Lifting
Whether you are brand new to strength training or getting back into the swing of things after taking time off, you will want to meet yourself where you are to create long-term, sustainable habits. So, how do you start? What does a strength training program look like? And, how can you set yourself up for success in the long run?
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The ultimate question: “where do I even begin?”. Good news, bad news: starting is the hardest part. Your first order of business when it comes to starting a strength training program is to understand what your goals are. Here are a few common goals I see with my clients:
- Gain strength
- Build muscle
- Develop consistency
- Improve endurance
- Support your other activities (such as running, hiking, skiing, or other recreational sports)
Good news: you can accomplish more than one of these goals at the same time! Especially if you are new to strength training. Newbie gains are a real thing. Newbie gains are when you see a quick increase or improvement in your strength and/or muscle growth starting within the first couple weeks of training and can last for up to several weeks or months. This can also help with staying motivated as you start building a foundation.
Establishing goals, like the ones listed above, will help guide you as you decide on a training frequency that compliments your life and activities.
Helpful side note: don’t wait to add strength training to your weekly routine until “things calm down” or “when you have time”. Life is going to stay busy in various capacities. Learn to work WITH your life rather than against it when deciding how many days per week you can dedicate to strength training and how long the individual sessions can last. It’s also important to understand that life and outside stressors will fluctuate throughout the weeks, months, and years. You can always adjust your training schedule and frequency to maintain your consistency.
If you are new or getting back into strength training, I recommend starting with 2-3 sessions per week. This will allow you time to adapt to your new schedule of training while also reaping the many benefits of strength training. Here is a lengthy, yet not exhaustive list of benefits:
1. Increases muscle mass
2. Improves stability and balance
3. Increases strength
4. Enhances endurance
5. Improves heart health
6. Increases mobility/range of motion
7. Boosts confidence
8. Increases and maintains bone density
9. Regulates blood sugar
10. Boosts mood
11. Improves quality of life
12. Manages chronic conditions
13. Improves brain health
14. Increases longevity
As you get further into strength training, you may benefit from doing 4 sessions per week, but if it’s at the cost of skipping cardiovascular training, I recommend sticking with 2-3 strength sessions and 2-3 cardio sessions. Learn more about suggested workout splits by reading my Hybrid Training Workout Split blog.
It’s important to also recognize that even committing to one strength session per week has shown to provide benefits, so if you are dipping your toe into strength training and you are having a tough time committing to multiple sessions in a week, start with one. Something is always better than nothing. Plus, fitness is for life, so you need to make sure you are setting yourself up for the long run, not just for the next couple weeks or months.
As a new trainee, you will want to nail down the basics first. If it’s within your means, I recommend going to your local gym to visit with a certified personal trainer and learn the basic movement patterns of a squat, lunge, deadlift, chest press, overhead press, row, lat pull down, core stability (planks or dead bugs), core rotation and anti-rotation (wood chops and bird dogs), and carries. If it’s not accessible to you, use the search feature on my exercise demo playlist on my YouTube channel for how tos.
Meeting with a personal trainer in person when you are new can provide you with the initial groundwork that will take you so much further when you are training on your own or following an online training program. Personal trainers can help give you modifications or suggestions based on what they see happening at your shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and all of the muscles involved, respectively.
With that said, let’s go over what a strength training program can look like for beginners.
Based on my learnings from NASM and my 8+ years of experience as a Certified Personal Trainer working with clients from ages 12-84 years old, you will want to start with building stability. As a trainee, you will go through five phases of strength training: stabilization, endurance, strength, hypertrophy, and power. As you become more equipped and gain fitness experience, you may find yourself skipping over the stabilization and/or hypertrophy phases based on your goals. Each phase may last between 4-16 weeks, again, based on your goals, consistency and adherence, and how you are progressing within each phase.
