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Weight training: Improve your muscular fitness
Weight training can help you tone your muscles, improve your appearance and fight age-related muscle loss. Better yet, weight training doesn't take as long as you might think.
By Mayo Clinic staffYour friends enjoy using the weight machines and free weights at the fitness center. And you see the results of their hard work — toned muscles and an overall improved physique. You'd like to start a weight training program, but you're not sure you have the time. Think again. Weight training might not be as time-consuming as you think.
Weight training 101
Weight training is a type of strength training that uses weights for resistance. Weight training challenges your muscles by providing a stress to the muscle that causes it to adapt and get stronger, similar to the way aerobic conditioning strengthens your heart. Weight training can be performed with free weights, such as barbells and dumbbells, or by using weight machines.
Weight training: How much is enough?
You don't have to be in the weight room for 90 minutes a day to see results. For most people, short weight training sessions several times a week are more practical than are extended daily workouts. You can see significant improvement in your strength with just two or three 20- or 30-minute weight training sessions a week. That frequency also meets activity recommendations for healthy adults, which call for strength training at least twice a week — in addition to at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity.
Next page(1 of 2)
- 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.health.gov/PAGUIDELINES/guidelines/default.aspx. Accessed Nov. 4, 2010.
- Physical activity and health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/index.html. Accessed Nov. 4, 2010.
- Stay active and be fit! President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. http://www.fitness.gov/publications/council/stayactiveandbefit_pdf.pdf. Accessed Nov. 4, 2010.
- Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 4, 2010.
- Free weights vs. strength-training equipment. American Council on Exercise. http://www.acefitness.org/fitfacts/fitfacts_display.aspx?itemid=2655. Accessed Nov. 1, 2010.
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