Full Description
Tone up, burn calories, stay strong Weight Training For Dummies makes it easy to get started with weight training by offering trusted and straightforward guidance on the latest circuit and resistance training, and all-new information on the highly popular bodyweight and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Whether you're working with dumbbells, free weight sets, or machines, you'll find out how to combine weight training with other exercise to properly strength train and get in the best shape of your life. Along with aerobic exercise and flexibility, body weight training is an integral part of a complete physical activity program. But with all the different equipment and techniques available, getting started can feel overwhelming. Want to get pumped about weight training? Consider these facts: strength training, whether via free weights or a machine, builds muscle. And the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the less prone you are to injuries in and out of the gym. Plus, strength training promotes bone strength, which can significantly reduce your odds of developing osteoporosis.If that's not enough, strength training unlike cardio workouts like running reaps benefits almost immediately. So what are you waiting for? Weight Training For Dummies has everything you need to get started. * Provides examples and directions for powerful 20-minute weight training routines for the time challenged * Features advice to help you choose a weight training system that you enjoy and that fits into your lifestyle * Includes new coverage devoted to warm-ups and the hottest and most beneficial stretches * Introduces using weight training to address specific health or orthopedic conditions Whether you're already in the gym several times a week or are just starting out with a fitness routine, Weight Training For Dummies shows you how to use free weights or weight machines to get results fast.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1 (1)
About This Book 2 (1)
Foolish Assumptions 3 (1)
Icons Used in This Book 3 (1)
Beyond the Book 4 (1)
Where to Go from Here 4 (1)
Part I Getting Started With Weight Training 5 (64)
Chapter 1 Weight Training for Life 7 (6)
Weight Training for All Bodies 7 (1)
Fitness Testing and Goal Setting for 8 (1)
Success
Safety First to Enjoy Training 9 (1)
Choosing Your Training Equipment 9 (2)
Selecting the Right Exercises, Routines, 11 (1)
and Training Settings
Living a Healthy Lifestyle 11 (2)
Pumping up your heart and lungs 12 (1)
Improving your flexibility 12 (1)
Balancing options and training your 12 (1)
brain
Chapter 2 The Principles of Training: 13 (14)
Concepts and Terminology
Defining Weight-Training Jargon 13 (2)
Understanding Reps 15 (1)
Getting Acquainted with Sets 16 (1)
Knowing Weight-Routine Essentials 17 (2)
Focusing on major muscle groups 17 (1)
Sequencing: Doing exercises in the 18 (1)
right order
Appreciating the Value of Rest and 19 (3)
Recovery
Taking one day of rest for each muscle 20 (1)
group
Avoiding overtraining 20 (1)
Getting enough sleep 21 (1)
Maintaining and detraining: When you're 22 (1)
too busy to work out
How Your Mind Helps Your Body 22 (1)
Concentrating on the mind-body 22 (1)
connection
Visualizing yourself strong 23 (1)
Long-Term Training: Seeing the Big Picture 23 (4)
Chapter 3 Testing Your Strength, Setting 27 (12)
Goals, and Tracking Your Progress
Identifying Your Fitness Level 28 (1)
Measuring Your Progress 29 (1)
Evaluating Your Strength and Endurance 30 (2)
Comparing your upper-body strength 31 (1)
Comparing your abdominal strength 31 (1)
