How do you design a strength training program with free weights, machines, and/or elastic exercise bands? It’s actually fairly straightforward, and I suggest you do not do what I did. I started going to the gym, using weights and machines, and slowly adding more exercises every week. While fundamentally not wrong, I didn’t even know which muscles were being exercised by which exercises, nor did I think that it mattered. It does matter! You want to exercise all the muscles enough, but certainly not too much. Here are some basics, and get help from a trainer at the gym or health club if need be. weight packing machine
You want to exercise all major muscle groups. The minor muscle groups are not as important, certainly not in the beginning, as they will get worked as you are exercising the major group. Minor muscles include the biceps, triceps, and calves.
You also do not want to exercise the same muscle groups, for example the legs, the back, or the chest, two days in a row. At most you want to exercise each major muscle group twice a week, and once a week is fine. People vary, and once a week works better for me for example.
As you get more accustomed to your strength program, you can add more weight and more exercises, up to a limit. Remember that muscles grow and get stronger when they are recovering from workouts, not during the workout! As an example, I do a maximum of 8 sets of exercises for my back, 5 for my chest, 5 for my shoulders, and eight for my legs. Time permitting I may work some smaller muscle groups as well.