Types of home exercise equipment for all muscle groups, ranking of the best

Powerful Muscle Building Results: Strength Training to Burn Fat in the Gym

The load that an athlete receives in the gym is usually divided into two types : aerobic and anaerobic.
Aerobic - any cardio: running, jumping rope, exercise on an exercise bike. Anaerobic - power load.

Anaerobic training, as a rule, is carried out using special equipment (barbells, weights, dumbbells, exercise machines) and is aimed at increasing muscle mass and creating a fit, athletic figure.

Strength training in the gym

• Anaerobic training helps build muscle mass and strengthen ligaments. Unlike cardio, strength training does not increase the body's endurance.
• Strength training speeds up your metabolism , which can help you lose weight. The fat burning process continues for several hours after training.

Strength training is aimed at the general physical fitness of a person. For beginners, pull-ups, push-ups, and squats are enough. More advanced athletes will benefit from training with iron.

Benefit

• Formation of a sporty and fit figure.
• Losing excess weight.
• Improving the body's performance and overall well-being. Raising self-esteem.

Reference! Many women who begin to engage in strength fitness are afraid to overweight. These fears are completely unfounded. It is very rare that women manage to build good muscle mass. In most cases, this requires taking special medications.

Rules

When strength training, it is important to follow a number of rules:

During strength training, the intervals between approaches increase to 1–3 minutes , depending on the load received.

• Rest between workouts. Experienced trainers do not advise beginners to engage in strength training every day, otherwise they can achieve the effect of “overtraining.” at least 24 hours between strength training sessions Ideally, about 48–72 hours. But, of course, everything is purely individual and depends on the quality of the training, nutrition and the body’s ability to recover.
• Increasing load. To progress, muscles need constant stress. If you regularly exercise with the same weights, the muscles will adapt and will not grow. That is why many athletes bring notebooks with them to the gym, in which they painstakingly record their new achievements. Gradually increasing weights is a direct path to muscle growth.
• The strength training program must be based on basic exercises and isolated exercises to a minimum.

Recommendations

For convenience, the muscles of the body are divided into large subgroups: muscles of the chest, back, legs, arms, and abdomen. For high-quality strength training, you should pay attention to each group separately.

• Day 1: chest, triceps.
• Day 2: back, biceps.
• Day 3: legs, shoulders.

Abdominal exercises can be performed on any or each of the training days.

• The shells must be selected in such a way that the work is completed “to failure.” This means that the last time must be on the edge of possibility. The “to failure” method stimulates muscles to grow.
• For those who want to quickly lose weight, it is recommended to combine strength training with cardio, but for those who want to build muscle mass, it is worth doing cardio and strength exercises on different days.

Attention! It is impossible to build good muscle mass and lose weight at the same time. Fitness gurus recommend doing muscle building first, and then cardio, so that after losing weight, a beautiful and noticeable relief will appear. But mixed training (cardio + strength fitness) helps strengthen muscles, achieve muscle tone, increase strength, and lose weight.

Basic rules for home training using exercise machines

1. How to properly perform exercises on simulators.
   Setting a goal

   . The most important thing to start with is to determine the goal that you should achieve with the help of home exercises. Lose excess weight, correct your figure, improve your health - for each of these options there are not only their own, more optimal exercise machines, but also a training program on exercise machines. During exercise, biological processes occur in your body that affect the effectiveness of your training. For example, in the case of strength training, a positive effect occurs after no less than 30-45 minutes of exercise, but after an hour the body produces substances that bring the opposite effect. Therefore, having decided on your goal, you should seek help from a specialist who can recommend the exercises you need on simulators. Video lessons can also help you master the appropriate exercises.

2. We monitor the state of the body using sensors
   . Many computers are equipped with special sensors that monitor the functioning of your body. Monitor them carefully, and if the readings of these sensors indicate that your body is overloaded, stop exercising on the exercise equipment. Overworking the body will not lead to a positive result, and moreover, it can cause harm to the body.
3. Exercise program
   We follow the training regime.

   Do not try to exercise on exercise machines in any free time. The body must be ready for exercise at a certain time, so develop your own training system. If you are used to getting up early, then give preference to exercising in the morning, especially since it is in the morning that exercise helps get rid of more subcutaneous fat. However, if you are used to waking up late, then it is better to do fitness in the afternoon, when your body is more tuned to physical activity. The effectiveness of sports, first of all, depends on their regularity. It doesn’t matter if you don’t manage to lose excess weight in three days - after a few months, or maybe even weeks of calm and regular training, you will certainly feel that training on home exercise equipment is clearly doing you good.

