Using Hand Weights During Your Cardio Exercise
Cardio workouts are great at increasing your heart rate and burning fat
. Whether you are running, hiking, swimming, or biking, your body is sure to be getting a great workout.
This type of exercise is mostly great for burning calories, losing weight, increasing your aerobic stamina, and creating strength and definition in your leg muscles. If you are hoping to get a full body workout, you should try adding in the use of hand weights.
Running on a treadmill is a great way to get fit, but it does not exactly work and strengthen every part of your body. There are ways that you can increase arm strength while you jog.
Hand weights are the best option for those that are hoping to add tone, definition, and strength to their arm muscles. Depending on your weight, level of strength, and gender, you should use weights from about three pounds up to about ten pounds.
When you use hand weights you should hold each one firmly in both of your hands, to prevent them from accidently being let go or flying out of reach when you begin running and moving your limbs. Start by walking slowly on the treadmill.
Bend your elbows and swing the weights fairly close to your chest. You should hold them at whichever level is best for you, but the higher you are able to swing your arms when they are bent the more strength it will take.
This will increase the tone and muscle mass in your biceps and triceps muscles. Once you feel comfortable enough walking and have not experienced any pain or strain, increase the speed on your treadmill and start jogging at a moderate pace.
You can work up to higher levels of intensity and heavier weights the more you perform this type of cardio. You can also use them on an elliptical machine or when you are running outdoors.
Hand weights are a great addition to exercises in water, as well. If you are a fan of water aerobics, try using some resistance while you are getting your workout.
When you are utilizing them in water, you can stand to increase the amount a little. Because being submerged in water helps you to experience a different level of gravity, you will be able to lift more pounds without straining muscles.
However, you should start out slowly by only increasing the amount one or two pounds. You do not need to strain yourself or go overboard.
Though you may not feel the increase at the time, once your muscles have cooled and you are at more of a relaxed pace, you will notice soreness. If you tend to be much stronger in the arms, and need a great deal of weight to build more muscle, you can increase the amount you use when practicing your cardiovascular exercise.
You can also create a more intense strength training workout. Small dumbbells are meant to be used during cardio and other activities to create muscle endurance.
The lowered amount of resistance makes your body work harder and increases your stamina. Dumbbells and sets that have more mass to them will increase the power in your muscles and give you firmness.
If you wish to look more built and toned, try performing arm exercises that increase the vitality of your biceps and triceps. Bench presses and dead lifts are sure to increase the bulk in your arms and make you look more powerful.
You should always be very careful when trying to gain fortitude in this region, because there is a possibility that you could injure yourself if you try to overwork your biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Always stretch before and after a workout.
If you feel like your limbs are becoming to overworked, tired, numb, or strained, do not exercise them for a few days. You should only be participating in strength training every other day, anyways, or about three to four times a week.
This gives your muscles time to regroup and build themselves up. This resting time is essential to how effective your weight training is.
Utilizing hand weights in your workouts will dramatically affect how you feel and how much power you have in your extremities. Try to find a way to integrate resistance into your cardiovascular exercise, and you will really be able to tell a difference in your energy and vitality from day to day.
by: Jack Landry
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