Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Related article Strength training: How-to video collection.

Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Show references AskMayoExpert. Physical activity adult. Mayo Clinic; Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed March 4, American College of Sports Medicine. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: Guidance for prescribing exercise.

Four types of exercise can improve your health and physical activity. National Institute on Aging. Real life benefits of exercise and physical activity.

Brown LE, ed. Types of strength and power training. In: Strength Training. Human Kinetics; Laskowski ER expert opinion. Mayo Clinic. March 11, Products and Services The Mayo Clinic Diet Online A Book: The Mayo Clinic Diet Bundle.

See also Core exercises Core-strength exercises Fitness ball exercises videos Isometric exercise Pregnancy exercises Strength training: How-to video collection Strength training for kids Weight training: Do's and don'ts of proper technique Show more related content.

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About this Site. What are the benefits of working out at home? Benefits It saves time. There are no gym fees or expensive equipment needed.

Work out anytime. You can exercise on your own schedule, no matter the time of day or night. You can work out without feeling self-conscious. Go at your own pace. Was this helpful? Getting started. Start with a warmup.

Bodyweight strength training exercises. Share on Pinterest. Free weight exercises. Resistance band exercises. How to cool down. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: Sources.

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Sep 5, Written By Emily Cronkleton. Medically Reviewed By Daniel Bubnis, MS, NASM-CPT, NASE Level II-CSS. Share this article. Read this next. What Is Muscular Strength, and What Are Some Exercises You Can Do? Medically reviewed by Gregory Minnis, DPT. Resistance Band Chest Workout: 7 Exercises You Can Do Anywhere.

Medically reviewed by Jake Tipane, CPT. Understanding Heart Rate Zones for Effective Workouts Targeting heart rate zones as you exercise is one way to maximize the benefits you get from your workouts.

Learn about your different heart rate zones… READ MORE. What Causes Toe and Foot Numbness While Running? READ MORE. What Is Low Heart Rate Training When You Exercise? Reverse, stepping back down with right foot, then left. Repeat, switching the leg you start with each time.

Pro tip: For added difficulty, raise your knee toward your chest when you take the second step onto the box or stair. There are dozens of lunge variations you can do, but even just a classic lunge builds up your quads and glutes. Plus, it strengthens your hamstrings.

How-to: From a standing position, take a big step forward with one leg. Lower your body toward the floor until upper thigh of front leg is nearly parallel to the floor and back knee is just above the floor. Raise up by putting pressure on the heel of your front leg.

Repeat by taking that big first step with the opposite leg. Squats are popular with weightlifters, which can lead to the misperception that they can be done only with weights.

But even squatting with your bodyweight alone can give you strong leg muscles if you do it with good form. How-to: Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Extend arms straight with palms facing down. Inhale and push hips back slightly as you bend your knees.

Look straight ahead and keep chin up, shoulders upright, and back straight. Squat as low as you comfortably can, aiming to have your hips sink below your knees. Engage your core to push upward explosively from your heels. Just a set of dumbbells will do it.

But you can also switch things up with kettlebells or resistance bands. The chest press targets your chest, shoulders, and triceps — primarily your pectorals and deltoids. How-to: Lie faceup on a bench or the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

Hold the dumbbells at the sides of your chest, brace your core, and press the dumbbells straight up. Then lower the dumbbells nice and slow before repeating. Your chest strength will soar doing dumbbell flyes, which can be done on a bench or lying on the floor.

How-to: Lie on a bench or the floor with your knees bent. Hold the dumbbells directly above your chest, with palms of hands facing each other.

Keeping elbows bent, raise the dumbbells back above your chest again, then repeat. Build up your lats, pecs, and abs like a lumberjack chopping wood without worrying about an ax or your aim.

This dumbbell exercise can be done on a bench, the floor, or a stability ball. Just be sure to keep a good grip on the dumbbell! How-to: Lie faceup with feet on the floor. Hold a single dumbbell in both hands and raise it above your chest.

Slowly extend the dumbbell overhead while slightly bending your elbows, then bring it back to the starting position. Be sure to start this one with a low enough weight that you can manage it comfortably. This classic biceps exercise builds your arm strength and grows those arm muscles you want to flex in the mirror.

How-to: While sitting or standing, hold dumbbells straight down at your sides. Bend your elbows and bring the weights up toward your shoulders, rotating your arms until palms of hands face shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

You can do this move standing or seated. How-to: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell with both hands. Raise the weight overhead with arms straight, then bend elbows and lower the weight behind your head.