4. We avoid overloads.
   Although training on exercise machines should be quite intense, do not exhaust yourself with physical activity. Physical activity should alternate with rest, otherwise you will simply become exhausted, and after a short period of time you will give up exercising. Proper fitness training is by no means limited to physical activity.

Lesson program

The set of exercises can be performed on weight machines, with dumbbells and a barbell.

Exercises for the muscles of the whole body on simulators

Working out on strength training machines is safer than working with free weights, since the machine determines the correct trajectory and range of movements.

There are a variety of simulators on which you can perform both basic exercises (several muscle groups are involved) and isolated exercises (aimed at developing one muscle).

Basic strength exercises on simulators for working large muscle groups:

• Leg press in a hack machine.
• Smith machine squats.
• Seated shin extension.
• Lying leg curl.

• Pull-ups in the gravitron.
• Pull of the upper block to the chest.
• Barbell rows to the lower abdomen in a Smith machine.

• Smith machine barbell press.
• Bringing your hands together in a crossover.

• Military press sitting in a Smith machine.

• Raising your arms for biceps in the simulator.

• Extension of arms on the upper block in a block simulator.

The standard number of approaches is 3 . It is recommended to start with a light weight. This will be considered a warm-up set. The second and third approaches are working “to failure”. 10-15 reps for the warm-up set and 8-10 reps for sets 2 and 3 will be enough.

Important! To lose weight, the number of approaches and repetitions increases, and the rest time decreases.

Prepared training plan for burning fat

An approximate fat-burning strength training program for a week is as follows:

Day 1: legs, shoulders, abs

• Seated leg extension in a simulator. Set the working weight. Sit down, put your legs under the bolster and grab the side handles with your hands. As you exhale, using the strength of your quadriceps, straighten your legs as much as possible. Hold for 1-2 counts in the compressed position and then slowly return the projectile to its original position.

Photo 1. A woman does leg extension and flexion on a machine while sitting, setting the working weight.

• Barbell squats (Smith machine). Stand under the bar so that it is located between the shoulder blades and neck. Grasp the barbell with a comfortable grip at a level slightly wider than shoulder width. Reduce your shoulder blades as much as possible by lifting your elbows up. Place your legs forward beyond the line of the bar so that your body rests on the bar. Bend your lower back so that your pelvis moves slightly back. Squat down to parallel with the floor or slightly lower. Stay in this position for half a second. Exhale and rise to the starting position.
• Lying leg curls in a lying machine. Lie face down, place your legs under the bolsters, approximately at the level of the back of your ankles, and place them parallel to each other. Inhale, hold your breath and, without lifting your front hips from the bench, powerfully pull the rollers towards your buttocks. Exhale after passing the most difficult point of the amplitude. Hold for 1-2 counts in the top position, maintaining a peak contraction. As you inhale, slowly lower your legs down to the starting position.
• Bench press sitting behind the head . Place the barbell on vertical racks and equip it with weight. Sit slightly under the bar and place it just below the neck area. Move away from the stand with the apparatus and take a stable position (feet slightly narrower than shoulder width) with a straight back. As you exhale, raise the barbell above your head. Stay in the top position for 1-2 counts , inhaling and returning to the starting position.

On the leg muscles

Leg press

An excellent basic exercise that will help evenly work all the lower muscles. Sit in a bench press machine with your back and head pressed against the support, your knees bent and your feet on the platform. As you exhale, press the platform all the way, then bend your knees again and lower the platform.

If you want to focus on the gluteal muscles, then place your feet on the upper edge of the platform, and if on the quadriceps, then on the lower edge.

Squats

One of the best basic exercises that evenly engages the back muscles, glutes, legs and abs. Place your feet approximately shoulder-width apart, with your toes facing outward, and your back completely straight. Take the bar with weights and place it on your shoulders, holding it with your hands, squat down, and then stand up again.

During a squat, your knees should not go beyond your toes, your back should remain straight at all times. Also make sure to squat to parallel with the floor or slightly lower.

Warm-up

If you exercise without warming up, you greatly increase the risk of injury and reduce the effectiveness of your workout. In addition, this is how you form the wrong habits.

