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Weight Lifting 101
Psst!
…
Psst!
Hey you!
…
Yes, YOU!
I heard you wanna get swole.
No?
Shredded?
No?
Oh. You just want to be the healthiest version of yourself… and maybe just a tiny bit shredded.
GOOD NEWS.
You’re in the right place! Strength training can do that!
Now, you’re most likely here because you’re at least curious about lifting. Whether a doctor or friend suggested it, you saw it on social media, or you just want to add this to your workout plans. Whatever the reason, I’m glad you’re here.
Before we get into this, you should know: I’m very biased when it comes to strength training. I love lifting weights. I also grew up doing it, so it’s always been reasonably comfortable to be in a weight lifting setting. I also understand that isn’t the lived experience of a lot of people.
While I love the personal benefits I’ve seen, I mostly love seeing my clients' lives improving as they have added strength to their lives.
Here’s a short list of some benefits of strength training:
Body composition
Blood sugar regulation
Reduces chronic inflammation
Increased strength
Increase power
Increased endurance
Improved mobility
Improves brain function
Bone health
Muscle health
Heart health
Ok… so it’s not that short. And I could keep going!
Here’s the thing, a safe and consistent strength training program can improve your life in so many ways! It can also be daunting to start. I get it! There is a lot out there. But, here’s the good news. There is a simple way to get started! And even better, I’m about to teach it to you! So let’s dive in.
Movement First
Where do we start? Well, first you will need to learn and get competent at some important compound movements (v). Everything can be modified to be easier or harder. They are:
Push (Pushup)
Pull (Pullup)
Hinge (Romanian Deadlift, or RDL)
Squat (Squat… XD)
(In parentheses I have an example for a visual of that movement. If you can’t do the example, don’t worry, you’re not alone! We will get into modifications.)
With each movement, you will want to get them dialed in with just you. No added weight (a.k.a. Body weight) at the beginning. Once you can do that comfortably, you can add weights to it. I recommend starting with planning out your sets (v) and reps (v) before jumping in. Know what number you are aiming for.
Once you nail the body weight movements you will move to light weight then to heavy weight. You never really have to get to a crazy heavy weight, and you should always be willing to take a step back in weight if you aren’t still confident in the form. NO EGO.
If you’ve never lifted before, it’s ok to start with 1 or 2 days a week added to your other movement routines. Ideally, working your way up to 3-4 days of strength training. Below I am going to break down a 2 day a week split (v).
When you’re deciding how to organize your workouts make sure you have a combination of:
Warmup
Compound movements
A single arm (SA) or single leg (SL) movement (very important!)
Accessory movements
Cardio
Warmup
One of the arts of successful resistance training is learning how to do a good warmup. It shouldn’t take long (15 minutes max), but it should NOT be skipped.
Get your HR up
“Activate” weak links
Stretch over used areas
Lift: working up to heavy weights
Light weight and body weight movements can live in the 10-15 rep range
Heavy weights can live in the 5-10 rep range
Max weights can live in the 1-5 rep range
Outside of that is more specialized
An easy way to add more work is to combine 2 lifts into a superset (v)
Targets
compound movements
Single leg/arm movements
Push/pull upper body
squat/hinge lower body
Things you enjoy
Things that need work (probably things you don’t enjoy)
EX: Hamstring Curls, Reverse Crunch, etc.
Cardio
A safe and consistent strength training program can improve your life in so many ways!
Basic 2 lifts per week template
Choose an exercise from the table below for each.
Sets and reps are labeled Sets x Reps (3x10)
Choose an appropriate weight for each exercise
Repeat a workout for a few weeks as you get used to it
After 4 or 5 weeks keep the same template but change the exercises
For a fillable template you can print out, try downloading these PDFs!
