According to IBIS World there are over 800,000 personal trainers in the USA, so it’s not that difficult to find fitness advice online. Yet you’ll probably find that much of that guidance is ineffective, vague, or only focused on short term results.
This is not that.
This is a brief introduction to resistance training, a few different ways to think about or structure your lifting, and enough to experiment with.
Questions in the comments very welcome.
What’s the Point of Lifting?
Strength training has a variety of benefits far beyond what you might otherwise be taught by standard fitness industry marketing. Here are just a few:
Increased metabolic health (which in turn improves a whole host of medical challenges like diabetes and cardiovascular disease)
Improved gut health and microbiome
Boosted mood and confidence
Improved relationship with your body, increased confidence, and general physiological awareness
Increased overall life satisfaction
Increased self-reliance. You can do more for yourself when you’re strong
Improved physical and mental resilience
I’m sure there are many more and I have dozens of stories of clients applying what they’ve learned from lifting in their day-to-day lives (you’re welcome to share your own in the comments).
The challenge comes from a knowledge gap. Most people can figure out what to do on a treadmill or elliptical. Knowing how to resistance train is a different beast.
Some Basic Guidance
A few key concepts you’ll want to keep in mind as you start your strength journey:
Movement Quality - Being fully honest and transparent with you: you probably don’t know how you move. You’re not going to be a great judge of your posture, alignment, and movement quality if you haven’t worked with a personal trainer, physical therapist, or another form of movement coaching. If you have a history of injury or joint pain it might be worth going down a rabbit hole on that topic (don’t worry ~ more content on this coming soon)
Exercise Form - Yes, there is a “right” way to do most exercises. Unfortunately, there is a lot of internet debate about some of those “right” ways. My take: simple is better for the beginner and listen to your body. If your body is responding with pain during or after the workout, that’s feedback that something is off. Go get help.
What is Functional Strength Training?
Functional Movement is any movement that mimics day to day life. That’s different than gymnastics, ballet, or volleyball because those movements are unique to those activities. Functional Strength Training is just that: strength training that gets your more capable in your day to day life.
Basic Functional Movements
Functional Movement is based on the idea that we have 7 basic human movements that all other movement is a combination of:
Core - bracing and rotation
Upper body - horizontal push (think pushup or bench press)
Upper body - horizontal pull (think rowing)
Upper body - vertical push (think overhead press)
Upper body - vertical pull (think pullup)
Lower body - squat (duh)
Lower body - hinge (think deadlift)
There are a million ways to build a Functional Strength Program. What I am teaching you is the way I teach my clients ~ it is by no means the only way.
For the beginner there can be a lot of overwhelm in what to do and how to do it. There can also be a lot of overstimulation in the body if you put up too much volume too quickly (read: you’re overexercising and working too hard). You end up sore, exhausted, grumpy… and then you quit. That’s not the goal.
The goal is to build strength that lasts you the rest of your lifetime.
Structure, Sets, Reps, & Weights
When working with a new client I like to structure the workout with trisets - sets of 3 exercises that work a different functional pattern, rotating through each exercise, then taking a 60 second rest to let yourself fully recover. 3 exercises, 3 sets. A set is how many times you repeat an exercises during the workout.
Yes, there are other ways to structure the workout: straight sets (1 exercise at a time), supersets (2 exercises alternating), and circuits (4+ exercises in a loop) are all common examples all with their own benefits
Reps are how many times you’ll do an exercise during a set. The reps relate to your goals for the overall workout program.
When working with new clients I want them to gain muscle and strength while also learning the exercise. To do that we use an AMRAP scheme. AMRAP stands for As Many Reps As Possible. They pick a load they’re comfortable doing and once they can do it confidently, with good form, for 12+ reps we up the load. At that new load we’re looking for 8 reps to be challenging with many 1 or 2 reps left “in the tank”. Over the next few weeks they’ll likely AMRAP up again, then we up the load again.
Rinse. Repeat.
The benefit of doing it this way is they’re self-selecting the load, learning to listen to their bodies, working through any discomfort.
Setting Up Your Workouts
I’m going to say a radical thing that most trainers would aggressively disagree with me on: the specific exercises you choose don’t really matter. <GASP!>
If you’re training for something specific, then exercise selection matters.
If you have personal preferences, then exercise selection matters.
If you have injuries or medical issues, then exercise selection matters.
But what matters most is your comfort, confidence, and that you like it all enough to be consistent.
When I’m giving a beginner a new program to follow I teach them a simple formula ~ and you can use that exact same formula to get yourself started. Here goes:
Warm up - Gentle movements of your choice, foam rolling, yoga, etc
Tri Set One: Horizontal Push, Horizontal Pull, Squat
Tri Set Two: Vertical Push, Vertical Pull, Hip Hinge
Core: 2 Core exercises that challenge you
Do each tri set through with an AMRAP and a load that keeps you 8 - 12 reps.
Rest 60 seconds after each time through, 3 - 5 sets depending on your time and energy.
(Don’t remember what “horizontal push” and “vertical push” etc mean? Scroll up “Basic Functional Movements” for examples)
You don’t have to do the same thing every time.
You don’t have to have the same equipment every time.
It works at home, the gym, or travelling.
It works regardless of biological sex or gender expression.
Final Thoughts
Far too often people skip weight training because they’re confused, embarrassed, or intimidated. Getting strong isn’t only about how you look - it’s about a relationship with your body. About learning what you’re capable of. And, about how you’ll be when you’re 70, 80, or 90. In a recent article in the NYTimes, Danielle Friedman shared that if you want to be able to do something when you’re old and you can’t do it now, you should start working on building that.
What to hike in your 70s? Start building strength.
Want to pick you your great-grandbabies at 83? Start building strength.
One of my goals is to dance at weddings when I’m 103. So I’d better take good care of these hips if they’re doing to last me another 60+ years.
I’m am available for wellness coaching and personal training. If you want me to take a look at your movement quality or design a program for your functional strength simply reply to this email and we’ll get started.