Warm-up is a mandatory element of training. You can easily get your muscles into working condition by following a simple procedure:

1. Use a massage roller . Such rollers help to thoroughly warm up the muscles of the whole body. Here Lifehacker explained in detail what these tools are and how to use them.
2. Do cardio for five minutes : walk uphill at a brisk pace, exercise on an elliptical trainer or exercise bike. If you are overweight, you should not run - take care of your knees.
3. Be sure to do joint warm-up and dynamic stretching . Here you will find a video of a good warm-up.

After this, you will be warmed up enough to begin the lesson.

General recommendations: how to choose an exercise machine for your home, how to exercise on exercise machines

Home weight loss exercise machines are suitable for all people who want to solve their main problem - to lose weight, regardless of gender and age: they are equally good for 18-year-old boys and 50-year-old women. You don’t have to be overweight to exercise, since the best home exercise equipment not only helps you burn excess fat, but also contributes to the overall strengthening of the body.

It is important to remember that the price of a device does not always equal its effectiveness; sometimes cheaper exercise machines can bring more benefits than expensive brands, since in the second case part of the cost is a fee for the brand. But this is a matter of individual choice. For the most effective use of the simulator, experts recommend following the following rules:

• loads should not be increased immediately, but gradually, without fanaticism;
• The training time should also be increased gradually; for starters, 10-15 minutes a day will be enough;
• you need to drink a lot of water (when playing sports, the body needs at least 2 liters of fluid per day);
• limit consumption of flour and sweets.

How to create a training program

When you come to the gym, you should already have a clear action plan: what exercises you will do, what muscle groups you will work.

There are a huge number of training programs, but beginners without a coach should not try complex options. To begin with, it is better to limit yourself to sequentially working all muscles.

Let's conditionally divide the body into several muscle groups: biceps, triceps, shoulders, chest, back, buttocks, thighs and abs. If you're going to train twice a week, divide the muscle groups equally. For example, in the first workout, work your biceps, back, hips and abs, and in the second workout, work your triceps, chest, shoulders and buttocks.

Here are some exercises with machines and free weights for different muscle groups.

Weekly training program for beginners in the gym

At the beginning of each workout, you need to do a warm-up, and at the end - stretching or cool-down. The program is designed for a beginner who trains 3 times a week. On each training day we will work the entire body to achieve harmonious muscle development.

Day 1:

• Squats with a barbell 4*12;
• deadlift 4*12;
• wide grip pull-ups 4*15;
• reverse push-ups 4*15;
• upper block thrust 4*15;
• hanging leg raise 4*20;
• twisting 4*20.

Day 2:

• Wide grip bench press 4*12;
• dumbbell raises to the side 4*20;
• forward lunges 4*20 on each leg;
• leg press 4*15;
• plank 1 minute;
• lateral twists 4*25.

Day 3:

• Hyperextension 4*15;
• squats 4*12;
• push-ups 4*15;
• French press 4*15;
• Bent-over barbell row 4*12;
• twisting 4*20;
• plank 1 minute.

Exercises for legs and buttocks

Leg press in the gym

Using this simulator, you can move the emphasis on different muscle groups by simply changing the position of your legs on the platform:

1. Legs at the top of the platform - emphasis on the gluteal muscles and hamstrings.
2. Feet at the bottom of the platform - emphasis on quadriceps.
3. Narrow leg stance - emphasis on the outer thigh.
4. Wide stance of the legs - emphasis on the inner thighs.

Here is a video with the technique of performing the exercise:

Leg abduction in the simulator

This exercise works great on the buttocks. Walk your leg back until your shin is parallel to the floor, but do not extend your knees completely. To better work the muscles, lower your leg to its original position slowly.

Squats

This is a basic exercise with a huge number of variations: with a wide stance or on one leg, with a barbell or with dumbbells, from an elevation or with a jump. Here Lifehacker examines in detail the technique of performing squats, and in this article there are several options for squats and other exercises for the hips.

Shoulder exercises

Army press

Sit on a horizontal bench, back straight, feet resting on the floor. Hold dumbbells in both hands, bend your elbow and lift the dumbbells to shoulder level. Now, as you exhale, press the dumbbells up until they stop, then return to the starting position. Please note the following points:

• The back is perfectly straight all the time;
• The elbows move along a strictly defined trajectory;
• At the highest point, the dumbbells are very close.

