No-Hype Exercise Equipment - Moving Away from the Infomercial Towards Good Fitness Equipment and Training
By Janet Ford, President, PowerFit LLC
Challenge, consistency and using effective fitness equipment are the main components of any successful weight training workout. Infomercials generally offer products and information that stray from this principle. A workout, to produce results, must (1) be time and cost-effective so you are able to maintain a consistent training program; (2) include movements that train a number of muscle groups together so you can efficiently develop strength and coordination as well as burn more calories; and (3) continually provide sufficient variation and challenge so you will continue to experience results. The following is a list and description of fitness equipment that assists health-conscious women satisfy all three criteria for a good exercise program.
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Exercise Balls
Free Weights
Weight Lifting Benches
Resistance Bands, Tubes and Hand Grips
Ankle and Wrist Weights
Weightlifting Belts and Straps
Balance Equipment–Step-up Platforms, Balance Domes and Discs, Stability Balls
Workout Gloves and Wrist Supports
Medicine Balls, Rebounders and Jump Ropes
Exercise balls - also referred to as stability, Swiss, fitness and balance balls - are probably one of the most versatile items of exercise equipment you could have in your home gym. You are able to exercise all major muscle groups with the help of a ball. Although a weight lifting bench is warranted for many types of workouts, a burst-resistant exercise ball can act as a platform for many weight training exercises that you can do on a bench. The difference is the ball adds instability and flexibility, allowing for greater range of motion and forcing you to exercise both your movement and stabilizing muscles. Not only do you strengthen your muscles, but you also develop better coordination and balance. The more muscles you work, the more calories you burn, the more strength you develop, the greater you feel, and the younger you look.
Balls come mainly in 55cm and 65cm. The size ball you get depends mainly upon your height. Read the manufacturer's sizing requirements specified in our product listings. What size you choose is flexible depending on your needs. Some women do more effective stretching exercises on a ball that is larger than what is normally indicated for their height. Other exercisers like to partially deflate the ball to adjust for more stability and support with certain types of exercises.
Free Weights generally refer to dumbbells, barbells, body bars and plates. Free Weight training often refers to any kind of non-machine based strength training.
Weight lifting is the hallmark of all resistance training. It presents the greatest challenge and benefit to your body. Your body adapts to this challenge by growing stronger and becoming more coordinated. Lifting free weights also duplicates the movements we make in the natural environment. When you lift any relatively heavy object, several things happen in your body. A number of complex and interrelated combinations of muscle contractions occur. A muscle contraction is the result of numerous individual muscle fibers contracting. After a series of contractions, a fiber gets tired and seeks to recruit other fibers to assist in the work. This “recruitment” occurs as you execute your repetitions of flexing and contracting your muscles, which in turn leads to muscle growth, strength, toning and fine muscle definition in women. In men, muscle growth occurs in the same way, but results in greater bulk.
Unlike many bodybuilding machines, free weights, and all of the other products offered on this site, require you to use many muscles to execute the movement. Machines generally work only one muscle in isolation. You work more muscles when working with free weights, which means you burn more calories, increase your metabolism (even while you are sleeping!), improve your balance and coordination as well as tone your muscles. In addition, weight lifting helps you to avoid muscle imbalances that often occur when you over-train on machines.
Some beginners wonder what advantages dumbbells have over barbells, and visa versa. Dumbbells allow you to train each side of your body, making sure that one side doesn't do the work for the other. Barbells allow you to lift more and train both sides of your body at once. They can also be used so that vertical weight is applied to your entire skeleton, a great antidote for osteoporosis. Barbells come in lighter weights than they have in past years – you can get a body bar, which is padded for comfort, that range from 4 lbs. to 27 lbs. There are also aerobic barbells that come with a standard bar and light plates, but are not padded.
When lifting weights that total more than 60 plus lbs. (depending on your body weight), or when beginning a more intense weight lifting routine, it is advisable to do so with the strong and stable support of a weightlifting bench. Benches are a staple of any home gym. They also enable you to do various exercises in conjunction with a stability ball and other exercise equipment. Benches come flat, incline/decline. Certain specialty benches, such as hyperextension and ab benches, allow you to do certain exercises that are otherwise difficult to perform. Some come with attachments that allow you to duplicate the functions of certain weight training machines you find at gyms.
Resistance bands (or tubes): Bands are an effective way to build both strength and flexibility. Resistance bands will help you firm up your chest, arms, abs, and legs. Bands can sometimes impose as much tension on the muscles as free weights, yet they are extremely light and portable. If you have joint pain and stiffness, they prove to be an excellent way to train. Resistance bands are also good for limited space, travel, and work. They can accompany your other weight training exercises, injecting more challenge into your routine. Resistance bands and tubes duplicate, in part, the effects of cable machines at gyms, allowing you to workout in three-dimensional space and to strengthen your natural movements. Resistance bands complement your free weight workout in that they provide the most resistance at the end of a movement, unlike free weights and cable machines, which load the most resistance at the start of a movement.
Be aware that, with bands, you cannot be certain how much tension you are placing on your muscles. On the other hand, this may be a plus since it forces you to become more in tune your muscle tension and rate how much you are able or willing to bear. This experience builds greater muscle-mind connection and helps you become more in tune with your body.
Hand Grips: Women generally have less developed forearms than men. Weaker forearms present an obstacle to weight training. Although a woman's larger muscle groups may be very powerful, she is stymied by her inability to hold her grip on bars, handles and cables. A Hand Grip helps to solve this problem by building forearm strength, without building bulk, and allowing women to advance further in their weight training practice.
