Healthy Living • YMCA Health and Fitness
7 things you need to know before your first strength training session
01 November 2018 - by Nicole Meredith
Personal trainer Andrea is on a mission to convince more women that strength training will not only give them great results, but also protect their health in ways cardio can’t. Today, she’s sharing 7 tips to help you get comfortable with the idea if you’re new to the workout world or looking to round out your fitness routine.
Exercise of any kind — from brisk walks to hard-core power lifting — can reduce your risk for disease, enhance your mental health, and work wonders in so many other ways. But if you’re limiting your workouts to cardio, you’re missing out on some key health benefits: namely, the joint stability and muscular strength that can help protect you against injury and osteoporosis. Not to mention, strength training sends your metabolism into overdrive, making it easier for you to manage or lose weight.
These benefits mean it’s crucial that more women overcome their fears of strength training. Here are 7 tips to help you feel confident heading to your first lifting session:
1. First and foremost, if you have a chronic condition or any injuries, consult your doctor. They might recommend specific parameters that you should work within. There’s no point starting a program to improve your health if you’re just going to make it worse.
2. Reduce your risk for new injuries by starting each workout with a warmup. Walk briskly or do some other kind of aerobic activity for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. For maximum results, structure each workout so it includes 8 to 10 exercises that cover your full body between them. Do 12 to 15 repetitions of each. You’ll know you’re lifting the right amount of weight, or have a good amount of resistance, if you’re fatigued after all your reps. If you go too light and aren’t tired, you won’t get results. But if you go too heavy, you could hurt yourself.
4. If you don’t want to lift weights, then don’t. Do body-weight exercises that build strength, check out some of the machines in your conditioning room, or work with equipment like therabands and bender balls you can find in a Barre or Pilates class.
5. Always wrap it up with a cool down. Stretching is a great way to bring your heart rate down and loosen up all those muscles you just worked.
6. Make a schedule. You should be doing (a minimum) of two days of strength training per week. If you’re really into it and want to do more, give yourself at least one day of rest before you work the same muscle group again. For example, if you focus on your arms and shoulders on Monday, you could do legs on Tuesday, before going back to arms and shoulders on Wednesday. Better yet, change things up with a CycleFit class or a run on Tuesday. (Cardio’s still an important part of your workout routine; but it’s just one part).
7. Listen to your body and let it guide you. You’ll know you’re on the right track if your muscles feel sore: if the areas you worked out ache the next day. But if your joints hurt or you feel sharp pain while you’re doing an exercise, stop the movement. Your form may be a little off, or you might be trying to lift too much weight. Ask one of the conditioning room staff if they can give you some (complimentary!) pointers.
Andrea is a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Kinesiology program. She’s a certified personal trainer who’s been with the YMCA of Greater Toronto for the past four years. Currently, Andrea works as the Individual Conditioning Supervisor at the Markham YMCA and serves as a Sweat For Good Ambassador: one of our community members who stands behind all the good our charity makes possible. Follow her on Instagram @andreasweatsforgood for more training tips and an insider's view on the happenings of the Markham YMCA.
Do you have a question for our personal trainers? Message us on Twitter or Facebook.
Exercise of any kind — from brisk walks to hard-core power lifting — can reduce your risk for disease, enhance your mental health, and work wonders in so many other ways. But if you’re limiting your workouts to cardio, you’re missing out on some key health benefits: namely, the joint stability and muscular strength that can help protect you against injury and osteoporosis. Not to mention, strength training sends your metabolism into overdrive, making it easier for you to manage or lose weight.
These benefits mean it’s crucial that more women overcome their fears of strength training. Here are 7 tips to help you feel confident heading to your first lifting session:
1. First and foremost, if you have a chronic condition or any injuries, consult your doctor. They might recommend specific parameters that you should work within. There’s no point starting a program to improve your health if you’re just going to make it worse.
2. Reduce your risk for new injuries by starting each workout with a warmup. Walk briskly or do some other kind of aerobic activity for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. For maximum results, structure each workout so it includes 8 to 10 exercises that cover your full body between them. Do 12 to 15 repetitions of each. You’ll know you’re lifting the right amount of weight, or have a good amount of resistance, if you’re fatigued after all your reps. If you go too light and aren’t tired, you won’t get results. But if you go too heavy, you could hurt yourself.
4. If you don’t want to lift weights, then don’t. Do body-weight exercises that build strength, check out some of the machines in your conditioning room, or work with equipment like therabands and bender balls you can find in a Barre or Pilates class.
5. Always wrap it up with a cool down. Stretching is a great way to bring your heart rate down and loosen up all those muscles you just worked.
6. Make a schedule. You should be doing (a minimum) of two days of strength training per week. If you’re really into it and want to do more, give yourself at least one day of rest before you work the same muscle group again. For example, if you focus on your arms and shoulders on Monday, you could do legs on Tuesday, before going back to arms and shoulders on Wednesday. Better yet, change things up with a CycleFit class or a run on Tuesday. (Cardio’s still an important part of your workout routine; but it’s just one part).
7. Listen to your body and let it guide you. You’ll know you’re on the right track if your muscles feel sore: if the areas you worked out ache the next day. But if your joints hurt or you feel sharp pain while you’re doing an exercise, stop the movement. Your form may be a little off, or you might be trying to lift too much weight. Ask one of the conditioning room staff if they can give you some (complimentary!) pointers.
Andrea is a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Kinesiology program. She’s a certified personal trainer who’s been with the YMCA of Greater Toronto for the past four years. Currently, Andrea works as the Individual Conditioning Supervisor at the Markham YMCA and serves as a Sweat For Good Ambassador: one of our community members who stands behind all the good our charity makes possible. Follow her on Instagram @andreasweatsforgood for more training tips and an insider's view on the happenings of the Markham YMCA.Do you have a question for our personal trainers? Message us on Twitter or Facebook.