Dumbbell lateral raises

Stand straight, feet together, take dumbbells with the required weight in both hands. As you exhale, bend your elbows slightly and then spread your arms out to the sides until they are parallel to the floor. Pause at the highest point and slowly lower the projectile down. Watch the position of the lumbar region and back, it should remain straight all the time!

Back exercises

Hyperextension

This exercise strengthens the back extensor muscles. It warms you up perfectly and prepares you for an important basic exercise - the deadlift.

If you want to pump up your back muscles, and not your legs, start doing the exercise from a position where your body is in a straight line with the machine. Then lift your back, squeezing your shoulder blades together and moving your arms back. Stay in this position for 3-5 seconds.

Pull of the lower block to the stomach

The key point in this exercise: you need to pull the block not with your hands, but with your back. While pulling, fix your back and squeeze your shoulder blades. The video shows the technique and features of the exercise:

Upper pulley to chest

This exercise also helps to effectively pump up your back muscles. The video below explains the execution technique and the main mistakes:

On the abdominal muscles

Plank

One of the most wonderful exercises that harmoniously works the abdominal muscles, back, and back of the thigh. Lie down on a gymnastic mat, bend your arms at the elbow joint. Transfer your body weight with your arms and feet bent, your back, head and legs forming a straight line.

Hold this position for 30 seconds or longer.

Other variations of the exercise: plank on one hand, plank with alternating hands, plank with one leg raised.

Side crunches

Lie on a horizontal mat, legs bent at the knees, hands behind your head. Connect your right elbow to your left knee, doing a twist, then vice versa. Perform the exercise at a fast pace to get a good feel for the work of all the abdominal muscles.

Chest exercises

Bench press

This basic exercise involves the pectoral muscles, triceps, and deltoids. The emphasis can be shifted by changing the grip: bench press with a narrow grip loads more on the triceps, and with a wide grip on the chest. Also, the emphasis on the chest shifts if you take the barbell with a reverse grip, that is, with your palms facing you.

The video explains the technique of performing the exercise:

Exercise in a simulator for the pectoral muscles

This machine allows you to perform exercises that only work the pectoral muscles. Do not straighten your arms completely at the extreme points, perform the exercise smoothly.

Dips with forward bend

If you can't do dips without help yet, use an expander or a special exercise machine for support. To place the emphasis on your chest, tilt your body forward.

The technique of performing the exercise can be seen in the video:

In this article you can find chest exercises in pictures.

Three reasons to buy a trainer

1. Exercise machines for the gym and home use are designed to perform a specific exercise. His technique is strictly prescribed and in most cases eliminates the possibility of doing something wrong. When training on a simulator, it is much easier for a novice athlete to immediately master the correct technique, which brings him much closer to the desired result.
2. The presence of clear instructions, as well as a reliable system of fastenings and counterweights make the activity safe. The risk of injury when performing exercises on a special device is much lower than when working with free weights. There is also no need to balance and maintain balance. You can fully concentrate on honing your movements.
3. Oddly enough, but buying special equipment increases the athlete’s motivation. Having a treadmill or elliptical trainer at home allows you to train regardless of weather conditions, and also saves time and money on buying warm sportswear.

Triceps Exercises

Reverse push-ups

Try not to spread your elbows out to the sides. If shoulder mobility allows, lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.

Extension of arms on a block

This exercise can be performed with a regular or rope handle. The back is straight, the elbows are located close to the body and do not move.

Triceps exercises

Reverse push-ups

Stand with your back to the bench, rest your palms on it with your straight arms, your feet resting on the floor, and the rest of your body suspended in the air. Bend your elbows and lower your hips down, then begin to return to the starting position. Reverse push-ups not only work the triceps, but also the upper pecs.

On the subject: Melanie's technique for training the female voice

French bench press

Lie on a horizontal bench, feet resting on the floor, and buttocks and shoulder blades pressed to the surface. The barbell is positioned at arm's length above chest level. Then, while inhaling, lower the projectile behind your head, bending your elbows. You should feel your triceps working and stretching.

Exercises for biceps

Standing barbell curl

This is a basic exercise that helps to work your biceps well. Here is a video with the technique of performing the exercise:

Dumbbell lift

Unlike the previous exercise, when lifting the dumbbells, you should rotate your wrists, as this provides additional stress to the biceps. At the bottom, the hands should look at each other, and during the rise, turn towards the body.