Raise the weight back above your head, then repeat. Keep upper arms as still and steady as possible to maximize the workout. This move not only increases hand strength but also builds muscle in your forearms. This often-overlooked muscle group is used for everything from turning a doorknob to moving a computer mouse.

How-to: Sit on a bench or chair, holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Place your forearms on your thighs, with wrists on top of knees and hands extended beyond knees.

Palms can face up or down. Slowly curl the weights up, then lower them. Move only your hands, not your arms. Squats alone work your major leg muscles, but adding weight can really help those muscles pop. You can also add dumbbells to any squat variation if you need a challenge.

How-to: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell at each of your shoulders. Sit down into a low seated position, keeping weight in your heels.

Make a commercial gym your strongman training ground with this explosive eight-week workout. Here are a few extra tips to help you get the most out of these four strength moves :. Shoot for reps for sets per exercise. When training for strength, a bit more rest is recommended.

Aim for minutes between sets and increase the weight if you are having an easy time getting to eight reps on each set. All big strength lifts should come early in your workout routine if you are using them in conjunction with other lifts for a specific muscle group.

So if strength is your goal in the gym, try doing all four lifts in one workout twice a week, leaving plenty of room between workout days days for maximal strength. Try the following full-body strength workout on Monday and Thursday for four weeks and watch your strength go through the roof.

Try to increase strength by adding 5 pounds per workout on upper body moves and 10 pounds on lower body moves. Follow these 10 rules for immediate and long-lasting muscle and strength.

There are options for getting in a fast and effective workout when you're pressed for time. This member of the Elevator Boys phenomenon uses reps and rest to rule social media. Close Ad ×. I want content for: Both Men Women.

You can add weight using dumbbells, a barbell, kettlebells or a trap bar, and there are many progressions and variations to make this exercise accessible. Walking lunges are one of the best exercises to continue to target the glues and to tone the legs. They recruit multiple muscle groups, and since they also work your balance, walking lunges are a great way to build confidence by improving overall strength and stability.

Use your bodyweight, add dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell to continue to progress as you build strength. One of the things I hear often from my clients is how good they feel when they begin to actually see the definition in their muscles.

And the biceps may be one of the easiest areas to get early results that you can see, giving an early confidence boost to keep you going on your workout journey.

Bicep curls are an upper-body exercise that targets the muscles on the front side of the upper arms. They build functional strength that you'll need to carry heavy things, and they make your arms look great!

If you don't have dumbbells or a barbell, you can do this exercise with something as simple as a bottle of water. As with all resistance exercises, form is essential to help you get the results you want.

Remember: Keep your elbows pulled in toward your sides and use your muscles to lift the weight up toward your shoulders. If you're swinging the weight, you're using momentum, not muscles. Building muscle in your triceps can help reduce the sagging in the arms that often comes with age.

Improving muscle tone in that area of the body is a great way to boost body confidence. Plus, building the triceps provides functional strength to help in any situation where you need to push an object away from your body, and it will also help to perfect your push-up. While there are a number of exercises that target the triceps, an overhead triceps extension also recruits the muscles in your core to stabilize your body as you lift the dumbbell over your head.

It can be done with minimal equipment—one dumbbell or kettlebell or even a water bottle! will do. Remember: Keep your arms pulled in as close to your head as possible to keep your elbows from flaring out to the sides. This will ensure that you are primarily using your triceps. Building core strength is essential to basic body function.

Boat pose is one of the best core-strengthening exercises, since it works both the abdominal and the back muscles. It requires no equipment, and you can start by holding the pose as long as you are able to, and then add time as you get stronger.

Getting the right posture from the start is important. Begin in a seated posture with your feet in front of you, and set your upper body by rolling your shoulders up, back and down to keep your chest up and neck neutral. Pull your belly button in toward your spine to activate your core and begin to tilt your body toward the back of your hips and allow your feet to float up to come into your boat.

By breathing deeply and using your muscles to hold this posture, you'll strengthen your core and your confidence. Like boat pose, a plank is a static posture that engages almost every muscle in the body. It is a core exercise, but also recruits muscles in the upper body and in the lower body.

If you can perfect your plank posture, you can perfect your overall standing and seated posture, which research shows is essential to building confidence in ourselves and projecting confidence to others. Planks require no equipment and can be done anywhere.

