Not all exercises are the same! When you have different fitness goals, you’ll need different types of exercises. Before you buy an exercise equipment I want you to understand that everyone has a different body shape, therefore needs a personalized fitness goal. So, what is your goal?
Here are the different exercises for different goals — make sure you know what you want before you start working out, or you’ll just be wasting your time!
Are You Exercising For Fitness?
Some individuals are lucky enough to not be grossly overweight or underweight, and would like to exercise simply to maintain their good health. If that sounds like you, then you’ll need exercises that will keep your body limber, strong, and flexible.
The first kind of exercise you’d want to have on your regimen are the cardiovascular exercises. Jogging, biking, and swimming are examples of common cardio exercises — they get the blood running and your lungs breathing. Cardio boosts the metabolism and promotes circulation.
For flexibility and strength, you may want to try exercises such as Yoga and Pilates. Yoga is serene and flowing, while Pilates is tough and tense — a great Yin-Yang of exercises. These exercises aren’t only good for the body — they’re also good for the mind, and can be a relaxing way to pace yourself through a busy week.
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Or Are You Doing Exercises For Weight Loss?
If you want to exercise to lose weight, then here’s a tip — don’t rely on just cardio. Some people make the mistake of jogging for hours, or spending all their gym time on the treadmill. Cardio does boost the metabolism, but not enough to encourage fat burn on its own.
When you rely on just cardio to lose weight, what happens is that your efforts tend to plateau. Your body gets used to the routine, and your weight loss slows down and stops. What’s worse, long and slow cardio can put you at risk of repetitive stress injury!
Don’t just rely on cardio. Instead, focus on more intense interval training. If you like jogging, learn sprinting. If you like biking, learn spinning. By hitting maximum effort in short bursts, you’ll be encouraging more fat burn — and you’ll be building some calorie-burning muscle, too.
Finally, if you Exercising For A Constant Muscle Growth
It’s a no-brainer, but if you want muscle growth, you’ll need to focus on resistance training. The idea is to work your muscles to failure, so that the body repairs and grows them during your rest days.
When it comes to resistance training, you’re often faced with two choices at any gym — machines, and free weights. It’s a good idea to utilize ALL the tools your gym offers, so that you get to work out ALL your muscle groups. But if you had to choose, choose free weights. They’re better for muscle growth.
No time or money for the gym? Then use body weight exercises instead. Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and horizontal bar pull-ups are all great body weight exercises, and you don’t need a gym to do them. Just remember to do sets that work your muscles to failure, and you’ll be seeing bigger muscles in the near future.
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What is the best for building muscle — free weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight? The answer depends on your needs, since each of the three options have their own advantages and drawbacks against each other. Let’s take a closer look at them:
The Pros And Cons Of Free Weights
Free weights such as dumbbells and barbells use gravity to produce resistance to movement. Free weights have been the staple gym equipment for a long time, and it looks to stay that way for a while.
The advantages of free weights is that they’re effective — more effective than exercise machines, in fact — in building muscle. And since these weights are adjustable, you can progress to heavier weights to keep building muscle as you get stronger. Progress is, therefore, relatively fast.
On the other hand, free weights can injure you if you do the exercises incorrectly, or with improper posture. Free weights are also more expensive than resistance bands, and you can’t really take them with you when you go into town or travel.
The Pros And Cons Of Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are different from free weights in the sense that it provides resistance through tension, not the use of gravity. It combines the tension in the bands with your own body weight to create the resistance you’ll be working through in your routines.
Resistance bands give you a staggering number of exercises you can try, working out all the muscle groups in your body. One of the main advantages resistance bands have over free weights is that they’re inexpensive and lightweight, letting you take them with you wherever you go. All you need is an overhead support (such as a horizontal bar, a closed door, or a ceiling hook) that can carry your weight, and you’re ready to go.
The main disadvantage of resistance bands is that they’re not adjustable, unlike free weights. You’ll need to get creative with your routines and find newer, tougher exercises if you want to keep building muscle with resistance bands.
The Pros And Cons Of Body Weight Exercises
Body weight exercises don’t require the use of any gym equipment — all you need is your own body’s weight to provide the resistance you need. Examples of common yet effective body weight exercises include push-ups, horizontal bar pull-ups, squats, and sit-ups.
The advantages of body weight exercises are obvious — it’s free! You can do them anytime, anywhere, and it won’t cost you a thing. And when you constantly work your muscles to failure every single set, it can mean substantial muscle growth.
The disadvantages? There are only so many body weight exercises you can try, so you’ll need a bit of creativity to make sure all your muscle groups are being worked out. Also, as you get stronger, you might find body weight exercises less effective, and maybe even boring!