Strength training doesn’t just make you strong and give you a lean physique; it also gives you the confidence to take up new activities that you never thought you could manage. It will keep you agile and among countless other benefits the most significant one by far is that it improves your overall health.
What is Strength Training?
There are many names for strength training such as resistance training or weight training. Without going into technical definitions, any exercise which improves your strength and enhances endurance falls into the category of strength training. It is a universally accepted training program that is a part of almost every type of training and sports. Anyone who is bodybuilding, power training, powerlifting or playing basketball, rugby would have strength training as a part of their routine. These exercises can be performed with free weights, cable machines, tools or by employing your own body weight.
You can go to a gym as well as perform resistance training at home. Some benefits of working out at home include time saving, cost saving and the freedom to workout anytime you want. If you do not have time to hit the gym, you can easily integrate some simple strength training exercises into your fitness regime at home. By doing so you can shape up and tone your body, burn calories and improve your endurance level. You can choose to perform bodyweight exercises or take it one step further by getting simple tools at home such as the ones being offered by URBNFit which include core sliders, stability ball, balance board, resistance bands, gym rings and more.
Types of Strength
When strength training at home, find yourself a comfortable spot where you can move your arms and legs freely. Strength training can be performed in a number of ways for achieving a particular or a set of physical goals. For instance, you can train for agility, endurance and speed, either in isolation or through a combined workout routine. If your goal is to increase your maximum strength, relative strength or explosive strength, your workout regime will have a different set of exercises with different workout strategies. Your workout regime will always be a combination of more than one type of training depending on what your goals are. For instance, you can build upper body strength by performing chest presses with a pair of dumbbells while balancing yourself on URBNFit’s exercise ball.
Agile Strength
Agility in layman’s terms is your ability to control, accelerate and decelerate your muscular force when your body is forced to make abrupt movements. It helps you in moving objects from one point to another and builds your speed. Agility strength training focuses on enhancing your muscular and connective tissues’ resilience so that your body is less prone to injury, sprains and myofascial pain. The intensity of this type of training is usually low to moderate and consists of multiplanar exercises performed with the help of free weights, tools and cable machines. URBNFit’s core sliders and gym rings are the best tools for performing a number of agile strength exercises.
Strength Endurance
Strength endurance is a measure of how long you can apply a particular force, such as sprinting in a marathon. The goal of this type of training is improvement in postural stabilization and enhancement of your aerobic capacity. The workout routine usually consists of a combination of single-joint movements as well as compound movements i.e. the ones that work your entire body. You can use tools for performing these exercises or you can perform them at home, without using any tool at all.
Explosive & Maximum Strength
Explosive strength is the maximum force you can apply in the minimum possible time. The focus of this type of training is improvement in your ability to generate maximum tension as quickly as possible, increase the speed and range of motion as well as enhance intramuscular coordination. This training consists of performing compound as well as isolation exercises using free weights.
There are countless other types of strength training such as training for muscle hypertrophy, losing fat without losing muscle, etc.
Strength Training Without Tool
Apart from a few, nearly all strength training exercises can be performed without tools, so gym is not a necessity to build strength. You may not be able to train yourself for explosive strength and maximum strength using bodyweight exercises, but you can improve your agile strength and strength endurance. One benefit of performing body weight exercises is that the risk of injury is minimized. However at the same time the gains may not be comparable to performing exercises with weights, tools and cable machines. Your workout routine should never be entirely based on one type of exercise; in fact it is always better to plan a routine that comprises different types of body weight exercises as well as those which employ free weights, tools or machines.
Strength Training With Tools
For you to reap the benefits of strength training, it is not necessary that you spend your entire week in the gym. There are several tools which you can use at home to perform a variety of strength exercises and make the same gains that you would in a gym.
You can build a gym at home with the simple tools being offered by URBNFit which have not only been constructed from durable materials but are also highly effective. They all have a proper workout guide which can help you achieve your fitness goals.
Tools Used for Strength Training
URBNFit’s balance trainer stability half ball can be used for enhancing your agile strength as well as strength endurance. You can use it for performing exercises like triceps dips, weighted or bodyweight standing lunges, push-ups, weighted or bodyweight squats.
The exercise ball by URBNFit is another versatile tool which can be used to target all your muscles. You can perform upper body exercises such as chest press using a pair of dumbbells and lying on the ball. Other chest exercises such as alternate press and incline press can also be performed easily. You can target your lower body by performing pelvic thrusts, split lunges, hamstring curls or you can work out your abs by performing reverse crunches, knee tuck, etc. There are several exercises you can do with an exercise ball and it is a must have for your home gym. The exercise ball provides training for agility, endurance as well as explosive strength.
The dual sided core sliders can be used for performing effective exercises such as a number of variants of mountain climber exercises, plank jack, reverse tuck, lateral and reverse lunges, plank kickout, burpees. Target your upper body by performing sliding push-ups, arm circle, arm crawl and cross-under. The sliders come with a thorough workout guide which can facilitate your workout. These sliders enhance your agility and are highly recommended for performing agile strength exercises.
URBNFit also provides gym rings and numerous types of resistance bands. The gym rings are considered the most important tool by gymnasts and Olympians for increasing agility and endurance. A number of balancing exercises can also be performed using these gym rings. Resistance bands by URBNFit have been manufactured from premium quality latex and are the perfect tools not just for performing countless strength exercises but also for stretching.