Goal Setting for Success 32 (2)
Identifying why your goals are important 32 (1)
Using S.M.A.R.T. goals 33 (1)
Logging and Tracking Your Progress 34 (5)
Recording information in your log 36 (1)
Analyzing your workout log 36 (3)
Chapter 4 Weight-Training Tools and 39 (16)
Equipment
Getting Comfortable with Free Weights 40 (4)
Knowing the value of free weights 40 (1)
Making the choice, knowing the 41 (3)
difference: Dumbbells versus barbells
Using a Weight Bench 44 (2)
Don't Be Afraid of Weight Machines 46 (5)
Making weight machines work for you 46 (1)
Examining specific weight machines 47 (2)
Cable machines: A different breed 49 (2)
Buckling Down on Bands and Tubing 51 (1)
Exploring Sandbags for Shifting Weight 52 (1)
Keying in on Kettlebells for Weight 52 (3)
Training
Chapter 5 Safety First: Protecting Yourself 55 (14)
and Preventing Injury
Weight Lifting Safety Rules 55 (4)
Properly warming up before you lift 56 (1)
Warming up with light weights 56 (1)
Using your breath 57 (1)
Using proper form 57 (2)
Cooling down 59 (1)
Resting your muscles 59 (1)
Weight-Lifting Safety Tips 59 (3)
Free-weight safety tips 60 (1)
Weight-machine safety tips 61 (1)
Spotting with a Friend 62 (3)
Briefing your spotter 63 (1)
Being the spotter 64 (1)
Common Weight-Training Injuries 65 (2)
Overcoming Injuries 67 (2)
Part II Gaining Weight-Training Wisdom 69 (36)
Chapter 6 Setting Up Your Own Gym at Home 71 (10)
Weight Training at Home 71 (1)
Setting Up a Home Gym 72 (1)
Picking Free Weights 73 (5)
Buying dumbbells 74 (3)
Buying barbells 77 (1)
Buying a bench 77 (1)
Investing in Weight Machines 78 (2)
Purchasing Bands or Tubing 80 (1)
Chapter 7 Exercising Away from Home: Clubs, 81 (16)
Trainers, and Classes
Joining a Health Club 81 (1)
Choosing a Health Club 82 (2)
Researching Trainers 84 (5)
Finding fitness help: What a trainer 85 (1)
can do for you
Finding a qualified trainer 86 (2)
Being on your best behavior 88 (1)
Working in a Group: An Introduction to 89 (3)
Weight-Training Classes
Conditioning your muscles 89 (1)
Getting quality group instruction 89 (3)
Knowing Weight-Training Etiquette 92 (5)
Sharing equipment 92 (1)
Unloading your weight bar 92 (1)
Putting weights back where you found 93 (1)
them
Wiping down the machines 93 (1)
Keeping up with the flow of traffic 93 (1)
Moving along at the drinking fountain 94 (1)
Lugging around your gym bag 94 (1)
Treating the locker room like your own 94 (3)
bathroom
Chapter 8 Your Muscles and How to Use Them 97 (8)
Properly
Understanding the Basic Info 97 (3)
Grasping Our Favorite Phrases 100(3)
The Art of Breathing through an Exercise 103(2)
Part III Tackling the Exercises 105(134)
Chapter 9 Working Your Back 107(22)
Understanding Upper-Back Muscle Basics 107(2)
Getting an Upper-Back Workout 109(1)
Avoiding Mistakes When Working Your Upper 110(1)
Back
Getting Skilled at Upper-Back Exercises 111(11)
One-arm dumbbell row 111(2)
Dumbbell pullover 113(1)
Dumbbell shrug 114(2)
Machine row 116(1)
Lat pull-down 117(2)
Cable row 119(2)
Assisted pull-up 121(1)
Understanding Lower-Back Muscle Basics 122(1)
Getting a Strong Lower Back 123(1)
Getting a Lower-Back Workout 124(1)
Avoiding Mistakes When Working Your Lower 124(1)
Back
Trying Floor Exercises for the Lower Back 125(4)
Pelvic tilt 125(1)
Back extension 126(3)
Chapter 10 Working Your Chest 129(16)
Grasping Chest-Muscle Basics 129(1)
Benefitting from Strong Pecs 130(1)
Getting a Chest Workout 130(2)
Mistakes to Avoid When Pumping Your Pecs 132(1)
Becoming Skilled at Chest Exercises 133(12)
Modified push-up 133(2)
Push-up 135(1)
Bench press 136(2)
