How to exercise with weights

The Skater is an aerobic yoga-with-weights exercise that works the muscles of your buttocks. By the time you do this exercise twice, you’ll be huffing and puffing. The balancing aspect of this exercise fires and stimulates your brain’s nerve connections.

Focus on inhaling and exhaling so you don’t do this exercise too fast and throw the weights. Keep your chest open as you inhale and exhale throughout this exercise.

Make sure your ankle weights are strapped on, and grab your hand weights. When you’re ready, follow these steps:

Stand with your feet below your hips, your toes pointing forward, and the hand weights at your sides with your palms facing backward.

This is the starting position. Spread your toes wide, pressing hard into the ground through all four corners of both feet — your heels and your toes. You should actively engage both feet. Also, for support, draw your belly in and up and point your tailbone down.

As you inhale to a count of four, lift the weights above your head while you bend your left leg for support and lift your right leg behind you as high as you can without losing balance.

Lift your arms in front of your body until they reach the height of your ears. As you lift, sit back a little bit with your buttocks behind your heel. Feel your buttocks squeezing as your hips are parallel to the floor.

Keep your leg behind you (don’t lift it to your side as a dog does beside a fire hydrant).

As you exhale to a count of four, return to the starting position.

Keep your chest open as you exhale.

If you have trouble balancing, try using lighter weights, or do the exercise without the hand weights and rest your hands on your hips. You can also do this exercise without the ankle weights.

Alternating legs with each repetition, repeat this exercise six to eight times with each leg, pause to rest, and then do another six to eight repetitions with each leg. You’re imitating the gliding motion of an ice skater.

About the Book Author

Megan Scott, PhD, is a doctor of integrative medicine, sports rehabilitation, and clinical psychology specializing in advanced healing techniques. She has 20 years of training and practice in mind-body, self-regulation techniques. Dr. Scott combines her knowledge of science and self-healing in her clinical settings, highlighted by using the left/right brain neuro rebalancing technique for self-healing. She teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, the Institute for Health and Healing, and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. She’s also a founder, director, and contributing researcher at the Chronic Pain Institute. In her private practice, she teaches Anusara yoga and yoga therapy classes, biofeedback training, and alternative psychotherapy. Her mission is to assist her students in discovering their own greatness and to awaken her students’ passion for yoga and all its gifts.

The training form has a long list of benefits

Free weights – not a bunch of barbells going spare, but the correct term for any weight you have complete control over the movement, pace, and purpose of whilst using it. While the term can seem confusing, free weights are pieces of equipment that pretty much everyone is familiar with – dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, barbells and sandbells.

And, if you’re fortunate enough to be around some of the heavy stuff, it may be time to figure out how to use it to your advantage. Especially as planning a workout can be a head-scratching task. How many reps or sets are best? How heavy should the weight be? What exactly is a tricep extension and how can it fit into a broader workout?

Well, fret not future free weight aficionados – phew! – WH has spoken to the experts, compiled the exercises and answered all your free-weight FAQs. Ready? Go on, then.

What are the benefits of free weight training?

Weight training is a great way to:

• Build lean muscle
• Boost bone density
• Improve hormone health
• Lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels
• Useful in stabilising blood sugars (3 o’clock slump, anyone?)

What’s the difference between free weights and machine weights?

Firstly, free weights are classified differently to their machine counterparts as they’re not subject to single fixed movements, as say a pull-down machine or leg press would be – gosh, remember those pre-lockdown things?

If you want to learn how to start working out with weights, you don’t have to wait for your gym to reopen—you can definitely start a strength training routine at home. There are some things, though, you need to know first so you can do so safely and effectively.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was determined to start an at-home strength training routine to supplement my long-distance running. I’m self-employed, and like many people during that time, I noticed a slowdown of work—and as a result, a little extra time in my day. So I decided to finally commit to weight training.

I already had some exercise mats and dumbbells collecting dust in a closet, but I decided to order a kettlebell online (back when at-home fitness equipment was still readily available) in an effort to mix things up. I read a few articles and watched a YouTube tutorial beforehand, and then got started.

I got in two workouts before injuring my back.

I’m pretty sure my form was way off—and I probably ended up doing too much too soon, even though the weight I used was on the lighter side. I couldn’t exercise for about two and a half weeks (I could barely even walk my dog).

Luckily, I was able to get in one visit to my sports chiropractor before she temporarily closed up shop due to the pandemic, which provided me with some relief (along with, of course, rest and light rehab exercises). But I didn’t want to risk trying to get back to my normal exercise routine too soon and end up with a serious injury that might need immediate medical attention during this chaotic time.

It was a long few weeks, but it gave me the time to think about what I could have done differently when beginning a strength training routine at home. So I touched base with a couple of personal trainers to answer the question: How should you start working out at home—effectively and safely? Here’s what I learned.

1. Nail down a plan.

When thinking about starting any fitness program, you first want to get your physician’s approval that you are healthy enough to do so, Holly Roser, a certified personal trainer and owner of Holly Roser Fitness in San Francisco, tells SELF.

As for what plan, well, that’s up to you—and that’s one of the best benefits of working out at home on your own: You get to create your strength training routine—one that you probably won’t have to adjust whenever some bro is hogging the squat rack. According to Noam Tamir, C.S.C.S., owner and CEO of TS Fitness in New York City, if you’re a newbie when it comes to strength training, you should shoot for three weekly 30- to 45-minute sessions of a full-body workout with basic, compound movements such as squats, presses, and rows. (Before you get started with these, though, you may want to start with bodyweight versions—more on that below!) Go for about 10 to 12 reps per set and three sets per exercise.

For more guidance or inspiration on what a full-body routine can look like, check out some of SELF’s total-body workouts.

2. Set up a workout area.

Before you get started sweating, take some time to think about the space in which you’ll be doing it. For one, you’ll need enough room that you can move freely, without hitting walls or furniture. Then consider the temperature: Are you able to run the AC or a fan if it’s too hot? You also may want to consider working out in a room that’s different from your workspace (if you’re working from home) to not only cut down on clutter but also give you a mental separation between working and working out.

As for safety, rooms with hardwood floors are going to be better choices than those with carpet. Working out directly on carpet can strain your feet, knees, and ankles, which can leave you more susceptible to injury, says Roser. Using a yoga mat or an exercise mat when lying on the floor can help with this as well—plus, it’ll simply make many of the moves more comfortable.

3. Wear clothes that help with comfort and form.

When you’re working out at home, you might be tempted to start your workout in whatever you’ve been wearing around the house—not the best option if that’s pj’s or jeans. You want to work out in clothing that will let you move freely, support you, and won’t impede your form.

And yes, unless you’re doing a workout like yoga or barre, you’re going to want to put on some shoes, says Roser.

“Be sure to also always wear sneakers when working out at home, or anywhere for that matter, to keep your foot stabilized and also to provide traction so your foot doesn’t slide around on your floor, potentially causing injury,” Roser says. “Shoes with support will also help any foot problems such as overpronation, high arches, or flat feet.”

4. Properly prep for each session.

It can be easy to forget to warm-up before at-home workouts when you’re missing the structure of an actual gym. But don’t do that. Make sure you’re not entering your workout hungry—a carb-focused snack one or two hours beforehand, like a banana or piece of toast with peanut butter, can help, says Roser. And a proper warm-up is crucial for strength workouts, Roser says. That’s because you risk tearing a muscle by going into a workout cold.

“A five- to eight-minute warm-up is ideal for most people. It’ll ensure your muscles are warm before you start moving,” she says. “Just like you would warm up with a slow mile or two before a running speed workout, your muscles need to be loosened up before a solid lifting session as well.”

For strength training, five to eight minutes of jumping rope, running in place, inchworms, or toe touches alternating sides will suffice. If you’re doing a leg-focused workout, moves that activate your glutes, like donkey kicks or clamshells, can be helpful too.

A cool-down of about five minutes is also important, since it will slowly bring your blood pressure and heart rate back down to normal levels. Five minutes of light dynamic stretching should be all you need, though Tamir also recommends deep breathing to calm your nervous system and foam rolling to help reduce soreness the next day.

5. Get creative when it comes to monitoring your form.

Remember that you don’t really have the luxury of walls of windows and circulating personal trainers when you’re at home. It’s easy to mess up your form if you’re not careful, and that can lead to injury [raises hand]. If you’ve never regularly weight-trained before, start with bodyweight exercises before introducing free weights, says Roser. This will help you master the movement pattern first so you can get the form down before moving on to dumbbells or kettlebells.

In pre-pandemic times, the best way to make sure you were using proper form was to seek the guidance of a personal trainer, says Roser. While in-person guidance is not an option for many of us right now, some personal trainers offer virtual sessions via Zoom or other meeting platforms. (You can contact your local gym to see if any trainers are currently offering this.) Even if you can’t commit to their services long term, it’s a good way to help a small business owner stay afloat during these tough times—and it’ll help you start off your strength training routine strong.

Whether your goal is to build muscle mass or achieve a fitter, more toned body, weight training can help you get there.

Weight training, also known as resistance or strength training, builds lean, stronger muscles, strengthens your bones and joints, and even helps boost your metabolism. This means you’ll burn more calories even when you’re resting.

Stronger muscles can also improve your athletic performance and reduce your chance of injuries.

Even if you’ve never done any kind of weight training before, it’s never too late to start. Strength training is appropriate for both men and women, and it can be started at any age or fitness level.

You don’t need to be a fitness buff. In fact, you don’t even need to belong to a gym. You can simply use your body weight for many exercises or use free weights, resistance bands, or other home fitness equipment to get results.

This article will walk you through how to get started with weight training and provide suggested exercises and training advice for beginners.

If you’ve never lifted weights before, consider starting out with the help of a certified personal trainer. They’ll be able to teach you the proper form for specific exercises and set up a strength training program tailored to your needs.

Many gyms or fitness centers offer introductory training sessions at little or no cost, or they have trainers available if you have questions.

While most gyms have a combination of resistance machines and free weights, such as dumbbells and barbells, you can also get a comprehensive weight training workout at home with basic equipment.

Equipment options

You don’t necessarily need weights to build lean muscle mass and tone your body. As an example, for some strength training exercises, like pushups or lunges, you only need your body weight to provide resistance.

