Free weights consist of barbells, dumbbells and weight plates. They are called free weights because they have no cables, pins or pulleys.
Available as normal weights or Olympic weights, be advised that Olympic weights are generally much more costly. The Olympic bar is also thicker at the ends to accommodate the larger hole present in Olympic weight plates.
Barbells come in all shapes and sizes. They consist of a bar that is usually 4' to 7' in length and can weigh from 20 to 45 pounds.
The Olympic bar that you find in most gyms is 45 pounds. This is the one you find on the squat rack and bench press. So, if you use this bar and add a 45-pound plate to each side, you're bench pressing 135 pounds.
Varying weights are attached to the ends of the bar. The weights are attached using collars or sleeves. You can find barbells in a fixed collar design.
This prevents the weights from sliding off the end of the bar, but they are limiting as the weights cannot be removed. With adjustable collars you can add and remove weights to suit your own purposes.
The longer 7' bar that is generally referred to as an Olympic bar can hold 500 to 1500 pounds. As mentioned, these are usually more costly. There are also other Olympic specialty bars available that are designed for specific purposes such as biceps and triceps.
The weight plates that fit the ends of the bar come in standard increments of:
If you stick with cast iron weights you are pretty much guaranteed that the weights will remain constant over time as opposed to those that are plastic encased or other metals that could warp over time.
If planning to go with the home gym, sticking with standard weights is probably best for you. One of the advantages is that you can find standard weights available as a package that will include your bars, weights and collars. Most standard weight packages also come with dumbbells.
You will also need to have a weight bench. There are varying types of benches. You can find adjustable types that you can set for different inclines. This is a good buy because by adjusting the incline or decline, you can create a number of different exercises to work out different muscle groups.
If you are lacking the money to join a gym, you can set yourself up with everything you need, just by getting some dumbbells, barbells, and a bench. Total cost can be less than $200.
Or, if it's more convenient to work out at home, it's simple to set up an effective gym right in your basement.
Free weights are also effective than machines when it comes to building muscle and increasing your strengh. That's because you have to do all the work and balance all the weight yourself when using free weights.
With machines, much of the work is being done for you. You just have to lift it up and down. As a result, you use less intensity and less overload than with free weights.
Less overload and intensity means less muscle building possibilities.
So don't worry if you can't make it to a gym or if you don't have the money to get certain machines for your home.
When it comes to building muscle, nothing beats a good set of free weights.
The more lean muscle tissue you have, the more calories you burn at rest and on the move. The more muscle tissue you possess, the more energy your body will require to maintain that muscle.
It gets that needed energy from burning and utilizing calories. And again, the more calories you burn, the more likely fat loss to occur.
Muscle is a very metabolically active tissue. It takes a lot of work for your body to maintain it. Fat, on the other hand, takes no work to maintain. It just sits there, lumped together like, well, fat.
This is an important concept in weight loss because the more lean muscle tissue you can build, the more calories that will be burned off, without you having to do any extra work. Your muscle will burn off more calories 24/7 than if you didn't have that extra lean muscle.
This makes the case for why weight training, also known as resistance training, is so important to include in any weight loss program. Simply because if you can add a couple pounds of lean muscle to your frame, you're going to burn off more calories, even while sleeping, than if you didn't have that extra muscle.
The more calories you burn off at rest, the more likely that the calories burned off during exercise will create a calorie deficit in your body. A calorie deficit is a must for weight loss to occur.
Remember how weight gain occurs from consuming more calories than your body burns off during the day. Since there is no deficit of calories, your body does not have to dip into stored body fat to get energy. In fact, due to the surplus, it stores the extra calories as body fat.
If you create a calorie deficit, meaning, your body has used all of the energy from calories it has received from food and it still needs more (like to support muscle tissue) it is going to go after your fat stores to get that energy.
Fat is a highly condensed form of energy. So, when your body starts taking fat from fat stores to use as energy, that is how weight loss occurs.
Weight training may benefit any weight loss program, possibly more than any other component.
Weight training can be a future investment for permanent weight loss and weight maintenance because as you continue to lose stored body fat and gain lean muscle, your muscle will continue to aid in the calorie burning process.
As there becomes less stored body fat to use as energy, the muscle tissue will start to directly utilize the calories you consume on a daily basis.
Since there is now more muscle tissue than there is fat to utilize calories, chances of storing any excess calories as body fat is greatly reduced.
Resistance training may offer the most benefit of all to women past the age of menopause. It can help prevent or reverse the effects of osteoporosis by strengthening and maintaining bone density often lost by diet alone.
So how much resistance training is necessary for long-term weight loss to be successful and to increase your lean muscle and strength? Not as much as you would probably think.
In fact, any more weight/resistance training than 2 to 3 hours a week may be counterproductive.
The best results I have witnessed while in the personal training field come from 3 sessions a week with weights, less than an hour each session.
Most people like the Monday, Wednesday, Friday approach to weight training. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday for cardio, which should be done separately from weight training.
Keep your weight training routine simple. It is more productive to focus effectively on a few tasks (exercises) than it is to work out with less intensity on many different ones.
On each set, try to progressively add a little more weight each time. Keep records of your weight lifts so you can try to outdo (progress) each and every workout!
Again, for the many weight loss and weight management benefits of weight training to occur, you do not have to stay for hours in the gym.
Give yourself 2 hours a week to do some form of resistance training.
If you cannot make it to a gym, invest in a pair of weight-adjustable dumbbells purchased from a nearby department store that you can use at home.
In fact, for less than the cost of a 3 month gym membership, you could probably purchase a great home gym set up with a couple pairs of dumbbells and maybe a bench and mat.
If that is even not within budget, simply lift what you have around the house, like water jugs (full, of course) or soup cans, or rocks from the garden.
Resistance is resistance and having your body progressively lift heavier weight will force it to become stronger and adapt to this demand placed upon it.
When you force your body to adapt to this resistance, it does so by creating new muscle tissue growth to handle the weight.
With this new tissue growth comes a new need for energy to maintain this muscle tissue. That is when stored fat is used and burned off.
That's why weight training is the best tool for losing fat and building muscle.
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