Dumbbell chest press 138(1)
Vertical chest press 139(2)
Cable crossover 141(1)
Assisted dip 142(3)
Chapter 11 Working Your Shoulders 145(16)
Understanding the Basics of Shoulder 145(1)
Muscles
Benefiting from Strong Shoulders 146(1)
Getting a Great Shoulder Workout 147(1)
Knowing Mistakes to Avoid When Training 148(1)
Your Shoulders
Exaggerating the movement 148(1)
Arching your back 149(1)
Rocking back and forth 149(1)
Doing behind-the-neck shoulder exercises 149(1)
Practicing Shoulder Exercises 149(12)
Dumbbell shoulder press 150(1)
Lateral raise 151(2)
Front raise 153(1)
Back delt fly 154(2)
Dumbbell shoulder external rotation 156(1)
Dumbbell shoulder internal rotation 157(1)
Incline shoulder-press machine 158(3)
Chapter 12 Working Your Arms 161(14)
Understanding Arm-Muscle Basics 161(1)
Gaining Strong Arms 162(1)
Getting a Great Arm Workout 163(1)
Avoiding Mistakes When Training Your Arms 164(1)
Practicing Arm Exercises 164(11)
Barbell biceps curl 165(1)
Alternating biceps curl 166(1)
Triceps kickback 167(2)
Arm-curl machine 169(1)
Triceps pushdown 170(2)
Bench dip 172(1)
Triceps-dip machine 173(2)
Chapter 13 Working Your Abdominals 175(12)
Introducing Abdominal-Muscle Basics 175(1)
Enjoying Strong Abdominals 176(1)
Preventing Mistakes When Training Your 177(1)
Abdominals
Discovering Exercises in This Chapter 178(9)
Basic abdominal crunch 178(2)
Reverse crunch 180(1)
Oblique crunch 181(2)
Bent-knee side crunch 183(1)
Roll-down negative curl 184(3)
Chapter 14 Working Your Butt and Legs 187(22)
Understanding Butt- and Leg-Muscle Basics 187(2)
Reaping the Benefits of a Strong Lower 189(2)
Body
Getting a Great Lower-Body Workout 191(1)
Avoiding Mistakes When Working Your Lower 192(1)
Body
Practicing Lower-Body Exercises 193(1)
Performing Lower-Body Exercises without 193(8)
Machines
Squat 193(2)
Lunge 195(2)
Kneeling butt blaster 197(2)
Side lying leg lift 199(1)
Inner-thigh lift 200(1)
Performing Lower-Body Exercises with 201(8)
Machines
Leg-press machine 201(2)
Leg-extension machine 203(2)
Leg-curl machine 205(2)
Inner- and outer-thigh machine 207(2)
Chapter 15 Weights for Core Strength 209(14)
Weight Guidelines 210(1)
Picking the right amount of weight for 210(1)
you
Increasing repetitions and sets 210(1)
Dumbbell Workout for a Flat Tummy and 210(9)
Tiny Waist
The wood chop 211(1)
Dumbbell bent-over row 212(1)
Crunches with weights 212(3)
Dead lifts 215(1)
T-raises 216(1)
Squat to overhead press 216(2)
Reverse lunges with weights 218(1)
Ab Central Machines 219(4)
Bosu ball 220(1)
Foam roller 220(1)
Ab board 220(1)
Ab wheel 220(3)
Chapter 16 Stretching: The Truth 223(16)
Discovering Why and When to Stretch 223(3)
Elongating your muscles 224(1)
Alleviating stressed and tense muscles 224(1)
Avoiding injuries 224(1)
The official word on stretching 225(1)
Static Stretching: Stretching the 226(5)
Traditional Way
Assisted Stretching: Lean on Me 231(2)
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation 233(1)
Active Isolated Stretching 234(2)
Back and Spine Stretch Series 236(3)
Lying spinal rotation 236(1)
Spinal rotation for back and buttocks 237(2)
Part IV Setting Up Your Workout Programs 239(82)
Chapter 17 Basic Workouts to Get Started 241(10)
Designing a Routine 241(4)
Why you should want to train 242(2)
Your equipment 244(1)
Your exercise preferences 244(1)
Your lifestyle 244(1)
Your current level of fitness 245(1)
Reviewing Your Program Variables 245(2)
Performing exercises in the right order 245(1)
Picking the right amount of weight 246(1)
Using the rest period 247(1)
Trying Sample Beginner Routines 247(4)