There are number of ways to modify and progress a standard plank. Start by holding a standard plank as long as you are able, using good form, and then work to progress from there. My basic rule for clients is to be able to hold a low plank with good form for one minute before adding any progressions or variations.

Resistance training provides a unique sense of accomplishment compared to other forms of exercise. It gives us an alternative to simply tracking progress on a scale, and allows us to focus on something we can add to our bodies, instead of something we need to lose.

Start with simple body-weight exercises, and track your progress as you build strength and begin to add weight. You'll be able to see the improvements and celebrate your successes as you become stronger. It will help you feel better, improve your self-esteem and body image, and give you a big boost of confidence.

Grab the edge of the chair with hands on either side of hips. Lift up and out into a hovering position beyond the chair edge. Extend legs until mostly straight.

Slowly lower yourself toward the floor until elbows are roughly parallel with shoulders. Push down into your hands to raise back up until your arms are straight again. This bodyweight move is almost as much fun as it sounds.

This is one creepy-crawly exercise that will have you feeling like a little kid again while building your triceps, shoulders, chest, abs, glutes, and quads. How-to: Stand with knees slightly bent. Bend at your hips and slowly reach down and touch your toes.

Take insect-size steps forward until feet meet hands. Got a staircase? Or a box? Then you can do this leg workout. Step-ups are a simple beginner exercise that can give you stronger quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Just take one step at a time. Step up onto the box or the first stair with your right foot, then your left.

Reverse, stepping back down with right foot, then left. Repeat, switching the leg you start with each time. Pro tip: For added difficulty, raise your knee toward your chest when you take the second step onto the box or stair.

There are dozens of lunge variations you can do, but even just a classic lunge builds up your quads and glutes. Plus, it strengthens your hamstrings. How-to: From a standing position, take a big step forward with one leg.

Lower your body toward the floor until upper thigh of front leg is nearly parallel to the floor and back knee is just above the floor. Raise up by putting pressure on the heel of your front leg. Repeat by taking that big first step with the opposite leg. Squats are popular with weightlifters, which can lead to the misperception that they can be done only with weights.

But even squatting with your bodyweight alone can give you strong leg muscles if you do it with good form. How-to: Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Extend arms straight with palms facing down. Inhale and push hips back slightly as you bend your knees. Look straight ahead and keep chin up, shoulders upright, and back straight.

Squat as low as you comfortably can, aiming to have your hips sink below your knees. Engage your core to push upward explosively from your heels. Just a set of dumbbells will do it. But you can also switch things up with kettlebells or resistance bands.

The chest press targets your chest, shoulders, and triceps — primarily your pectorals and deltoids. How-to: Lie faceup on a bench or the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold the dumbbells at the sides of your chest, brace your core, and press the dumbbells straight up.

Then lower the dumbbells nice and slow before repeating. Your chest strength will soar doing dumbbell flyes, which can be done on a bench or lying on the floor. How-to: Lie on a bench or the floor with your knees bent. Hold the dumbbells directly above your chest, with palms of hands facing each other.

Keeping elbows bent, raise the dumbbells back above your chest again, then repeat. Build up your lats, pecs, and abs like a lumberjack chopping wood without worrying about an ax or your aim. This dumbbell exercise can be done on a bench, the floor, or a stability ball. Just be sure to keep a good grip on the dumbbell!

How-to: Lie faceup with feet on the floor. Hold a single dumbbell in both hands and raise it above your chest.

Slowly extend the dumbbell overhead while slightly bending your elbows, then bring it back to the starting position. Be sure to start this one with a low enough weight that you can manage it comfortably.

This classic biceps exercise builds your arm strength and grows those arm muscles you want to flex in the mirror.

How-to: While sitting or standing, hold dumbbells straight down at your sides. Bend your elbows and bring the weights up toward your shoulders, rotating your arms until palms of hands face shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat.

Draw your legs back up into a squat, then jump up explosively with your hands above your head. Start with just a few reps and work your way up as you get stronger. How-to: Grab the pull-up bar with an overhand grip, wrapping your thumbs around the bar.

Squeeze the bar with your hands and engage the muscles of your upper body and core. Pull up until chin clears the bar. Slowly lower yourself back into the dead-hang position. Pro tip: For pull-ups at home, you can buy a portable pull-up bar that fits in a doorframe.

