Overall conditioning is a great way to improve your strength. Fitness includes weight training in the 7 most important muscle groups. Because weight training can be vigorous and demanding on your body it is recommended that you first get a physical from your doctor.

General Conditioning

There are several benefits of general conditioning. Here are a few of the top ones:

• Develop muscle tone
• Begin to Improve stamina and flexibility
•  building strength and endurance
• Start replacing fat with muscle
• Help to maintain your desired weight
• Improve coordination and balance

7 Most Important Muscle Groups

General conditioning means that you will work on your overall body which includes the 7 most important muscle groups.  There are many different exercises to strengthen these muscle groups.  An example is listed for each area.

• Abdominals
  • Sit-ups, leg raises
• Thighs
  • Dumbbell squats, lunges
• Chest
  • Bench press, dumbbell fly, pushups
• Back
  • Dumbbell rowing
• Shoulders
  • Dumbbell press, upright rowing, lateral raise
• Triceps
  • Triceps curl, triceps extensions
• Biceps
  • Bicep curl (standing, seated, kneeling)

Developing muscle tone does not happen overnight.  It is a journey over the long haul.  Setting a long-term goal with short term targets helps to keep you moving forward.  Success is a great motivator and the goals you set should be attainable.  Be patient, remember that weight training can be a lifelong habit. A long-term goal example could be to develop muscle definition in your arms.  A short-term target might include doing a 10 min. work out 3 times a week consistently for a month. Then once you reach that you could increase the minuets to 15 minutes.  Taking pictures before you get started and along the way will help you see the gradual changes to you muscle tone.  Keeping a record of your goal dates and accomplishments will also help to track your progress.   Fitness that includes weight training in the 7 most important muscle groups can be beneficial for lifetime.