Free Weight Exercises
One of the great things about working out with free weights is the wide variety of exercises you’ll be able to perform using the same basic equipment. Whether you use dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, or resistance bands, you can get a great full-body strength training workout. As you decide which exercises to incorporate into your routine, keep the following tips in mind to maximize your workout time.
Compound exercises build strength faster
The more muscle groups you work out with a single exercise, the more calories you’ll be burning during the exercise and the faster you’ll get a complete workout. For example, performing a lunge simultaneously with dumbbell front raise will work both your upper and lower body, and performing a pullup works the arms, chest, and back muscles. Some of the highest-impact compound exercises are pushups, pullups, chinups, squats, deadlifts, dips, chest presses, and military presses. Check out this great listing of compound exercises, which includes a photo guide and form tips for each exercise.
Good form is key to preventing injury
The most important aspect of training with free weights is maintaining proper form throughout the exercise. Most people begin strong, but as your muscles fatigue it’s easy to lose good form and put yourself at risk for injury. Work out with enough weight to challenge yourself, but don’t choose a weight you can’t lift with good form. The fastest way to interrupt your strength training program is to injure yourself, so if you want long-term results, it’s important to use good form for every rep and every set to keep yourself healthy and pain-free. When you’re learning new exercises, use a very light weight or no weight at all to practice the motion, and focus on learning and maintaining good posture, alignment, and breathing throughout the motion. Add weight slowly at first. It’s usually easier to learn good form when you’re not struggling with the weight.
Learning good form in person from a personal trainer is usually the best way to make sure you’re performing your exercises properly, but if you work out from home a good resource for learning good form is SportsInjuryClinic.net’s free weights exercise directory.
When in doubt, use a machine or a spotter
Although free weights provide definite benefits over machines for long-term use, if you’re unsure of the proper technique for an exercise or have existing joint pain or muscle damage, a weight training machine can provide needed support during an exercise and can help you learn to perform an unfamiliar motion safely. If you’re starting to challenge yourself with heavy free weights, make sure you have a well-trained spotter or work out with a piece of safety equipment to prevent you from getting stuck under a heavy weight or dropping weight on yourself.
If you’ve never worked out with a spotter before, you might want to read this article describing how to be a good spotter.
Challenge yourself with new exercises
Keep your workout interesting and challenge your whole body by varying your exercise choices over time. If you’re looking for new routines, the internet is a great place to start, since plenty of fitness enthusiasts like to describe and post detailed guides to the workouts they follow. Muscle & Strength’s workout routines database is a good resource to check.
If you’re designing your own workouts, keep in mind that it’s important not to overtrain any one muscle group. There is a definite point of diminishing returns if you work out the same muscles too frequently. This discussion of proper splits for weight training can help you understand good strategies for developing effective workout routines without overtraining.