You can expand your at-home workout options with dumbbells. A beginner’s set of adjustable weight dumbbells starts at about $50, but the price increases as you add more weight.

Kettlebells, which are weighted balls with handles, are another popular option. Many kettlebell exercises work out several muscle groups at once, which makes them effective for a full body workout, especially if you’re short on time.

Resistance bands are also a helpful addition to your workout equipment. These color-coded elastic bands provide varying levels of resistance when pulled and stretched.

A set of resistance bands can be purchased for $10 to $60. Because they’re light and portable, you can take them with you when you travel.

Once you’re ready to get started with a weight training program, keep the following tips in mind.

Knowing how to exercise the lats, or your latissimus dorsi, without weights gives you the freedom to work part of your back from home. In general, all exercises to tone this area of the body must be performed very carefully, to avoid back injuries as a result of poor posture. To learn more, keep reading this OneHowTo.com article on how to work lats without weights.

This first way to work lats without weights is very simple. Lie on your front on a mat on the floor. Put your hands together behind your head, resting them on the neck. The exercise involves making slight elevations of the trunk, targeting the lats. Do 3 sets of 20 repetitions each.

The second exercise to work your lats without weights is a slight variation of the above. Adopt the same position, lying on your stomach and elevate your trunk, but, instead of placing your hands behind your head, stretch your arms in front of you to make it more difficult. In addition, you should also raise your feet. With this exercise, you strengthen the lats more intensely. Do 2 sets of 10 repetitions. The most important thing is to hold the position for about 5 seconds on each repetition.

Press-ups are also a good way of exercising your lats without weights. On the same mat, get into the press-p position, supporting your body weight with the palms of your hands flat on the floor and level with your shoulders. Do 2 sets of 20 repetitions. As well as the lats, this exercise will work the pectoral muscles, shoulders and arms.

Spartan press-ups are very ideal for working the lats without using weights. They are similar to traditional press-ups, but with a slight variation of the position. You’ll only need to place one of your arms further backwards, with your palm facing downwards. Do 2 sets of 15 repetitions each time making sure you change arms.

Pull-ups are another way of working your lats without weights. You need a bar, so you’ll have to do it in the gym. Both a supinated grip (with palms facing you), and a pronated grip (palms facing away) will strengthen the lats. Do 2 sets of 15 pull-ups.

After performing lat exercises without weights, make sure you stretch afterwards. Use a gym bar or any type of secure wall bar. Stand up with your side to the wall. Hold the bar with both hands and pull the bar, noting how it effectively stretches your lats.

If you want to read similar articles to How To Work Lats Without Weights, we recommend you visit our Fitness category.

Doing arm exercises without weights is very simple. You can use the weight of your body, or part of it, to work the different muscles of the upper limbs. If you follow the exercise routine that we offer, you’ll shape your arms and be able to show them now that the temperatures are climbing and clothing exposes this part of the body that is prone to flabbiness. At OneHowTo.com, we explain a series of arm exercises without weights.

This arm exercise without weights is very effective to strengthen the upper limbs. Despite the simplicity of its execution, it should be noted that it requires a lot of effort, since a lot of the body is supported by the arms. To do this, simply place yourself on a mat on the floor, face down.

Put your palms on the floor, about one metre apart. Then do push ups, trying not to bend your knees and keeping your body straight at all times. Do 2 sets of 15 push ups to start. Start increasing the number of push ups you do in each set if you see that your body responds without exhaustion.

This other exercise is also very good for working your arms without weights. As you can see in the picture, only this time you’ll need a wall to lean against to be able to do the exercise. We’ll tell you the same as in the previous case: it seems a light activity, but you really need strength to support the weight of your body with your arms.

Stand facing the wall, a metre away from it, and support your palms against it, at the height of your chest. The exercise consists in letting yourself fall into the wall and back to the starting position at your arms momentum. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions and keep your body straight while doing it.

This other arm exercise without weights will not only allow you to shape the upper limbs. You will also stretch your back well doing it, which is very good for you if you suffer from problems in this area.

The exercise should be carried out in 3 phases, as you can see in the picture accompanying this text. On a mat, stand in a triangle shape with your body and the ground. Then, lean forward and lower the hips so that the body is straight and hold the pose for about 5 seconds. Then raise the trunk as much as you can and stay another 5 seconds. Do it 10 times.

In this other exercise for arms without weights that we suggest, you don’t use the weight of your body to strengthen your upper extremities. So, it will be the posture that you have to maintain and the hand movements that will create the work. Sit on a chair or bench and raise your arms, forming a cross. Take good care of your back’s position so you can hold the position without promoting the production of contractures.

The exercise consists of maintaining the posture of raised arms, while moving your hands up and down. Do 2 sets of 15 repetitions each time.

Two very interesting variations of the above exercise for arms without weights is to do everything the same, but making circles with your wrists rather than upwards and downwards movements. You can also do the same but making circular movements with the whole arm.

As you can see, there are many arm exercises without weights that you can do. If you follow this routine every day or every other day, you will manage to shape your arms and you’ll look more attractive.

If you want to learn how to do more exercises we suggest you read the following articles:

If you want to read similar articles to How to do Arm Exercises without Weights, we recommend you visit our Fitness category.

You don’t need a gym or even exercise equipment to get fit. Use your bodyweight instead.

Your bodyweight is a form of resistance that can help you get strong.

Did you wish for some fancy gym equipment for Christmas but didn’t quite get what you wanted? If you didn’t get a fancy treadmill , smart fitness mirror , smart boxing setup , digital weight machine , coveted exercise bike or one of the other buzzy fitness products out there, but still want to get in shape at home , good news. As helpful all of these products can be, you don’t need them to get in shape. There’s one tool that you already have that’s seriously underrated: your own body.

Even though nice fitness gear, smart gyms , and equipment are great — you really don’t need any fancy dumbbells, or anything else for that matter, to get a great workout. In fact, using your own body weight is one of the best ways to get in shape.

I mean, think about it — your body is pretty heavy. Being able to do a push-up, or pull up is pretty impressive in itself. And you don’t have to buy anything or rely on any equipment to help you get strong, which is perfect when you don’t have time to hit the gym, or you’re far away from your home set up.

There’s no question that lifting weights at the gym is one way to get in shape, but it’s definitely not the only way. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of using your own bodyweight to get in shape, and how to make the most of your bodyweight-only workouts.

Moves like push-ups and planks are great bodyweight exercises.

The benefits of using just your body to workout

Using your own body to workout is obviously more convenient than a workout that requires more equipment, but what else can it offer? To start, you can end up working more muscles at the same time than if you were just isolating one body part with weights. “When we use our bodies instead of machines, we increase utilization of our core and also use stabilizing muscles which aid in injury prevention,” says Holly Roser, a certified personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist based in San Francisco.

And while you can’t expect bodyweight-only exercises to prepare you to, say, lift a 100-pound object effortlessly, it can still help you get stronger and build muscle.

Since using your own body weight helps you activate more muscles, you’re reducing your risk for injury. The more muscles you can activate at once, the more likely you are to be able to stabilize your body, which is important for everyday movement and exercise safety.

When to use your bodyweight versus weights

While using your own bodyweight can definitely give you a full-body workout, it can’t help you get everything you may want from a fitness routine. For example, you might need specific moves to help strengthen certain areas of your body that are hard to get to without equipment.

The 17 best health and fitness apps for Apple Watch

“There are moves that cannot be replicated using your body weight such as lat pull downs, chest flys or rows. These moves are very important as they’re areas that are typically very weak due to sedentary lifestyles and hunching over computers and phones,” Roser said.

Another point to consider when it comes to deciding between working out with weights or your own bodyweight is how fast you’d like to see results. “Using your own body weight will take longer to get the desired result. I would suggest adding body weight moves to a resistance training program,” Roser said.

So this could look like alternating days that you use just your bodyweight to workout with other days that you add more resistance or strength training tools like weight machines or heavy dumbbells.

How to get the most out of your bodyweight workouts

You can string together moves like lunges, squats and planks for a full-body workout.

If you’ve ever done moves like side lunges, planks, pushups, and mountain climbers then you can string them together for a great full-body, no equipment necessary workout. These moves can be challenging for sure, but according to Roser, you may need to make some changes to the workout to make sure you’re getting the most out of your time.

“You’d want to adjust your rep range to do higher reps and less sets. Aim for 2 sets of 25 reps of a move when using your own body weight,” Roser said. Since you’re using less resistance than if you were adding heavy weights to the moves, doing higher reps ensures that you’re fatiguing your muscles enough to create change.

And if you want to amplify the cardio and calorie burning benefits of your bodyweight workouts, try adding in bursts of activity like mountain climbers or jogging in place in between exercises.

“This will ensure your heart rate is elevated and you’re getting a larger calorie burn,” Roser said.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

The Straddle can improve your health and physical performance whether you like to walk around the block or enjoy mountain climbing. This yoga-with-weights exercise loosens and expands the range of motion in your pelvis and legs, opens your groin, and conditions and tones your back. The pose also builds abdominal strength and works your biceps. The benefits it gives your groin help in both walking and climbing.

Throughout this exercise, don’t cave in or round your back or shoulders. Doing so may strain your back.

You need both hand weights and ankle weights for this exercise. After you’re locked and loaded, follow these steps:

Sit on your buttocks with your legs spread apart and the ankle weights resting on your inner thighs.

Putting weights on your inner thighs helps anchor your hips. The hand weights can rest on the floor behind you; don’t worry about them just yet. The tips of your toes should be facing the ceiling.

If you happen to be flexible, you may be tempted to open your legs too wide, but be careful. You can injure yourself during the weightlifting part of this exercise if your legs are too far apart.

Roll the fleshy part of each buttock and thigh out from under you.

To do this, pull your belly in, lean to one side, reach around your hip, grasp your buttock and inner thigh with your hand, and move the flesh to the outside. Do this for each buttock. You should feel your “sit bones” and your tailbone pressing down into the floor.

Draw your belly in and up and your tailbone down for support, and flex and press into all four corners of your feet.

If you have discomfort in your back and you begin to slouch your shoulders, your back muscles may not be ready for this exercise. Just move your legs a little closer and find your natural seat. You can also tuck one foot in or sit on a rolled-up mat or towel.

Pick up the hand weights and curl them so that your triceps are parallel with your shoulders.

This is the starting position.

