So you’re ready to start strength training…
That’s awesome! And I’m so glad you’re here. And don’t worry - you will not look like a man. That takes extra drugs to achieve.
What can you expect from strength training?
Strength training has many benefits. Stronger bones, more lean muscle mass, and greater calorie expenditure - to name a few. If your goal is fat loss, strength training can help. Not only do you burn calories while lifting weight but you also burn them as your body recovers. If your goal is to build a specific body shape then you can do so by growing your muscles.
Now I want to clarify something. I know it’s been said over and over again but there’s still an alarming amount of people that believe in this myth.
You CANNOT spot reduce fat.
But you CAN spot-train muscles.
What does that mean?
It means that you can’t lose stomach fat by doing ab exercises, leg fat with leg exercises, or back and arm fat with back and arm exercises. I know that sucks to hear but the good news is that you will lose fat from everywhere. This explains why it takes so long to be able to SEE the change you’re making.
But the change is happening.
You can spot-train muscles. If you want to have a smaller waist, you can achieve this look by growing your latissimus dorsi muscles (outside of your back) and glute muscles. By doing so you will have the appearance of a smaller waist. Want a rounded booty? Focus on hitting all three glute muscles in various planes and they will grow.
Now, how do you get started?
Bodyweight exercises and dumbbells are the best way to get started. I offer workouts for all skill levels here for equipment-free and dumbbell workouts. The first thing you want to do is build your form. Heavy weight means nothing if you can’t move it properly - you will injure yourself.
Now don’t let that scare you! Weightlifters have a lower chance of injury than most other sports.
SEE HERE - “The injury incidence in weightlifting was 2.4-3.3 injuries/1000 hours of training and 1.0-4.4 injuries/1000 hours of training in powerlifting.”
That’s 1-3 injuries in FOUR years if you workout 5 days a week, one hour a day.
How do you prevent injury?
Focus on form.
As you improve, you want to focus on progressing the intensity. Your muscles can’t grow or strengthen unless they are challenged. There’s a few ways to progress.
Add in more reps
Let’s say one week you do 5 reps. Next, try for 6! But keep in mind that at some point this can become impractical. Most of the time, there’s no reason to go more than 12 reps (unless you’re going for a burn-out exercise, but that’s a whole different blog). If you’re getting 12 reps with no problems, it’s time to increase your weight.
Add 5 lbs or 5%
You can do this weekly, monthly, however frequently you want. If you increase the weight and don’t get it- that’s okay! Go back down and try again.
3. Add in extra sets
This allows you to add in volume without as much fatigue. What this means is that instead of doing 3 sets of 12 reps (which is 24 total reps) you can do 4 sets of 6-8 reps (which is 24-32 total reps). 8 reps will be easier than 12, and will allow you to do that fourth set.
4. Add intensifiers
Let’s say you don’t want to do any of that, yet. Fair enough - and a safe choice if you’re a beginner. Here’s one more thing you can do. Intensifiers are ways to make an exercise more difficult without changing the sets, reps, or weight. There are several ways to do this. You can do tempo (which means slowing down the concentric, eccentric, or both parts of an exercise). You can add pulse reps in the middle of a movement, or you could pause in the middle of a movement. One other thing to try are negatives.
A ‘negative’ is when you do the eccentric part of an exercise as slow as you can. A perfect example of this is pull-ups. It’s easier to lower yourself down than to pull yourself up. If you want to build strength to do a pull-up you should start with negatives. Use a step-up or bench (or jump) to get yourself into the top position. From there, try to lower yourself as slowly as possible. By doing this, you’re working the exact same muscles as pulling yourself up.
If you focus on form and slowly progress yourself regularly, you will be able to make serious strength gains and grow your muscles. Of course, there’s a little more to the process (like your recovery and nutrition) but this is a great place to start.