During the stabilization phase, you will take 4-12+ weeks to develop stability and proprioception. Proprioception is when you build the mind to muscle connection and learn what it feels like to engage specific muscles. This is a skill that develops with your fitness age. Exercises that you would want to start with to encourage core stability are:
- Bird Dogs
- Forearm Planks or High Planks
- Dead Bugs
- Side Planks
- Goblet Marches
- Cable Wood Chops
- Cable Anti-Rotation Holds
In the stabilization phase specifically, you will want to place your core exercises directly after your warm up. Learn how to warm up by reading my blog called The Best Lifting Warm Up and Cool Down. By completing core exercises first, this will set the precedent for the rest of your workout. You can use the trunk stability and bracing techniques for the bigger exercises or compound lifts, such as squats and deadlifts. When choosing core exercises, you will want to consider covering all of your bases: prone (i.e., plank), supine (i.e., dead bugs), rotation (i.e., wood chops), and anti-rotation (i.e., bird dogs). You do not need to complete all four of these exercises in one single session, but aim to complete them in some capacity throughout your week of training.
From here, this is where you will want to program your compound exercises. Think: squats, deadlifts, bench press, and rows. These are the exercises that will require your full body. If you are just learning how to complete these exercises, ease into it by learning how to squat, hinge, incline push up, and row before shifting into dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells.
You will follow up your compound exercise(s) with accessory exercises, which are supporting movements to your compound(s). Think: hip thrusts, lat pull downs, lunges, and rack pulls. Then lastly, your isolation exercises, which are focused on single muscle groups, such as bicep curls or calf raises.
To review:
1. Warm Up
2. Core
3. Compound Exercises
4. Accessory Exercises
5. Isolation Exercises
The basics of your programming will remain fairly the same throughout all five phases of training. Based on how I program my client’s training, the section I tend to move around is core. Sometimes I move it to the end of the workout instead of at the beginning based on the clients fitness level, goals, and needs. Otherwise, the differences between stabilization, endurance, strength, hypertrophy, and power are the number of sets, rep ranges, tempo, and rest times.
These four factors change between each strength training phase. In general, here is an overview of sets, reps, tempos, and rest times for each phase:
Stabilization
Reps: 12-20
Sets: 1-3
Rest: 0-90 seconds
Tempo: 4/2/1/0
Intensity: RPE 5-7
Endurance
Reps: 8-15
Sets: 2-4
Rest: 30-90 seconds
Tempo: 3/0/1/0
Intensity: RPE 7-8
Hypertrophy (muscle building)
Reps: 8-12
Sets: 3-6
Rest: 30-60 seconds
Tempo: 3/1/2/1
Intensity: RPE 7-10
Strength
Reps: 1-5
Sets: 2-6
Rest: 2-5 minutes
Tempo: 3/1/1/1
Intensity: RPE 7-9
Power
Reps: 2-6
Sets: 3-5
Rest: 2-5 minutes
Tempo: 2/0/2/0
Intensity: RPE 6-9
Although as you gain experience, you can start shifting toward a method where you have a little bit of each phase in a single workout. For example, you won’t need to wait until the strength phase to start lifting for 2-5 reps, or you won’t need to wait until the endurance phase to start lifting for 8-15 reps. You can take a little from all of the phases to break it down into –
Compound Lifts
Reps: 1-5
Sets: 2-6
Rest: 2-5 minutes
Tempo: 3/1/1/1
Intensity: RPE 7-9
Accessory Lifts
Reps: 6-12
Sets: 2-3
Rest: 60-90 seconds
Tempo: 3/1/2/1
Intensity: RPE 6-9
Isolation Lifts
Reps: 8-15
Sets: 1-3
Rest: 30-60 seconds
Tempo: 2/0/2/0
Intensity: RPE 6-10
This method is especially helpful for those who are aiming to lift for life and longevity.
Success starts with being realistic. If you set realistic goals with a realistic timeline, you will set yourself up for success. You can do this by meeting yourself where you are. This is what we specialize in at Kathletics. To meet yourself where you are means to look at your exercise experience and fitness age (likely minimal if you are new to strength training), take your lifestyle and schedule into account, and get honest about your goals and timeline for said goals. If you’re not sure where to start, book a complimentary consult call with us.
Strength training as a beginner is not meant to be scary or daunting. The endless amounts of benefits and community that comes along with strength training are more than enough reasons to want to join in the fun! You are making a big step in the right direction by even writing this article. Welcome to sustainable fitness! Let us know how we can help.
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