Making Healthy Choices

Strength Exercises

Developing Your Strength Training Program

A resistance or strength training program designed to develop good muscle strength and fat free mass is an integral part of a personal fitness program.

The body naturally loses muscle strength and muscle mass as you get older. You can reduce this trend and even gain extra muscle by doing strength building exercise regularly. This is especially important as you reach the age of 40 to 50+ years of age.

Getting Started
Strength Training Principles 
Kinds of Exercises 
Progression 
Examples of Strength Exercises

How Strength Training Enhances Health

• Improves strength of muscles required for activities of daily living
• Stimulates muscle growth, preventing or slowing muscle loss with aging, helping maintain independence in senior years
• Enhances lean body mass which helps maintain a higher metabolic rate, burning more calories and helping maintain weight
• Strengthens ligaments and bones decreasing injury risk and helping prevent osteoporosis
• Helps improve posture and reduce back pain
• Improves muscle tone, shape, and enhances figure/physique

      Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health

Getting Started

Aerobic exercise enhances cardiovascular fitness but does little to help maintain lean body mass which decreases with age unless challenged with a resistance training program. 

Muscle strength is best developed by using weights or conditioning exercises that evoke near maximal effort with 8-10 repetitions. When first starting (especially if over 50) you may want to use more moderate resistance and 10-15 repetitions. 

Joining a fitness club is a good way to get started correctly and safely. They have a wide variety of equipment to use. Be sure to ask for guidance on how to use the equipment properly for best results. Or, you can start you own gym with a mat, a few dumbbells, and add other equipment as you progress and desire. Get your spouse or a friend to join you. It will help them and will be good motivation for yourself to keep exercising. 

Strength Training Principles

• Perform a minimum of 8 to 10 separate exercises that train the major muscle groups (arm, shoulders, chest, abdomen, back, hips, and legs.)

• Perform at least 1 set of 8 to 12 repetitions of each of these exercises to the point of muscle fatigue.

• Do strength training 2 to 3 days per week (extra sets or days per week give little additional advantage for most people.)

• Perform every exercise through a full range of motion

• Maintain a normal breathing pattern (holding your breath while lifting.)

• Exercise with a partner if possible for added feedback, motivation, and safety.

Adapted from the American College of Sport's Medicine's strength training guidelines.

Kinds of Exercises

Lifting weights or using weight machines is one of the best ways to improve strength. You can also do calisthenics such as sit-ups or curl-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. using your body as the weight or resistance. Getting a few dumbbells is inexpensive and they are helpful for arm and shoulder exercises. 

When first beginning get help from a fitness trainer or knowledgeable friend to help you select a variety of appropriate strength training exercises and to help you in your technique.

Progression

Be sure to warm up before doing any near maximal activities. Start with easier activities and gradually progress to more strenuous workouts as you become use to the activity and your strength improves. This is especially important when you are first starting to prevent sore muscles.

Keep a written record of your progress including the exercises you do, the weight résistance, and how many days you train etc. It's rewarding to see how you progress week by week as your strength improves.

Keep your workouts fun by doing them with other people. Exercise to your favorite music. Don't overdo. It needs to be fun if you intend to keep it up for a lifetime.

Strength Building  Exercises

Examples using resistance equipment

• Bent-knee sit-up or curl-up

• Leg extension

• Lateral pull-down

• Back hyperextension

• Standing press

• Biceps curl

• Toe raise

• Leg curl

• Triceps extension

• Seated leg press

• Rowing

• Bench press

Examples using conditioning exercises and hand weights

• Bent-knee sit-up or curl-up

• Side leg raisers while lying on side

• Arm curl with hand weights

• Triceps press, standing using hand weights (with arms extended overhead, bring weights back over head to shoulders and then extend overhead again using triceps) 

• Pull-ups using a bar

• Shoulder shrug with hand weights

• Side arm lifts, using hand weights

• Push-ups from knees or toes

• Wall slide/sit (feet 12 inches from wall, slide down to a sitting position, then slide back up)

• Back hyperextension (lying on stomach, raise head and shoulders from mat keeping chin tucked in)

Building lean body mass with strength training enhances your metabolic rate.
Surgeon General's Report on Fitness and Health