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Strength training helps build muscle strength and endurance, enhances bone health, and promotes better metabolism.
Here are 15 examples of strength exercises along with brief instructions on how to perform them:
- Squats: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your body by bending your knees and hips, as if sitting back into a chair. Keep your chest up, core engaged, and heels planted on the ground. Return to the starting position by pushing through your heels.
- Lunges: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step forward with one leg, lowering your body until both knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Push back up to the starting position and repeat on the other leg.
- Push-ups: Start in a plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower your body by bending your elbows until your chest touches the floor. Push back up to the starting position, keeping your core engaged.
- Dumbbell Bicep Curls: Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms fully extended by your sides. Curl the weights up towards your shoulders, focusing on contracting your biceps. Lower the weights back down slowly and repeat.
- Plank: Start in a push-up position, resting on your forearms instead of your hands. Engage your core, keep your body in a straight line, and hold the position for a set amount of time, maintaining proper form.
- Deadlifts: Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell or dumbbells in front of you. Hinge at the hips, keeping your back straight, and lower the weights towards the ground while maintaining a slight bend in your knees. Engage your glutes and hamstrings to return to a standing position.
- Shoulder Press: Hold a dumbbell or a barbell at shoulder level, palms facing forward. Press the weight overhead, fully extending your arms. Lower the weight back down to shoulder level and repeat.
- Plank Rows: Assume a plank position while holding a pair of dumbbells. Row one dumbbell up towards your chest, keeping your core stable and shoulders square. Lower the weight back down and repeat on the other side.
- Bench Press: Lie on a bench with a barbell or dumbbells, arms extended above your chest. Lower the weights towards your chest, keeping your elbows at a 90-degree angle. Push the weights back up to the starting position.
- Russian Twists: Sit on the ground with your knees bent and feet lifted off the floor. Hold a weight or medicine ball in front of your chest. Rotate your torso to one side, touching the weight to the ground. Twist to the other side and repeat.
- Plank Leg Lifts: Begin in a plank position, then lift one leg off the ground, keeping it straight and parallel to the floor. Hold for a moment, then lower the leg and repeat with the other leg. Keep your core engaged and maintain a stable plank position throughout.
- Tricep Dips: Sit on the edge of a bench or chair, placing your hands beside your hips with fingers pointing forward. Slide your hips off the bench and lower your body by bending your elbows, keeping your back close to the bench. Push back up to the starting position.
- Glute Bridges: Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Engage your glutes and lift your hips off the ground until your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders. Lower your hips back down and repeat.
- Medicine Ball Slams: Hold a medicine ball above your head, standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Slam the ball down to the ground with force, engaging your core and using your whole body to generate power. Catch the ball on the rebound and repeat.
- Pull-ups: find a suitable pull-up bar: Locate a sturdy horizontal bar that is high enough for you to hang from with your arms fully extended. It should be able to support your body weight. Grip the bar: Stand beneath the pull-up bar and reach up to grab it with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you) or an underhand grip (palms facing towards you). Choose the grip that feels most comfortable or vary your grip to target different muscles. Hang from the bar: Jump or step up to get your chin above the bar, and then lower your body back down into a dead hang position. Your arms should be fully extended, and your feet should not touch the ground.
