How to Use a Weight Bench
A weight bench can help you get a better strength-training workout. Some benches are flat, and some are upright, like narrow chairs with high, padded backs. Others are adjustable so you can slide them to an incline or decline position.
Here are some tips for using weight benches:
Experiment with the angle of the bench, especially for chest exercises. Inclining the bench a few degrees allows you to work the muscle fibers of your upper chest. (But attempting chest exercises at too high an angle can put your shoulder joint in jeopardy.) Declining the bench emphasizes your lower chest. You can use a slightly different angle each workout if you want.
Use a bench for support. When you’re doing overhead lifts or bicep curls, adjust the seat so it’s upright, and sit snugly against it. This position protects your back and prevents you from cheating. You won’t be able to rock your body back and forth to build momentum to hoist the dumbbell. You have to rely solely on the muscle power of your biceps. However, you’ll still have to stop yourself from arching the small of your back off the bench when the weight gets heavy.
Use weight-lifting benches for one activity only: lifting weights. Never use a weight bench for step aerobics. You can, however, use your step bench as a weight bench as long as you’re not lifting dumbbells heavier than, say, 30 pounds.
Keep your feet flat on the floor or flat on the bench — whichever is more comfortable.
Don’t put your feet up in the air, especially if you’re a beginner. This creates an unstable position and looks like you want your stomach scratched. Instead, keep your feet firmly planted on the floor.
Fitness GlossaryA class that takes the moves of a kickboxer’s training and choreographs them to music.
Fitness GlossaryThe point at which your body switches from using oxygen as its primary source of energy to using stored sugar. When you’re in poor physical shape, you hit your anaerobic threshold while exercising at relatively low levels of exercise.
Fitness GlossaryThe larger weights (for power lifting in a weight training program) that include a long bar with weights added to each end. You need to use both hands to lift a barbell.
Fitness GlossaryA method of measuring your body fat in which you lie on your back while a signal travels from an electrode on your foot to an electrode on your hand. The slower the signal, the more fat you have.
Fitness GlossaryA measurement of how open your blood vessels are. Low numbers mean that your heart doesn’t have to work very hard to pump the blood through your blood vessels.
Fitness GlossaryHow much of your body is composed of fat and how much is composed of everything else. Your body composition is also called your body-fat percentage.
Fitness GlossaryA way of relating your height and weight to estimate how fat you are. You can use a simple formula to determine your BMI.
Fitness GlossaryA non-aerobic, muscle-toning class, usually focused on core strength.
Fitness GlossaryA domed, flexible apparatus that helps to improve balance and can be used in a step aerobics exercise routine. BOSU is an acronym for Both Sides Utilized.
Fitness GlossaryA term (short for cardiovascular) that is often used interchangeably with aerobic. Aerobic exercise is any repetitive activity that you do long enough and hard enough to challenge your heart and lungs.
Fitness GlossaryOtherwise known as "life energy," this is the life force that pulses through your body and keeps you vital. Blocked chi can cause sickness or unhappiness.
Fitness GlossaryA fast-paced class or exercise routine in which you do one exercise for 30 seconds to 5 minutes and then move on to another exercise at the next station. Combines cardio exercise with strength training.
Fitness GlossaryThe abdomen, obliques, lower back, butt, and so on, that form the midsection. Many forms of exercise focus on strengthening the body's core.
Fitness GlossaryA non-aerobic, muscle-toning class, usually focused on core strength.
Fitness GlossaryA method of varying your workouts to take your fitness to the next level by adding new forms of training to your current routine.
Fitness GlossaryA method of measuring your body fat that also determines where the fat is located on your body, a more relevant health indicator.
Fitness GlossarySmaller weights (for a weight training program) that you can lift with one hand.
Fitness GlossaryThe hottest trend in cardio machines, which is part stair-climber, part treadmill, part stationary cycle. Your legs travel in an elongated circular movement, and, on some models, you pump arm poles back and forth for an upper-body workout.
Fitness GlossaryA large plastic ball that is an excellent tool for doing challenging exercises (with or without weights) that require varying forms of strength and control.
Fitness GlossaryA type of interval training program that doesn't use an exact measure of time or distance. You just do your intervals whenever you feel like it. The term Fartlek means "speed play" in Swedish.
Fitness GlossaryA faster and more intense walking technique than casual (lifestyle) walking that burns more calories and helps you lose weight. When you fitness walk, you generally move along at a brisk pace of 3.5 to 4.3 miles an hour, covering a mile in 14 to 17 minutes.
Fitness GlossaryThe range of motion or distance you can move a joint through. Stretching is the key to maintaining your flexibility.
Fitness GlossaryPortable weights used in a strength training program.
Fitness GlossaryThe traditional type of swimming movement that uses the front crawl.
Fitness GlossaryThe number of times your heart beats per minute.
Fitness GlossaryA traditional dance-inspired routine that involves jumping or hopping and moves at a slower pace than low-impact aerobics. High/low combines the two types of routines.
Fitness GlossaryA type of skating in which you wear skates with urethane wheels that enable you to glide, sprint, curve, turn, and spin.
