10 Full Body Strength Training Exercises for the Beginner
By: Nancy Howard,
SparkPeople Blogger
8/25/2010 4:00 PM
: 27 comments
: 32,392 Views
Fitness experts recommend a triad of exercises we should incorporate into our lifestyle in order to achieve optimum fitness. These exercises include cardio-respiratory activities, flexibility exercises and resistance training.
Cardio-respiratory activities such as walking, cycling, running, and swimming help with our overall health, while flexibility exercises, such as stretching, help with range of motion around the joint. Lastly, we should all participate in some form of resistance training regardless of our age or gender, whether with free weights, machines, resistance bands or even your own body weight.
If you feel you do not have time to incorporate all the various exercises into your busy schedule, according to the American Council on Exercise, "significant fitness and strength gains can be made in just two strength training sessions per week when you target all muscle groups."
Below are ten strength training exercises to do at home with the use of free weights, a stability ball and a step. These exercises target all the major muscle groups.
Please be sure to include a warm-up and cool-down before and after doing these exercises.
Note that if you have a history of joint problems or health issues you will want to get medical clearance before performing any of these activities.
Chest Exercise
Chest Fly with Dumbbells
Back Exercise
One Arm Dumbbell Rows
Shoulder
Dumbbell Alternating Shoulder Press
Bicep Exercise
Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl
Tricep Exercise
Overhead Tricep Extension
Quadriceps, Hamstrings and Glutes
Squat with a Ball
Hamstring
Hamstring Curl Alt
Glutes
Quadruped Hip Extensions
Calf Exercise
Calf Raises
Abs
The 1-Minute Plank Pose
Next week's blog will feature full body exercises to do in the gym setting.
Do you prefer a full body routine or a workout targeting specific muscle groups every day? What is your favorite at home resistant training exercise?
If you feel you do not have time to incorporate all the various exercises into your busy schedule, according to the American Council on Exercise, "significant fitness and strength gains can be made in just two strength training sessions per week when you target all muscle groups."
Below are ten strength training exercises to do at home with the use of free weights, a stability ball and a step. These exercises target all the major muscle groups.
Please be sure to include a warm-up and cool-down before and after doing these exercises.
Note that if you have a history of joint problems or health issues you will want to get medical clearance before performing any of these activities.
Chest Exercise
Chest Fly with Dumbbells
Back Exercise
One Arm Dumbbell Rows
Shoulder
Dumbbell Alternating Shoulder Press
Bicep Exercise
Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl
Tricep Exercise
Overhead Tricep Extension
Quadriceps, Hamstrings and Glutes
Squat with a Ball
Hamstring
Hamstring Curl Alt
Glutes
Quadruped Hip Extensions
Calf Exercise
Calf Raises
Abs
The 1-Minute Plank Pose
Next week's blog will feature full body exercises to do in the gym setting.
Do you prefer a full body routine or a workout targeting specific muscle groups every day? What is your favorite at home resistant training exercise?
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Comments
I see that you're hitting all the major muscle groups in the exercises listed and i realise it's for people working out at home with limited equipment but most of the exercises listed are isolation exercise wheras if 'strength training' is your goal you should be basing your workouts around the big compund exercises - Barbell Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press, Overhead Press, Pull Ups etc. You won't get very strong without doing exercises were it's possible to gradually progress to lifting very heavy weights. I realise that's not for everyone , for various reasons but i thought i'd mention it given your title.
However for beginners and the like you have provided a very good list that will get them working all the different muscle groups. People often tend to neglect the back, legs and core when they exercise so it's good to see you've got exercises to cover those areas.
P.S. I recently saw an eighty something year old man do a 400lb deadlift so it's really never too late to start strength training. If i locate the clip i'll post it up here for inspirational purposes.
- 8/27/2011 2:32:32 PM
These are good exercises, (as long as the body parts all work). Thanks, Nancy. - 9/1/2010 1:42:13 PM
IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME THAT STILL WANT TO STRENGTH TRAIN. - 8/27/2010 3:43:45 PM
SO glad I can post my message now. Pat in Maine. - 8/27/2010 1:54:53 PM
@ALLERGICONE, if you log in you should be able to save this blog (to your favorites) for future reference. I do find it unusual that the links to these exercises were to sources outside of SparkPeople. The only one I couldn't find a close match in SP fitness examples was the quadruped hip extensions. Love the SparkPeople examples because there is always a "demo" so I can make sure I'm doing the exercise the right way! THANKS AGAIN SPARKPEOPLE! - 8/26/2010 6:17:12 AM
Does the "Save to SparkFavorites" button (below "share" and "like") work for you? :-) - 8/26/2010 3:41:32 AM
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