Strength Training Routine For Gym

If you want to work out in a gym or health club, this is an effective all body routine.  Do this ten-exercise routine twice a week with at least 2 days between each workout.  Make sure you learn good exercise form from someone you can trust.

In all movements, take 2-4 seconds in each direction of the move, exhaling where you’re doing the most work, and keeping control of movement.  Move with full range of motion.  Notice that moving more slowly makes the exercise harder.  Since you're trying to build muscle, it makes sense to make the muscle work hard rather than moving quickly.

Review the concepts in Getting Started With Strength Training.  Before we get to the routine, it's good to be reminded of common mistakes.  If you look around a gym, you'll see these things all the time.

1. Poor form, such as a rounded back or unequal movement on the two sides of the body.

2. Moving too quickly and bouncing or jerking with the movement.

3. Shortening the full range of motion in order to work with more weight and  make the movement easier.

4. Doing isolation exercises rather than compound, multi-muscle exercises.

5. Doing many, many reps and sets with very low weight.  This does not build muscle.

Do this routine 2 days a week with 2-3 days between each session

Warm up - 10 minutes on rowing machine or other machine that uses upper and lower body muscles.

1. Leg press or Sit Back Squat (choose one)—Quadraceps and gluts

2. Leg curl—Gluts, hamstrings

3. Toe Raise—calves

4. Chest Press or Dip (choose 1) 10 reps

5. Lat Pulldown—upper back and shoulders

6. Dumbbell Overhead Press—Shoulders and upper back

7. Row—Upper back and shoulders

8. Back Extension—Back erectors

9. Side Bend—Olique abdominals and back erectors

10. Abdominal Crunch Machine—Abdominals

Cool down and stretch

© 2004 Elaine Mansfield