Inhaling to a count of four, extend your arms to form a T position with your head and torso.

Align your shoulders over your hips. Your palms should be facing upward.

Exhaling to a count of four, lift the weights back to the starting position.

Repeat this exercise six to eight times, take a rest, and then do six to eight more repetitions.

About the Book Author

Megan Scott, PhD, is a doctor of integrative medicine, sports rehabilitation, and clinical psychology specializing in advanced healing techniques. She has 20 years of training and practice in mind-body, self-regulation techniques. Dr. Scott combines her knowledge of science and self-healing in her clinical settings, highlighted by using the left/right brain neuro rebalancing technique for self-healing. She teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, the Institute for Health and Healing, and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. She’s also a founder, director, and contributing researcher at the Chronic Pain Institute. In her private practice, she teaches Anusara yoga and yoga therapy classes, biofeedback training, and alternative psychotherapy. Her mission is to assist her students in discovering their own greatness and to awaken her students’ passion for yoga and all its gifts.

Food 4 Life

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on 27 June, 2017

It can be difficult moving from weight training to calisthenics (or bodyweight training), especially when you are so used to the weights. Ideally you should try to incorporate a mixture of the two into your workouts, that way you can keep the muscle building effects of the weights while you get stronger at the calisthenics exercises and holds (if that is your goal).

Some bodyweight holds are quite tiresome and can really drain you since they require a lot more muscles to be activated all at once, for example the front lever or even the handstand can be strenuous if you are just starting out. They require your core and your whole body to work together at once. With that being said, it is thus important to not overdo it or you may find yourself getting burnt out rather quickly. I find the best way to go about it is just to add in a few sets of bodyweight exercises/holds into your existing workouts.

For instance, during your chest workout you could alternate between weighted exercises and bodyweight exercises, doing say the bench press first, then (weighted) push ups, then moving to incline dumbbell presses and then performing dips and so on. It may take a few weeks to get a feel for it but after that it will become easier and easier to arrange things.

Below are a few common exercises (weights and calisthenics) that you can incorporate and alternate in your workouts. Do not worry too much about the ‘right’ exercise order, just focus on the feel and getting in good quality sets and reps of each. Start small and slowly increase the sets/reps each week as you get used to it all.

If you want a few great core exercises that will help with calisthenics holds, check this out for more.

The Burning Boat really works the muscles of your belly, like rowing without paddles. Because this yoga-with-weights exercise uses only your buttocks touching the ground, you make your muscles burn and you build endurance and stamina. In the yogic system, fire represents purification, change, and renewal. Be sure to use Ocean Breaths in this workout because they oxygenate the fire and really heat things up.

You need both hand weights and ankle weights for this exercise. When you’re ready, follow these steps.

Sit on your buttocks with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, and hold the weights in your hands with your palms facing forward.

Pull your belly in, and lift your spine.

Lean back slightly, lift your feet from the floor, and tuck your knees into your chest.

This is the starting position. Concentrate on finding a point of balance.

If you have a lower back injury, lift one leg at a time rather than both legs. If you still feel uncomfortable, move on to the next exercise.

If your abdominal muscles are strong enough, you can try doing this exercise with your legs straight, not bent.

Exhaling to a count of four, lift the hand weights to perform a bicep curl.

Keep your shoulders squared to place the work directly on your bicep muscles.

Inhaling to a count of four, lower the hand weights to the starting position.

Be careful not to drop the weights. Let the rhythm of your breathing guide your motion.

Don’t hold your breath during this exercise. Focus on your breathing, and try to relax (yeah, right!).

If doing this exercise with weights is too difficult at first, try it without the weights or with light weights until you become strong enough.

Repeat this exercise six to eight times, take a rest, and then do six to eight more repetitions.

About the Book Author

Megan Scott, PhD, is a doctor of integrative medicine, sports rehabilitation, and clinical psychology specializing in advanced healing techniques. She has 20 years of training and practice in mind-body, self-regulation techniques. Dr. Scott combines her knowledge of science and self-healing in her clinical settings, highlighted by using the left/right brain neuro rebalancing technique for self-healing. She teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, the Institute for Health and Healing, and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. She’s also a founder, director, and contributing researcher at the Chronic Pain Institute. In her private practice, she teaches Anusara yoga and yoga therapy classes, biofeedback training, and alternative psychotherapy. Her mission is to assist her students in discovering their own greatness and to awaken her students’ passion for yoga and all its gifts.

The Warrior I, a relatively simple exercise, is a weighted variation of the classic warrior yoga pose. As you do this yoga-with-weights exercise, you tap the energy of your heart and feel the strength, honor, and courage of a warrior. On a more practical note, the Warrior I works your biceps and legs.

If you can, keep your hips squared throughout this exercise; neither hipbone should be forward of the other. If squaring your hips is too hard, however, forget it and do your best.

Grab your hand weights and follow these steps:

Standing with your feet below your hips, your toes pointing forward, and the hand weights hanging at your sides with your palms facing inward, step back with your right foot and bend your left leg for support.

This is the lunge position — and the starting position. Turn out your back foot slightly and keep looking forward.

Your bent knee shouldn’t be forward of your ankle. Also, press in with all four corners of your foot.

As you exhale to a count of four, bend your elbows and work your biceps as you lift the weights to shoulder level.

Draw your belly in and up and your tailbone down for support. Keep your elbows locked in; rocking isn’t allowed.

As you inhale to a count of four, lower the weights to the starting position.

Don’t let your back sag — keep it straight.

Do this exercise six to eight times, pause to rest, and then do six to eight more repetitions.

About the Book Author

Megan Scott, PhD, is a doctor of integrative medicine, sports rehabilitation, and clinical psychology specializing in advanced healing techniques. She has 20 years of training and practice in mind-body, self-regulation techniques. Dr. Scott combines her knowledge of science and self-healing in her clinical settings, highlighted by using the left/right brain neuro rebalancing technique for self-healing. She teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, the Institute for Health and Healing, and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. She’s also a founder, director, and contributing researcher at the Chronic Pain Institute. In her private practice, she teaches Anusara yoga and yoga therapy classes, biofeedback training, and alternative psychotherapy. Her mission is to assist her students in discovering their own greatness and to awaken her students’ passion for yoga and all its gifts.

The Airplane raises the altitude of your attitude, making you feel uplifted after your yoga-with-weights exercise. It stimulates feel-good chemistry in your brain and works your biceps, triceps, and upper torso. Imagine that you’re flying through blue skies as you do this exercise.

You need the hand weights for this exercise; ankle weights are optional. Use the ankle weights if you want additional tone and strength. Adding the extra weight exercises your legs a bit more.

Follow these steps to fly the Airplane:

Stand with your feet together and directly below your hips, and hold the weights in front of your chest with the knuckles of each hand touching.

This is the starting position.

Slowly inhaling to a count of four, bend your left knee, extend your right leg behind you as you lean forward, and open your arms to a C position.

While you’re extending your leg, look slightly upward toward your forehead and brow. To achieve the C position, imagine you’re crunching a soda can with your shoulder blades.

To help with balancing, press your standing foot into the floor, draw your belly in and up, and draw your tailbone down.

If you feel pinched in your neck and shoulders or you otherwise experience distress as you maneuver the hand weights, use lighter weights or no weights at all.

Slowly exhaling to a count of four, return the hand weights to your chest as you lower your leg to the floor and assume the starting position.

Repeat this exercise six to eight times with each leg, pause to rest, and then do the exercise six to eight more times with each leg.

About the Book Author

Megan Scott, PhD, is a doctor of integrative medicine, sports rehabilitation, and clinical psychology specializing in advanced healing techniques. She has 20 years of training and practice in mind-body, self-regulation techniques. Dr. Scott combines her knowledge of science and self-healing in her clinical settings, highlighted by using the left/right brain neuro rebalancing technique for self-healing. She teaches at California Pacific Medical Center, the Institute for Health and Healing, and the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. She’s also a founder, director, and contributing researcher at the Chronic Pain Institute. In her private practice, she teaches Anusara yoga and yoga therapy classes, biofeedback training, and alternative psychotherapy. Her mission is to assist her students in discovering their own greatness and to awaken her students’ passion for yoga and all its gifts.

Get in shape without leaving the house

You want to get fit. But you don’t want to join a health club — it’s too expensive, there’s no gym convenient to you, or maybe you’re just the independent type. Or perhaps you’re already a gym member, but your schedule has been too manic for you to get away.

That leaves working out at home. But can you really get a great workout without leaving the house?

Absolutely, says Kevin Steele, PhD, exercise physiologist and vice president of 24 Hour Fitness Centers.

“In today’s world, the reality of it is people don’t have time to go to a facility every day anyway,” he says. “And consistency is key.”

Believe it or not, Steele says, at 24 Hour Fitness, they encourage folks to exercise at home as much as at the gym. This way, they are more apt to adopt fitness as a lifestyle. “The key thing is that you do something, somewhere, sometime,” he says.

Steele and other fitness experts say it doesn’t take much effort or money to design an effective workout program at home. Things like fit balls, dumbbells, exercise bands or tubing, and push-up bars are an inexpensive way to create a routine that works all the major muscle groups.

But even with no props or machines, you can build muscles and burn calories.

“If someone wants to get started, they could take a brisk walk, then do abdominal exercises and push-ups,” says Richard Weil, MEd, CDE an exercise physiologist and WebMD Weight Loss clinic consultant.

The 5 Elements of Fitness

According to Steele, an effective fitness program has five components, all of which you can do at home:

• A warmup.
• A cardiovascular (aerobic) workout.
• Resistance (strength-building) exercises.
• Flexibility moves.
• A cooldown

A warm-up could be an easy walk outside or on a treadmill, or a slow pace on a stationary bike. For the cardiovascular portion, walk or pedal faster, do step aerobics with a video, or jump rope — whatever you enjoy that gets your heart rate up.

The resistance portion can be as simple as squats, push-ups and abdominal crunches. Or you could work with small dumbbells, a weight bar, bands or tubing.

Continued

Increase your flexibility with floor stretches or yoga poses. And your cooldown should be similar to the warm up, says Steele — “cardiovascular work at a low level to bring the heart rate down to a resting state.”

You can do strength work in same workout as your aerobic work, or split them up. Just be sure to warm up and cool down every time you exercise.

