TOP 7 'HOW TO' GET STARTED WITH STRENGTH TRAINING
Now you understand more about strength training and the benefits for women, here’s some steps on how you can get started. If you missed my last blog post on ‘8 Things every woman should know about strength training,’ please click the link and read first before diving into the below.
1. What’s your why? Your goal? Your purpose?
Before I delve into sets, reps and what weight to use it’s important to understand why you’re starting strength training in the first place. There are multiple benefits to adding it into your current programme but a big part is defining what you want to get out of it and why you want it.
Two ways to help you define and make your goals reachable is to distinguish between and objective goal and a subjective goal.
These can then be broken down into SMART Goals: SMART goals are:
Specific: Well defined, clear, and unambiguous
Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal
Achievable: Attainable and not impossible to achieve
Realistic: Within reach, realistic, and relevant to your life purpose
Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.
An example of a subjective goal would be:
On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being super low and 10 feeling the best you’ve ever felt:
1. How is my energy level today?
2. How stressed am I today?
3. How is my self-esteem/confidence?
4. What was the quality of my sleep like?
Subjective goals are based on your feelings, opinions, and emotions.
An example of an Objective Goal would be:
1. Specific – Run 5km in 25 minutes
2. Measurable – Yes – I can time my runs and distances when in training and then when I test myself in a race or end of training block through my watch or phone app.
3. Attainable –
4. Realistic – I’m currently running 28-minute 5km runs – yes this is achievable if I follow a programme and train hard
5. Timely – I would like to be able to run
Objective goals are facts and observations.
2. How many sets & reps should I do?
The best thing about being new to strength training is that ‘Beginners’ gains’ are a beautiful thing, with the training offering a brand new stimulus for your body and muscles to adapt to. It is really common to see physical changes in the way you move relatively quickly.
At Get Busy Living, exercise programmes typically include anywhere between 3-5 sets of most exercises which vary from person to person. The number of sets and reps will vary depending on your goals, your training background and how often in the week you will be training.
Here’s some guidelines below on some examples of goals to get an idea.
Goal: Increase your maximum strength
A max strength program will usually specify one or more main lifts for the workout. The rest of the exercises in the program will include accessory lifts, which use a lower intensity and higher volume.
Basic guidelines:
- Main lifts: 2-5 reps per set and 3-6 sets for each movement
- Accessory lifts: 6-12 reps per set and 2-4 sets for each movement
Goal: Gain muscle and increase muscle size
Hypertrophy training is what is often referred to as “bodybuilding,” and the focus is on gaining muscle size. A training programme for hypertrophy will typically include multiple exercises on the same body part within the same workout.
This type of training can and should use a wide range of loads and rep ranges to maximise muscle growth and adaptation. It is also important to incorporate progressive overload into your training programme (this is where it helps to have a coach to educate you further, especially if you’re hitting a plateau). Moderate loads are advised too, to allow you to focus on your technique, mechanical tension, volume, metabolic stress, muscle microtrauma.
Basic guidelines
- 6 to 12 reps per set and 3 to 6 sets for each movement
Goal: To improve muscular endurance
Muscular endurance is the combination of strength and endurance within a muscle. This type of training can be used to help improve the ability to deal with fatigue and the build up of lactic acid (that burning sensation you can sometimes feel when training). Circuit training with low rest is one of the ways this type of training can be recognised.
Basic guidelines:
- 10-20 reps per exercise, with 2-5 sets.
It’s important to note each one of these is a valid goal – as always it needs to be unique for you and what you want and not based on others’ opinions. Please note this is covering the basics to help kickstart your journey into strength training.
3. How much weight should I use?
First and foremost, before you even begin picking up weight and loading yourself up you need to ask yourself the following questions. Can you perform the exercise correctly, safely, and engage your muscles appropriately?
If you’re unsure, my best advice to you would be to hire a coach or ask a friend who knows more than you to help you. For example, make sure you can perform a proper and pain-free bodyweight squat before adding external load like dumbbells. By adding weight there are multiple elements you need to consider with progressive overload being one of them.
In short, this means you shouldn’t pick up the heaviest weight because your friend next to you is or you let your ego get ahead. Increase the weight over a period of time. Only once you are confident enough in a movement can you add the weight in. Choose a weight that leaves you with a couple of reps left in the tank with proper form. Selecting the right amount of weight takes some trial and error, and the only way to figure out what is best for your body is to dive in. Go light to begin with and then just adjust accordingly.
4. How do I get better?
There are a number of elements that can you help you no matter where you’re at on your journey.
Key areas that I focus on and would advise are the following:
1. Consistency – whatever goal you want to achieve you have to remain consistent with the vision of long-term health. Short-term goals are great if they feed into the bigger picture. Consistency applies to everything in life, not just how you turn up in the gym.
2. Progression – are you progressing your weights and exercises? Are you following a plan that’s progressing you towards your goal?