Doing any type of plank exercise will make your arms stronger, but doing plank-ups is especially effective for strengthening the triceps and biceps muscles in your arms.

How-to: Start in plank position, with elbows and toes on the floor, core engaged, and torso elevated. Raise yourself into a push-up position by extending one arm at a time, keeping your body straight. Lower onto your elbows one arm at a time.

This move will quickly strengthen your triceps and your pecs! How-to: Start seated in a chair or on a step, etc. Grab the edge of the chair with hands on either side of hips. Lift up and out into a hovering position beyond the chair edge.

Extend legs until mostly straight. Slowly lower yourself toward the floor until elbows are roughly parallel with shoulders. Push down into your hands to raise back up until your arms are straight again.

This bodyweight move is almost as much fun as it sounds. This is one creepy-crawly exercise that will have you feeling like a little kid again while building your triceps, shoulders, chest, abs, glutes, and quads.

How-to: Stand with knees slightly bent. Bend at your hips and slowly reach down and touch your toes. Take insect-size steps forward until feet meet hands. Got a staircase? Or a box? Then you can do this leg workout. Step-ups are a simple beginner exercise that can give you stronger quads, glutes, and hamstrings.

Just take one step at a time. Step up onto the box or the first stair with your right foot, then your left. Reverse, stepping back down with right foot, then left. Repeat, switching the leg you start with each time. Pro tip: For added difficulty, raise your knee toward your chest when you take the second step onto the box or stair.

There are dozens of lunge variations you can do, but even just a classic lunge builds up your quads and glutes. Plus, it strengthens your hamstrings.

How-to: From a standing position, take a big step forward with one leg. Lower your body toward the floor until upper thigh of front leg is nearly parallel to the floor and back knee is just above the floor.

Raise up by putting pressure on the heel of your front leg. Repeat by taking that big first step with the opposite leg. Squats are popular with weightlifters, which can lead to the misperception that they can be done only with weights. But even squatting with your bodyweight alone can give you strong leg muscles if you do it with good form.

How-to: Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width. Extend arms straight with palms facing down. Inhale and push hips back slightly as you bend your knees. Look straight ahead and keep chin up, shoulders upright, and back straight. Squat as low as you comfortably can, aiming to have your hips sink below your knees.

Engage your core to push upward explosively from your heels. Just a set of dumbbells will do it. But you can also switch things up with kettlebells or resistance bands. The chest press targets your chest, shoulders, and triceps — primarily your pectorals and deltoids. How-to: Lie faceup on a bench or the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

Hold the dumbbells at the sides of your chest, brace your core, and press the dumbbells straight up. Then lower the dumbbells nice and slow before repeating. Your chest strength will soar doing dumbbell flyes, which can be done on a bench or lying on the floor.

How-to: Lie on a bench or the floor with your knees bent. Hold the dumbbells directly above your chest, with palms of hands facing each other.

Keeping elbows bent, raise the dumbbells back above your chest again, then repeat. Build up your lats, pecs, and abs like a lumberjack chopping wood without worrying about an ax or your aim. This dumbbell exercise can be done on a bench, the floor, or a stability ball.

Just be sure to keep a good grip on the dumbbell! How-to: Lie faceup with feet on the floor. Hold a single dumbbell in both hands and raise it above your chest. Slowly extend the dumbbell overhead while slightly bending your elbows, then bring it back to the starting position.

Be sure to start this one with a low enough weight that you can manage it comfortably. This classic biceps exercise builds your arm strength and grows those arm muscles you want to flex in the mirror. How-to: While sitting or standing, hold dumbbells straight down at your sides.

Bend your elbows and bring the weights up toward your shoulders, rotating your arms until palms of hands face shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat. You can do this move standing or seated.

How-to: Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell with both hands. Raise the weight overhead with arms straight, then bend elbows and lower the weight behind your head.

Raise the weight back above your head, then repeat. Keep upper arms as still and steady as possible to maximize the workout. This move not only increases hand strength but also builds muscle in your forearms. This often-overlooked muscle group is used for everything from turning a doorknob to moving a computer mouse.

How-to: Sit on a bench or chair, holding a light dumbbell in each hand. Place your forearms on your thighs, with wrists on top of knees and hands extended beyond knees. Palms can face up or down. Slowly curl the weights up, then lower them.

Move only your hands, not your arms. Squats alone work your major leg muscles, but adding weight can really help those muscles pop.

