You need to challenge yourself! Yup, you heard us.
I know it can be hard to hear, but that is how results and growth are made. How? Resistance training.
Resistance training has enough research behind for me to confidently say that its inclusion in your exercise routine is a non negotiable. Unless you have a physically demanding job that requires you to move under load throughout the day then you simply must do strength training.
Health benefits range from improvements in blood sugar levels, to heart health, improving balance, and helping with arthritis.
If you care about movement or general health you simply must put your system under load…you have to strength train. It’s a non negotiable!
Getting started can be hard though. What do I do, how much do I lift? How long is a piece of string? None of these can be answered in a small little blog, that’s part of your journey to figure out what works for you.
Real quick though, here's are some bigger picture ideas to think about as you start.
Don’t over complicate it:
Lift weights that you can complete a movement with solid form and that challenges you. If your form is solid, go heavier and keep going heavier until you feel like your form is breaking down.
If you want more on maintaining form, read the paragraph about zones of the body here.
Going light is a waste of time:
Most of the time light weights are a waste of time when working in big movement patterns. Light weights are for small isolation exercises. Light weights allow you to compensate and cheat because the load is not enough to highlight the movement deficiencies or create an adaptation.
Let’s say you do a KB deadlift with 20 pounds and you weight 180lbs- that’s only 11% of your bodyweight. You can lift 11% of your bodyweight all day long. You can lift it mindlessly with zero engagement. Heavy weight forces you to focus, engage and connect to the movement.
Keep your form:
While light weights allow you to hide and go through the motions, going too heavy can cause breakdowns in control and tension. Every once in a while this is totally fine. But if every session you do goes past form breakdowns or pushes that level consistently then you are asking for trouble.
It’s nuanced and takes time to build the understanding of when is too much and when it is too little. But that’s why we are here, to help a long the way. In the short term; just challenge your self and pay attention.
Grow your horizons:
If society has built the belief that 5lb dumbbells are all you should be lifting then 20lb is going to seem heavy. However, for most movements, the basic metrics are that you can do that movement with bodyweight. This is not a crazy feat- some movements will be harder to get to body weight than others. You should keep that in mind when challenging yourself: How far am I away from bodyweight? Lets go back to the example of the 20lb deadlift. it simply does not provide enough stimulus to be effective. Everyone should set the goal of deadlifting your bodyweight off the ground. You won’t make it today or tomorrow but you will get there soon. If you keep challenging yourself.
Don’t rush:
There are no hard and fast rules. Yes, bodyweight for most of the big movements….deadlift bodyweight, squat bodyweight, a pull up and a perfect push up should be your first goals. Some of these will come fast, some will take months or years. As long as you are not working below your threshold of adaptation, (read more of that here), just take your time and remain consistent. You’ll get there. Oh and challenge yourself.
Bottomline:
If you are not stressing your body with load, then you have to start. That load should be getting progressively heavier and heavier. Progressing that load should come secondary to movement quality. And in every situation you have to challenge yourself.
Challenging yourself means effort, lots of, it’s not easy but it’s what works. If the stimulus that we provide to the body is too low then the body won’t need to adapt. With nothing to adapt to then nothing will change. Make sure you are challenged!
Now don’t overthink it and go get strong.
-Eoghan