3. A coach – hire a coach. Yes, I am one – but find your fit and a community that aligns with your values and the journey you want to embark on. Who you have in your environment and in your corner is so important.
4. Patience – change for the long term isn’t a quick fix. Too often we live, think, feel with the expectation that we are entitled to get quick results for little work. Great things take time. If you’ve been living your life where you haven’t been too kind to your body and mind over a long period of time there is a lot of work internally that has to be done too. Time is your friend – and patience is a virtue.
5. Rest/recovery – too often we see people over training like mad men to get results, but more research is showing that sleep and rest are integral parts to your success in performance. Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is a great starting point to understand this.
5. How do I get started?
My best piece of advice is to understand that every person is different, so just because one thing works for one person does not mean it will work for another.
Time to work on your understanding of recovery.
When I say “recovery”, we aren’t referring only to rest. Rest and recovery are different. Rest means that you took a day or two off from strength training, or spent some time snuggled up on the couch with a good book. While these things are important — and recovery does include some rest — recovery is more multifaceted than merely resting your body.
When I talk about recovery, I’m mostly talking about three things: nutrition, sleep, and stress management.
Together, these things help your body repair itself after exercise and get stronger. With that in mind, here are a few things you can do to maximize your recovery:
Eat plenty of nutritious foods and get an adequate amount of protein. 1–1.5 grams per pound of lean body mass is a good place to start.
Be certain that you are getting plenty of high-quality sleep each night.
Incorporate some ways to decrease chronic stress into every day. A 5- to 10-minute leisurely walk, a quick meditation, or a few deep-breathing exercises can fit into the busiest of days.
Your recovery is just as important — if not more so — than your actual training sessions. It is integral to your long-term health that you don’t just work on exercise and nutrition, you also need to take a deeper look at your sleep and stress management practices to help you maximise the benefits, both in and out of the gym. If you feel like you’re not getting any better despite being consistent with your training sessions, take a look at your recovery. It might be the thing that’s holding you back.
6. How can I start right now?
Try the simple plan I’ve put down below for you to trial. Check out the layout and click the link to have full access to the workout on my YouTube channel.
Here are two sample workout plans you can use to train twice per week. To put this into practice, here are the basic steps:
Before each session, start with foam rolling, 5 minutes cardio machine and 3 relevant exercises to work up the key muscle groups.
After your warm-up, start by consecutively completing all the sets in exercise 1a, (resting 60 to 90 seconds between each set).
Then, move on to the next set of exercises, alternating between exercises 2a and 2b until you’ve completed all your sets.
Do the same for exercises 3a and 3b.
Remember to rest 60 to 90 seconds between each movement.
Here’s your workout plan!
SESSION ONE
1a. Goblet Squat: 3–4 sets x 8–12 reps
1b. Incline Push Ups/ Push Ups: 3-4 sets x 6-10 reps
2a. Lat Pull Down: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
2b. Bodyweight Glute Bridge: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
3a. Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps per side
3b. Standing Pallof Press: 3 sets x 6–8 reps per side
SESSION TWO
1a. Floor Press 3–4 sets x 6–8 reps
2a. Kettlebell RDL: 3 sets x 8–12 reps
2b. Band Pull-Apart 3 sets x 8–12 reps
3a. Split Squat: 3 sets x 8–10 reps per side
3b. Side Plank on Knees/ or Side Plank Hip Dips: 3 sets x 20-30sec hold each side or 10 reps (for hip dips)
7. How do I stay consistent?
When it comes to strength training or starting anything new, it’s super important to have these three key things: coaching, community, and a goal.
Who is in your corner? You are a product of your environment, so choose wisely. As you embark on your new journey, a combination of a great coach and supportive group of people (friends, family, colleagues) that are there to celebrate your wins, the hard times, and keep you inspired to move out of your comfort zone. Connecting with people who lead a life that you’re aiming for can also be a great tool.
When it comes to keeping up a strength training programme (or any health or fitness change, for that matter), some days will be easier than others. So what makes the difference between “falling off the wagon” and making persistent progress?
Change the way you lead your life to become the healthiest and happiest version of yourself. Whether your goals are:
- To lose body fat
- Gain muscle
- Become a stronger version of yourself
- A more confident you
- Heal your relationship with food
- Do a push up or a pull up
- Have a safe and healthy pregnancy
…. Or anything else. With Lizzie at Get Busy Living you can experience life-changing results whilst making changes one step at a time focusing on key areas suited to you:
- Nutrition habits and eating behaviours
- Self-growth, mindset, and confidence
- How to lift properly and get the most out of your exercises
- Be part of a community that wants to see you win
- Building routines, new habits and making better choices
Interested in learning more? Join my free, no-obligation Facebook Group PROJECT WOMAN to get more information on all things training, nutrition, mobility, mindset, lifestyle, and adventure.