Your hamstring, located in the back of your thigh, isn’t actually a single muscle but rather a group of three muscles: the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. All three muscles work to flex your knee and extend, or straighten, your hip.

Late night training has always had a bad reputation. Common sense dictates that training in the morning or afternoon is optimal since you are likely to have more energy. Also, your early exercise session will boost your stamina to help you make it through the rest of the day.

The core components of yoga involve poses, also called postures and breathing. Weight training involves lifting either free weights, such as dumbbells, weights on a machine or--just like in yoga---your own body weight.

Weight training is a rewarding form of exercise, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults add two sessions of weight training to other aerobic exercises every week.

Increasing muscle density means achieving a defined, “hard” look that so many bodybuilders and trainees covet. Muscles typically appear dense when your body fat percentage gets around 10 percent to 12 percent. This will vary depending on the individual.

Lifting weights at home doesn’t mean that you can’t bulk up, you’ve just got to be creative with your training. A workout that’s designed to build muscle size features numerous exercises for each muscle group you’re targeting, with each exercise being completed for multiple sets.

There are a slew of reasons to incorporate finger exercises in your daily workout routine. Sports such as rock climbing and rowing require athletes to maintain a strong grip. Strong finger muscles also can help for people with arthritis or other debilitating conditions that affect their hands.

Keeping the muscles around your knee strong, specifically the quadriceps and hamstrings, maintains knee stability and long-term knee health. If your knee tracks incorrectly, it is more prone to wear and tear which could lead to osteoarthritis.

Women over 40 should include progressive strength training in their fitness routine. Strength training builds muscle tone and slows the muscle loss that starts to occur in the 40s and speeds up sharply after 50. Muscle loss combined with bone-density loss increases the chances of injury from falls in older women.

The IDEA Health & Fitness Association states that children can benefit from weight training programs. However, strength training should only be a way for your child to increase muscle endurance and strength. It is not meant to body-build or bulk up.

Ankle weights are fitness tools that get fastened to your lower legs to create resistance while working out. Ankle weights are used in walking or running to increase the intensity. However, doing so can change your normal gait, which may cause you to lose your balance or hurt yourself while you're walking.

Weight training offers the keys to the kingdom to women older than 50 seeking an answer to fat gain, loss of muscle mass and a lack of bone density.