What to Wear
Toning Major Muscle GroupsStrength Training FAQ
Real life answers to common strength training questions
Q. How much money do I need to spend to strength train at home?
A. If you’re really industrious you can find ways to perform strength training and even cardio using products and furniture found in your own home. This unconventional workout equipment is ok if you’ve got no other choice but most people do. You have to decide what activities are important to you and what equipment you would actually use.
For strength training a good base is to have about three different weights of dumbbells ranging from 3 to 8 pounds if you’re a very out of shape beginner. They can be purchased individually or in sets, which can save you some money. Dumbbells are pretty cheap, a few to $10 each at most. Resistance bands are another great strength training tool and can be purchased for even less.
Q. What are functional exercises?
A. You may hear people talking positively about an exercise because it’s functional. But what exactly does that mean, aren’t all exercises functional? Apparently, not so much.
Functional workouts train your body to handle real life situations. If you work out on machines in the weight room, you’ll become really good at pushing and pulling weight along the fixed plane the machines provide. But are you that strong outside the gym when it comes to carrying a heavy suitcase to the airport or when you have to take a 20 lb turkey out of the oven?
The purpose of functional strength training is not to isolate muscles, but to teach them to work together. Exercises that are considered functional include bent over rows, squats and lunges. Most functional exercises involve standing on one or both feet without any external forces supporting the body. A basic test to see how good you already are at functional exercise is a one-leg squat. Many people who can press hundreds of pounds on a machine can’t stay balanced with this simple functional move. In the beginning, functional exercises don’t even require extra weight, it’s hard enough controlling your body without it. Add a few functional exercises to your routine and see what everybody’s so excited about.