Benefits of Muscle Targeting to Build Strength and Prevent Injury

“Leg day” isn’t just for gym rats and athletes – it’s an effective workout regimen called muscle targeting that has ample health benefits for all levels of fitness.

Muscle targeting is exactly what it sounds like – isolating and targeting a specific muscle group to make it stronger and more defined.

For fitness enthusiasts, muscle targeting improves muscular strength, increases lean muscle mass and density, and improves muscular endurance.

For the average Joe or Jane, it raises your basal metabolic rate – which means that your body will burn more calories per day and keep off unwanted weight. It also promotes strong bones, reduces the risk of osteoporosis, and increases strength and endurance – allowing you to perform common daily activities with less effort.

So why is muscle targeting more effective than doing a full-body workout every day?

For starters, it builds muscle and strength more effectively than working all muscle groups in one session.

Doing a full-body workout 5 days a week requires more rest and recovery, whereas focusing on one specific muscle group each day, you only need to allow that one muscle group to recover and can train a different muscle group the next day without needing a rest day.

Full-body workouts require a lot more energy expenditure, which leads to burning out much more quickly.

An example of a muscle targeting schedule might look something like this:

Monday – Leg day
Tuesday – Arm day
Wednesday – Back day
Thursday – Leg day
Friday – Arm day
Saturday/Sunday – rest

Each workout would include a 5-10 minute warm-up on low resistance, 10-15 minutes working for the specified muscle group, and 15-20 minutes of cardio.

The new Teeter recumbent cross trainer gives you the option to accomplish all muscle targeting exercises and cardio with one machine – the FreeStep™.

With multi-grip handles that adjust to 8 different positions and variable magnetic resistance to add intensity, you can effectively target and train each muscle group.

When you’re targeting upper body muscle groups, adjust the handles to the correct positions, rest your legs, and increase the resistance so that all of the effort is coming from one muscle group.

When you’re targeting lower body muscle groups, rest the arms, crank up the resistance, and focus purely on pushing with the legs by pedaling forward (quads) or backward (hamstrings).

Getting into a regular fitness routine that combines muscle targeting and cardio will promote good health, shed excess body weight, and improve cardiovascular endurance. Not to mention, it’s proven to be a more time-efficient way to exercise.

A research study by the Colorado Center for Health & Sport Science used sophisticated metabolic measurement equipment to perform trials comparing the FreeStep with a Recumbent Bike and found the difference in energy expenditure to be statistically significant!

At the same level of effort, the FreeStep burns 17.4% more calories per hour — that means you can burn the same amount of calories in 5.8 workouts that you would in 7 workouts with a recumbent bike!

The FreeStep is a machine that you will actually use, and the versatility will ensure you never get bored with your workout.

Watch the video below to see the FreeStep in action!

At Teeter, it’s our mission to make fitness and recovery easy and comfortable for all ages and fitness levels, that’s why we designed the Teeter FreeStep – a stress-free zero impact home exercise machine.

Click below to learn more about the unique features and benefits of the FreeStep that you won’t find with any other cardio options.