Strength Exercise Overview

Even very small changes in muscle size can make a big difference in strength, especially in people who already have lost a lot of muscle. An increase in muscle that's not even visible to the eye can be all it takes to improve your ability to do things like get up from a chair or climb stairs.

Your muscles are active even when you are sleeping. Their cells are still doing the routine activities they need to do to stay alive. This work is called metabolism, and it uses up calories. That can help keep your weight in check, even when you are asleep!

Although your muscles will get stronger by simply lifting and moving your own body's mass without the use of weights (resistance training), muscle-building strength exercises require you to lift or push weights (weight training). To build muscle, you simply need to find your appropriate starting weight for each exercise and keep gradually increasing the amount of weight you use as you progress over time. You can use the hand and ankle weights sold in sporting-goods stores, or you can use things like emptied milk jugs filled with sand or water, or socks filled with beans and tied shut at the ends.

There are many alternatives to the exercises in this section. For example, you can buy a resistance band (it looks like a giant rubber band, and stretching it helps build muscle) at a sporting-goods store for under $10 to do other types of strength exercises. Or you can use the special strength-training equipment at a fitness center.

How Much, How Often

Do strength exercises for all of your major muscle groups at least twice a week. Don't do strength exercises of the same muscle group on any 2 days in a row.

Depending on your condition, you might need to start out using as little as 1 or 2 pounds of weight, or no weight at all. The tissues that bind the structures of your body together need to adapt to strength exercises.

Use a minimum of weight the first week, then gradually build up the weight. Starting out with weights that are too heavy can cause injuries.

At the same time, remember that you have to gradually add a challenging amount of weight in order to benefit from strength exercises. If you don't challenge your muscles, you won't benefit from strength exercises. (The "Progressing" section below will tell you how.)

When doing a strength exercise, do 8 to 15 repetitions, or "reps" in a row. A group of repetitions make up a "set." After each set, wait a minute, then do another set of 8 to 15 repetitions in a row of the same exercise. Typically, exercises are performed in three sets. (Tip: While you are waiting, you might want to stretch the muscle you just worked or do a different strength exercise that uses a different set of muscles).

Form and Function

With each lift, take 3 seconds to lift or push a weight into place; hold the position for 1 second, and take another 3 seconds to lower the weight.

Don't let the weight drop; lowering it slowly is very important. The slow lowering of a weight is called the "negative" portion of the lift. By going slowly, the muscle is constricted and being stretched at the same time. This "breaks down" the muscle. This is why you may actually feel slightly weaker (although pain-free) a day after a good exercise. This is part of the process. The broken down muscle is sensed by the body as being insuffient and more muscle tissue is created in the "damaged" region to compensate. This is why your muscles get bigger. You are tearing them down and building them up stronger.

Each exercise is designed to work a specific muscle group. If you are working your arms and your side feels strain you are probably using bad form. Try to recognize which muscle you are working and try to isolate that group. Some tips are:

Proper Breathing

Breathe out as you lift or push, and breathe in as you relax. For example, if you are doing leg lifts, breathe out as you lift your leg, and breathe in as you lower it. This may not feel natural at first, and you probably will have to think about it as you are doing it for awhile.

While this breathing pattern oxygenates the muscles and helps keep a rhythm, please don't obsess about breathing the wrong way during a rep. If you find yourself exhaling and getting stuck, red-faced, in a difficult rep, take a breath! Don't stay caught out of air.

What should I feel like during an exercise?

A proper lift should feel somewhere between hard and very hard (15 to 17 on the Borg scale) for you to lift or push the weight. It should not feel very, very hard or call for more muscle groups than those targeted. If you can't lift or push a weight 8 times in a row, it's too heavy for you. Reduce the amount of weight. If you can lift a weight more than 15 times in a row, it's too light for you. Increase the amount of weight.

If you don't feel a burning sensation in your muscles after an exercise, you are not working the muscle enough. A healthy "burn" should be felt about half way through to near the end of a set.

Stretch after strength exercises, when your muscles are warmed up. If you stretch before strength exercises, be sure to warm up your muscles first (through light walking and arm pumping, for example).

Safety Guidelines

One of the most important guidelines to follow is - Don't hold your breath during strength exercises. Holding your breath while straining can cause changes in blood pressure. This is especially true for people with cardiovascular disease. Holding one's breath under great strain can also cause internal pressures on organs and can lead to a hernia.

If you have had a hip repair or replacement, check with the doctor who did your surgery before doing lower-body exercises.

If you have had a hip replacement, don't cross your legs, and don't bend your hips farther than a 90-degree angle.

Avoid jerking or thrusting weights into position. That can cause injuries. Use smooth, steady movements. The smoother you work the more consistent the muscle strength will be. Uniform muscles also resist damage better.

Avoid "locking" the joints in your arms and legs in a tightly straightened position. (A tip on how to straighten your knees: Tighten your thigh muscles. This will lift your kneecaps and protect them.)

Muscle soreness lasting up to a few days and slight fatigue are normal after muscle-building exercises, but exhaustion, sore joints, and unpleasant muscle pulling aren't. The latter symptoms mean you are overdoing it.

None of the exercises you do should cause pain. The range within which you move your arms and legs should never hurt.

Progressing

Gradually increasing the amount of weight you use is crucial for building strength.

When you are able to lift a weight between 8 to 15 times, you can increase the amount of weight you use at your next session.

Here is an example of how to progress gradually:

If you get a weight half way up and have no more strength - this is called "reaching the point of exhaustion." This is not the same as complete physical exhaustion, but it does means that the targeted muscle can do no more work at this time. Once this point has been reached - usually near the end of the last set - stop the exercise, rest, reduce the weight considerably and do a slow set to "cool down" and stretch the tired muscle. Rest the "exhausted" muscle group for at least two days.

If by chance you over do it, rest an extra day or two, but don't get complacent about your exercises. Light resistance (no weights)and stretching will speed recovery and normal exercises should be resumed once an injury heals. Go slowly and you should find your strength levels and a healthy progression to a stronger you.

Learn about Flexibility Exercises
Learn about Endurance Exercises
Learn about Balance Exercises