If you’re short on time one day, increase the intensity of your workout, says Tony Swain, MS, fitness director of East Bank Club in Chicago. Instead of your usual 45-minute ride on the stationary bike, choose a harder program for 25 minutes and really push yourself. Choose the hilly walk in your neighborhood, or jog instead of walking.

You can step up the pace of your strength workout by doing compound exercises — those that work more than one muscle group at a time.

For example, doing squats (with or without weights) works the quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus, and calves. Push-ups involve the pectorals, deltoids, biceps, triceps — even the abdominals and the upper back.

If you’re not the create-your-own workout type, there are fitness videos galore — offering everything from kickboxing to belly dancing to Pilates. You can find them at local bookstores and discount stores, or on the Web. Just be sure to choose one that’s appropriate for your fitness level.

Getting Started

If you’re a beginner, aim for 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise at least three times a week, and 20 to 30 minutes of strength work three times a week. Be sure your strength workout covers all major muscle groups, in your upper body, lower body, abdominals and back. Shoot for three sets of 10-15 repetitions of each strength exercise.

No matter what type of exercise you do, be sure to start slowly and gradually increase your workout time and intensity. And don’t forget to listen to your body, says Weil.

“Focus on the muscles that you think you should be working,” he says. “See if you feel it there. If you’re working your abs and you feel it in your neck, then it’s not right. Close your eyes and start to tune in to your body.”

Continued

It’s also important to stay tuned in to what motivates you.

Working out at home has obvious advantages. But there are obstacles, too: distractions from the phone, the kids, the dog, the Internet and the refrigerator can derail a workout. And that’s if you can get started in the first place. When you’re at home, it’s easy to find something else that needs to be done.

A good way to stay motivated and avoid distractions, the experts say, is to exercise early in the day. Morning exercisers are more likely to stick with their workouts, according to American Council on Exercise spokesperson Kelli Calabrese, MS, ACE, CSCS.

“Get (the workout) over with first thing in the morning, then get on with your day,” says Weil.

Tips for home exercisers

The experts offer some other tips for home exercisers:

• Challenge yourself and avoid boredom. At home, you won’t have the variety of equipment and classes that are available at a gym. So surf the Internet and browse fitness magazines to check out new workouts and make sure you’re exercising correctly. “Pictures are everything. Use them as a guide for form and technique,” Swain says.
• Find an exercise partner. You’ll be less likely to find excuses when you’ve arranged to work out with a friend.
• Schedule your workouts. “Have a plan,” says Calabrese. “Look at a planner and write out your exercise appointments one month in advance. If something comes up and you have to change one, reschedule it immediately.”
• Use a journal to track your progress and jot down any breakthroughs you may have. When you have a bad day, write that down, too, to help you to find patterns you can break. For example, you may find an egg-white omelet gets you through your morning workout better than a bagel.
• Set goals, like training for a race or losing 20 pounds. “A goals should be something you can’t do right now, but you know is within your reach,” Calabrese says. Give yourself mini-rewards along the way: a new fitness magazine, those workout tights you’ve been eyeing, or a new pair of sneakers.
• Perhaps most important, make exercise as integral to your life as sleeping and eating, says Swain. “You have to think of it as a lifestyle change. It doesn’t end. Get out of the mind frame that exercise is something you’re only going to do for a period of time.”

Originally published Dec. 19, 2003
Medically updated Dec. 14, 2005.

Sources

SOURCES: Kevin Steele, PhD, exercise physiologist; vice president, 24 Hour Fitness Centers, San Ramon, Calif. Richard Weil, MEd, CDE, exercise physiologist; consultant, WebMD Weight Loss Clinic. Kelli Calabrese, MS, ACE, CSCS, spokesperson, American Council on Exercise. Tony Swain, MS, director of fitness, East Bank Club, Chicago.

As everyone is stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, without access to our usual workout studios or fitness equipment, we’re getting creative with our exercises. While there are countless household items that double as workout equipment, it’s also worth noting that you can weight train without weights. Seriously.

Olympic weightlifter Allan Contreras, a coach at Future training, knows this firsthand. As someone who competes (in the Olympics, no less) by lifting heavy weights, he’s in the same situation as the rest of the world, unable to train in the usual, out-of-the-house manner. What’s an Olympic weightlifter to do? Work with his own body weight.

“I turn to some of my go-to bodyweight exercises, which I do three times a week in the morning,” says Contreras, noting that they help to wake his body up and work all of his muscles. The moves that he turns to work together for full-body strength, gets his body working on multiple planes (think lateral movements), strengthen his stabilizer muscles, and all essentially make his body more primed to take on heavy weights again once he’s able to do so. Keep scrolling for his go-to at-home workout—zero equipment needed.

How to weight train without weights

For Contreras’ recommended workout that puts all of the moves together, he suggests:

1. Push-ups: 3 sets, 15 reps
2. High plank: 3 sets of a 30-second hold
3. Three-way lunge matrix: 5 sets, 5 reps (side, back, and forward equals one rep)
4. Jump squats: 5 sets of 3 reps
5. Sumo squat hold: 3 sets of a 30-second hold

If you’re used to working out at a gym, with all the machines, equipment, and space that comes with it, adjusting to at-home fitness is a challenge. Sure, no-equipment workouts will keep you moving and sweating, but I won’t deny that I’ve been missing the weight rack. Lifting does amazing things for your body and I miss progressing to heavier weights, getting stronger, and building muscle.

Instead of weights, I’ve been lifting (don’t laugh) cans of chickpeas during my morning workouts. Even if you have a better home gym setup than me, or you managed to buy some dumbbells before they sold out everywhere, chances are whatever weights you have are lighter and less varied than you’re used to. It’s frustrating to drop down to a lighter weight and feel like you’re stalling your progress or not getting the most out of your at-home workouts. But according to Tom Holland, MS, CSCS, exercise physiologist and Bowflex fitness adviser, those lighter dumbbells can still help you strengthen your muscles.

Can I Get Stronger With Light Weights?

“While lifting heavier weights is a simple way to increase your strength, you can also do so with lighter weights and your bodyweight,” Holland told POPSUGAR. Repetitions, sets, and load (weight) are the factors that determine how effective a strength workout will be, he explained. “When the load is lighter, you can increase the stimulus by increasing one or both of the other two variables.” In other words, if you can’t increase your weight, you can still make your workout challenging by upping the reps, the total sets, or both.

“Even if you’re used to working out with heavier weights, adding in a lighter weight workout can provide much-needed variation, challenging your muscles in a new way,” Holland said.

How to Work Out With Light Weights

Holland suggested a few effective ways to make your workout more challenging when you only have light weights (or, you know, cans of chickpeas).

• Do more reps. When you’re lifting moderate to heavy weights, you should do three to five sets of six to 12 reps per exercise. Try going a little higher when you’re working out with lighter weights — enough reps that the workout is challenging, but you can still maintain your form.
• Incorporate isometric holds into your exercises. Isometric holds force you to maintain the stress on your muscles by pausing when the work is the hardest. You can mix them into exercises that aren’t isometric by nature to increase the burn in your muscles. Try holding for three to five seconds at the top of a lateral raise, pausing in the middle of a bicep curl, or holding the squat in your burpee.
• Slow down your reps. “Try using a five second up, five second down protocol to really up the intensity,” Holland said.
• Double up your dumbbells. If you really want a challenge, Holland said, hold both weights in one hand for single-arm moves like a triceps kickback. You can also double up for moves like goblet squats, Russian twists, and low-to-high woodchops. Make sure you can safely hold both weights at once before doubling up for an exercise.

Holland said that circuit training is a great way to maximize results with lighter weights. (Here’s an example of a circuit workout you can do with weights or weight substitutes.) “You can also use lighter weights with certain moves in Pilates and yoga, such as plank rotations and Pilates 100s,” Holland said.

To sum it all up, if you’re left without your usual selection of heavier weights, grab your lighter dumbbells (or dumbbell substitutes — here are a few to try) and get creative with your reps, tempo, and exercises to get the same strengthening burn you know and love.

By Dr. Jordan Metzl and Karen Barrow

Video by Bows & Arrows

Want to get strong, but don’t have time for a gym? Strength training is key for increasing flexibility, reducing injury risk and maintaining an overall healthy body. The best part is that it doesn’t have to take long. Here we’ll teach you a simple nine-minute-long strength training program that you can complete in your own home. All you need is a set of dumbbells (or another type of weight), a clock and the goal of building a stronger body.

Spend 9 Minutes With Your Weights

How to Do It

The following nine moves are strength training exercises that you may have seen before. Alone, they each work a set group of muscles, but strung together in one-minute intervals, these nine exercises become a complete, whole-body workout.

We’ve broken down the nine exercises into three sets of three. Before you begin each set, set a timer (or workout near a watch with a second hand.) If you are just starting to work out, do each exercise as hard as you can for one minute, followed by the next, until you complete the first set. Then, take a one minute break before moving on to set two, in which the exercises should also be performed for one minute each.

Ultimately, you’ll complete the whole workout, having completed nine minutes of training with three minutes of break in between.

Do this workout two to three times a week for maximum benefits.

Worksheet

How to Build Muscle in 9 Minutes

Click here to download a simple chart of this workout. Save it to your desktop or print it so you can easily complete the 9-Minute Muscle-Building Workout, no matter where you are.

How Heavy Should My Weights Be?

Weighted workouts can be done with many types of weights, including medicine balls, sandbags and dumbbells. For the purposes of this workout, try to find dumbbells that have either a square or hexagonal end that is rubberized. This shape allows for maximum stability while performing the exercises we’ll be doing.

If you’re just starting out, a five-pound weight should do it. As you get stronger, increase the weight you use.

How do I know if my weights are heavy enough? Check your form. This workout involves many repetitions of the same exercise and you will know you are using the correct weight if your form stays consistent between the first part of a repetition set and the end. For example, a row from plank should look the same on repetition number 10 as it does in repetition number two, even if the effort is much greater. If your form is wobbly by the end, drop down the weight amount until you’re able to find consistency. Don’t forget that working with weights is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Your body also provides resistance. Try our 9-Minute Strength Workout for a weight-free option.

Related Guide

The 9-Minute Strength Workout

Strength training is the key to flexibility, improved performance and lower injury risk. Do you have nine minutes?

