Weight training needs to be completed in a safe environment. If you’re new to the world of weightlifting , a fitness instructor can help you stay safe and avoid injury while you learn all the different weight-bearing exercises that are best executed in a professional gym environment.

For more seasoned pros, an instructor may not be needed, but using weights and weight training apparatus still requires a safety-first mentality. Overloading a machine or bars is the main cause of injury in weightlifters, mostly in the form of muscle pulls and tears. Stationary Bike Exercise

Some weightlifting exercises are riskier than others, which is why exercises such as the bench press should be eased into slowly, with weights only gradually being increased as your strength and stamina grow.

Bench press exercises are designed to increase upper body strength. The equipment needed is a bench, a barbell, and of course, a set of plates. 

A bench press involves lying on your back on a gym bench and pushing a barbell loaded with weights upwards, then returning the bar to the original starting position. There are variations of this exercise other than a standard press.

Chest, shoulder, and forearm muscles, along with biceps and triceps, are the main muscles activated during a bench press. 

The pectoralis muscles are the major set of muscles in the chest. These muscle fibers connect the chest with the bones of the upper arms and shoulders. They are made up of the pectoralis major and minor muscles and are activated during a press.

The main muscles that make up the shoulder include the trapezius, which aids shoulder blade rotation and shoulder elevation, and the deltoids, which aid with arm extension, abduction, and lateral rotation. 

While the pectoral major extends from the sternum into the shoulder, this provides flexing and internal rotation to the shoulder joint. All of these muscles get worked while completing each bench press.

The triceps are located at the back of the upper arms and help straighten the elbow, while the biceps muscles are located at the front. These aid with the flexing of the arm at the shoulder and elbow joints.

The forearm muscles consist of the pronator quadratus, flexor digitorum profundus, and flexor pollicis longus, which aid movement in the wrist and hands. These are also used to push the barbell into an upward position.

A standard bench press is the original bench press exercise. It can begin with only lifting the barbell itself for safety reasons until the technique is mastered. Then you can add weights as you gain stamina and strength over time. 

How much should be bench pressed all depends on the strength of an individual and their age. According to the bench press calculator, some individuals can slowly gain enough strength in their shoulders, arms, and chest to bench press 90% of their body weight or more. 

To perform a bench press incline, lie on an incline bench that allows your upper body to be higher than your legs. Your hands should be positioned a little more than shoulder-width apart on the barbell for this type of press. This allows for more control over the bar than if you had a wider grip stance. Elbows should be kept under the wrist to allow the triceps to push the bar upwards.

If the elbows are not tucked under the wrists and move outwards, then the shoulders can take too much of the strain of each press. An incline bench press is completed when the barbell is fully extended upwards with straight arms and held for a couple of seconds. The barbell should then be returned to the starting position, with the bar only slightly resting on the chest.

A decline bench press is performed on a gym bench with a 30-degree decline, which allows your knees to be higher than your head when you lie down on it. Again, for full control and to make sure that the chest muscles are fully activated, you need a grip that is slightly wider than the shoulders. The starting position is with the barbell held at chest level with elbows bent.

Each decline bench press is completed when the barbell is pushed upwards until the elbows and arms are straight. Decline presses are especially effective for strengthening the pectoralis majors.

A close-grip bench press is effective for building triceps and is performed on a flat gym bench. Instead of a slightly wider-than-shoulder-width hand positioning on the barbells, which is the norm for other bench presses, a close-grip bench press must be performed with the hands much closer together on the bar.

Again, it’s important to keep the arms straight and the elbows tucked into your sides when performing each press. The bar should be pushed up and then brought down to just below chest level.

A wide-grip bench press places more demand on the chest muscles . However, this press is also good for building shoulder muscles. It’s performed on a level gym bench, and the technique is similar to other presses. The major difference is that the grip is much wider, and the hands are not level with but past shoulder width. 

Here are our tips for bench press how-tos:

Bench presses are simple to master and can help build strength and stamina. They’re great for developing shoulder and chest muscles and toning the arms. You can also bench press with dumbbells by swapping the barbell with two individual sets of dumbbells held in each hand and pushing them upwards simultaneously.

There are risks with doing bench presses, but only if you don’t follow the instructions on how to position yourself on the bench and how to lift the barbell safely. Risks mostly involve overloading the barbell and dropping it on your chest and ribs or pulling shoulder, neck, and arm muscles. The safest way to execute a set of bench press exercises is by having an assistant with you at all times.

If your New Year’s resolution to lose weight is stalling, consider your gut health. Last month if you logged onto the r/nutrition subreddit, the buzzy word “gut microbiome” came up.

“There is an increasing body of research concluding that gut microbiome strongly [affects] a lot of aspects of our bodies – composition, weight, mood, mental clarity, etc.,” posted u/Dr.Melbourne.

Sometimes the best thing for your fitness routine is to invest in some at-home equipment. One such piece that more and more people are beginning to invest in is rowing machines. Just a few years ago, it was very rare to hear of someone buying a rowing machine for their home, let alone talking about one. Treadmills, ellipticals, and exercise bikes dominated the market for home cardio equipment, with a mere sliver of the sector going to rowing machines. However, between CrossFit and Orange Theory, the popularity of rowing for fitness has taken off, spurring the development of engaging, high-quality rowing machines for home use. Rowing is a fantastic total-body exercise, and although it’s not easy or feasible for most people to get out on a river or lake for a workout, a rowing machine can provide all the benefits of rowing right from the comfort and convenience of your home or gym. There are quite a few rowing machines on the market nowadays, but two of the clear front runners for the best rowing machines are the Hydrow and the Ergatta. Hydrow and Ergatta have shattered the glass ceiling and elevated their products and user experience exponentially. The Ergatta and the Hydrow are premium home rowing machines, each featuring touchscreens and subscription services. They both are well made and designed to be engaging, effective, and durable. They also have quite a few differences as well.

If you’re looking to buy the best rowing machine for home workouts, you’ll likely end up trying to decide between a Hydrow or Ergatta, so we’ve put the two machines head to head to highlight the ways they are different so that you can choose the best rowing machine for you. Before you check out with your virtual shopping cart, read our thoughts on Ergatta versus Hydrow and make sure you’re setting yourself up for success on the virtual water.

Saunas have been used for thousands of years, and for good reasons. With their numerous health benefits, ranging from helping detoxify the body to helping reduce all-cause mortality, it’s no wonder saunas are a worldwide, popular leisure activity. However, as with all things in life, you can have too much of a good thing. So when it comes to saunas, the question then you need to ask is: How do you use a sauna?

When you're first looking into sauna benefits, you might search for a lot of things, such as how to use a sauna, what are some sauna benefits, and all sorts of other questions. We enlisted the help of experts to answer some of the most commonly asked questions to get their take on the matter.  Benefits of using a sauna Having been used for thousands of years, saunas can be extremely beneficial to overall health. Here's a quick list of some benefits to using them consistently. Saunas can:

Flat Treadmill The Essential Guide for MenThe Manual is simple — we show men how to live a life that is more engaged. As our name implies, we offer a suite of expert guides on a wide range of topics, including fashion, food, drink, travel, and grooming. We don’t boss you around; we’re simply here to bring authenticity and understanding to all that enriches our lives as men on a daily basis.