Types of Strength Building Exercises...

Weight training

It uses the force of gravity (in the form of weighted bars, dumbbells or weight stacks) to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction.

Weight training uses a variety of specialized equipment to target specific muscle groups and types of movement.

Weight training differs from bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman, which are sports rather than forms of exercise. Weight training, however, is often part of the athlete's training regimen.

Weight training versus resistance training

Resistance training involves the application of elastic or hydraulic resistance to muscle contraction rather than gravity. Weight training provides the majority of the resistance at the beginning, initiation joint angle of the movement, when the muscle must overcome the inertia of the weight's mass.

After this point, the overall resistance alters depending on the angle of the joint. In comparison, hydraulic resistance provides a fixed amount of resistance throughout the range of motion, depending on the speed of the movement. Elastic resistance provides the greatest resistance at the end of the motion, when the elastic element is stretched to the greatest extent.


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Weight training versus isometric training

Isometric exercise provides a fixed amount of resistance based on the force output of the muscle. This strengthens the muscle at the specific joint angle at which the isometric exercise occurs, with some lesser gains in strength also occurring at proximal joint angles.

In comparison, weight training builds the muscle throughout the range of motion the joint is trained in, causing an increase in physical power from the initiating through to terminating joint angle.

Safety

Weight training is a safe form of exercise when the movements are slow, controlled, and carefully defined. However, as with any form of exercise, improper execution and the failure to take appropriate precautions can result in injury.

Stretching and warm-up

The cross trainer can be used to warm up muscles in both the upper and lower body.

Weight trainers commonly spend 5 to 20 minutes warming up their muscles with aerobic exercise before starting a workout. They also stretch muscles after they have been exercised.

Breathing

Weight trainers are advised to conscientiously "exhale on effort" and to inhale when lowering the weight. This technique ensures that the trainer breathes through the most difficult part of the exercise, where one would reflexively hold one's breath.


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Hydration

As with other sports, weight trainers should avoid dehydration throughout the workout by drinking plenty of water, even while not thirsty; thirst is a sign that the body is already dehydrated.

Sportspeople are advised to drink about 7 imperial fluid ounces every 15 minutes while exercising, and about 80 imperial fluid ounces throughout the day. Under most circumstances, sports drinks do not offer a physiological benefit over water during weight training.

Insufficient hydration may cause lethargy, soreness or muscle cramps. The urine of well-hydrated persons should be nearly colorless, while an intense yellow color is normally a sign of insufficient hydration.



The benefits of weight training overall are comparable to most other types of strength training:

• increased muscle
• tendon and ligament strength
• bone density
• flexibility
• tone
• metabolic rate
• and postural support

Resistance

Resistance training

• a more broad meaning that refers to any training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction (better termed strength training)

• and elastic or hydraulic resistance, which refers to a specific type of power training that uses elastic or hydraulic tension to provide this resistance.

Here, we'll discuss the more limited definition, of elastic/hydraulic resistance training.

Basic principles...

Resistance training is a form of training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent).

Exercises are isotonic if a body part is moving against the force. Exercises are isometric if a body part is holding still against the force. Resistance exercise is used to develop the power and size of skeletal muscles.

Properly performed, resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.

The goal of resistance training, according to the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), is to "gradually and progressively overload the musculoskeletal system so it gets stronger."

Research shows that regular resistance training will strengthen and tone muscles and increase bone mass.

Resistance training should not be confused with weightlifting, powerlifting or bodybuilding, which are competitive sports involving different types of power training with non-elastic forces such as gravity (weight training or plyometrics) an immovable resistance (isometrics, usually the body's own muscles or a structural feature such as a doorframe).

Full range of motion is important in resistance training because muscle overload occurs only at the specific joint angles where the muscle is worked.

Resistance training can be performed using various types of exercise equipment or:

• Resistance bands
• Exercise machines
• Swimming machines

Isometric

Isometric exercise...

or "Isometrics" are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction (compared to concentric or eccentric contractions, called isotonic movements).

Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion. The joint and muscle are either worked against an immovable force (overcoming isometric) or are held in a static position while opposed by resistance (yielding isometric).

Definition

Isometric exercise is a form of exercise involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle of the joint.

This is reflected in the name; the term "isometric" combines the prefix "iso" (same) with "metric" (distance), meaning that in these exercises the length of the muscle does not change, as compared to isotonic contractions ("tonus" means "strain" in Latin) in which the contraction strength does not change but the joint angle does.

Isometric resistance

Resistance in isometric exercises typically involve contractions of the muscle using:

• the body's own muscle (e.g., pressing the palms together in front of the body)

• structural items (e.g., pushing against a door frame)

• free weights, weights machines or elastic equipment (e.g. holding a weight in a fixed position)

• pressure plate type equipment that has a digital readout of maximal force