Ready to give it a try? Grab a set of dumbbells, lace up your sneakers and let’s do it.

Set 1: Rows From Plank, Dumbbell Step-up and Upright Dumbbell Row

For beginners: Do each of the exercises in this set for one minute each, not stopping between exercises.

Rows From Plank

Planks work your core and glutes, but by adding a simple row to a plank, you add toning for your arms and back.

Be careful: Plank pose can be hard on your wrists.

Modify it: Place your knees on the floor as you do plank to reduce the weight resting on your wrists.

How to Do Rows From Plank

The exercise turns a simple plank into an upper body workout as well.

Dumbbell Step-Up

Find a sturdy bench or step for this exercise, which will help tone your legs and lower back. It’s especially good for people with lower back problems.

Modify It: If you find this exercise too challenging, try it without the weights first.

Challenge Yourself: Challenge yourself by choosing a taller bench or step to do the exercise with.

How to Do a Dumbbell Step-Up

Tone your legs and lower back with this simple exercise.

Upright Dumbbell Row

This exercise works the muscles in your upper back and shoulders. Try it with dumbbells, kettlebells or even with two cans from your pantry.

Be careful: Don’t try to lift weights that are too heavy. Heavy weights increase your risk for shoulder and back injuries.

Modify it: If you are doing this exercise at the gym, try using a lightweight barbell.

How to Do an Upright Dumbbell Row

Work your upper back and shoulders with this simple exercise.

Set 2: Dumbbell Offset Reverse Lunge, Hammer Curl and Dumbbell Squat

Take a one minute break after the first set of exercises. Now you’re ready for set No. 2. Like in set No. 1, perform each exercise for one minute and then move onto the next for a total of three minutes of exercise.

Dumbbell Offset Reverse Lunge

This is a great exercise to work your legs and core. It also builds shoulder strength and improves balance.

Be careful: When doing the lunge, make sure your knee doesn’t bend and move past your toe.

How to Do a Dumbbell Offset Reverse Lunge

Improve your balance and build strength in your legs and core with this exercise.

Pushup-Position Hammer Curl

Looking for toned arms? Look no further. This exercise works your arms and core at the same time.

Be careful: As you progress, increase the amount of weight you hold in each hand, but don’t speed up your pace.

Modify it: If this is too challenging to do in a full push up position, try dropping your knees to the floor. That will reduce the weight resting on your upper body.

Working out with lighter weights can help you focus on the muscles that you’re actually trying to target!

The debate between light and heavy weights is a recurring one in the fitness world. Is it better to do more repetitions of a strength-training exercise using less weight or fewer repetitions with more weight? The jury’s still out on which is more effective. However, studies back the theory of using lighter weights to deliver pretty impressive results. Furthermore, Caleb Backe , certified personal trainer and health and wellness expert for Maple Holistics, explains that this method of using fewer weights is proven to increase levels of testosterone in men. This is definitely an added bonus. “Additionally, using lighter weights usually means [that] you will have better form, better range of motion, and can isolate muscle use,” he adds. Here are some ways to take your strength workouts with light weights to the next level.

Looking to get into a regular strength training regimen? Check out the classes available on Aaptiv.

Train with lower rest intervals.

It’s no secret that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the most efficient ways to stay in shape—and that goes for strength training, too. Light weights are ideal for HIIT-based strength workouts. “In addition to burning more calories and increasing metabolism, lightweight high-intensity workouts increase the amount of lactic acid you produce,” says Backe. “This organic compound is produced in your muscle tissues. [It] can accelerate the number of growth hormones your brain makes.” Decrease your rest time between sets of reps to keep your heart rate elevated and your muscles burning.

Add different rotations.

“With lighter weights, we can play with different rotations to challenge our muscles differently without stressing our joints,” says Lisa Corsello , celebrity fitness instructor and founder of Burn Pilates in San Francisco. “For example, turning your palms in, out, and up with free weights can work accessory muscles in your upper body. Turning your toes out and changing your stance can make the lower body work more intense.”

Try different rotations and directions when performing moves, such as squats and shoulder press. Small changes with light weights can have a major impact on targeting muscles you might normally miss.

Focus on good form.

Shifting your focus towards maintaining proper form is one easy way to get more out of your workout. An added bonus is it helps prevent injury. “The proper form allows you to maximize your energy output, allowing you to get even more reps in each set,” says Backe. “Better efficiency means more oxygen flow. [This] also contributes to more reps.” Lastly, he adds that using the correct form enables you to target the intended muscles. Therefore, you don’t need the unintended, compensatory muscles to pick up the slack. This also helps you to avoid injury.

Aaptiv strength classes have visual guides that show your form cues and muscles targeted, so you can focus more on getting in a good workout, and less on “am I doing this right?”

Take advantage of resistance training exercises.

Strength training with the use of resistance to build muscle doesn’t require heavy weights. Resistance training with light weights is a great way to build and maintain lean muscle mass, according to Backe. “In essence, resistance training works to increase muscle endurance and tone. [It] forces the muscle cells to contract and tear, ultimately to be rebuilt bigger and stronger,” he says. “Additionally, these workouts raise metabolic rates. In turn, [they] help maintain a healthy body weight.”

Do some combo movements.

With lighter weights, it’s safer to combine lower and upper body movements, according to Corsello. “Sumo squats with shoulder presses can put a lot of strain on the lower back with heavyweights,” she says. While, with lighter weights, you can get more extension and focus on form. These are two important factors that help intensify your strength workouts with light weights.

Add light weights to your legs routine.

The combination of light weights and high reps may or may not be ideal for toning. However, according to Backe, it is great for practical muscle uses. “By incorporating light weight exercises to your legs routine, you can begin to challenge your muscles and develop remarkable endurance,” he adds. “This is especially important for runners, cyclists, and all other athletes who are looking to gain an edge.”

Looking for more cross-training workouts? Look no further than Aaptiv.

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Stuck inside? Yeah, I know you are. Me too. With the Covid-19 pandemic raging, it hasn’t been easy to maintain almost any normal routines, and that includes weight lifting. But if you don’t maintain, you lose your gains.

We’re all trying our best to work out from home, but many people rely on the gym—and many are still closed. Running won’t have the same effect as lifting weights—and bodyweight exercises, in which you use only your own weight for resistance, can’t substitute for the barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells you’re used to.

My solution: I wear a 65-pound weighted vest (here’s a good, similar one). I discovered it years ago when I was training for mountain climbs. At the time, I had to simulate the weight of walking up a mountain with a heavy pack on my back, and I wasn’t able to take other climbers’ advice and hike a nearby hill with a backpack full of sandbags because, well, I live in New York City. It just isn’t feasible. So I picked up my gym’s only weighted vest and hit the stair-climbing machine. It didn’t take long to realize this thing would be great with other exercises, especially ones that focus on working the body’s core, such as planks.

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Weighted vests are covered in pockets on the outside and come with a bunch of small, brick-shaped weights that fit in them. The total weight varies based on the vest you buy, but most are 40 to 80 pounds. Say you buy a 60-pound weighted vest. It might have 20 pockets with 20 three-pound weights. Add or remove bricks to dial in the weight you want. Nothing is going to substitute for a squat rack at home, unless you lose your mind and weld a bar to a couple of kitchen appliances.

There’s a trade-off between maximum weight and mobility:

For toning: If you’re trying to simulate a CrossFit workout and are more interested in toning your body or burning calories doing cardio, you can get away with a hyper-mobile 20- or 30-pound vest, like this one.

For building muscle: Go for a vest with lots of pockets and weights, like this one; you’ll be able to do a lot more muscle building with a vest that tops out at 60 or 80 pounds, and you don’t need as much mobility for most of the heavy-lifting exercises.

In general, the brands Hyperwear, CAP, and RunFast seem to work pretty well.

The beauty of bodyweight exercises is that you can do most of them anywhere and, unlike a lot of machine exercises, they work several muscles groups. And they can be upgraded with a weighted vest. Squats, for example, are easy to adopt to a weighted vest. Just do them like normal, with your arms crossed in front of you instead of using a bar. You don’t have to change your technique. Pay attention to choosing the right weight, though. You might not be able to go straight to maxing out a fully weighted vest. Same goes for lunges and step-ups.

For certain exercises, such as Spider-mans, mountain climbers, planks, push-ups, and pull-ups, a weighted vest is the only way to add weight. Remember to work up to heavier weights as part of a solid workout plan, as if you were using traditional plate weights on a barbell or progressing through heavier pairs of dumbbells.

If you’re thinking, “Hey, Matt, you’re forgetting about ankle weights,” I’m not forgetting them. I’m overlooking them. They put stress on your knees, won’t get up to anywhere near the max weight of a vest (I hope not, at least), and they won’t add functional weight to some exercises, like push-ups, mountain climbers, and so on.

If you’re a hardcore weight lifter, you should have realistic expectations for what the weighted vest will and won’t do for you. Even loaded up to 60 or 70 pounds, a weight-vest squat isn’t going to pack on the muscle the way a 240-pound squat will. But using it with the right exercises can put some muscle on your frame and tone your body, and using it regularly can help stave off muscle loss as you wait to get back in the gym. Do a set of push-ups with 60 pounds on your back. It’s not easy. And in exercising, “not easy” means good.

The point isn’t that this will replicate exactly lunges with kettlebells in your hands or a lat pull-down machine. Wearing the weight keeps it centered on your body, which isn’t necessarily better or worse than holding two kettlebells by your side or a pair of dumbbells over your shoulders. It’s just different.

After you’re able to start going to the gym again, you can keep incorporating a vest into your workouts. You can return to (or start) barbell squats and dumbbell bench presses as soon as you can get back to your heavy equipment, but there will be a place for the weighted vest in your routine. It allows you to do things you otherwise can’t, such as beefing up lunges to warm up, souping up planks to work your core, and supercharging push-ups and pull-ups—fantastic exercises that many serious lifters keep in their tool box even when the rest of their routine is heavy iron.

If you’re feeling out of shape, now’s a great time to wear your weights.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley Farley

The butterfly press, or fly, is an exercise that strengthens the pectoral (chest) muscles and is typically performed with a weight machine or a cable weight machine at a health club. You might have instances, however, in which you want to perform this movement with free weights instead of a larger machine. Strengthening the chest is important for everyday movements and for improving your overall physical fitness.

