Mission Mondays – Lifting Weights
Let’s start Lifting Weights!
I have been a little absent from my blog because of the way the world is right now and I have been a bit frazzled and feeling high anxiety. I figure I am just going to use this time now to write and do things for myself and my boys.
So, that brings me back to doing Mission Mondays!
We are going to be lifting 5 lbs. weights for the next 10 days. So, exercising with 5 lb. dumbbells for 5 – 10 minutes a day will help tone the muscles in your arms, back and chest. Also, you won’t get bulky lifting 5-lb. dumbbells, but you will be boosting your fitness level.
Resistance Training
Resistance training means lifting weights against gravity to build muscular strength, size, and definition. Doing resistance training with free weights or exercise machines can improve fitness, and it is a matter of what is suitable for you. Using 5 lb. dumbbells in each hand, you can do many types of exercises. Using light weights is especially good if you are a beginner to learn the correct form.
Exercises You Can Do
- Standing Alternate Dumbbell Lunges
Start with standing lunges to work the quadriceps of the thighs and glutes of the hips. Stand with feet apart, hip-width distance, with lower abs drawn in toward the spine to protect the lower back. Hold each dumbbell so that your arms and hands are down by your sides. Keeping your head and chest tall, step your right foot forward, bending the knee to about 90 degrees so it is stacked above its ankle. Step back and repeat to the left side.
Do 15 to 20 reps. Work up to three sets.
- Standing Alternate Bicep Curls
Proceed with standing alternate dumbbell bicep curls. Remain standing and begin with hands and arms down by your sides. Lift your right hand, bending the elbow and draw the dumbbell toward your right shoulder, so your palm faces your chest. Pause before lowering the weight. Repeat on the left side.
Do 8 to 12 reps for one set. Build up to three sets.
- Single Tricep Kickbacks on Flat Bench
Work opposing muscle groups — the triceps of the upper arm — with single tricep kickbacks. Set your left hand on the bench in front of you as you balance your bent left knee on the bench. Holding a 5 lb. dumbbell in your right hand so it is down by your right thigh. Pin your right inner elbow to your side as you bend the elbow and bring the dumbbell up toward your right shoulder. Pause before lowering it straight back without locking the elbow joint.
Do 8 to 12 reps on each side. Gradually work up to three sets.
- Seated Rotator Cuff Exercise
Sit on the bench sideways, so your feet are flat and knees are bent to about 90 degrees for a rotator cuff exercise. Place your left palm flat on your left thigh. Hold a 5 lb. dumbbell in your right hand, bending your right elbow to a 90-degree angle. Start with the dumbbell near your left bicep and draw it across your chest until it is about 65 degrees away from your right thigh. Pause and return to the starting point.
Do 8 reps. Repeat on the left side. Keep your head and chest tall and lower abs engaged.
- Overhead Press
Stand with feet wide, knees soft, holding dumbbells with arms in a goal post position (elbows open to sides at shoulder level. Brace core and extend arms straight overhead. Slowly lower elbows to return to start.
Do 20 reps.
- Tri-cep Chop
Stand with feet wide, knees soft, holding a dumbbell with both hands in front of the chest. Engage abs and bring arms overhead, biceps next to ears. Bend elbows and lower the weight behind head all the way down to shoulders (avoid letting elbows open out to the side and relax neck). Raise arms overhead to return to start (use abdominal muscles to keep torso steady as arms raise and lower, and don’t let ribs flare out).
Do 20 reps
- Inverted curl to front Press
Stand with feet hip-width, holding dumbbells in front of thighs, palms facing the body. Bend elbows by sides and curl weights up. Extend arms straight out in front of shoulders, palms facing the floor, keeping core engaged. Bend elbows back in by sides and lower to start.
Do 20 reps.
Begin in a split stance with right foot forward, right knee bent and left leg straight, holding dumbbells. Keeping spine naturally straight, hinge forward from hips about 45 degrees, arms reaching down to the floor (palms should face thighs). Raise arms to sides of shoulders, squeezing shoulder blades down and together during the movement (the ends of the weights should face up). Slowly lower arms. Press arms back by hips, with palms still facing up and then lower arms. That’s one rep.
Do 10 reps per side.
Tips and Warnings
Many more resistance training exercises can be done with 5 lb. dumbbells. Therefore, learn from a very skilled friend or a certified personal trainer to prevent injury.
Weights are best used for resistance training in exercises in which your body is not in danger of injury. This means doing exercises in which you can bear a proper form to protect your neck, lower back and all the joints of your body, including ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders.
Very few think strength-training as a necessary exercise, but it really is. It is crucial as one ages, because a natural part of the aging process is losing muscle. Women, especially, need to lift weights, and the trick to lifting weights is stressing muscles.
SO, STRENGTHEN ALL YOUR MUSCLES (NOT JUST THE ABS!)
Benefits of lifting weights
Benefits include improved posture, better sleep, gaining bone density, maintaining weight loss, boosting metabolism, lowering inflammation and staving off chronic disease, and the list of positives goes on.
It keeps your bones strong and healthy and gives you better posture
Your bones need to stay challenged, just like your brain needs exercise to stay sharp. Weight lifting doesn’t only train your muscles; it trains your bones. As a result, your bones become stronger and denser.
It can also help with correcting bad posture, and building a strong back and core will also help prevent any lower back pain.
It improves posture, sleep, mood and energy levels
“Besides the aesthetic, physiological and strength benefits, it affects how we feel and how clearly we think. Also, weight training [has] proven to improve the quality of a person’s sleep,” Brody Thorne, vice president of personal training at GoodLife Fitness says.
Improves balance and reduces the risk of falls
This is very imortant for aging people, as they stuggle with frailty and lose their independance. Strength training, even in the elderly, provides better balance and strengthens your legs.
Enhance your mood and reduce stress
Exercise releases endorphins which improve your mood, prevent pain and fight depression.
Make sure to check out my other post on Weight Loss and Mission Mondays!
So, there it is! I hope that everyone is keeping safe and healthy. I would say that this time is the best time to focus on yourself and you have the time to do it!
Take care.
