With Scarborough personal trainer, welcome to the start of your lifelong
journey into strength training.
You'll look back
in the future and be grateful to your younger self for starting strength
training today.
You will start
this strength training trip today, so don't worry.
Resistance
exercise, commonly referred to as strength training, need not be daunting or
unduly difficult.
Strength training
essentially revolves around two key ideas:
Using any weight
or resistance, even your own body weight, in movement: exercising in a way that
tests your muscles beyond their normal capacity and forces them to recover and
grow stronger in preparation for new challenges.
Progressive
overload is when you consistently do just a little bit more than you did the
prior session (either by lifting heavier weights or adding an extra rep). Your
muscles must constantly adapt and become stronger as a result of this
continuous evolution. Your muscles undergo hypertrophy as a result of the tiny,
painless microtears, growing bigger and stronger to accommodate the demands of
exercise.
That's the key:
do resistance training and work to make it progressively harder, and you'll
notice your strength increasing.
You've virtually
finished a strength training session if you sit down right now and do a single
knee push-up.
In the same way,
if you attempt two knee push-ups tomorrow, you will have started a strength
training program.
There are various
routes in the worlds of "strength training" and "resistance training."
Imagine it as a
branching skill tree from a video game that offers progressions and branching
routes. Depending on your goals and the equipment at your disposal, you can
advance along one path while incorporating moves from others.
What Kinds of Strength
Training Are There?
First, bodyweight
training
Exercises in
bodyweight training use your own body weight as the resistance.
Simple, yes?
No matter your
weight or age, this is the best place to start your adventure into strength
training.
Why is bodyweight
exercise the best place to start? Two strong justifications:
A) Unless you're
a ghost, in which case things get uncomfortable, your body is always with you.
This means that bodyweight training can be done anywhere:
You may work out
in your living room using our beginner bodyweight workout routine.
Our Hotel Workout
is obviously intended for use in a hotel environment.
You get the
picture. Our Park Workout is appropriate for, well, parks.
B) Resistance
training with your body is fundamentally "human"!
You essentially
accomplish what your body is built to do by being proficient in motions like
pushing, pulling, hanging, squatting, and lunging.
Being antifragile
and less prone to injuries is a result of strengthening with bodyweight
workouts.
Let's start
learning some SCIENCE!
By doing these
motions using only your bodyweight, you're enabling the right growth of
communication between your neuromuscular systems.
The result of
effective communication is a phenomenon called "proper motor unit recruitment."
You might be
curious as to what a motor unit is.
That's great; I
asked the same inquiry as well.
A single motor
neuron and the muscle fibres it activates make up a motor unit.
The two primary
categories of motor units are:
Small motor
units: These are best for precise and specific movements (like moving your
fingers), as they require a single motor neuron innervating only a small number
of muscle fibres.
Large motor
units: In these, a single motor neuron innervates a large number of muscle fibres,
making them ideal for producing significant force (e.g., using the quadriceps
and other larger muscle groups to generate force during a sprint).
When you start
strength training, you essentially improve muscle communication. For this
reason, we advise starting this procedure with bodyweight workouts.
However, compared
to certain other strength training techniques ("add more weight to the
barbell"), bodyweight training is more difficult to'scale' in difficulty.
Nevertheless, bodyweight exercise is the only way to develop exceptional
strength levels.
You may start
with knee push-ups, work your way up to ordinary push-ups, raised push-ups, and
even more difficult activities like handstands and handstand push-ups.
Secondly,
Dumbbell Training
Dumbbells are a
great way to get started with weightlifting and strength training.
The majority of
gyms, even the most basic ones in apartment buildings, often have dumbbells on
hand.
Since they take
up little room, it is possible to own a pair of them at home.
Dumbbells provide
a simple approach to increase the intensity of bodyweight workouts, such as
lunges.
Dumbbell workouts
can be a stepping stone to barbell training for some people because they don't
seem as frightening.
Using dumbbells
can reveal muscle imbalances (such as recognizing one arm is stronger than the
other) and provide another stabilizing difficulty.
They enable
single-arm and single-leg workouts, which support the treatment of muscular
imbalances, particularly following an accident.
Scaling is simple:
just swap to 15-pound weights as the 10-pound ones get too light!