Step 1

Select the type of free weight you wish to use. Dumbbells, resistance bands and kettlebells are all examples of weights with which you can perform this exercise. Choose a light weight of 5 to 10 lbs. and gradually increase the weights as you build muscle.

Step 2

Lie on a bench with your back and head flat and place your feet firmly on the floor. Start with the weights straight over your chest with a slight bend in your elbows. Face your palms toward each other. This is the starting position for the exercise.

Step 3

Lower the weights slowly outward to the sides of your body. Go as low as you can but stop when your arms are parallel to the ground. Hold in the lowered position for one second, then raise the weights slowly back over your body to the starting position. Maintain the same arc in your arms when lifting and lowering.

Step 4

Complete the appropriate number of sets and repetitions. If you wish to build more muscle, use a slightly heavier weight and complete three to five sets of six to eight repetitions. If your goal is to build more muscular endurance, use a lighter weight and complete two to four sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.

Things You’ll Need

When you reach the bottom position of the butterfly press, make sure your elbows are pointed directly toward the floor. At the top of the butterfly press, your elbows should point outward, away from your body.

Warning

If you’re using dumbbells or kettlebells, use a spotter during this exercise. The spotter should keep their hands near your wrists to assist you with the butterfly press, if necessary.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Lisa Maloney, CPT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jody Braverman, CPT, FNS, RYT

A strong back is a healthy back. Weak back muscles can lead to poor posture and back pain and can affect your performance in your favorite sport. Strong back muscles support your spine, improve your posture and enable you to bend, flex and rotate your torso with ease — not to mention, they look great come beach and pool season.

Gaining functional back strength and better muscle tone doesn’t require heavy weights, just your own body weight and a few simple pieces of equipment.

Superman Exercise

Supermans work your entire back, strengthening the erector spinae muscles that support the spine.

How to: Lie face down on an exercise mat with your legs together and your arms extended over your head. Keeping your core muscles contracted, lift your arms, chest and legs off the mat. Hold for 1 to 5 seconds at the top, then lower back down.

Technique tips: Keep the neck long and in line with the spine. Pull the shoulder blades together. Exhale as you rise up, inhale as you lower down. Continue to breathe during the hold, taking shallow breaths. Use the back muscles rather than the glutes to power the lift.

Marching Bridge

A variation on a static bridge in which both feet stay on the floor, this exercise ups the challenge by requiring you to lift one foot off the floor at a time. The exercise targets the stabilizer muscles of your back, including the erector spinae.

How to: Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms alongside your body with the palms down. Press into the feet and lift your hips up. Keeping your core contracted, lift one foot off the floor at a time, place it back down, then lift the other foot. Continue alternating, or marching in place.

Technique tips: This is also a great glute exercise, but avoid letting your glutes do all the work. If you feel your glutes squeezing together, release them. You also want to avoid arching your lower back. Once you’ve mastered lifting each foot a few inches off the ground, you can progress to extending the lifted leg before setting the foot down again.

Pull-Ups

Pull-ups are the go-to exercise for building strength in the latissumus dorsi, the back muscles that wrap around the sides of your torso. Start with an assisted pull-up and work your way up to unassisted pull-ups. You can use a pull-up bar or any bar that’s high enough for you to hang from without your feet touching the floor.

How to: For an assisted pull-up, loop an exercise band over the bar. Pull the bottom loop of the band down and put one foot into it like a stirrup. Jump up and grab on to the pull-up bar with an under- or overhanded grip and engage your lat muscles. Pull yourself up until your chin passes the bar. Slowly lower yourself back to your starting position.

Gradually lessen the resistance of the exercise band you use until you’re able to do an unassisted pull-up.

Technique tips: Wrap your free leg around your stirruped leg for more control. Don’t return to a dead hang at the end of each rep; maintain the engagement of your lats and come down until your arms are almost straight, then pull back up again. Use breath control for more power — breathe out as you pull yourself up and breathe in as you lower down.

Inverted Row

Inverted rows target the whole upper back, as well as the biceps. You can do them with rings or suspension trainers, but you can also use the edge of a sturdy table. If you use a table, your body will be positioned underneath the table.

How to: Grasp the rings, strap or table edge with your hands a little wider than your shoulders. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Contract your core muscles so that your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Bend your elbows and pull up until your chest comes in contact with the handles or table edge. Lower back down to the start with control.

To make the exercise more challenging, walk your feet further away from your body.

Technique tips: Focus on using your back muscles rather than your arms to do most of the work by squeezing your shoulder blades together as you pull. Keep your core contracted throughout the movement, and don’t allow your hips to sag toward the floor. Exhale as you pull up and inhale on the way down.

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• How to Perform Bicep Workouts Without Using Weights

Bicep workouts without using weights allow you to exercise at places with limited equipments. Don’t know where to start? Follow our workout guidelines here!

Increasing bicep mass will help you improve your overall arm strength. Lifting weights is commonly recommended for those attempting to work their biceps, but there are also many exercises that you can perform at home with limited equipments. This makes it easier to work out on a regular basis without having to invest a lot of money to a gym membership or weight set.

Video of Bicep Workouts Without Weights

Best Bicep Workouts Without Using Any Weights

Using lower weights or eliminating the weights from your routine will allow you to perform more reps when you exercise. Perform these exercises with a high amount of reps, as many as 60-100 each, and increase your number of sets as you begin to develop more muscle. Common exercises that allow you to build bicep muscles without weights include:

1. Pushups

Pushups are an ideal exercise to help you build muscle in the chest, triceps and shoulders as well as the biceps.

• Place your hands about shoulder width on the floor with your palms turned slightly inward.
• Stretch your body out so your hands are touching the floor and the rest of your body makes a smooth plank.
• Lower yourself to the floor by bending your arms, then push your arms straight to raise yourself back up and repeat.

Experiment with moving your hands closer or farther apart to make the exercise more difficult as you progress.

2. Handstand Pushups

Once you are ready to increase the difficulty of your pushup routine, begin to elevate the feet.

• You can start by placing your feet on a chair and work your way up to a full handstand as your strength increases.
• Performing a handstand against a wall will help you keep your balance.
• Once you are in the handstand position, lower yourself down by bending your arms the same way you would for a standard pushup.
• Then straighten them to push yourself back up.

Like traditional pushups you can experiment with different hand placements to make the exercise more difficult as necessary.

3. Chin Ups or Pull Ups

Among all bicep workouts without weights, this one must be added into your routine. Here’s how to do it:

• Grab a bar using an underhand grip and then hang down.
• Hang at a point that gives you a proper stretch in your lats, and then pull yourself up until your chest hits the bar.
• Lower yourself slowly and repeat.
• To switch it up, you can perform this exercise with an overhand grip, having your hands face opposite directions or turn the hands so they are facing each other (parallel grip).

4. Bicep Curl

Bicep curls can be performed with or without weights based on your preference. Any heavy object that helps to provide resistance can be used as a weight for this purpose. Resistance bands can also provide the necessary tension to increase the difficulty of this exercise.

• Hold your arms down at your sides, then curl them up toward you, bending your arm at the elbows.
• Lower the arm back to the starting position and repeat as necessary.
• Time your breathing, inhaling when you lift and exhaling as you lower your arm for better results.

5. Inverted Rows

• To perform inverted rows, lie on the ground on your back with something you can grab onto above you. A bar or a table is typically recommended for this purpose.
• Grab onto your object and pull yourself upwards, hold yourself in place for a few seconds, and then lower yourself back to the ground.

6. Half-Moon Rotations

• Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart and the toes facing forward.
• Lift the arms so they are parallel with the shoulders and the palms facing down.
• Rotate the arm so the palm is facing up, then rotate them back so the arm is facing down.

This exercise is intended to be performed with a high number of reps for the best results.

Suggestions for Bicep Workouts Without Weights

If you are not using weights to perform your exercises, you may not build bicep muscle as quickly. Creating a regular routine and making a point of continuing your overall strength training will help you build muscle over time that will give you the strength results you desire.

There are a few tricks you should employ to add resistance to your exercises if you do not use weights.

• Lower the wait time between sets so your body does not have time to cool down while you exercise. This will provide natural resistance as your muscles begin to tighten.
• When you perform exercises, hold your position for a few seconds before releasing to force the muscles to work harder.
• Increase your hold time as your muscles become more toned and it is easier for you to complete your routine.
• Some trainers also recommend that you flex and hold your pose for several seconds throughout the day to take advantage of Iso-tension that will allow you to build muscle.

The universe of squats is practically infinite. We’ve found many variations of this exercise with those that mainly work the leg muscles, as well as the buttocks and even the torso or, some variations also work the arms. When using weights, you have a choice of using bars, kettlebells, medicine balls or dumbbells. We’ll focus on dumbbells in this article. If you have questions about this topic, this OneHowTo gives you a few tips on how to do squats with dumbbells.

The first question to answer is which dumbbell do you use? Do you use a 5 or a 15 kilo dumbbell? Obviously there are several factors that influence the answer, such as the individual’s physical ability, their experience, the number of repetitions to do, etc. It’s recommended you start with light weights and as you start to get used to the technique, then you can start using heavier weights.

Of course, bear in mind that you have to do 10 or 12 repetitions per set, so a very heavy dumbbell can cause you to become imbalanced, so you could damage your back or knees.

Once this question is answered, pick up a dumbbell in each hand and stand in the starting position. This is similar to that of normal squats with your feet open at shoulder height, taut abs and a straight torso. Your feet and knees must be pointing in the same direction.

Then bend your knees and start to squat down, which must always be in a controlled way. If you allow yourself to drop down without controlling the movement as you lower yourself, you can lose your balance or hurt your knees. Squat until you form a 90º angle and return to the initial position without lifting your heels off the ground at any point.

Normally, you do squats with light weight dumbbells so it allows you to do a double squat. Take your dumbbells in both hands and lower yourself down as if you’re doing a regular squat. Unlike with a conventional squat, when you’ve lowered yourself down, instead of coming straight back up, just move slightly up and down again, before returning to the start position.

A good routine would be:

Starting position > lower to 90º > rise up to a ¾ squat > lower back to 90º > return to the starting position.

You can also do overhead squats with dumbbells or Turkish Get Ups, which is one of the most comprehensive exercises for exercising the muscles in the lower limbs, the torso and even the upper body. The key part of this exercise is keeping the dumbbell above your head.