Doing circuits at the gym 247(1)
Doing circuits at home 248(1)
Dumbbells-and-a-bench routine for the 249(1)
gym or home
The mix-and-match routine at the gym 249(2)
Chapter 18 20-Minute Workouts for the Time 251(10)
Challenged
Making the Most of Quickie Training 252(1)
Putting Together Your 20-Minute Routine 252(1)
Doing 20-Minute Workouts 253(4)
Total-body workouts in the gym 254(1)
Total-body workouts at home 255(1)
Upper- and lower-body workouts 256(1)
Exercising with the 20-Minute Routines 257(4)
Home gym mix-and-match routines 257(1)
Upper- and lower-body workouts 258(2)
Stretching workout 260(1)
Chapter 19 Tackling More-Advanced Programs 261(14)
Understanding Progression262(1)
Practicing Split Routines 262(5)
The upper-body/lower-body split 263(2)
Push/pull split routine 265(2)
Practicing Sequencing in Your Workouts 267(2)
Super sets 267(2)
Giant sets 269(1)
Advanced Training Techniques 269(2)
Pyramids 270(1)
Breakdowns 270(1)
Negatives 271(1)
Varying Your Workout with the Latest 271(4)
Trends
Circuits 271(1)
High-intensity interval training 272(1)
Kettlebells 272(1)
Sandbags 273(2)
Chapter 20 Workouts for the Family: New 275(22)
Moms, Moms-to-Be, Kids, and Teens
Training Tips for Kids and Teens 275(11)
Benefiting from youth resistance 276(1)
training
Knowing what's age appropriate 277(1)
Trying sample kid and teen routines 278(8)
Lifting Weights Before and After Baby 286(8)
Benefiting from prenatal and postpartum 286(2)
resistance training
Modifying exercise routines for safety 288(1)
Trying a pregnancy sample routine 289(3)
Trying a sample mommy-and-me routine 292(2)
Family Style: Teaming Up for Exercise 294(3)
Chapter 21 Workouts for Baby Boomers and 297(12)
Beyond
Strength-Training Guidelines for Seniors 297(2)
Reaping rewards from training as an 298(1)
older adult
Observing safety guidelines and 298(1)
training tips
Challenging Yourself Moderately 299(1)
A Strength-Training Routine to Help 300(4)
Maintain Balance
Hip extension 301(1)
Hip flexion 302(1)
Standing side reach 303(1)
A Seated Core Routine for Strong Abs 304(5)
Seated sit-up 305(1)
Seated core rotation 306(3)
Chapter 22 Adding Yoga and Pilates for 309(12)
Flexibility
Examining Yoga and Pilates 309(1)
Harmonizing with yoga 309(1)
Moving with Pilates 310(1)
Benefiting from Yoga and Pilates 310(3)
Engaging your whole body 311(1)
Increasing your flexibility 312(1)
Improving your balance, coordination, 312(1)
and concentration
Fitting Yoga and Pilates into Your 313(1)
Fitness Program
Diving into Yoga 314(4)
Different styles of yoga 314(1)
Finding a qualified yoga instructor 315(1)
Trying a couple yoga poses 316(2)
Getting the Lowdown on Pilates 318(3)
Part V The Part of Tens 321(30)
Chapter 23 Ten (Or So) Ways to Use Exercise 323(12)
Bands to Tone and Tighten
Before You Start, Get an Exercise Band 323(1)
Preparing for Your Band Workout 324(1)
Getting on the Band Wagon 325(10)
Band squat 325(1)
Band butt blaster 326(1)
Band outer-thigh lift 327(1)
Band hamstrings stretch 328(1)
Band lat pull-down 329(1)
Band one-arm shoulder press 330(1)
Band external rotation 330(2)
Band internal rotation 332(1)
Band shoulder stretch 332(2)
Band triceps extension 334(1)
Chapter 24 Ten (Or So) Ways to Have a Ball 335(16)
with Exercise Balls
Picking Out the Right Ball 335(1)
Using Exercise Balls Safely 336(1)
Exercising on the Ball 337(14)
Ball bridge pose 337(2)
Ball bridge lift 339(1)
Ball push-ups 340(1)
Ball leg circles 341(1)
Ball single-leg bridge 342(2)
Ball core extension 344(1)
Ball sit-ups 345(1)
Ball oblique crunch 346(2)
Ball oblique twists 348(1)
Ball exchange 349(2)
Index 351
