not seeing the same kind of results as you did at the beginning. Sound familiar? You may have hit a plateau in your strength-training program.

Resistance Tubing Workout

For those times when you just can’t make it to the gym, resistance tubing offers an inexpensive and portable way to get a full-body strength-training workout at home or on the road. As with all exercise, it is important to warm up for five to 10 minutes and gently stretch the muscles you will be working. For beginners, it is best to do one set of 12 to 15 repetitions of each exercise.

Plyometrics: Controlled Impact/Maximum Power

It may sound like the latest action film, but controlled impact and maximum power are the aims of a training technique called plyometrics. Also known as jump training, plyometrics involves stretching the muscles prior to contracting them. This type of training, when used safely and effectively, strengthens muscles, increases vertical jump and decreases impact forces on the joints.

How Women Build Muscle

There are more myths and misconceptions about strength training than any other area of fitness. While research continues to uncover more and more reasons why working out with weights is good for you, many women continue to avoid resistance training for fear of developing muscles of Herculean proportions. Other women have tried it and been less than thrilled with the results.

Free Weights vs. Strength-training Equipment

Have you wondered which method of strength training is better, free weights or strength-training equipment? The truth is, each has its advantages and disadvantages. The choice depends on your level of experience, your exercise goals and, to some extent, your personal preference.

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