Lift the dumbbell over your head, and squat down as if you’re doing a normal squat. It looks easy but it’s not. You can make this easier or harder by holding the dumbbell with both hands, one hand or with a dumbbell in each hand.

Finally, you can use dumbbells to do sumo or open squats. Spread your legs beyond shoulder width, with your knees and toes pointed out in the form of V, and hold the dumbbell in front of your body. Lower yourself to the floor until your backside and knees are parallel, and remember to keep your torso straight.

If you want to read similar articles to How to Do Squats with Dumbbells, we recommend you visit our Fitness category.

Do either of these scenarios sound like you? You’ve been on a weight training plan for a while now and the results seem to have leveled off. Your weight lifting routine has become a bit easy and you’re not feeling “wiped-out” after a session like you did when you first started. And now you’re wondering if you should increase your weights.

Congratulations … you’ve hit a strength plateau which means you’re now ready to lift more weights!

The thought of lifting heavier weights may make you feel a bit hesitant because of the dreaded, “I’m going to bulk-up” misconception. Increasing weights is a natural progression in your workout routine that must be addressed in order to get the results you want.

While some people may be content to lift the same amount of weight for months, or even years on end, they are doing their body a disservice by not challenging their muscles to continually work harder and become stronger.

Increasing resistance is based on the good old overload principle of strength training that states in order to build strength, the muscles must work harder than they are accustomed to. This “overload” will then result in improved strength as the body adapts to the stress placed upon it.

Each individual person has a certain level of strength that they begin at. To become stronger they must regularly increase the weight or resistance that their muscles work against, which then causes them to adapt to this new level. Muscles will then respond to this overload by becoming stronger and eventually lead to better workout results such as increased lean body mass, decreased fat and enhanced self-confidence.

Now that we’ve determined that lifting heavier weights is a good thing, let’s map out a plan as to how to actually do it!

Here are a Few Simple Steps to Follow:

Start Small

For many, simply determining what weight they should use for a resistance exercise can be a daunting task. I suggest starting with a light weight (maybe 50% less than what you think you would use for that particular exercise) to get a feel for the exercise and performing it with proper form. From there, gradually work your way up to performing a few reps at a time until you find a weight that challenges you to slow down in order to complete your reps with good form. Note that weight and that is a good starting point for what you should use on that exercise.

How Often Should You Increase Your Weights?

As your body acclimates to a prescribed rep and set scheme (example: 3 sets of 8-10 reps), you’ll gain a better understanding of knowing when a weight has become too easy. I like to use the last few reps on a set as a good indicator. Say you’re doing a set of 10 dumbbell shoulder presses and reps 8, 9 and 10 were fairly easy and you performed the set with little to no struggle at the end. Could you have done another 1, 2 or 3 more reps? If so, that’s a good sign that it’s time to bump it up! On the flip side, if you struggled and could barely finish your last couple of reps with good form, than you are NOT ready to increase your weights on that particular exercise. Keep at it until those final reps start to feel easier.

Another good indicator is the speed of the exercise and how you feel after you complete your prescribed sets. If your last few reps are slow and strenuous and you feel out of breath, then you’re probably using the right level of resistance. If you find yourself flying through the set with the last few reps just as easy as the all the others, than you know it’s time to go heavier.

How Much Weight Should You Add?

Now that you’ve determined you need to increase your resistance on an exercise, how do you know how much weight to add? The key here is to increase slowly. If you’re using free weights such as dumbbells, the progression is fairly simple … just jump to the next weight up (usually a 5 lb. increase in most dumbbell sets). Many machines will have 2.5 weight increments, so just move up slowly and use your last few reps as a gauge to determine if you’ve found your new weight.

As a rule, many fitness professionals will say not to increase your weight by more than 10% at a time. So if you are currently lifting 100 pounds on a barbell squat, add no more than 10 lbs. when it’s time to increase the weight.

Keep A Log

You’ll see many lifters keep a journal of their workouts. This can be a valuable tool in assessing progress and knowing how far you’ve come in your fitness journey. Simply track your exercises, reps and sets as well as the weight used for each. Fitness logs can help you determine what area you might need to work more on (example: your bench press hasn’t gone up in a long time, so maybe it’s time to add in a new upper body exercise such as push-ups to help you bust through that plateau). You can also jot down brief notes on each workout that can help you know when you’re at your best/worst (“got 8 hours of sleep last night…workout felt great today,” “skipped breakfast this morning, workout was tough today,” “added yoga on non-lifting days…feeling fresh and recovered for strength workouts).

Bottom Line

Because of the body’s amazing ability to adapt, there comes a time where light weight can be a waste of time. Embrace the challenge and push yourself on the last few reps of each set and see how that can jump-start your results and change your body for the better.

About the writer: Ken Grall is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and owns and operates an Edge Fitness in Madison, Wisconsin. Learn more about Ken.

The Best Free Weight Exercises

Plus the pros and cons of each type of free weight

When you’re new to the gym the free weights room can seem a daunting place, and many people steer clear to focus on bodyweight exercises and fixed weight machines instead. But while there’s nothing wrong with kit-free and fixed weight workouts, there’s also no reason at all to avoid free weights, because with the right exercise selection beginners can get just as much out of them as experienced gym-goers.

Before you get going with free weights, however, it’s wise to bone up on the different types available, because they each have their pros and cons. To help, we asked Ant Nyman, owner of Antics Fitness and Multipower ambassador, for the skinny on the different types of free weights.

Dumbbells

The most popular type of free weight, dumbbells are a great addition to your home gym and the first port of call for many gym newbies.

“Dumbbells can be extremely effective because you have to use each side of your body individually,” says Nyman. “This helps ensure you don’t have any body parts that lag behind, because your weaker side can’t rely on your stronger side to do the rep.

“The uneven and unstable nature of using dumbbells will also ensure your core gets a good workout as it’ll be fighting to keep you stable throughout the movement.

The primary downside of dumbbells is that you can’t stack huge amounts of weight on them.

“If you want to lift as heavy as possible and focus on compound moves like squats and deadlifts, a barbell will be more effective,” says Nyman.

Ready to get started? Here are the best dumbbell exercises for every level of gym-goer and if you want a set for your home, try our round-up of the best dumbbells.

Kettlebells

If you’re a fan of functional training, you should be using kettlebells, because their shape and the way you hold them allows you to mimic natural movements more easily than with dumbbells.

“Exercises like kettlebell swings help you to build up your glute strength while your body swings and your hips thrust in a natural pattern,” says Nyman.

However, as with dumbbells, there’s a limit to how heavy you can go with kettlebells, so Nyman recommends not simply trying to lift as heavy a bell as possible – there are smarter ways to use them.

“You’re better off aiming for high reps or time under tension to build muscular endurance and stamina,” says Nyman.

Check out the best kettlebell exercises for beginner, intermediate and advanced gym-goers, and we also have a buyer’s guide to the best kettlebells so you can select the finest set for home use.

Barbells and plates

Here’s where it gets really heavy.

“If you’re looking to build strength and size, you’ll want to lift as heavy a weight as possible – making sure you’re doing so with perfect form,” says Nyman. “This is where barbells and plates come into their own.

“You do barbell exercises using both sides of your body, which means you’re able to lift a lot more weight. It’s also far more stable and balanced than using dumbbells, but you’ll still have to use your core because it’s less stable than using machines.”

Before you head straight for the barbell, remember there are downsides too. Using them can be tough on your wrists and you can’t move as freely as with dumbbells or kettlebells.

“You’re a little limited in your range of movement when using a barbell,” says Nyman. “There are certain exercises like the bench press where you’re forced to stop because of the bar, rather than where your flexibility would allow you to move.”

Ready to start using the barbell? Try our pick of seven essential barbell exercises you should be doing.

When looking at ab training, you are without a doubt, spoiled for choice. There are so many workouts and a humongous number of exercises at your fingertips, ranging from beginner level fitness through to extreme body conditioning.

It can all be quite daunting and mundane when we get down to it. Things might easily feel repetitive with everything being similar in motion, but there are ways you can change the game, and go for even more straightforward exercises that are much more rewarding. Weighted ab exercises do just that.

Starting off easy, Russian twists are one of the easiest exercises that you can use to add weights to your ab training. They have a good motion range to hit your oblique muscles, with more than enough stability to hold a weight of your choice comfortably without much risk. The time under strain will hit your upper and mid ab section, and the movement will hit your obliques.

For the best use of the weighted variation, you need to lay on the floor with your abs contracted so you are essentially at the highest point of a crunch. Have your weight already in hand, usually a dumbbell, and rotate your torso until you are facing one side, then the opposite. Keep doing this for your rep count and then go back down.

If you want to stick with hitting the obliques first, oblique raises are the next logical exercise. As far as weighted ab exercises go, they don’t get much simpler than this while still having such useful results at the end.

The basis of the exercise is to hold the weight to one side of your body, probably with one hand if possible, and then bend your torso sideways creating curves in the sides of your chest. Contract your obliques to straighten yourself back upwards, and they will move the entirety of the weight!

Weighted ab exercises are so often done with weight plates and dumbbells that it can be easy to forget about your other options. Using cable exercises like wood chops is the perfect opportunity to look at how you can hit your whole core muscle range at once. This will benefit all your ab muscles.

To do them, you need to stand to one side of a cable machine with a D handle in both hands, raised above your shoulder. When you’re ready, perform a diagonal downward movement as if you were swinging an axe across your body. This will really be a hard hitter.

Just from the name, inverted wood chops are what you would imagine them to be. They are a useful tool though, as they offer a new angle for you to work with as you hit your abs upwards instead of down. Your muscles are hit twice as hard if you use both wood chops in harmony.

To do these, start with both hands on the D handle attached to the cable at the side of you, from below instead of above. From here, almost like pulling a chord on a lawnmower, pull the cable up and across your body. This will activate your whole abdominal muscle group.

Before we move back to dumbbells from cables, the cable crunch is one of the most popular and iconic weighted ab exercises available. They are extremely common to see in the gym, and they have great results if you can manage to make the most of them. Using the cable is better than using a machine, too!

To do them, you need to be on your knees with the cable attached to a rope in front of you. From this position, focus on contracting your upper abs to bring your whole upper body closer to the floor. The added weight behind you means you can really change the game from a regular crunch.

