20 Beginners Weight Training Exercises

Weight training is a key element to maintaining a fit and healthy body, as well as improving athletic performance. Most people live relatively sedentary lifestyles resulting in a reduction in muscle tissue. This reduces metabolism, and leads to weight gain in the form of increased fat accumulation. Weight training is one way to reverse this trend.

Many people are put off by weight training, thinking that it is something for serious athletes and bodybuilders alone. However, weight training is certainly not something to fear. Also, many women worry that lifting weights in the gym will build bulky muscles, but this is not the case. Also, with good equipment and some basic guidance, weight training actually is a relaxing form of exercise. There are many different weight training exercises, and different ways to perform these exercises. What follows here is a set of 20 basic beginners weight training exercises that you can perform in most gyms, and also with free weights.

You do not have to perform the exercises below in this order. However, generally the large muscles of the lower body are trained before the smaller muscles of the upper body, because these exercises require more mental and physical energy. The core muscles of the torso are trained before the shoulder and arm muscles that assist them. Exercises often alternate between “pushing” and “pulling” movements to allow their specific supporting muscles time to recover. The stabilising muscles in the waist should be trained last.

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Upper Body Exercises

1. Bench Press
2. Bicep Curls
3. Flyes
4. Lateral Raises
5. Pushdowns
6. Shoulder Press / Military Press
7. Triceps Extension / French Curl
8. Upright Rows

Lower Body Exercises

1. Leg Curl
2. Leg Extension
3. Leg Press
4. Seated Calf Raises
5. Standing Calf Raises
6. Squat

Back Exercises

1. Back Extensions
2. Bent Over Row
3. Deadlift
4. Pulldown

Core Exercises

1. Crunches
2. Leg Raises

References and Recommended Reading

Delavier, Frederic (2001). Strength Training Anatomy. Human Kinetics Publishers. ISBN 0-7360-4185-0.
Schwarzenegger, Arnold (1999). The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-85721-9.

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Recommended Reading • Standing Calf Raises • Leg Extensions • Arnold Schwarzenegger 3 Day Split Bodybuilding Routine • Mike Mentzer’s High Intensity Weight Training • Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Weekly Weight Training Routines

Tags: 20 exercises, back extensions, beginners weight training, bench press, biceps curl, crunches, lateral raise, leg raises, legs, pull downs, triceps extension, upright rows, womens weight training photos

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Strength. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

One Response to “20 Beginners Weight Training Exercises”

1. Mat

   September 20, 2009 at 11:36 am

   Some great tips. What I like is that you have listed manly compound exercises for beginners.

   Here is a vide exercise guide I created for beginners wanting to learn how to do the exercises you mentioned

   http://www.i-want-abs.com/Video-Exercise-Guide.php

   #999

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