Adding Weights to your Workout

Exercising at a sustained difficulty level every time you hit the gym is not the most ideal workout routine. Ignoring your muscles by focusing too much on slim-down cardio or never pushing yourself will eventually lead to stalled fitness progress as your metabolism settles into a rut and your muscles stop being toned. Weight training is a great way to add some difficulty and some muscle-targeting to your routine. If you’re looking to add some weights to your workout but you’re intimidated by the prospect of learning how to use the weight machines at your gym, remember that it’s okay to start small. Here are our super-simple tips for adding weights to your workout.

Weighted belts for jogging: Weighted belts are an easy one-stop way to add weights to your workout routine. These belts go around your waist and make your exercises a bit more difficult by adding a few extra pounds. Jogs, elliptical sessions, and sprints instantly become more taxing for your leg muscles, building them up. Though this doesn’t target any muscle groups you don’t usually use, it will force your body to wake up and reach for your next fitness goal.

Weighted balls for sit ups: To target your core muscles, try using a weighted ball during your sit-ups and crunches. Holding the ball, even if it doesn’t weigh much, forces your abdominal muscles to work overtime during your reps. You can also cross the ball over your stomach from side to side as you raise your knees to meet it, working out your oblique muscles as well. This technique can help tone your tummy and shrink your waist.

Kettlebells or hand-held weights for lunges and squats: For some extra arm-and-leg toning, use some hand-held weights when you do your lunges and squats. You can tone your arms by extending them straight out, either in front of you or to the side, while you lunch or squat. The added weight also increases the difficulty of each move, activating your leg, back, and core muscles all at once. Adding weights might seem simple but it pushes these very simple moves to a new level. You can up the difficulty as needed by using slightly heavier weights.