Strength Training: 5 Easy Exercises to Gain Muscle and Burn More Calories
The calorie burn due to strength training can go up to 72 hours after the workout by a process in your body called the 'afterburn'.
Strength training has a lot of benefits. If all this while you have been thinking that strength training is just meant for bodybuilders and people looking out for a bulky body, you couldn't be more wrong. While strength training is a great way to build muscle mass, it is also known to slow down the ageing process and even promote weight loss!
Professional fitness trainer, Rohit Uchil says that increased muscle mass due to strength training causes an increased resting metabolic rate in your body which gets your body to burn more calories. The calorie burn can go up to 72 hours after the workout by a process in your body called the afterburn. Strength training also slows down cellular ageing which means it can actually provide you with youthfulness. One must strength train under proper supervision for a healthier, fitter life.
Here are 4 types of easy strength training exercises that you can do to help burn more calories and increase your resting metabolic rate.
Goblet Squat:
Squats are great for helping you have a toned body, especially your lower half. Goblet squats are pretty easy to perform as all you have to do is hold a weight in front of your while squatting. This helps you add to your core and legs. Here are the steps involved in performing the goblet squats:
Steps:
1. Take a dumbbell and hold it with both hands. Hold it at your chest level, underneath the bell of your chest.
2. Now set your feet apart at the width of your shoulder and your toes pointing outwards.
3. Try pushing your butt back in a sitting position while descending till the time you have your elbows reach the inside of both your knees.
4. Meanwhile, keeping your heels flat take a few seconds pause at the bottom of the squat.
5. Return to the standing position.
Push-Ups:
Push-ups are one of the best strength training exercises and aren't as simple as it seems to be. It has effects on many parts of your body, right from your upper-body muscles to your core and shoulder blades.
Steps:
1. Take a plank position by starting with kneeling on the floor and then lying facing towards the floor with your body weight on your feet and palms.
2. Keep your hands shoulder-width right under the shoulders.
3. Once you get to the position, squeeze your back and keep your elbows in an arrows form and not like the letter 'T'.
4. Descend your body while squeezing your shouldr until your chest is just above the ground. Soon after this return to the position you started from by extending your arms completely. Repeat.
Chair Dips
This easy exercise you can perform anywhere with a simple chair.
Steps:
1.Sit on the edge chair with legs together and feet flat on the floor.
2. Firmly grip the edge of the chair beside your hips.
3. Slide your butt outwards from the sitting area of the chair, make sure your upper body is straight.
4. Pull in your abdomens while doing this and keep your head straight.
5. Bend your elbows and lower your body like you would be trying to sit in the air, in front of the chair, with your body straight. When your upper arms are parallel to the floor or your butt almost reaching the ground pull your self back up slowly. Repeat.
Planks
A perfect strength training workout that engages your abs, chest, back, shoulders and shoulders.
Steps:
1. Hold a push-up position except the weight shouldn't be on your palms but on your lower arm as shown in the picture. Make sure that your wrists come directly below shoulders.
2. Hold this position for as long as you can, for beginners, aim up to 1 minute.
Strength training reinforces and speeds up your weight loss and bodybuilding goals. What you must always remember if you are a beginner that you must always try out exercises under a professional supervision. Also, that diet is extremely important too. Exercise coupled with high-protein, fibre-rich diet is going to give you the desired result and not exercise alone. Some of the other best strength-training exercises are dumbbell row, hip extension, split squat, and lateral squat. Also, is advisable to try doing super-slow weight training for best results. When you slow your movements down, it can actually change it into a high-intensity exercise by increasing the level of efforts you put in.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2018 08:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).