Next up on our weight ab exercises compilation, we’re going to use a slam or medicine ball. As we’ve already said, it’s always a useful thing to be able to change the equipment that you’re using. Similarly, it’s good to diversify the range of motions that you’re doing so that you can hit your abs correctly.

Slams hit your abs in a way that other exercises don’t really have the chance to do. They are also a plyometric movement which isn’t always something that ab training can give you. To do them, raise the ball above your head to give you the most power possible, and launch the ball to the floor in an explosive burst. This will utilise your upper abs as your torso hurls the weight to the floor and give them a good contraction through it!

Going to the more advanced weighted ab exercises, knee raises are quite tough to use to their full potential. Using a dumbbell between your legs in a safe position makes the exercise even more taxing than it already is, so you’ll need to have a good level of core strength to be able to master it.

With the weight hanging between your legs and you in a stable and balanced position so you won’t drop it, contract your lower abs to bend your knees and bring the weight up to your core. Hold it there for a second or two to make the most of the contraction before you carefully take it back down again.

Last but by absolutely no means least, we have the V pass. This absolute monster of an exercise uses your whole ab range to its full potential, so make sure you use a weight that you’ll be able to manage properly!

Lay flat on your back with your arms extended above your head and your legs straight. Put a medicine ball (or an exercise ball if you can’t manage) and lift them straight up. Do the same with your arms with your upper abs and pass the ball across your body.

These eight ab exercises are all incredible without weight, so once you do add the extra weight, you can have huge benefits.

Your abs will feel an incredible contraction per exercise as they are forced to move weights that they are not used to, and your overall core strength and stability should show drastic improvements. Just be careful when you’re holding weights in new movements so as not to drop them and cause any injury.

Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.

If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.

Toning your arms just got easier with 5-pound weights.

Shapely arms can make the outfit. Think of all the cute tank tops you’ve passed up because you weren’t confident that your arms would show off to their best advantage. With a few exercises that use 5-pound weights for 20 minutes at least three times a week, you can tone those guns and put your long-sleeved shirts away. Use a good mix of exercises that work your triceps and biceps, and always watch your form when lifting up and lowering down. Keep in mind that while 5-pound weights are a great way to start a strength-training program, you can take increase the amount of weight you lift when three sets of eight to 10 reps becomes too easy.

Take a 5-pound weight in each hand and stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the dumbbells against your thighs, palms facing in. On an exhale, turn your palms out and curl your fingers slightly towards you as you slowly raise the weights toward your shoulders. Inhale, and just as slowly, lower the dumbbells to your sides. Start with eight reps and work your way up to three sets of eight reps over time. Bicep curls such as these can be performed standing or sitting, with both weights at once or one at a time. What doesn’t change is how effectively this exercise tones your arm.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and bend forward slightly from your waist while holding a 5lb. weight in each hand for an exercise to tone your triceps. Bend your elbows and hold the weights in front of your chest, palms facing each other. Squeeze your triceps as you straighten your arms slowly behind you. The dumbbells should hover just about level with and behind your buttocks. Slowly return your arms back to the starting position and do seven more reps. Work your way up to three sets of eight reps over time.

Kneel on the floor and rest your forearms on a bench or small table while holding 5lb. weight in each hand. Let your hands dangle freely over the edge of the bench or table. Turn your arms so that your palms are facing each other and bend your elbows to a 90 degree angle. On an inhale rotate your forearms until your palms are facing toward the floor. Exhale and rotate the forearms until your palms face the ceiling. Keep your movements smooth as you angle the weights toward the ceiling and floor on your inhales and exhales respectively. Repeat this sequence until your biceps become fatigued.

Stand with one foot slightly forward of the other for another exercise that will tone your triceps. Wrap both hands around the handle of one 5-pound dumbbell and raise the weight over your head while exhaling. Stop when the dumbbell is over your head and keep your elbows soft. Turns your wrists until your hands are facing forward and while inhaling, keep your upper arms rigid and lower the weight behind your head. Raise the dumbbell on your next inhalation and repeat the maneuver seven more times. Work up to three sets of eight reps as you gain strength.

When looking at ab training, you are without a doubt, spoiled for choice. There are so many workouts and a humongous number of exercises at your fingertips, ranging from beginner level fitness through to extreme body conditioning.

It can all be quite daunting and mundane when we get down to it. Things might easily feel repetitive with everything being similar in motion, but there are ways you can change the game, and go for even more straightforward exercises that are much more rewarding. Weighted ab exercises do just that.

Starting off easy, Russian twists are one of the easiest exercises that you can use to add weights to your ab training. They have a good motion range to hit your oblique muscles, with more than enough stability to hold a weight of your choice comfortably without much risk. The time under strain will hit your upper and mid ab section, and the movement will hit your obliques.

For the best use of the weighted variation, you need to lay on the floor with your abs contracted so you are essentially at the highest point of a crunch. Have your weight already in hand, usually a dumbbell, and rotate your torso until you are facing one side, then the opposite. Keep doing this for your rep count and then go back down.

If you want to stick with hitting the obliques first, oblique raises are the next logical exercise. As far as weighted ab exercises go, they don’t get much simpler than this while still having such useful results at the end.

The basis of the exercise is to hold the weight to one side of your body, probably with one hand if possible, and then bend your torso sideways creating curves in the sides of your chest. Contract your obliques to straighten yourself back upwards, and they will move the entirety of the weight!

Weighted ab exercises are so often done with weight plates and dumbbells that it can be easy to forget about your other options. Using cable exercises like wood chops is the perfect opportunity to look at how you can hit your whole core muscle range at once. This will benefit all your ab muscles.

To do them, you need to stand to one side of a cable machine with a D handle in both hands, raised above your shoulder. When you’re ready, perform a diagonal downward movement as if you were swinging an axe across your body. This will really be a hard hitter.

Just from the name, inverted wood chops are what you would imagine them to be. They are a useful tool though, as they offer a new angle for you to work with as you hit your abs upwards instead of down. Your muscles are hit twice as hard if you use both wood chops in harmony.

To do these, start with both hands on the D handle attached to the cable at the side of you, from below instead of above. From here, almost like pulling a chord on a lawnmower, pull the cable up and across your body. This will activate your whole abdominal muscle group.

Before we move back to dumbbells from cables, the cable crunch is one of the most popular and iconic weighted ab exercises available. They are extremely common to see in the gym, and they have great results if you can manage to make the most of them. Using the cable is better than using a machine, too!

To do them, you need to be on your knees with the cable attached to a rope in front of you. From this position, focus on contracting your upper abs to bring your whole upper body closer to the floor. The added weight behind you means you can really change the game from a regular crunch.

Next up on our weight ab exercises compilation, we’re going to use a slam or medicine ball. As we’ve already said, it’s always a useful thing to be able to change the equipment that you’re using. Similarly, it’s good to diversify the range of motions that you’re doing so that you can hit your abs correctly.

Slams hit your abs in a way that other exercises don’t really have the chance to do. They are also a plyometric movement which isn’t always something that ab training can give you. To do them, raise the ball above your head to give you the most power possible, and launch the ball to the floor in an explosive burst. This will utilise your upper abs as your torso hurls the weight to the floor and give them a good contraction through it!

Going to the more advanced weighted ab exercises, knee raises are quite tough to use to their full potential. Using a dumbbell between your legs in a safe position makes the exercise even more taxing than it already is, so you’ll need to have a good level of core strength to be able to master it.

With the weight hanging between your legs and you in a stable and balanced position so you won’t drop it, contract your lower abs to bend your knees and bring the weight up to your core. Hold it there for a second or two to make the most of the contraction before you carefully take it back down again.

Last but by absolutely no means least, we have the V pass. This absolute monster of an exercise uses your whole ab range to its full potential, so make sure you use a weight that you’ll be able to manage properly!

Lay flat on your back with your arms extended above your head and your legs straight. Put a medicine ball (or an exercise ball if you can’t manage) and lift them straight up. Do the same with your arms with your upper abs and pass the ball across your body.

These eight ab exercises are all incredible without weight, so once you do add the extra weight, you can have huge benefits.

Your abs will feel an incredible contraction per exercise as they are forced to move weights that they are not used to, and your overall core strength and stability should show drastic improvements. Just be careful when you’re holding weights in new movements so as not to drop them and cause any injury.

Before beginning any exercise or nutrition program, consult your physician, doctor or other professional. This is especially important for individuals over the age of 35 or persons with pre-existing health problems. Exercise.co.uk assumes no responsibility for personal injury or property damage sustained using our advice.

If you experience dizziness, nausea, chest pain, or any other abnormal symptoms, stop the workout at once and consult a physician or doctor immediately.

Related Articles

Strong forearms enhance hand and arm strength, important for day-to-day tasks like grasping objects. Gaining strength in your forearms also enhances throwing and swinging actions during organized sports. Working your entire arm is also a good way to prevent muscle imbalances that might lead to injuries. Many people overlook the area during their normal strength-training routine, but exercises to work the forearms don’t require a lot of time and many can be done without weights, making them an ideal addition to your workout program. Add forearm moves to your upper body strength training sessions.

Step 1

Include kneeling forearm stretches into your routine two to three times per week. This exercise mainly works your forearms rather than your entire arm, making it a good choice for strengthening the area. To do a forearm stretch, kneel on the floor on your hands and knees. Point your palms and fingers back toward your body. Lean back, keeping your palms flat on the ground, until you feel a stretch in your forearms. Stop and hold the move for 20 to 30 seconds.

Step 2

Do five pull-ups on a rope, two to three times per week. If you prefer to work out without weights, using a rope is a good alternative for forearm strength. Secure a 3-foot rope that is 1-inch thick over a chin-up bar and use it to do pull-ups. Grip the rope securely and pull yourself up, hold the move for several seconds and return to the starting position to complete one repetition.

Step 3

Do two to three sets of 12 to 15 wrist circles. This is a good exercise for beginners and can be done anywhere. To do the move, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and extend your arms outward at shoulder level. Without moving the rest of your body, rotate your wrists forward as if drawing circles in the air. One circle equals one repetition.

Step 4

Squeeze hand grips 15 to 20 times during each upper body strength-training session. These items are available at most sporting goods supply stores. Grasp the handles and squeeze together to benefit your forearm muscles.