You can also add dumbbells to any squat variation if you need a challenge. But like all forms of exercise, you need to undertake it on a regular basis. Our muscles pay the price: the stiffness of joints and the weakening of muscles that we sometimes blame on ageing are often a direct effect of inactivity.

Making the effort to have toned muscles will mean you have strong muscles. Strong muscles are firmer — they look better — and they help avoid potentially debilitating bone and joint injuries. Doing strength training exercises can increase your lean body mass the non-fat parts of your body , which raises your metabolic rate, so helping with weight management.

Having well-trained muscles also improves your ability to take up and use glucose which reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes. Strength training exercises work your muscles by applying a resistance against which the muscles need to exert a force.

The aim is to use an appropriate weight or resistant force that will work the target muscles to fatigue, over 8 to 12 repetitions of an exercise. These exercises are usually performed 2 to 3 times every week.

For example, in many exercises, the weight of your own body is used as the resistance against which the muscles need to work, and a pair of hand-weights or even 2 soup cans can supply the resistance in some exercises.

Strength or resistance training is just one component of an all-round fitness programme, which should cover aerobic fitness, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance. If you are a beginner exerciser, you will gain the most benefit from 3 strength training sessions a week, however, 2 sessions will still give very good results.

Initially, the improvements in strength are due to neurological adaptations, as your nervous system learns how to more effectively recruit your muscle fibres. Then, as you continue with the program, some muscle growth, as well as improvements in tone becomes noticeable. This is because muscle tissue needs to recover from the strength training which stimulates its growth.

arms on Monday, legs on Tuesday. A gradual increase will reduce the risk of muscle strains, which can occur if you increase your loads too rapidly. Before doing your strength training exercises, you need to warm up. This means about 5 minutes of activity, such as cycling, rowing or skipping.

The aim is to increase your heart rate and to raise a light sweat. The increased movement of blood through your muscles will warm the tissues and make them more pliable — a simple measure to help prevent injury during exercise. Follow your warm-up with a short 5-minute stretching routine, again as a means of preparing your muscles.

Make sure you gently stretch each of the muscles that you will be working during the strength training exercises — the muscles in your back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, arms and legs — holding each stretch for just over 10 seconds. You can stretch the muscle group you have just used immediately after your set of strength training exercises — before you move on to the next exercise.

The muscles will be warm and flexible at this time. For example, do a set of 12 reps of a biceps curl and then stretch your biceps muscle before moving on to a triceps strength training exercise.

Equally important is cooling down after your strength training exercises. This can involve easy walking or cycling for 2 to 3 minutes, followed by 5 to 10 minutes of stretching.

The aim is to:. The exercises and information included in this article are general. If possible you should seek more personalised exercise advice and have your strength training tailored to your individual needs.

If you have an existing injury or any health problems, or you do not already exercise regularly several times each week and you are middle aged or older, first check with your doctor about your suitability for a resistance training programme. Before starting your resistance training, ask a trained fitness instructor about the correct technique involved in such a programme, including ways to progress your fitness gradually and minimise injury risk.

At the start. Begin with one set of each exercise, comprising as few as 5 reps, no more than twice a week. Your aim. Gradually increase, over a few weeks, to one set comprising 8 to 12 reps for each exercise every second or third day.

Beyond this. Once you can comfortably do 12 reps of an exercise you should look at progressing further. Options include increasing weight or resistance — thus increasing the intensity of muscular effort — or increasing the number of sets of each exercise to 2 or 3. The health benefits of strength training can be attained safely by most people if they do 1 set of 8 to 10 reps of each exercise each second or third day.

If you have a particular sporting goal in mind and want to increase your level of fitness further, talk to a trained fitness instructor about how to increase the intensity and duration of your strength training programme gradually. Strength training exercises by myDr Exercise and Fitness , Muscle Workouts , Sports Fitness.

Popular Reads 9 Signs Your Liver may be Damaged. Paracetamol for children. White-tail spider bite - symptoms and treatment. Weight loss medications. your overall fitness programme composed of various exercise types — aerobic training, flexibility training and strength training.

a component of your fitness programme, e. a strength training session or a swimming session, which you perform a certain number of times each week.

a group of successive repetitions of an exercise performed without resting, e. a particular movement designed to strengthen a particular muscle or group of muscles, e.

calf raise. the number of times you repeat each exercise in a set. For exercises that work your arms or legs, you will need to count reps for one limb say the right arm then repeat these for the opposite side the left arm , before moving on to the next exercise. The upper body is usually exercised for fewer reps than the lower body, e.

how heavy the hand-weight or fixed weight is, e.

