Strength-training Equipment
Again, the most common way for a person to build strength is to lift weights, specifically dumbbells, barbells, or weights on weight machines. But you can use medicine balls, elastic bands, and even soup cans or bottles of water to lift weight.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells are small weights. You typically can hold one in one hand, although you use two of them together so that you can have one in each hand to work your body evenly. Dumbbells can be anywhere from 1 pound to above 50, but most women stick to weights between 5 and 15 pounds. After that, it's pretty much easier to use either barbells or machines. Men go up to higher weights.
Adjustable ankle weights wrap around your ankle and are secured by a Velcro strip. You change the workload by either adding or removing cylinder-shaped weights from the weight pockets. Ankle weights make leg exercises possible without machines. You can perform the leg extension exercise and the leg curl exercise on the exercise ball. The price of ankle weights ranges from $20 to $50.
Dumbbells are available at gyms, of course, but because they don't take up a lot of space, you can keep them in your house. They are infinitely versatile, allowing you to work almost any muscle. Also, because they start at very small weights and aren't that expensive, you can start light and pretty quickly increase the weight as you need to.
Using dumbbells is the easiest way for someone to build strength and lose weight. You can do the workout at your house, strengthen your whole body with just eight exercises, and see differences — seriously — with just a few workouts. In just two weeks, you'll really see a difference. (You'll find an all-dumbbell routine in Chapter 8.)
Bands
Think of a rubber band. If you pull it back between two fingers, you eventually get to a point where you can't stretch the rubber band anymore. Exercise bands, which are basically long strips of elastic of varying colors and tension levels, function as sources of resistance just as the rubber band does.
When you use an elastic band you put one end in your hand, or around a chair, or under your foot, and then pull the band. The other end is secure, so the band provides the resistance.
Your body will respond to bands in the same way it does to weights, i.e., you will build muscle and gain strength. Many people believe the bands are less likely to build bulk, but that isn't true. The reality is that unless you are a man using very heavy weights, then the muscular changes will be the same no matter what you use to build strength.
Bands come in a variety of resistance levels; some are hard to stretch and others are fairly easy. Each manufacturer uses a different color to signify the bands' resistance level. Some bands are flat and wide, while others are more like tubes with handles on the ends. The handles make them easier to hold.
Bands and tubes are not exact equivalents of weights, so you can't use a green tube and assume it is equal to 5 pounds, for example, or a dark blue band for 10 pounds.
Weights are much more exact than bands, but that doesn't mean they are more effective or better. It really is just a matter of choice and preference.
Bands are inexpensive and effective, easy to store, and, for many people, easier to use and less intimidating than weights. There is a total-body band workout in Chapter 8.
Is it possible to spot reduce?
No. Spot reduction, the idea that you can just burn off the fat and sculpt the muscles in one area just the way you want to, is a myth. There is no guarantee that weight will come off where you want it to, or that your body will change with exercise in just the way you want it to. However, you can do specific resistance exercises to shape certain body parts, which will help you create the body as close as possible to the one of your dreams.
Medicine Balls
Medicine balls, which have been around since ancient Greece, are one of today's hottest fitness tools. They are now made from recycled materials, sand, and ground-up stones and bolts encased in leather or synthetic rubber. They weigh anywhere from 2 pounds to 35 pounds, and can be as small as a softball, bigger than a basketball, and in between. They cost between $15 and $150.
So how can this ball make you fit? As you throw and catch this round weight every which way, it builds muscles of the chest, stomach, back, arms, shoulder, legs, and hips. Medicine-ball exercises are fun and seem more like play, yet you can get aerobic exercise and build strength and flexibility. Having a partner is helpful, but you can use them alone too. You can exercise with them outdoors or indoors, but when indoors, make sure you have a clear space near you. One caution is to start with the lightweight balls; even they provide plenty of resistance.
