Blog 11: An Introduction to Strength & Weight Training

Hello everyone! Last week, I touched upon the form of exercise known as yoga. I talked about its origin and how it can treat both the physical and mental aspect of the human body, enriching the individual for the better. Today I would like to talk about weight training and/or strength training, as another form of exercise. Weight training is specifically using weights in your exercise to build muscle, whereas strength training is building muscle either using weights or your own body weight as a form of resistance. In my experience, I did not start incorporating the use of weights into my exercise regimen, since I was always told that using heavy weights will shape my body into a more masculine shape. However, women have to consistently work very hard to build muscle to that extent. In addition, women do not produce enough testosterone compared to men to produce the amount of muscle mass built for a typical male body builder. There are many benefits towards strength training, such as “. . . 1) increase in lean body mass; 2) increase in metabolic rate; 3) increase in bone density; 4) decrease risk of injury; and 5) building back lost muscle tissue that commonly occurs with aging” (Thomas & Burns, 2016, p. 159). However, if you are cautious and do not want to go to the gym during COVID-19, you can still complete strength training at home without having weight equipment or you could use household items with a significant amount of weight in place of the weights if you do not own weights at home. Now I am going to talk about common misconceptions that people might have towards strength training. According to Amy Roberts, a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) from Men’s Journal, there are 10 points of advice that strength trainers have, and those are: 1) you do not have to lift heavy weights in order to gain muscle mass, but you can use lower weights with a higher repetition or incorporate bodyweight exercises so you are not using the same form of exercise and will not plateau in muscle strength; 2) when lifting a weight for strength training, it is when you are lowering or releasing your lift of the weight that you are strengthening your muscle instead of when you are raising or flexing your lift of the weight in hand; 3) unless you are powerlifting, when strength training, take your time when lifting to ensure the strengthening of your muscles; 4) make sure to go through each motion of exercise to completion to see improvement and an increase in muscle; 5) depending on your goal or the muscles that are being targeted, adjust your exercise regimen to make sure that your strength training is diverse; 6) using free weights are just as helpful in strength training as weight machines are; 7) strength training is not as complicated as you would think or make it to be, it is best to form a foundation before involving special equipment; 8) it is best to rest between sets of strength training to make sure your muscles are recovered to continue; 9) sleeping is very important and contributes to the muscle recovery time so your muscle can rebuild to keep on strengthening; 10) isolation exercises are not necessarily better than multijointed movements, since movement-based programs allow for the full workout of the body and use the time efficiently when working out versus exercises that focus on one region of the body (Roberts, A., n.d.). It is important to keep these points of advice in mind when strength training or working with weights. I will list other helpful sites below to check out if you are interested in strength training. The summer is the best time to exercise! Stay tuned and stay healthy!!

HELPFUL LINKS:

• https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/strength-training/a706202/strength-training-for-beginners/

• https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/strength-training/

• https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/beginners-guide-weight-lifting-training/

• https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/10-strength-building-strategies/

#strengthtraining #tryweightlifting #forallbodytypes

Please reach out or comment below on any personal experiences that you feel comfortable sharing!

References:

Roberts, A. (n.d.). 10 strength-training misconceptions trainers hate. Men’s Journal. https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/10-misconceptions-about-getting-stronger-trainers-hate/

Thomas, M., & Burns, S. (2016). Increasing lean mass and strength: A comparison of high frequency strength training to lower frequency strength training. International Journal of Exercise Science, 9(2), 159-167. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4836564/pdf/ijes_09_02_159.pdf