Weight Benches For Strength Training
Walk into any fitness club or home gym and you will see people who are Using Weight Benches For Strength Training. As somebody who has spent years using weight benches I have come to learn that you can do so much more with them than simply prop up your body. The Benefits of Using Weight Benches For Strength TrainingThis very simple tool serves the obvious purpose of getting you off of the floor while you are performing exercises. When you are elevated off of the floor your range of motion is no longer limited when the weights reach the ground before you have completed the whole movement. Weight Benches also support your back while you are weight training and help to stabilize your body. When your body is stabilized properly you can then isolate the muscle you are trying to work during an exercise. Changing the Angles…There are a few different types of weight benches – Flat, Incline, and Decline. Using a weight bench in these different positions changes the emphasis on how your muscles have to work and move. Flat Bench – You guessed it, totally horizontal. This bench is great for exercises like Chest Press, One-Arm Dumbbell Rows, and Lying Triceps Extensions. Incline Bench- On this bench you lay back at an angle where your head is positioned above your hips. On most benches the level of incline is adjustable depending on the exercise you are doing. This bench is great for exercises like Incline Dumbbell Bicep Curls, Incline Chest Flyes, and Prone Back Rows. Decline Bench- Yup, it’s the opposite of Incline- your head is below your hips when you are lying back and these benches have a place to secure your legs to keep you from sliding onto the floor. These benches are great for exercises like Decline Chest Presses, Abdominal Curl-ups, and Decline Leg Lifts. How To Use Your Weight Bench For Maximum Benefits…I often use weight benches as a tool to teach people what proper posture feels like and how they can strengthen their core while gently having their back supported. Once they can learn this they start feeling the exercise in the correct muscles rather than having their posture muscles straining and overcompensating. I frequently see people using Weight Benches for Strength Training – and they are making a HUGE mistake! They are arching their backs, not using their abdominals, and moving their head all over the place. Without realizing it they are doing exercises incorrectly and could potentially injure themselves. Here is how YOU can avoid this problem.Before you start doing the exercise with weights, try it without weights. Lay back and perform the movement while you think about your posture. Pull your abdominals in, pull your head back to rest on the bench, fold your shoulder blades together and flat against the bench, and think about lengthening your spine to be as tall as it can be. Do a couple of reps without weight and keep your posture in this strong and supported position. Now try it with weights. If you are unable to keep your posture in this stable position, you need a lighter weight. Give yourself a little time and this method will not only make you more aware of your posture, it will also make your core muscles stronger! Finding Creative Ways To Use Weight Benches For Strength Training.I love using weight benches for purposes other than support. It is a tool that you can use to do many different strength exercises using your body as resistance. Tricep dips, Hop Overs, Step-Ups, One Legged Lunges, Decline Pushups, Incline Pushups, Jump-Ups, and more! There are Limits Of Using Weight Benches For Strength Training…The great thing about weight benches is that they help to stabilize and support your back. That is the very same way that they could possibly limit your Strength Training Routine. If you do the majority of your exercises on a bench try to mix it up and do exercises standing up, without seated back support, or lying on a Swiss ball. By doing this, way more of your supporting and stabilizing muscles have to work. Then the next time you use your bench you will notice that you are stronger! Click here to see a FREE workout using Weight Benches For Strength Training.
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