For the past few years, I have been researching and experimenting with my version of strength training. The voluminous research (see Resources below) has definitively convinced me that strength training not only fights the impact of muscle loss (it’s called sarcopenia, y’all – it’s real and you can do something about it) but improves bone health, balance, injury prevention, independence and more. So. Much. More.

I’ve been a movement teacher for 25 years; I’m not a strength coach or personal trainer. And the number one thing I notice in the past 25 years of teaching is that participants tend to leave strength training out of their movement diet. That omission starts to limit their capacity not just for movement in class but in life.

Your body needs all kinds of movement. Walking, for example, is great but doesn’t do much to increase your strength or flexibility. Lifting heavy stuff while gardening or grandparenting is also great but will do little to increase your mobility and range of motion. The longer you live in your body, the more important all types of movement and particularly strength is for retaining your everyday abilities and independence.

But strength training doesn’t have to look any particular way. There are lots of ways at it and what matters is finding what works for you.

Squatting. It’s not just an exercise. It’s a living movement! (Photo: Rebecca George Photography)

Over the next few weeks, I will share a bunch of resources that have helped me build my own strength training program (and how it has changed). I’m not telling you how to do this but rather giving you a basket full of seeds to explore on your own so you can create something that works for and evolves with you. I will give you an outline of the slow, progressive approach that I’ve used that you can jump into from wherever you are.

As always, listen to your body, trust your experience and self-knowledge, rely on the guidance of people who are research-centered, and always check with your health team recommendations that are best for you.

So first, before we get into the details…the basics.

You can strengthen your body with your body weight, with resistance bands, with weights, or with a jaunty festive medicine ball! (Photo: Rebecca George Photography)

Strength Training Your Way: The Basics

1. Start Where You Are

It may sound obvious, but you cannot start where you are not. A common mistake people make when starting strength training is doing too much, too soon. This often leads to extreme soreness or even injury which stops us from doing anything at all. Another mistake is not doing enough for your Today Body (think always doing the same Pilates exercises or staying at that one setting on the chest press machine) which leads to your body’s boredom and lack of progress. Either way, it’s no bueno. Start where you are and adjust from there. Little by little is how to do this. Perfection is not the goal: doing soemthing is better than doing nothing.

2. Consistency over Intensity

While I’m an advocate for moving toward higher resistance and lower reps (see #3), choose a program that you will do consistently. I have devised a simple 30-40 minute program for myself that I do 6 days a week in the mornings. That’s what works for me and I do it regularly (almost) without fail.

But you know you. You know your tendencies and your schedule. It is better to do 5 minutes every day than do 60 minutes one day and then not do it again for a week or two. Remember: doing something is better than doing nothing. What can you commit to doing on the regular? Start there and add as you need and want.

3. Progression, progression, progression (and recession when needed)

Your body is great at a lot of cool stuff and one of the things it’s best at is adaptation. Once you’ve done something for a bit, your body gets used to it and is no longer stimulated to grow and change. Muscles, bones and connective tissue need to be “on their toes.” It’s important to increase the load that you are working under (little by little by little) and/or change the movement you are doing to work any particular area.

This brings us to the question of repetitions (the number of times you do an exercise) and sets (the number of times you do those reps). Here’s an example of how I progressed squats over the course of many months:

When working with your body weight, the way to progress is to change your range of motion. For squats, for example, I started with chair sits (kissing my butt to a chair and coming up), then to a lower stool, then full range of motion. For pushups, I started on a countertop, then progressed to a table, then to a chair, then to the floor. The change in angle kept my body challenged without any change in external resistance.

Once you start adding external resistance like bands or weights, you can slowly add a little weight at a time (and I mean a little!) to keep your body challenged and able to do the reps.

Keep progressing and challenging yourself but remember that your body is not a machine. Progress will not be linear. There will be times when you need to back off and regress in order to move forward. Keep paying attention to how you feel before, during and after the movements. Play with the paradox of progressing without overdoing, adding challenge without straining or contorting.

NOTE: Movement Logic has some helpful resources in determining your best working weight and reps in their mini barbell course, even if you aren’t using a barbell.

4. Rest Between Sessions and Between Sets (But KEEP GOING – See #2)

When you do strength training, what you are literally doing is breaking your muscles down a little bit so they can build back stronger. This is your body adapting to the load you are putting on it. It’s important, then, to give your body time to recover before working that part again. Some folks have a whole routine that they do 2-3 times a week. I have shorter routines that I do 6 days a week but I shift from working lower body, to upper body, to core.

As you progressively increase your load and get to higher weights and lower reps, you will find that you need a longer break between sets to get your breath back (for me it’s 1-3 minutes). As always, listen to your body and do the next set when you feel ready, no rush.

5. Sore Muscles…or not

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is the achy feeling after working muscles in a new way. It’s important to distinguish between PAIN and SORENESS. Pain is sharp and localized, soreness is achy and tender in the general area of where your muscles were challenged.

It’s normal to experience DOMS especially when you are starting out. If you get SO sore that you struggle to move, you’ve probably overdone it but probably have not caused any damage (see Pain vs Soreness above). If you progressively load your body very gradually, you may not experience soreness at all (this is true for me) and that does not mean you haven’t had a good workout! Bottom line: it’s ok if you have DOMS and it’s ok if you don’t. For more on recovery, check out this episode of the Movement Logic Podcast.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I’m not going to lie. There are many days that I do not want to do my strength training. Almost always, once I get started I’m good. Sometimes, I’m not loving it while I’m doing it but am so glad that I have when I’ve finished. And occasionally (I haven’t slept well, I’m healing something, our democracy goes sideways), I just don’t have the juice to do it.

Just as it’s important to distinguish between pain and soreness, it’s important to distinguish between “Waaaah don't want to” and “I don't have it in me today.” Pay close attention to that difference and regress when you need to (see #3). Do your best not to skip more than 3 days in a row (this will mess with your habit-building) but if you do, no problem, just begin again.

Those are the basics.

As we move through this series, you can keep returning to these foundational principles, especially when you are making choices about doing making a change (either at the beginning or after your body has adapted).

Next week, I’ll show you some of my favorite simple strength moves that you can do with no equipment and just your body weight! In the meantime, take a look at the resources are below.

Questions? Just pop them in the comments!

RESOURCES

The Web is full of all kinds of resources. Lean into them but check your sources: there are plenty of hucksters and well-meaning clueless people out there telling you what to do. Make sure that you are following folks who use well-founded research-based approaches, check with your health team about your plan, and above all, listen to your body.

and

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-38-got-bones-yoga-asana-isnt-enough/id1614469934?i=1000610717217

Comprehensive booklet on strength training from the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/downloads/growing_stronger.pdf

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