If you are looking to build your strength in certain areas of your body, then you need to try some strength training routines to help you. There are so many routines out there that you might be left confused as to which one of them to choose as a beginner. With the right guide however, you should be able to know what strength training to take on as a beginner, and what equipment you also need to have. 

What Is Strength Training?

Strength training simply means any form of physical activity aimed at helping to build your muscles in order to become stronger. The primary goal of every strength training session is to make sure you come out with more strength and endurance. In the act, your skeletal muscles also feel the process and increase in size.

Benefits Of Strength Training

Strength training has multiple benefits. Here’s a look at some of the benefits strength training has to offer.

• It helps release those feel-good hormones

You must have noticed that after exercising, you always feel good, even when your body is hurting and you’re absolutely exhausted. This is because strength training is designed to help you activate your endorphins, those ‘happy feeling’ hormones. When this hormone is released into your body, you feel relaxed and any feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety you’re feeling, are lifted or at least eased. 

• Prevents injuries

One thing you are bound to gain from strength training is endurance. The more you can work out, the better for you and your resistance against certain conditions. You stand a better chance of avoiding injuries, more than those who do not work out. The reason for this is that those exercises help build your muscles, making them tougher and more ready to take on bigger challenges. This way you are less prone to having a major injury.

• Less fat, more muscle

Strength training helps you give your muscles the room to breathe. If you have fat standing in the way of your muscle, a good strength training workout will help push the fat further away, giving room for your muscles to grow. Muscles are also more useful in the metabolic process than fat. What this simply means is that the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn each day. 

• Remain Young:

Those happy feeling endorphins are not the only hormones produced when you train for strength; growth hormones are also produced. When you keep at strength training, you will likely experience better sleep, an improved heart rate, better bone density, and an overall improvement in your look and feel. 

How To Get Started

Starting is usually the hardest and biggest step, so here, we will look at the essentials you need to help you take your first steps in strength training. Here are some of the tips you need to focus on as a beginner. If you can master these, then you can upscale later and move on from the basics.

• Start out simple

You want to start out with a very short, simple, easy-to-do plan. This helps you give your muscles a taste of what lies ahead without pushing them too hard initially. When you start short and simple it makes it easier for you to achieve your goals. 

• Warm up

The next thing you need to do is to make sure you warm up. A warm up is a way of preparing your muscles for hard work. You can try some cardio or a special warm-up set, to begin with.

Your first priority should be to get the right form.

For a start, you need to focus more on getting the right posture rather than wanting to complete the task. The right posture involves you standing upright, with your chest facing up, and your abs held tightly. Always remember to breathe. 

• Always create intervals to rest

When you start with your strength training, you need to give yourself intervals to rest. This way you will be able to avoid muscular injuries and help make the process more rewarding. Never do two consecutive days, so that your muscles can relax in between sets. One form should focus on a part of your body for a day, while the other focuses on another part.

• Break the record of the last day

As each day passes, you get to learn more about your limits and break them. Try to be better than the previous day, but make sure you don’t overwork yourself. Try to go a step further each time but don’t push yourself into any injuries.

Choosing Your Exercise

There are many different types of exercises when it comes to strength training. You can start with one and focus on it for a long time, or you can simply just progress as you learn and master them. For each of the body parts you are trying to develop, try to choose the best exercise to develop that particular body part.

For the very first time, you need to really weigh all your options and see how your body reacts to the different exercises. If some feel too strenuous, then you should leave them or start light and develop later.

• Lower body – calf raises, lunges, deadlifts, and leg presses
• For the shoulders – front raise, the overhead press
• For your back – back extensions, one arm rows, lat pull-down.
• Biceps – try some biceps curls, also try the concentration curls and hammer curls
• Abdominal – pelvic tilts, reverse crunches, wood chops, crunches
• Triceps – kickbacks, triceps extensions, and dips.

You must do reps (this basically means a repetition of a routine) to help you increase the impact of each exercise. Ideally, you should try 12 reps for each of the above listed exercises.

In conclusion, strength training is an excellent way of building endurance and muscles at the same time. You might be a little unsure at first of what to do but with time and some guidance you will start to feel far more confident.