High frikken five, welcome to the light side, sorry no badges. Just great looking bodies and the ability to roundhouse people who cut you up*
Probably close to footage of me trying this
So you’ve read somewhere or listened to myself Dangent (Dan+tangent=Dangent) about getting stronger through lifting weights. Some of benefits include.
-Being stronger, yup. Helps carry children, shopping and generally moving things or opening jars.**
-More resilient, its protective by nature. in sport, everyday activities and your hobbies. People often find they are as effected by falls or slips and can reduce the risk of injury around said events.
-Reduce risk of Osteoarthritis.
-Can help with reducing back pain and improving posture. It could help with reducing pain if done correctly.
-Improvement in mood and mental health. Yeah, this ones a biggie. Going to resist the urge to ramble on this one too much.
Its not limited to these and i’m sure there are so many more but thats not the idea of today. The idea is where to start.
You walk into the gym and so often people say they don’t feel confident and don’t know what to do. So going back to what I talked about last week, it needs to fall under the category of what can do you.
Now I like to see people complete these movements throughout the week. Multiple times if possible.
-Squat (think bending of the knees and hips together, more in the front of the legs and bum
-Hinge/Bending. Picking stuff up or extending the hips (pushing your pelvis forward) similar but more back of the legs and bum this time
-Upper body push. Pushing stuff away from body with your arms.
-Upper body pull. Pulling stuff towards your body with your arms.
-Core. Keeping that midsection stable.
-Single leg or carry. Either being static or moving with load.
So. what can you do that falls into those categories. If you can, get a coach or personal trainer who can guide you through theses movements. Once you have them. you have them for life, like learning to drive anyone "could" teach you but a good instructor enforces great habits that you develop on through your driving lifetime.
So you can get a coach, what can you do then is break the movements down and use the discussion from last week.
Squat- Barbell back squat, goblet squat, how about the leg press or a step up?
Although not a true "Squat" you do bend your knees and hips and it is progress-able overtime. Do that.
Hinge/Bending- Deadlift, stiff leg deadlift, hip thrust, fit-ball hamstring curl.
Upper push- Press up, DB press. chest press machine
Upper pull- Trx row, dumbbell row, lat pull down
Core- Planks, stir the pot, Pallof presses
Single leg- Well if you did step ups it kind of ticks this box off. if not, farmers carries with Dumbbells, kettlebells, plates.
So a brief overview of how much you should do.
Around 8-15 repetitions under control. As a general guideline and not a set rule. If you cant do 8 maybe it is too heavy and more than 15 maybe its.too light. Look to add weight to those repetitions over the sessions.
Do 2-4 sets. Start off with 2 and increase it to 4 total sets over time. That coupled with more weight and/or reps is improvement
Rest time- around 45-120 seconds. Don’t rush but also try not sit around scrolling through instagram..
Tempo- I'm not to fussed here, have it under control through most of the movement. Try not to be bouncing or jerking the weight.
Do this and repeat. Change or modify the exercises every 2-8 weeks and reap the benefits.
I stole this from Mark Bell- "Focus on what you ca. do and not on what you can't"
*okay so this i don’t advise, just beep your horn and scowl 🤣
**I swear my Nan only asks me to open jars when i’m there because she knows it makes me feel fucking awesome