Want to strengthen your bones, enhance your balance and stability, increase your metabolism and decrease body fat – all at once? Then incorporate resistance training into your physical activity at least twice per week. Not only will you feel better and stronger, but you’ll also reduce symptoms of chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes and osteoporosis.

And you don’t even have to go to the gym! Here are ideas for resistance training at home.

Getting Started

Resistance training, also known as strength training, is any exercise that involves working against external resistance to strengthen your muscles. Resistance training is crucial to preventing osteoporosis, since it helps keep your bones strong.

Talk with your healthcare provider before starting a strength-training program. Warm up properly before beginning your exercise routine, and cool down properly at the end. Start with lighter weights and gradually build up to heavier ones.

None of the exercises you do should cause pain. The range within which you move your arms and legs should never hurt. Contact your healthcare provider if you experience pain.

Resistance Exercises

Here are just a few examples of strength-training exercises from the American Heart Association and Harvard Health Publishing. For these exercises, make sure you use a sturdy chair and wear athletic shoes with non-skid soles.

Arm Raise

This activity strengthens your shoulder muscles. Start with hand weights of one to two pounds and gradually increase the weight over time.

Sit up straight in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, shoulder-width apart. Hold one weight in each hand, with your arms straight down at your sides and your palms facing inward. Breathe in slowly.

Raise both arms to the sides as you slowly breath out until your arms are parallel to the ground, shoulder height.

Hold for one second. Then, breathe out as you slowly lower your arms so that they are straight down by your sides again.

Repeat six to eight times. Rest, then do a second set.

Standing Calf Raise

This exercise strengthens the muscles in your calves, ankles and feet. It can help improve your stability and balance.

Stand behind a sturdy chair with your feet flat on the floor. Hold on to the back of your chair with both hands for balance. Raise yourself up on tiptoe, as high as possible. Hold briefly, then lower yourself. Aim for eight to 12 repetitions. Rest and repeat the set.

Hamstring Curl

This exercise stretches the quadriceps muscles on the front of your thighs and strengthens the hamstring muscles on the back of your thighs.

Stand behind a straight-backed chair, with both hands on the back of the chair for balance. Place your feet slightly apart and keep your upper body straight.

Shift your weight onto your right leg, keeping your right leg slightly bent. Breathe in slowly and lift your left foot behind you about 10 to 12 inches off the floor. Bend your left leg only at the knee. Slowly return to your starting position. Repeat six to eight times, then switch legs and repeat six to eight times with your right leg. Rest, then do another set with each leg.

More Exercises to Try

These are only a few examples of the many resistance exercises you can do at home. For a more complete set of resistance exercises, with illustrations, that work muscle groups all over your body, visit the American Heart Association’s Strength and Balance Exercises page and Harvard Health Publishing’s Simple Strength Training Tips page. If you’re feeling ambitious and have access to resistance training equipment such as dumbbells, check out Strength Training at Home from The StayWell Company, LLC.

Sources:
American Heart Association
Harvard Health Publishing
The StayWell Company, LLC