Building and maintaining our muscle mass is a fundamental part of our overall well-being that goes far beyond aesthetics. Effectively training and building lean muscle not only helps us to improve strength, it boosts our metabolism, reduces the risk of injury, makes bones stronger, and boosts our mood as well as confidence. Over the years as a personal trainer I've had the privilege to learn some very effective training modalities and I consider weight training as a fundamental part of my toolkit to support clients' fitness journeys. There are plenty of articles out there that go into the benefits of strength training and why we should do it which is fantastic! However, the purpose of this post and subsequent ones this month is to give you some guidance on what to do, and how to do it especially if you are new to this type of training. To kick things off here are my top 3 tips to bear in mind when it comes to strength training:
Tip #1 - Always, always warm up! Like with any training modality, regardless of whether you have planned a short 15mins workout or an hour, make sure you do a relevant warm up for your workout. If you are concentrating on upper body exercises aim to warm up the whole body but with more focus on mobilising and activating arms, shoulders, chest, back, and abdominals for example. Tip #2 - Start light. I cannot emphasise this enough... it is better to start with a light weight and get your form on point than to lift too heavy with bad form. The latter will not be effective and even worse you could cause yourself an injury. Perfect and build confidence with form and then gradually add weight. Documenting your workouts including the weights you are lifting to track your progress is a great tangible tool and particularly useful to refer back to when you need a little help with motivation.
Tip #3 - It's a marathon not a sprint. Like with anything worthwhile building strength especially as we get older takes time and effort. The general rule of thumb for most people is to incorporate strength/resistance training into your routine at least 2 to 3 times per week on non-consecutive days ideally to realise the benefits. However, if that seems too daunting try just one session a week to begin with. See how that sits first and then add a further session when you are ready. Over the next few weeks I will go a bit deeper into each of the areas above which will include some instructional videos to help you get started.😊
Hope this is helpful. If you have any questions at all on this topic please do feel free to contact me directly on 07399 572826 or amalia@gyre-fit.com.
Amalia xx
*DISCLAIMER: Always consult your doctor or health care provider before trying a new diet or exercise program to check it is suitable for you. My recommendation would be to also watch any of my workout based videos once through before attempting any of the exercises. It is important to warm up before and cool down appropriately after each workout.
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