Strength Training: The Elixir of Life!
Did you know that only about 33% of women who have a gym membership actually LIFT? Strength training is so important for so many things and super practical – like being able to deadlift open a garage door, carrying heavy groceries and feeling that unsurpassed sense of strength and embodiment when we’ve taken the time to commit to the PROCESS of getting strong and embodied. (If you love the idea of a process of transforming your body and mind with the guesswork taken out, click here)
If you’ve been spinning your wheels and feeling like you’re not reaching your goals in the way you were expecting, often it’s because we’ve made things too complicated. So here’s 5 simple tips and tricks you can do to make your strength training more effective:
1. Keep Your Workouts Simple (But Not Too Simple)
What do I mean by that? People often over-complicate things but then don’t hit the areas they’re weak in or they don’t do them correctly. For us women, it’s often exercises that require upper body strength like push-ups and pull-ups which are the most challenging. And we tend to copy what other people are doing. Because we often don’t see other women doing challenging upper body training, we are generally not ‘primed’ to do these ourselves.
Make sure you’re doing a well rounded workout each time so you get the most from your efforts.
2. Train Full Body Movement Patterns
Effective workouts train full-body movement patterns. Learn how to squat, deadlift, hip thrust, bench (but I’d recommend learning how to do a push-up first). Then train your upper body in horizontal pulling/pushing movements like push-ups or seated rows, vertical pulling or pushing like pull-ups or dumbbell overhead pressing and some kind of core exercise. I would then also add some single-legged work such as Lunges. This combo will give you the most ROI for the time you put in. No matter if you’re a beginner, intermediate or advanced lifter, you will benefit from thinking about your programming in this way.
3. Train Your Core The RIGHT Way
Train your core in the right way. Doing endless elbow planks or crunches are NOT going to translate to functional strength by themselves. You want to do things to protect your spine by targeting the TVA (Transverse Abdominis, the corset shaped muscle around your torso that sits underneath the visible abs). My favorite exercise to do that are L-sits, which I demonstrate in the video. These are not terribly enjoyable in the beginning but are so effective in building TVA strength, hip flexor, arm and back strength. Plus mental toughness as they’re a hard exercise.
Learn to love these!
(For more core exercises to love 🙂 Click Here)
4. Ditch The Cardio
I know it’s fashionable now to bag on cardio – really, if you love it, then keep doing it. Just know that it isn’t essential if you truly want to progress in your strength training. Where we make the most ‘gainz’ is the time we spend recovering ie not exercising. So I’d prioritize strength training over cardio if you’re serious about building lean muscle mass. (
5. GET ENOUGH SLEEP
This is so often overlooked but it’s absolutely critical. If you’re serious about improving your strength, body composition and overall health, you need to make sleep a priority. I recommend approaching this as a process. Change some habits like no electronic devices 90 mins before bed, listen to some soothing music and take a nice bath. To unwind, a simple, slow yoga practice can be very beneficial. I’d recommend emphasizing gentle forward folds, like Paschimottasana (Seated Forward Fold With Straight Legs) or Upavista Konasana (Seated Wide Legged Forward Fold), supporting your head to whatever height you need and keeping your legs slightly bent, a Supine Twist, finishing with Viparita Karani (Legs Up The Wall). Also make sure your bedroom is super comfy , uncluttered and used for SLEEP only. Don’t have any devices by your bed.
So take a look and see where some of these points can be implemented for your own needs. And keep lifting!
