Weight Lifting Equipment
Weight Lifting Equipment Do You Need To Get Started
- Weight Lifting Exercise Equipment
When you decide to engage in a weight lifting program at the convenience of your home, it is wise and practical to identify what is the right weight lifting equipment for you. Do not just buy anything without prior planning because buying in impulse is not really recommended.
The first thing that you need to do is to identify why you want to engage in weight lifting. Do you want to lose weight or gain weight? Or is it for improving your strength and endurance? Or just to tone your muscles? After identifying your purpose, look for the appropriate weight lifting training program for your need.
When some people hear weight training they think of body building or power lifting, but it is very different. Weight training is simply using weights to create resistance to strengthen your muscles. It is done to target muscle groups and to remain tone and in good shape.
When in comes in buying weight bench, choose the durable and heavy duty one that is preferably adjustable. But you can choose just the basic weight bench unless your workout routine will require you to use adjustable or reclining weight benches.
The critical part of buying weight lifting equipment is when you are looking for weight lifting machine to aid in your workout. There are so many available machines in the market today and they are relatively way expensive than barbells, dumbbells and weight benches so ask for feed back and advice. And be sure that it can serve it purpose when you start your work training program.
Basic Weight Lifting Equipment
Finding the right weight lifting equipment is essential if you want to start weightlifting at home. But you may want to test a few pieces of weightlifting equipment somewhere, like at your local fitness center, before you invest money. This way you will have a better idea what you really want before you actually buy it. The more comfortable the equipment the more likely you are to use it regularly.
There are a few pieces of weight lifting equipment that are pretty much necessary if you are just getting started. A weight bench and some free weights — dumbbells are the most versatile — are probably the best starter equipment. With just these things you can start toning your arms, chest, back, legs and abs. Depending on your goals you may want to get additional equipment but this will give you a good start.
Fixed Weight Dumbbells Or Adjustable Weight Dumbbells
Fixed weight dumbbells are the traditional ones where you have a large set of dumbbells each with a different weight. Adjustable dumbbells allow you to have one set of dumbbells that have adjustable weight. So one set can take the place of multiple pairs of fixed weight ones. Adjustable dumbbells are great if you are short of space, for example if you live in an apartment. Read more
Abdominal Workout
Top 10 Abdominal Exercises You Need To Do
- Abdominal Exercise Workout
Although most people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back, leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation.
In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression on the spine!
Boy, do I wish I knew all this in my teens and early 20’s when I did thousands of spinal flexion exercises per week, eventually leading to two herniated discs.
Not only are you risking long term back problems by doing all those sit ups, crunches, and all their useless variations but you are not even providing optimal stimulus to the abdominals. Research has proven that bracing actually trains the abs much more effectively than spinal flexion.
To properly employ this technique you need to brace your abs as hard as you can like you are preparing to take a punch. You don’t push your abs out and you don’t suck them in. In fact, sucking them in and trying to activate your transverse abdominis is one of the worst things you can do.
You simply want to tighten and flex the abs as hard as possible. Be sure that there are no energy leaks and that your entire core is braced tightly. You can have a partner poke you or lightly whack you with a stick from different angles to ensure optimal bracing.
Never in real life will you consciously flex your spine and contract your abs like you do in a crunch, so why bother doing it in the gym? If you are on your back in most athletic endeavors, it’s usually because someone put you there. It’s usually not where you want to be. So why try to train your abs in that position?
Starting today, you are going to stop wasting your time and destroying your lower back with traditional ab training and instead focus your energy on the exercises listed below and their many variations. Read more
