• Although buying online may not be the best option for some types of weight training equipment, such as higher-end home gyms, if you are in the early stages of evaluating equipment options or are planning to buy simpler equipment, Amazon is a great place to start looking for weight training equipment and read buyer reviews.
• Consumer Search does a great job aggregating both buyer and expert reviews about home gyms and providing a summary of top picks for certain types of home gyms. Unlike most other product review sites, Consumer Search also provides a relatively detailed report summarizing the sources they drew from, the credibility of those sources, and the most pertinent or interesting information they found after reading loads of expert and buyer reviews. Unfortunately, Consumer Search provides no coverage of reviews for free weights, benches, or other forms of weight training equipment other than home gyms.
• Many retailers (such as Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Overstock.com) gather buyer reviews on their websites, but searching through the separate websites of multiple retailers to get a complete picture of what buyers are saying is awfully tedious. Buzzillions helps to solve this problem by aggregating buyer reviews from a large number of retailers and providing a number of convenient filtering and sorting options that allow you to use buyer reviews to narrow down a list of potential products based on keywords in the buyers’ reviews, like “Easy setup” and “Quiet operation.” Buzzillions covers product reviews for multiple types of weight training equipment, not just home gyms.

Some other sites that may be worth visiting if you still can’t find a buyer review for the equipment you’re interested in are Viewpoints and Epinions. Viewpoints has a somewhat limited weight training products listing compared to many other product review sites, but the reviews themselves are generally helpful. Epinions has a staggeringly large weight training products listing, but not every product listed has associated product reviews, so I would suggest you visit Epinions only to do a final check for any useful buyer reviews for a specific product after you’ve narrowed down your shopping list using the resources mentioned above.

Terms Related to Muscle Actions

At any given time during a weight training exercise, the muscles worked may perform one of the following three types of activity.

Concentric muscle action

An action that shortens, or contracts, the muscle, such as when a muscle lifts a weight

Eccentric muscle action

An action that lengthens the muscle, such as when a muscle lowers a weight

Isometric muscle action

An action during which the length of the muscle does not change, such as when a muscle supports the body in maintaining a position during a weight lifting exercise

Terms related to weight training

As you evaluate weight training programs, or when you go to the gym, you’ll probably encounter the following terms related to weight training.

Repetition

Also referred to as simply a “rep,” a repetition is the complete movement cycle, including the concentric and eccentric motion, of a strength training movement.

Set

A set is several repetitions of strength training movement performed in a row. Your weight training program goals determine the number of reps in a set, as well as the number of sets performed, during any given workout.

Exercise

An exercise is a particular combination of sets and repetitions of a movement that you perform. Changing the number of sets or the number of repetitions produces a different exercise.

Workout

A workout is the collection of exercises you perform in one session.

Program

Your program is the series of workouts you perform in order to achieve your personal fitness goals.

Intensity

Intensity is a relative term to describe the tension or stress put on a muscle during a weight training exercise. The intensity of an exercise is determined by the weight or resistance used during the exercise, the number of sets performed, and the number of reps in a set.

Volume

Volume describes the total amount of work performed during a workout. Volume is typically calculated by multiplying the number of reps by the number of sets performed for each exercise to determine the total number of reps performed. The total number of reps may also be multiplied by the weight used to determine the total amount of weight lifted during the workout.

Rest

Rest is the amount of time you take between sets of an exercise and between exercises in the workout. If you perform one set of an exercise, then wait three minutes, then perform another set, your rest period is three minutes.

Recovery

Recovery is the amount of time you take between training sessions that work the same muscle group. If you performed leg exercises as part of your Monday workout, then performed the same leg exercises again the following Wednesday, you have had a 48 hour recovery period.

Terms Related to Weight Training Exercise Motions

Sagittal Plane

The sagittal plane separates the left half of your body from the right half of your body.

Frontal Plane

The frontal plane separates the front (or anterior) half of your body from the back (or posterior) half.

Transverse Plane

The transverse plane separates the upper half of your body from the lower half.

Flexion

Flexion describes a movement in which the angle of a joint decreases. For example, flexion of the elbow occurs during a bicep curl when the weight is lifted, because the angle between the forearm and upper arm decreases.

Extension

Extension is the opposite of flexion and describes a movement in which the angle of a joint increases. For example, extension of the elbow occurs during a bicep curl when the weight is lowered, because the angle between the forearm and upper arm increases as the arm straightens.

Abduction

Abduction describes a movement in which a limb is moved away from the midline of the body.

Adduction

Adduction is the opposite of abduction and describes a movement in which a limb moves toward the midline of the body.

1. Build your strength: Weight training and other forms of strength training are perhaps the best way to build physical strength. Depending on your fitness goals, your weight training program can help you to build muscle strength and muscle mass or simply build muscle strength and muscle tone without substantially increasing your muscle mass.
2. Increase your physical endurance: A weight training program can help you achieve your endurance goals for sports or other physical activities faster.
3. Strengthen your bones: Weight training is one of the best ways to strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of osteoporosis and bone breaks.
4. Achieve and maintain your ideal weight: Unlike aerobic exercise, such as running or bicycling, weight training exercise increases the overall number of calories you burn throughout the day. Increasing your metabolic rate through weight training, combined with an overall healthy diet and exercise plan, is one of the best ways to burn your body fat and achieve your ideal weight. If weight loss is one of your main fitness goals, you should also check out these great weight loss tips.
5. Improve your physical appearance: Building muscle mass and muscle tone and reducing your body fat with a weight training program can help you to achieve a healthy build and the physical appearance you desire.
6. Reduce your risk of injury: Building your strength, coordination, and balance with a weight training program will reduce your risk of injury from falls, sprains, and other accidents during sports or daily activities.
7. Reduce and manage your stress level: Increasing your physical strength and activity level with a weight training program has been scientifically shown to reduce your stress levels. Reducing your stress level is one of the best ways to improve your overall health and reduce your risk for many diseases, including anxiety disorders, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, some digestive disorders, and some cancers.
8. Improve the quality of your sleep: All forms of rigorous exercise, including a weigh training exercise, can contribute to improving the quality of your sleep. It is better to schedule your exercise to take place five to six hours before bedtime, however, in order to prevent the heightened level of alertness and raised body temperature associated caused by exercise to interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
9. Improve your physical and mental performance: Your physical strength and level of alertness throughout the day will increase as your pursue a weight training program, helping to improve your physical and mental performance.
10. Build your sense of self-confidence and well-being: The improvement in your physical appearance, stress level, energy level, and mental performance that will result from a sustained weight training program will help to support and increase your self-confidence and sense of well-being.

Do all of these benefits of weight training sound great to you? Excellent! We hope you’ll let us help you take the next step of selecting a weight training program based on your fitness goals. Once you’ve found a weight training program that works for you, let us help you find the weight training equipment you need to gain the greatest benefit from your weight training program. Our weight training equipment reviews are the best resource online for evaluating your equipment options, reading real equipment reviews from real people, and finding great deals on new and used weight training equipment.