Upper Push - Pushup, Dumbbell Bench, Barbell bench, Overhead Press
Upper Pull - Pullup, Row, Cable Pulldown, Chinup
Lower Hinge - Glute Bridge, RDL, Hip Thrust, Deadlift
Lower Squat - Box Squat, BW Squat, Goblet Squat, Front Squat
Core/Accessories - Bird Dog, Dead Bug, Reverse Crunch, Farmer Carries Upper Push (Single Arm) - Dumbbell Bench, Overhead Press
Upper Pull (Single Arm) - Row, Cable Pulldown
Lower Hinge (Single Leg) - Glute Bridge, RDL
Lower Squat (Single Leg) - Lunge, Split Squat
Day 1: Upper body Push - Lower body Hinge
Warmup - 5-15 Mins
2-5 mins Cardio at brisk steady pace
Upper warmup
Lower warmup
Stretch and/or Foam Roll (World's Greatest Stretch)
Lift - 20-30 Mins
Upper push - 3x10
Upper push SA - 3x5 each side
Lower Hinge 2 Leg - 3x10
Lower Hinge SL - 3x5 each side
Move - 10-20 Mins [Complex -OR- Circuit] [3 Rounds]
Upper Push (lighter) - DB Bench x10
Lower Hinge (lighter) - RDL x10
Cardio Machine (ex: Row machine) x30 seconds
Core/Accessories - 5-10 Mins
[Optional] Cardio - 10-30 Mins
Day 2: Upper body Pull - Lower body Squat
Warmup - 5-15 Mins
2-5 mins Cardio at brisk steady pace
Upper warmup
Lower warmup
Stretch and/or Foam Roll (World's Greatest Stretch)
Lift - 20-30 mins
Upper pull 2 Arm - 3x10
Upper pull SA
Lower Squat 2 Leg - 3x10
Lower Squat SL
Move 10-20 Mins [Complex -OR- Circuit]
Upper Pull (lighter) x10
Lower Squat (lighter) x10
Cardio Machine (ex: Stationary bike) x30 seconds
Core/Accessories - 5-10 Mins
[Optional] Cardio - 10-30 Mins
Lifting vs Cardio
It seems there is always a debate as to whether you should do lift or do cardio. Here’s the truth: DO BOTH!
Regardless of your goals, your physical health is at its best when you are doing strength training and cardio. How much time you spend on either can be different depending on your specific goals.
CARDIO
Despite claims about fat burning, cardio is all about heart and lung health. Yes you burn calories, but getting lost into the abyss of “running off your calories” to lose weight is a time suck and a dangerous road to travel. It’s important for everyone to spend time doing cardio. If you like it, do more of it. If you don’t enjoy it (like me) it’s still important to find ways to get it into your workout routine.
LIFTING
Want to know a secret? If done correctly, you’ll actually burn MORE calories doing strength training than just doing cardio. Again, I’m not a fan of working out to burn calories, but I can almost guarantee that your goals around physique, energy level, fat loss, etc. would all take a big jump with a proper (consistent!) weight lifting regimine.
To incorporate both, the best is to focus on them on separate days. If that doesnt work for your schedule, just spend the harder part of your workout doing the one closer to your goal focus (i.e strength goal = Lifting focus, Running a 5k = Cardio focus).
Conclusion
In all, adding a couple resistance training workouts to your week (consistently) will boost your overall health immensely. Make sure to stay safe and smart with your weight choices, but don’t be afraid to work hard, either. Finding that balance can take time, but it’s worth the weight. (good one huh?) Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or want help!
P.S. Here’s the code for the Jargon I used. You might as well learn it at some point. Now go get your best gym bro impression on!
(V.) Vocabulary: (In Brandon Terms…)
Sets = how many times you do a group of reps
Reps = how many times you do an exercise between rest periods
Split = how you organize which part of body you are focusing on during a workout
Complex = 1 time through a group (3+) of exercises, rest, then repeat
Circuit = multiple times through with no rest. With either a number of rounds or a time set.
Superset = 1 time through two (2) exercises, rest, then repeat
Accessories = smaller, typically lighter movements that help build up the ability of your compound movements
Compound movements = exercises that involve multiple groups of muscles in one movement. (i.e. Push, pull, hinge, or squat)
Isolation exercises = exercises that involve a specific group of muscles (i.e. curls)