Fitness GlossaryA training technique in which you alternate short, fairly intense spurts of exercise with periods of relatively easy exercise.
Fitness GlossaryA class that takes the moves of a kickboxer’s training and choreographs them to music.
Fitness GlossaryA casual walking technique that is low to moderate intensity and relatively slow paced. Most lifestyle walkers walk an average of 2.5 to 3.5 miles per hour, which means that they walk about 1 mile every 17 to 24 minutes.
Fitness GlossaryA traditional dance-inspired routine in which you always have one foot on the floor — you don’t do any jumping or hopping. High/low combines the two types of routines.
Fitness GlossaryAn organized 26.2-mile race for runners and walkers.
Fitness GlossaryThe maximum number of times your heart should beat in a minute without dangerously overexerting yourself.
Fitness GlossaryA mental process involving focused attention, or calm awareness, which is also called mindfulness.
Fitness GlossaryA fat-tire outdoors bicycle with upright handlebars that is built to withstand rough terrain.
Fitness GlossaryA home gym contraption that looks like a bunch of health-club weight machines welded to each other.
Fitness GlossaryIn a strength training program, the point at which your last repetition with weights is so difficult that you cannot perform another repetition.
Fitness GlossaryFitted shoe inserts designed by a podiatrist that correct weight distribution along the foot.
Fitness GlossaryA method of organizing a strength training workout program into several periods, each lasting about four weeks. Each phase has a different emphasis.
Fitness GlossaryA form of exercise that emphasizes correct form using your body’s core. Pilates is named after its inventor, Joseph Pilates, who invented the technique for injured dancers.
Fitness GlossaryAn inflammation of the tough fibrous band of tissue that runs the length of the bottom of your foot.
Fitness GlossaryThe number of times your heart beats per minute.
Fitness GlossaryAn element of a T'ai Chi practice that covers many different types of movements that involve using and feeling the body's energy.
Fitness GlossaryA type of stationary bike with a bucket seat that provides back support so that you pedal straight out in front of you.
Fitness GlossaryOne complete motion of an exercise, often used in reference to strength training.
Fitness GlossaryAn acronym that stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation — common treatment methods prescribed for runners with training injuries.
Fitness GlossaryThe traditional type of outdoor bicycle with curved handlebars that is built for speed.
Fitness GlossaryA cardiovascular machine that resembles a section of a department-store escalator. A set of stairs rotates in a circle so that you climb continuously, but never getting anywhere.
Fitness GlossaryA cardiovascular machine that increases stamina, upper body endurance, strength, and flexibility by mimicking a rowing motion. Also called a rower.
Fitness GlossaryA group of consecutive repetitions in a strength training program.
Fitness GlossaryA popular group studio cycling program invented by ultra-distance cyclist Johnny G. and licensed by Schwinn, which manufactures the bikes used in these classes.
Fitness GlossaryA cardiovascular machine that has two foot plates you pump up and down to mimic the action of climbing stairs. Also called a stepper.
Fitness GlossaryA cardiovascular machine that comes in two styles: upright bikes and recumbent bikes.
Fitness GlossaryA choreographed routine of stepping up and down on a rectangular, square, or circular platform.
Fitness GlossaryA type of workout that uses any combination of weight machines and free weights (dumbbells and barbells) to build muscle strength.
Fitness GlossaryThe number of strides that a runner takes over a certain time period.
Fitness GlossaryGroup exercise classes that are taught on stationary bicycles.
Fitness GlossaryAn ancient martial art focusing on smooth, slow movements that cultivate inward focus and free energy flow. T'ai Chi is properly pronounced tie-jee.
Fitness GlossaryA range that is between 50 percent and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate that can tell you what heart rate to aim for during a workout.
Fitness GlossaryA popular choice for a cardiovascular machine in a home gym if you enjoy fitness walking and jogging (or running).
Fitness GlossaryThe traditional kind of stationary bike, which resembles a regular bicycle.
Fitness GlossaryA workout in which you alternate walking and running. By sprinkling running intervals throughout your walking workout, you can spike up exercise intensity and burn more calories.
Fitness GlossaryAerobics classes that do traditional workouts in waist- to neck-high water in a swimming pool. The resistance of the water makes the workout feel far more intense, while the water cushions you from the impact.
Fitness GlossaryStationary equipment mostly found at gyms that are easy to use and help you to safely and quickly advance through a strength-training workout.
Fitness GlossaryA type of exercise in which your skeleton is supporting any sort of weight, as it does when you walk, run, or lift weights.
Fitness GlossaryThe “martial art” or traditional self-defense activities practiced with or without weapons (includes T'ai Chi).
Fitness GlossaryThe terms for opposites that are opposing yet complementary. A concept used throughout all of T’ai Chi and Qigong.
Fitness GlossaryA series of poses (known as asanas) that you hold from a few seconds to several minutes. The moves — a blend of strength, flexibility, and body-awareness exercises — are intended to promote the union of the mind, body, and spirit.
