You don't need weights or special skills to build muscle, bone strength, and prevent injuries. Strength training also boosts confidence and mental health.
Getting started
Start small when doing strength exercises. Try doing an exercise 5-10 times and then move to the next one.
- Slow and steady is the best way to do strength exercises
- Focus on your body position, engage your stomach muscles, and go slowly
- Breathing is important, too! Inhale and exhale with each repetition
Start out by trying these four strength exercises.
Upper Body: Power Circles
- Make big, slow circles with your arms in a backwards direction
- Engage your stomach muscles
Core: Superman
- Lie on your stomach and extend your arms over your head, legs straight back
- Contract your glutes, or butt muscles, and slowly lift your legs and arms off the floor towards the ceiling
- Hold arms and legs in the air for 2-3 seconds each time
Core: Bridges
- Lie on your back with your feet hip-width apart and arms at your sides; legs bent, knees in the air
- Push your heels into the floor, squeeze your glutes and stomach muscles - slowly lift your hips off the floor
- Slowly lower your hips down to the floor and repeat
Lower Body: Forward Lunges
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart
- Take a big step forward with your right foot, bend knees and lower down until your right thigh is parallel to the floor
- Keep your knee behind your toes
- Press into your heel to step back into the standing position. Repeat with left side.
Sworkit Workouts
Short strength sessions you can do at home using a computer or smartphone.
Full Body Strength (Ages 11-15)
A workout that works the whole body to build strength.
These Sworkit workouts were intended for ages 15-18. If you are already doing a lot of strength exercises you might be ready to try them out. Take some ideas and add them to the Full Body Strength workout above.
Strength Endurance Pyramid (Ages 15-18)
Strength with cardio included
Start Strength Endurance Pyramid
Upper Body Strength (Ages 15-18)
An upper body and core workout to build strength
Lower Body Strength (Ages 15-18)
Focus on leg and core strength
- 20-minute SworkIt exercise session. Find an area in your house to do the exercise, slip into comfy clothes, and click Start when you're ready.
- Exercises are shuffled so you'll get a variety through repeated sessions.