Third: KETTLEBELL
TRAINING
In essence, a
kettlebell looks like a cannonball with a handle. They take up little room,
come in a variety of weights, and provide a compact, adaptable workout.
Our 20-minute
kettlebell workout consists of 8 simple movements that can all be completed
with a single kettlebell.
Even though there
are "adjustable kettlebells," you'll normally use one kettlebell and
modify your motions for "progressive overload" (gradually making the
workout harder).
Kettlebells are
frequently available in gyms, allowing you to advance to heavier ones.
Fourth, BARBELL
TRAINING
No matter your
age, gender, or sexual orientation, if your goal is to quickly acquire
strength, muster up 20 seconds of courage and get used to training with a
barbell (I'll walk you through it, I promise):
It is easy to
achieve "progressive overload" by gradually increasing your weekly
weight lift by adding weight to each side of the bar.
Lifting greater
weights is safer and easier to control, especially when performing lower body
exercises like squats and deadlifts.
Barbell
training's main disadvantage is the requirement for home equipment, such as a
squat rack, a barbell, a bench, and enough weights for your space (an initial
costly investment, particularly for beginners!).
The Best Strength
Training Programs for Beginners
1) NOVICE
BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT: To improve stamina, strength, and cardiovascular fitness,
our novice bodyweight workout uses a variety of rep counts.
Complete one set
of each exercise before moving on to the next:
- 20 body-weight
squats
- ten pushups
- 20 lunge walks
- Ten rows with
dumbbells using a gallon milk jug
- fifteen-second
plank
- Jumping Jacks: 30
- Repeat 3 times.
Are you still
interested in bodyweight exercises? When you're ready to advance, try our
advanced bodyweight training circuit.
Alternately,
after you feel comfortable, switch to weight training!
2A) DUMBBELL
WORKOUT INTRODUCTORY
We propose our
Level 3 Gym training, "Dumbbell Division" for individuals looking for
a novice training regimen who are new to using dumbbells:
Do ten goblet
squats.
- ten pushups
- 10 rows of
dumbbells each side
2B) KETTLEBELL
WORKOUT FOR NEWCOMERS
You may execute
our beginner kettlebell routine anywhere there is enough room to swing a
kettlebell.
However, it's
possible that a phone booth, closet, or restroom stall are not the best places
to work out. Any other location will do.
Complete three
circuits using kettlebells:
- 8 Halos, one on
each side
- Do ten goblet
squats.
- Each side, 8
overhead presses
- Swing 15
kettlebells.
- (Each side) 8
Bent Over Rows
- (Per side) 6
Front Rack Reverse Lunges
3) 2-DAY WORKOUT
SPLIT FOR BARBELL TRAINING
This routine is a
concentrated weight training and strength-building workout that introduces you
to barbell training, as described in our "How to Train in a Gym"
tutorial.
DAY A OF THE
BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT
Finish three
rounds of:
- 10 heavyweight
squats
- ten pushups
- ten body-weight
rows
DAY B OF THE BEGINNER BARBELL STRENGTH WORKOUT
Finish three
rounds of:
- 5 dumbbells Greek
deadlifts
- Ten pushups and
ten dumbbell rows for each arm
WHAT OTHER FAMOUS
STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAMS ARE THERE?
1) Many people
consider "Starting Strength" to be the best beginner barbell weight
training program. If you are devoted to barbell training, we strongly advise
buying the actual book because it is an essential training read.
2) Strong Lifts
5X5: A dependable exercise routine that starts slowly and uses only the barbell
at first to perfect form before moving on to bigger weights. With "do
55", everything is kept simple. Strong Lifts is a reliable program with a
lengthy history.
3) Jim Wendler's
5/3/1: This program gives you more freedom to perform the exercises you choose or
to improve on your individual shortcomings because you get to pick some of the
help work.
Reminder: If you
just have dumbbells at home, you may adapt any of the barbell training plans
for them!
Finally, feel
free to create your own exercise schedule! I spent a decade planning my
routines, which provided me with a wealth of training and health knowledge.
We also provide
our individualized 1-on-1 online coaching program, in which you may work with a
coach to create a strength training workout schedule that is specific to your
body type and objectives. The trainer will help you plan your nutrition and use
video to assess your form during each activity.
