If you’re looking to get stronger, increase your muscle mass or build endurance, there are a few things you need to know. Strength training isn’t just for bodybuilders and professional athletes — it’s also critical to improving your overall health and well-being. In fact, a study published in the journal “PLOS ONE” found that regular strength training can reduce the risk of dying from any cause by 20 percent.
There are many forms of resistance training strength training Chico CA, including using your own body weight (push-ups, pull-ups), free weights, weight machines and even resistance bands. However, it’s important to start slowly and gradually increase intensity and weight over time. This allows your muscles and joints to adapt, while reducing the risk of injury. It is recommended to start with two or three strength training sessions per week, focusing on different muscle groups each day (arms on Monday and legs on Tuesday).
In order to gain maximum benefits from strength training, you need to train your muscles to fatigue. This can be achieved by a high number of repetitions (eight or more reps per set), or by using a weight that is heavy enough to induce fatigue within a few repetitions. Ideally, you want to train each muscle group for up to an hour at a time, and to rest one day in between working the same muscles.
The goal of strength training is to create and maintain muscular adaptations, which can include increased muscle size or endurance, and improved balance and coordination. In addition, strength training can help prevent or alleviate injuries by enhancing the muscles’ ability to control movement and reduce stress on the joints and connective tissues.
To achieve these goals, it is important to perform your workouts correctly and safely. It’s a good idea to seek the guidance of a qualified exercise professional, such as a personal trainer, who can ensure that your program is designed to meet your specific needs.
Before performing any strength training exercises, you should warm up for about five minutes by doing a light cardio activity like cycling or rowing to raise your heart rate and sweat a little. This will help prepare your muscles for exercise by increasing the movement of blood through them and making them more pliable. Follow this with a short stretching routine for each major muscle group that you’ll be working on, holding each stretch for about 10 seconds.
If you’re aiming for muscular endurance, the NSCA recommends that you lift a load that is light enough to allow you to complete 2 or 3 sets of 12 or more reps with a minimal amount of rest between each set. This will help you train your muscles to hold up for the long haul, vs. just being able to move a large amount of weight quickly, as in power lifting exercises such as box jumps.
Muscular power is the ability to generate a lot of force in a short period of time, as in throwing a ball or jumping. To increase your muscular power, it’s best to focus on high-intensity movements with a low volume of repetitions.
