Our clients love to workout at Habitat Health and Fitness in Lakeland, Florida, because we offer workouts to build muscle, burn calories and build all types of fitness, endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. We focus on building muscle tissue, since the more you have, the easier it is to lose weight. We also focus on workouts that are so effective, you don't have to workout as long and still get the benefits of building muscle tissue. Here are a few of my favorite muscle building exercises.
Go to compound exercises to get the most benefit.
Compound exercises work several muscles, joints and tendons at once. They not only build strength, they build coordination and size. You work multiple muscle groups, so you get the benefit of burning more calories. They mimic everyday movements more and can help prevent injuries by providing more functional fitness. The bench press, dip, barbell squat, bench step-up with weights, pull-ups and military press are a few examples.
You can use just four exercises to get results.
Sometimes, squats, deadlift, shoulder press and bench press are called the big four of strength training. Learn to do them correctly and do them often. You can add barbell workouts to that and don't have to get fancy with expensive machines. In order to build strength, you need to continue to increase the amount of weight you're lifting. Barbells are an easy way to do that. These should be core exercises to be added to for variety.
Use bodyweight exercises to help build strength.
Bodyweight exercises are particularly good if you're working out at home. They require either no equipment or minimal equipment, so you can do them almost anywhere. Squats are good for lower body strength and core muscles. They offer some help for the upper body as well. Push-ups build upper arm strength, shoulders, abdominals, chest, and the muscles in the armpits called serratus anterior. Plank exercises provide total body strength.
- Battle ropes also help build muscle tissue and can actually be harder to do than traditional weight lifting. The ropes create a variety of angles of tension and make your body work on all planes.
- Climbing stairs can build strength in the legs, just as walking hills does. You can use stair step exercises in the gym to build your muscle strength. Also making sure you take the stairs rather than the elevator as often as possible is good.
- Don't forget that building muscle means taking a day between workouts to rest. Your body needs time to mend the microtears in the muscles to make them stronger.
- We use a variety of training techniques to ensure every muscle gets attention on all planes so you get strong muscles that keep you free from injury.
For more information, contact us today at Habitat Health & Fitness
