The benefits far outweigh any other form of exercise. Let me ask you some questions, do you want to:

 

🖤 Build shape on your body?

 

🖤 Reduce the risk of your bone density decreasing with age?

 

🖤 Increase your metabolism and lean muscle so that you burn more fat generally throughout the day?

 

🖤 Feel strong and empowered?

 

If the answers are YES – weight training needs to become your new best friend!

 

For those of you who are just starting out I want to run through 4 basic things that you need to concentrate on when you are weight training:

 

🖤 Reps – how many repetitions am I going to do for each set and why! Generally up to 20 reps is great for muscular endurance and 8-10 reps is great for creating size and then somewhere in the middle around 15 reps is great for weight loss. So always know why you are pumping out the number of reps you are.

 

🖤 Sets – how many sets am I going to do for this program? Generally speaking you would stick to 3 sets unless your aim is to pack on some serious size.

 

🖤 Speed – this is the one part of weight training that gets kicked to the curb and it is speed. Pretty much the most important aspect. For a good weight loss weights program you would stick to 2:0:2 for each rep e.g. a push up would be 2 seconds down and 2 seconds up so each rep is a nice controlled movement where the muscles are under tension for 4 seconds per rep.

 

The speed of each rep can change dramatically you could be doing 1:0:1, 3:1:3 or 4:0:4, there are many combinations which all have a purpose. So next time you are pumping out a rep be mindful of what speed your program is asking of you.

 

🖤 Breathing – this is really important, you always breath out when you are exerting the weight and breath in on the opposite phase of the movement. Not breathing correctly throughout your weights session can lead to you feeling light headed and you will always be able to lift heavier if you are breathing out in the concentric phase (exertion).

 

Reality check!!!!

If you are just starting out with your weight training let me tell you the first 2 weeks are going to be awful, you will be sore and you will feel uncoordinated until your brain actually catches up and realises what you are meant to be doing. So please don’t give up, the soreness will go away in 2-3 days post session and I promise you that it will be worth it!

 

The reality is that weight training does hurt, it is meant to. Just going through the motions and completing the desired amount of reps is not going to change your body shape, you need to create that mind/muscle connection and really think about the muscles you are using.

 

Then every set you want to go to failure. What I mean by going to failure is e.g. that in your set of 12 reps once you get to 10 or 11 you shouldn’t be able to physically lift any more. If you can easily get your desired number of reps out then the weight you are using is too light (if you are just starting out focus on your technique for a few sessions before increasing your weight, as technique is extremely important).

 

Your goal is to rip your muscle fibres apart so that they repair and become bigger and stronger. Don’t worry you won’t end up with huge muscles, as women we just don’t have enough testosterone in our bodies to make this happen.

 

Make a plan, you can either do weights from the comfort of your own home or at the gym – your body will love you for it!