Weightlifting is an important part for those of you who want to live healthier and have a fitter body. Weightlifting helps you become stronger and also builds muscle endurance.
Dumbbells and barbells are not the only tools to help with weightlifting. In doing this sport, you can train by lifting your own body weight, training with the help of resistance bands, or you can also train using resistance machines or gym equipment.
Weightlifting is a type of exercise that can be done anywhere, although some people prefer to do it at a gym or fitness center. However, not everyone can go to the gym, training at home is the best option to keep your body fit.
So, how can you start lifting weights at home? Here are some tips from SVRG for you.
Things to Prepare
Even if you only exercise at home, you still have to prepare some tools that can help your workout to be more optimal. If usually at the gym you need tools such as barbell plates , for weightlifting at home you only need these tools:
- Dumbbell
- Kettlebell
- Resistance bands
- Exercise mat/yoga mat
- Therapy ball
Don't worry, if you don't have these tools, you can still do weight lifting exercises at home. You can use a water bottle, or even a bag that has been filled with lots of stuff until it becomes heavy. You can even just rely on your body to start weight lifting exercises.
Getting Started with Weightlifting
In any sport or physical exercise, the first thing you should do is warm up. Warm up first for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Warming up helps your body get ready for more intense movements or activities.
Some warm-up movements that you can do are:
- Going nowhere
- Turning head
- Turning the shoulder
- Rotating arms
- Butt kick
- High knees
- Hip opener
- Squat
Once you've warmed up, you're ready for weightlifting. Here are some weightlifting exercises, both with and without equipment, that you can do at home:
Lunges
Doing lunges is very useful for training the strength of your lower body muscles. Some of the muscle groups that will be affected by lunges are the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
How to do lunges:
- Stand straight and place your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Step your right foot forward, and lower your hips until your right leg forms a 90-degree angle, and your left leg is parallel to the floor.
- Make sure your right knee does not extend past your toes.
- If you feel your body is less stable when doing this movement, then extend your left leg or the leg that is at the back.
- Lengthen your spine to keep your upper body upright.
- Hold this movement for 5 seconds or more.
- Return the right leg to its original position until it meets the left leg, and repeat the same movement on the left leg.
- Repeat this movement 10 to 12 times in one set. Do this movement repeatedly up to 3 sets.
Plank
Plank is one of the weightlifting exercises that is useful for strengthening the muscles in the back, chest, and shoulders. In this exercise, your body weight is the load to train your body muscles.
How to do a plank:
- Start in a prone position, hands or forearms and toes on the floor.
- Relax your head and keep your gaze towards the floor.
- Lift your body using your abdominal muscles, lock your stomach so that your abdominal muscles are more trained.
- Keep your body in a straight line from your ears to your toes. Keep your shoulders away from your ears.
- Hold this position for 10–60 seconds, and repeat, taking breaks in between plank sets.
In addition to this movement, you can also vary other plank movements, such as side plank, single arm plank, single leg plank, reverse plank, and others.
Dumbbell triceps kickback
This weightlifting exercise aims to tighten the triceps muscles located on the back of the arm. You can rely on dumbbells to do this movement.
How to do dumbbell tricep kickbacks:
- Get two dumbbells, and hold one dumbbell in each hand.
- Bend your body to form a 45 degree angle, and bend your elbows to form a 90 degree angle.
- Straighten your arms behind your body, engaging your triceps as you perform this movement.
- You can train one arm first, or train both at once.
- Repeat this movement for 1–3 sets with each set consisting of 8–12 repetitions.
Also read:Decrepit because of lower back pain?
Resistance band pull apart
The resistance band pull apart is an exercise designed to target the muscle groups in the shoulders and upper back. This exercise requires a resistance band to add weight to your workout.
How to do a resistance band pull apart:
- Hold the resistance band at shoulder height and slightly wider than shoulder width. Extend your arms and bend your elbows slightly.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, then bend your knees slightly. Your posture should be straight, relax your head and neck.
- Keeping your arms straight, pull the resistance band towards your chest by moving each arm out to the side.
- Keep your spine straight, then slowly return to the starting position.
- Do this movement 1–3 sets with each set consisting of 15–20 repetitions.
Resistance band leg press
This weightlifting exercise is great for muscles like the quadriceps, hamstrings, calf muscles, and glutes. Although it uses a resistance band, it is similar to a leg press using gym equipment, because you will be working against gravity.
How to do a resistance band leg press:
- Lie on your back and lift both your legs.
- Bend your knees to form a 90 degree angle.
- Loop the resistance band around your feet, and hold the ends tightly.
- Press your feet upwards until your legs extend.
- Bend your knees back to a 90 degree angle.
- Do this exercise for 1–3 sets with each set consisting of 10–12 repetitions.
Try to start doing these exercises regularly, so you can stay fit with the bonus of losing excess weight and building muscle.
Don't forget to cool down for 5 to 10 minutes after every home weightlifting workout. Cooling down can help stabilize your breathing and heart rate that increase during exercise.
You can walk in place or do stretching movements during the cool down. This can also help prevent you from injury.
How, even if you don't go to the gym, you can still do weight lifting at home effectively, right? You can complete the necessary sports equipment at SVRG, because we provide a variety of the best quality sports needs to help you stay fit. Don't forget to get various attractive promos to make your shopping experience with SVRG even more enjoyable.
