Strength Training 101

Hi everyone!

You must note I am not a personal trainer nor have any sort of school or background in weight lifting. But I’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding my routines and how to start up strength training so I thought I’d give you my take on it!

Without further ado.. here’s answers to your questions:

Do you make up my own routines or do you have a personal trainer?

I make up my own routines based on research!

How do you come up with my exercises? How do you decide the order to perform them?

I read ALOT! I usually start with the big muscles first and the free weights before I concentrate on the smaller moves and move to machines. For example, I’ll start with chest and do the bench press before doing triceps. And I usually end my routine with body weight moves like push ups, decline push ups, or tricep dips. I don’t like to use machines except for the occasional Smith Machine for bench press which aids in my safety. Machines don’t seem to work my muscles properly and which might have to do with my height.. I don’t fit in them right! You get the best bang for your buck with more free weights, in my opinion.

How often do you change my routine?

It depends. I usually find a split and stick with the same split for a month or two, but I change the routine often. If I do the same moves I change around the reps, the weight, the sets or the way I perform them (pyramids, reverse pyramids, etc.)

Have you always lifted “heavy”?

No! In fact, I was looking through my past workouts from this past summer and I have gained so much more strength! I was doing the upright row with 10 pounds, and now I can do it with 60! And that’s been in 7 months.. with determination you can do it!

How can I start doing strength training without a gym membership? I’m just starting out!

There’s a couple workout DVD’s I’d recommend. The Get Ripped series (http://www.amazon.com/Get-Ripped-Jari-Love-1000/dp/B000GTJSVM)  is one of my favorites! You use dumbbells ranging from 3 pounds to 15 pounds (just depends on your fitness level) and it works you really good.. I”m always sore the next day! I’ve tried doing weights on my own at home and I usually get bored but DVDs make it really interesting and fun. Check out ebay or even your local Goodwill.. they usually have them for cheap!

If you don’t want to use DVDS, you could also start out doing some body weight exercises- some good ones are squats, walking lunges, the plank, burpees, push ups, etc. The push up is a really good place to get started- once you get them down you’ll be super strong! Don’t do girl push ups.. go for the real ones! Even if you can only do one, just work at it and I’ll promise you’ll get better. A year ago I could barely do 10 and now I can do 90! (Well, with some rest in between sets ) Plyometrics is also really good. Try doing some jumping lunges, jump squats, etc.. those are really good toners too!

If you do have a gym membership and are just starting out, I found that going to group fitness classes that includes weights also really helps!

Also look through magazines, websites, or watch trainers work with clients at the gym. You can usually learn how to do moves that way. For some ideas on where to start check out these routines:

http://www.stumptuous.com/workout-1

http://www.stumptuous.com/the-less-thinking-more-doing-starter-program

http://www.stumptuous.com/workout-2

Should I do cardio or weights first?

I recommend weights before your cardio because that’s when your strongest! Or at least I am

What equipment/accessories do I bring to the gym?

I bring my heart rate monitor, weight lifting gloves, my strength training notebook and a pen, a water bottle, and my Ipod of course!

What are some resources you recommend?

My favorite websites are: bodybuilding.com and oxygenmag.com

I also love the magazines Oxygen and FitnessRX. They are a little more expensive but I save them and look at them over and over!

Also, check out the book “The New Rules of Lifting For Women”. I bought it for 10 bucks at Walmart.com, and it’s great! It gives you tons of information as well as a workout plan and it tells you how many calories you should be eating. It focuses on the big muscles, and you only have to lift 3 days a week.

If I’m new, how heavy should I lift?

Don’t start out light- lift what is heavy for you! I mean, don’t go try and pick up what I’m doing, because what’s heavy for me might not be heavy or might be too heavy for others. You want to lift weights that is heavy for you. So if 10 pounds is heavy for you, do the 10 pounds. A good rule to go by is you want to be struggling on the last rep, and if you can do more than 12 reps you need to do a heavier weight.

Any other tips?

Try to lift heavy! I used to be afraid and think I couldn’t do it. But I wasn’t seeing any results! In my experience, if you feel your arms burning that’s more endurance type weight lifting and you won’t get toned or muscle from that. I’ve seen the best results from when my arms literally will not do that last rep.. that’s what you want! Remember, this is just my opinion though.

Don’t be discouraged! I’m seriously not that strong compared to others. But I don’t care-I work hard and lift at my level. Work hard and don’t give up!

And DON’T be embarrassed or intimidated. Especially by those big guys! I used to be so embarrassed to lift weights. Now I don’t care- most of those guys still look at me but I just go on about my business.

And have a plan! I just started planning my workouts in advance and it makes it so much better. Write down what exercises you plan on doing and then record the weight you used and how many reps you did. Then you have something to work off of and don’t just wander around the gym trying to figure out what to do.

If you guys have any more questions let me know!