Effective home exercise equipment for weight loss

All home exercise equipment is divided into three groups:

• active - involve activities with active body movements, there are two types: mechanical and electrical;
• strength - for exercises focusing on physical strength. In this group, mechanical ones are more common, but there are also electric or battery-powered ones;
• passive - they break down fat cells without any effort on the part of the practitioner; they are electric or equipped with another power source, for example, batteries or with a built-in battery.

Each group is capable of coping with the task - burning accumulated fat, but the first two groups are considered the most effective. A passive group of exercise machines accelerates the natural processes of losing weight, but they are really only effective in combination with additional loads.

Shoulder Exercises

Standing chest press

Before this exercise, you should do a dynamic shoulder stretch: pick up a stick or expander and move your straight arms behind your back several times, and then forward again. Do not bend your elbows while stretching. The closer you place your hands, the more effective the stretch will be.

While pressing, move the barbell behind your head. If it stays forward, it will put a lot of stress on the lower back.

Lateral dumbbell raises

When performing the exercise, your elbows should be slightly bent. Do not raise your arms above your shoulders - this can cause impingement syndrome (inflammation of the rotator cuff).

Bent-over dumbbell raises

The body is tilted forward, the back is straight. Hand movements are similar to the previous exercise.

In this article you will find an analysis of the technique of performing other shoulder exercises.

Biceps exercises

Close grip pull-ups

When doing pull-ups, several muscle groups are involved in the work at once: all the back muscles and biceps. To perform this, grab the bar with an overhand grip, with your hands at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other.

Pull yourself up with your arms and back, bending your elbows until your head is above the bar. Then lower yourself down the same way.

The exercise can be greatly facilitated if you perform it in a gravitron, where you can place a small counterweight.

Ab exercises

Elevated leg crunches

By placing your feet on an elevation, you will eliminate unnecessary stress on the iliopsoas muscles and harm to the lower back. If you want to make the exercise more challenging, pick up a medicine ball.

Plank on an unstable support

The plank perfectly works all the core muscles. To make it more difficult, you can place your legs on an unstable support: in loops or on medicine balls, as shown in the photo.

Hanging Leg Raise

In a simpler version, you need to pull only your knees to your chest.

If this is easy, try lifting your legs straight to the horizontal bar.

Disadvantages of simulators

Despite the fact that exercise machines for all muscle groups look almost ideal, they have their drawbacks:

• High price. The purchase of a high-quality exercise machine, although justified by its enormous contribution to improving health, is nevertheless not accessible to everyone. From this point of view, working with free weights or your own body weight is much cheaper.
• Exercises on the simulator are performed along a specific trajectory of movements that is unnatural for the body. On the one hand, this allows you to work out each muscle group in more detail, and on the other hand, it requires a certain skill. The skill gained as a result of working with the simulator is of little functionality.
• Movements are most often designed for an isolated muscle group. Such activities can interfere with the harmonious development of the whole body. The training program should be drawn up by a qualified trainer to prevent excessive pumping, for example, of the arms.
• Since the simulator with a counterweight system takes on part of the work, skills such as maintaining balance and orientation in space remain undeveloped.
• Most professional exercise machines are not suitable for home use due to their difficulty in maintenance and bulky size.

Nevertheless, training on exercise machines remains the most popular because they allow you to get a beautiful body with pronounced relief in a short time. This cannot be achieved by training with free weights or without any sports equipment at all.

How to Choose the Right Weight and Number of Reps

Take such a weight that you can perform the exercise 5-8 times. The last repetitions should be performed with effort. If you can easily do all eight reps, then the selected weight is too light for you.

Perform three sets of 5–10 reps. Rest between sets should be 1-2 minutes, between exercises - 2-3 minutes.

If you are doing exercises without weights, you will need to do more repetitions to properly engage the muscles. For these exercises, perform three sets of 20 repetitions.

Guide to the gym for a beginner: basic equipment and exercises

In order for a newcomer, inflamed with a thirst for change, not to be confused when he first visits the gym when he sees brutal men and equally brutal exercise machines, we, together with the absolute champion of the Republic of Belarus in bodybuilding, went to the abode of iron to draw up instructions for the “first steps” for the neophyte.

— It’s very easy to spot a newbie in the gym. It is revealed by the technique of performing the exercises. In general, a person who has just come to the gym must first master the technique and only then build up mass, work on relief and endurance.