Category: Weight Lifting

When planning and outfitting your home gym work your plan around the five components of physical fitness: cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Fitness is holistic in the sense that all these components must be reasonably connected to succeed at becoming a fit person.

Free weights with a simple program of free weight exercises deliver direct results on two of the components and contribute to body composition by burning fat and replacing it with muscle. It is intuitive that weight lifting will increase muscular strength but it may not be as intuitive that to actually achieve a training effect you must exercise three times a week and gradually increase the intensity and duration of your workout on a continuous basis.

Intensity is how hard you exercise. For weightlifting this means how much weight you work with for each particular exercise. Duration means the number of repetitions for each weightlifting exercise. One key to getting a quick benefit from weight lifting is to create a program that targets specific muscle groups and then to record the progress you are making for each group.

For example, if you have been working a muscle group with 5 repetitions of 50 pounds for several sessions, you can get a training effect only by exceeding normal, and the only sure way to keep track of a changing normal is to record your progress. A small white board in your home gym works great for this job.

You can increase strength and endurance by any method that provides resistance. In fact this is the only way to build muscle. Whether that resistance comes from exercise bands, an elaborate home gym machine, or from free weights does not really matter. Free weights, or dumbbells, are inexpensive, easy to store, and most importantly, easy to use. A 50 pound weight plate weighs 50 pounds every time you pick it up. There is no ambiguity about it.

Tags: weightlifting, free weights, dumbbells

Strength Training Anatomy
by Frederic Delavier
Amazon Price: $13.57


Customer Review: Did not take long to recieve on standard shipping

the book came in perfect condition and it is a great resource for an anatomy class

this is basically a nice picture book

Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength
by Bill Phillips, Michael D’Orso
Amazon Price: $17.79


Customer Review: The best things about this book are that it is written in a highly motivating way, and it gives a good, basic, introductory overview of standard,conventional, strength-training exercises. And that can certainly be of great value to people who are absolute beginners in weight-lifting and know nothing about the subject.

What this workout plan will not enable you to achieve is “maximum results in minimum time”. And since your body, your health and your time are probably your three greatest assets in life, isn’t that what most people want in …

(ARA) - Setting and keeping personal goals can actually affect our levels of happiness. The only difference between those of us who achieve our goals and those who don’t is the way we live each day. With all the pressures and stressors we face, it’s important to arm ourselves with the necessary tools to make healthy changes and achieve our goals, but change can be uncomfortable and challenging for many — even if it’s for the better.

“Positive change is often necessary to live a long, healthy and happy life,” states Laura Lewis, nutritionist and author of the book “52 Ways to a Healthy You.” “Changes can improve your health, help you live longer, look younger, feel better, boost your energy, get leaner and most importantly, be happier than you have in years.”

Based on her new book, Lewis offers readers 52 tips to get on track and live a happier, healthier life. Here are five of her favorites:

* Do It Right With D — Most people know that vitamin D plays an important role in the development of strong bones, but recent studies now show vitamin D can also help promote other areas of health such as muscle and joint protection, support for colon and prostate health, autoimmune protection, heart health, mood health, immune system strength, breast health and more. In her book, Lewis suggests a great way to incorporate vitamin D into your life is through a daily multivitamin, like Nature Made Multis — with 1000 IU of vitamin D, the level many experts recommend for optimal health.

* Create a Little Resistance — One of the easiest ways to keep our metabolism revved is to improve heart and lung health and keep bones strong through resistance exercise. Resistance exercise, or weight training with free weight equipment, can increase energy levels and simultaneously increase lean muscle mass. Great examples of resistance exercise include incorporating elastic resistance bands or free weights into workouts two to three times weekly.

* Make Yourself Feel Good — Get yourself in that space of just plain feeling great. You could have all the tools before you, but if you don’t feel good about yourself, about life in general, you won’t be motivated to change. Watch funny videos, feed the ducks, or get rid of negative people and negative thoughts. Lewis says, “True change happens from the inside out … from the heart, then the mind and the result is a longer and happier life.”

* Get Those ZZZ’s — Short-lived bouts of insomnia are usually nothing to worry about, but chronic sleep loss can contribute to health problems. Not getting enough sleep can affect metabolism, mood, cardiovascular health and the body’s ability to learn and retain information. Bottom line — sleep is crucial. Trouble sleeping? Try avoiding caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bedtime and if you don’t fall asleep within 15 to 30 minutes after lying down, get up and do something relaxing.

* Be Balanced — If your goal is optimal health and longevity, it’s best to take things gradually. By balancing the addition of each new lifestyle habit, you can increase the chances of long-term life changes, and feel less overwhelmed in the process. As you take on each new change, focus on how great you look and feel as a result, not only a few weeks from now, but also years down the line.

For more information to help you make changes for the better visit the Nature Made Wellness Advisor at www.NatureMade.com/Multis. For more information about Laura Lewis and her new book, visit her Web site at www.LauraLewis.com.

Tags: weight training, free weights

Weight Lifting Gloves Features:

• Double leather padded palms for extra grip and comfort
• Wrist wraps help stabilize wrists during lifting
• Three-quarter length fingers
• Machine wash and dry
• Nylon mesh backs with hook and loop closure tabs

Valeo Competition Wrist Wrap Lifting Gloves

Tags: Weight Lifting Gloves

If you want to get a good strength workout at home, but don’t have much space, the Bowflex 552 SelectTech Dumbbells are an ideal solution. The 552 SelectTech Dumbbells combine 15 sets of weights into one using a unique dial system. It’s one of the most space-efficient and flexible strength-training options available. Say goodbye to 16 different dumbbells cluttering your workout space.

With just the turn of a dial, you can automatically change your resistance on each dumbbell from 5 pounds all the way up to 52.5 pounds of weight. It adjusts in 2.5-pound increments (up to 25 pounds), enabling you to gradually increase your strength without bulking up.

Features:
• Combines 15 sets of weights into one, using a unique dial system
• Lets you rapidly switch from one exercise to the next
• Each dumbbell adjusts from 5 to 52.5 pounds; adjusts in 2.5 lb increments up to the first 25 lbs
• Say goodbye to 16 dumbbells cluttering your workout space
• Five-year warranty on weight plates, two-year warranty on parts

Tags: strength workout, Bowflex 552 SelectTech Dumbbells