This exercise targets the muscles in your shoulders and arms, and can also strengthen your core and chest muscles. Resistance bands are another great tool for your strength training workout.

This exercise works the muscles in your hips and legs. This exercise works your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and glutes. Like a leg press on a weight machine, this exercise makes you work against gravity. Finish your workout by cooling down for about 5 to 10 minutes. This allows your breathing and heart rate to transition into a resting state.

Options include walking on the spot and gentle stretches. Doing 30 to 45 minutes of strength training two to three times a week is an excellent way of building lean muscle mass, burning calories, and boosting your metabolism.

This, in turn, can help you burn body fat and make weight loss easier. In addition, strength training can strengthen your bones and joints, lower your risk of chronic diseases, improve flexibility, posture, and balance, and boost your mood and energy levels.

Many strength training exercises can be done in the comfort and privacy of your home, using just your body weight or basic, low-cost equipment as resistance.

If you have any health concerns or an injury that makes exercising difficult, talk to your doctor or a certified personal trainer before you start an at-home strength training routine. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Muscular strength develops from performing exercise, such as lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises, or using resistance bands. This resistance band chest workout also targets the arms and back for a versatile upper body workout you can do anywhere.

Kettlebell exercises combine strength training and aerobic exercise for a full-body workout. Try these 7 kettlebell exercises, and learn about…. Targeting heart rate zones as you exercise is one way to maximize the benefits you get from your workouts.

Learn about your different heart rate zones…. There are several causes of numbness in your toes and feet when you run, ranging from poor-fitting shoes to health conditions like diabetes. For people who run or do other aerobic exercises on a regular basis, starting up a low heart rate training program may be frustrating at first.

The average 5K time depends on a few factors, including age, sex, and fitness level. But, you can expect to finish a 5K in roughly 30 to 40 minutes. Thinking about using an AI tool like ChatGPT to help you get in shape? Here are the pros and cons health experts say you should consider.

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When designing a workout, it's important to move in all of the body's planes. What are they? Here's an anatomy primer to help.

A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Get Motivated Cardio Strength Training Yoga Rest and Recover Holistic Fitness Exercise Library Fitness News Your Fitness Toolkit. How to Get a Full-Body Strength Training Workout at Home.

Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M. What are the benefits of strength training? What are the benefits of working out at home?

Benefits It saves time. There are no gym fees or expensive equipment needed. Work out anytime. You can exercise on your own schedule, no matter the time of day or night. You can work out without feeling self-conscious. Go at your own pace. Was this helpful? Getting started. Start with a warmup.

Bodyweight strength training exercises. Share on Pinterest. Free weight exercises. Try strength training. Strength training, combined with regular aerobic exercise, can greatly impact your health.

You may build strength, improve your muscle tone, improve your quality of life and boost your self-esteem. But you can also injure yourself if you use poor technique with your exercises. This collection of how-to videos can help you get started with strength training using the best technique.

Healthy adults should aim to do strength training exercises that work all the major muscle groups at least twice a week. If you have health problems, talk with your doctor before you start strength training.

One strength training tip: Don't forget to breathe freely when you're lifting the weight. Most people think that they're breathing when they're doing strength training exercises, but they may be holding their breath.

It's important to inhale and exhale fully between each repetition. The key is to avoid straining when holding your breath. You may find it helpful to exhale during the more strenuous phase of the exercise and inhale during the less strenuous phase.

You can do body-weight exercises with little or no equipment. Watch these strength training videos to see how they're done.

You can do resistance-tubing exercises at home or on the go. These strength training videos will get you started. Wondering how to get the best results from free weights?

These strength training videos will show you. Whether you use weight machines at home or at the gym, proper technique is essential. Brush up on the basics with these strength training videos. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.

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Healthy Lifestyle Fitness. Sections Basics Fitness basics Stretching and flexibility Aerobic exercise Strength training Sports nutrition In-Depth Expert Answers Multimedia Resources News From Mayo Clinic What's New. Products and services. Strength training: How-to video collection Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program.

Show references Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed Nov. Resistance training for health infographic.

American College of Sports Medicine. Physical activity adult. Mayo Clinic; Liguori G, et al. ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.