Ankle and wrist weights accompany your aerobic and weight training to add more dimension and variation to your workout. Even when performed consistently and diligently, your workouts stop producing results when you do not incorporate variation and challenge. Ankle and Wrist weights help to solve the stale-workout problem by adding resistance to your movements both during weight training, walking and aerobics.
Ankle weights: Ankle weights are most suitable for accompanying leg, thigh, hip and lower back exercises. Ankle weights generally come with either adjustable weights or one weight-size. A particular benefit of ankle weights for women is that they allow for small incremental adjustments to your workout, unlike other weights, which increase in 5 lb. increments. Lighter Ankle weights are suitable for aerobic workouts, and add a strength-training component while also burning more calories.
Wrist Weights: What ankle weights do for the lower body, wrist weights do for the upper. If you have read other parts of this site, you probably notice much discussion about women's weaker forearms. Women have underdeveloped forearms compared to men, which may present obstacles to weight training. Women's large muscle groups may be strong enough to move a house - but this capability is of no utility unless you can grip that house with strong wrists and forearms. Like Hand Grips, wrist weights develop forearm strength without the bulk.
Lifting Straps: Lifting straps are necessary for advancement in your barbell work and, in some cases, your dumbbell work. Barbell work is important because it allows you to push more weight and develop greater strength in both your upper and lower body. The wrists and forearms are comprised of far smaller muscles than those of your chest, back, biceps, buttocks or legs. The straps hold the bar stable in your grip and give added leverage so you can move heavier weight. The more weight you lift, the quicker your forearms will develop, the more muscle you will build, the younger you will look and the greater you will feel.
Weight Lifting Belts: Weight lifting belts offer core support to your back and abdominals for heavy weight lifting. In competition, a weight lifting belt provides that extra support that can give you the winning edge. It is hard for women to find well-fitting belts, since most are made for men. Schiek, however, has designed a belt for women.
Step-up Decks:Step-ups are performed on step-up platforms or decks, not only train balance and coordination, but also strength train the thighs, hips and buttocks, particularly if you hold weights while performing the exercises. Step-ups may also be performed for purely aerobic benefit. To vary your step-up routine, you need to adjust the platform to higher levels as you advance in your workout. Adjustable step-up platforms allow you to do this.
Balance Domes and Discs Balance equipment adds variation to your workout by adding instability. Remember, workouts get stale, and do not produce increasing benefit unless you challenge your body with something different and unexpected. Balance domes and discs allow you to do your regular exercises, but on an unstable surface, forcing you to exercise various supporting muscles and develop more coordination.
Stability Balls: Stability ball is another name for exercise, fitness or Swiss balls. They act as a platform for many weight training exercises, while also adding instability. Instability forces you to exercise more stabilizing muscles and develop greater balance and coordination. In addition, exercises that require you to stand on one foot, or balance upright on an unstable surface, provide particularly effective training for your ankles. Strong ankles are very important for aerobics, kickboxing, dancing and many other activities.
Workout Gloves: Women have smaller hands and less developed forearms than men. Less surface area and smaller muscle mass mean less ability to grip and wrap our hands around bars and other fitness equipment. Your hands will hurt, ache and develop unsightly calluses. Gloves protect a woman's hands and enhance her workout so she may grip those bars and cables with more confidence, move more weight and develop greater strength. Gloves generally come with short or longer finger length, depending on your preference for having more or less contact with the grip surface.
Wrist Supports: Some women find wrist supports are helpful in reducing excess movement while lifting weights or performing cable pulls. Stable wrist position helps to prevent injury. Another benefit is that, some of the tension that is buffered by wrist movement is now transferred to the forearms, adding more resistance and training to the muscles in this vulnerable area for women. You may get wrist supports separately or as an attachment to your weight lifting glove.
This grouping of equipment assists you to not only develop strength and coordination, but also trains power, quick reflexes and the ability to partake in athletic activities.
Medicine Balls: Workouts grow stale and improvement plateaus unless you vary and change your exercises. Medicine balls may be the prescription you need. These balls improve strength, flexibility, coordination, balance and posture by strengthening both your movement and stabilizing muscles. Medicine balls allow you to develop natural movements in three-dimensional space, as well as train specific movement patterns for various sports. With medicine balls, you can do rotations and abdominal workouts that tone your obliques and front abdominal muscles, which in turn assists you with core stability, a necessary step to strength-training your arms and legs.
Rebounders: A rebounder is a type of trampoline that may be adjusted horizontally or at various angles. Rebounders are generally used for developing speed, strength and power. Angle it for a medicine ball workout. It returns the ball with speed and force at different angles, depending on how you angle the rebounder and how you throw the ball. Level it for a jogging workout. You develop both cardiovascular and muscle strength. Rebounders also help you develop precise movement patterns for athletics, as well as help you become more coordinated.
Jump Ropes: Jump Roping is known for its intense cardio-vascular effects, but is also an excellent way to develop power, balance and coordination for both daily activities as well as athletic endeavors.
Author(s):
Janet Ford is an A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer and co-owner of TheFitWoman.com website of women's weight training and fitness equipment. She is an experienced weight trainer, marathon cyclist, and primary author of The Fit Woman Blog.
This article may be republished so long as links to the author(s) remain intact.
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