Do you guys have things in life you know you need to do despite not enjoying them at all? Strength training is that for me. It’s so important for your bones, for your strength, and for the toned, fit look everyone is after. (It can’t just be me, right?) But I am much more a cardio girl. I get intimidated working out in intense environments, don’t have a lot of muscle mass, and get headaches every time I do a HIIT workout. I’ve come to realize that bootcamp style workouts and HIIT exercises just aren’t for me. But that doesn’t mean I have to rule out strength training. I’m just going back to basics.
Today was the day I decided I was going to start making strength training a part of my weekly routine. I have pilates for abs, barre for legs, running for endurance and Zumba for fun. (Don’t let Zumba fool you though! It’s fun but it’s a serious workout. I am still sore from all the squatting we did on Sunday.) I need to start showing my arms some love, so I decided to add in a weight routine I found online to my weekly rotation.
I found these exercise ideas from Fitness Magazine and decided to give them a try. I can’t lift heavy weights but I lift what I can so it works for me. I felt great during the workout and my arms felt comfortably sore afterwards. I call that a success!
I had to make sure to get in some cardio so I decided to start my workout off with a 15 minute run in these bad boys. It was short and sweet and got my blood pumping to lift some (non) heavy things. 😀 I’m not trained in any way shape or form in anything health or fitness related, but I really think overall fitness comes from combining both cardio and strength training. Both go hand in hand.
I’m excited to see how weight-lifting affects my body and can’t wait to start lifting in the double digits. Fitness experts with actual knowledge and advice (read: not me), I would love for you to chime in with your thoughts on mixing cardio and strength training. While I can’t imagine ever craving a strength workout like I do a Zumba or barre class, I do know to never say never.
Question of the day: What’s your exercise preference?
I am a CARDIO QUEEN – so I hear you, strength training, not really my thing!!!! I instead do pilates! It definitely helps, but it’s not weight lifting, that’s for sure. I feel guilty some times, but at least I am doing something !
KEEP IT UP LADY! YOU CAN DO THIS!! Try and just incorporate it into everything you do, squat when you brush your teeth, lol – every little bit counts 🙂
Pilates is amazing! I’ve seriously never seen abs as strong as when people do pilates. It’s intense.
Strength training, hands down!
Cardio has very little effect on my body. I didn’t start really changing my physique until I crossed over to the free weights section of the gym. Super important once you hit 40…
Keep up the good work!
Thank you Tamara! I’m hoping it will help with me seeing the results that I want.
great job girl! you know i love the weights!
You rock weights! I’m hoping I’ll get more comfortable with them eventually!
I do love lifting, it lifts me up hehe 😉
Keep it up!
Thanks Kierston! I’m hoping to start loving them too!
If it weren’t for BodyPump, I don’t think I would do any kind of strength training! I love any and all group ex classes!
Group exercise classes are my favorite! The energy is infectious!
Yay Erin! I have found that strength training is so great for injury prevention, and it has allowed me to train at such a high level through prehab. I have a post of exercises on my blog if you are interested….called “Strengthening Leg Exercises for Runners” 🙂 It also torches calories. Keep up the good work 🙂
Thanks so much Tina! I’m definitely going to look into those leg exercises!
Great job for starting! I sometimes dread doing strength training even though I love it – afterwards I feel awesome!
Thanks Madeline! Yes, I have to remind myself of how great I feel afterwards to get myself started.
My first love is running but I know that I am a better runner if I cross train, which includes weights. Doing a variety of workouts makes me a more well rounded person.
You can do it! Enjoy it!
That’s how I feel about mixing both too! I’m hoping by incorporating strength training I can become a faster runner!
Strength but that doesn’t mean I don’t get my heart rate up. I do exercises that use upper/lower body at the same time and keep rests minimal. Steps ups and push ups work a lot of muscles and raise my heart rate too!
I wish I was better at HIIT, but it always gives me such crazy headaches.
There are so many benefits to strength training! First strength training increases your basal metabolic rate meaning just by increasing your muscle mass you burn more calories doing the same things you normally do everyday! Additionally for women strength training is so important because the strain on the bones leads to the development of stronger bones preventing osteopenia/osteoporosis! I would much rather run on a treadmill for an hour than lift a few weights but I try to remind myself of the benefits in order to motivate myself to pick up the dumbbells! 😉
Thanks for all the knowledge Jordan! Even more reasons I need to make sure I keep up with strength training. I do not want to get osteoporosis one day!
I have a love/hate relationship with boot camp & HIIT workouts. But I feel like I get THE best work out from it. I definitely do enjoy strength training & it doesn’t have to be all weights either which I enjoy. I especially like using resistance bands & medicine balls along with free weights. I lost the majority of my weight by doing a Body Pump-style class when I was living in Lincoln. Keep it up & you’ll see the changes in no time!
You are the second person that’s recommend Body Pump. I’m going to have to check it out! We need to hang out sometime soon! I hope you’re doing well.
I just started weight training, too! My brother made a little work-out schedule for me and I’m going strong on day 4 haha. Way to get it, girl!
Yay! haha We can motivate each other!
Erin,
Being a runner I never really thought much about strength training. However, your write up really was very informative and challenged me to revisit this whole school of thought. Thanks so much for your great post, I really enjoyed reading it.
I am almost done with the Body Beast program and I already can’t wait to start again. As much as I need cardio and the endorphins, weightlifting is my new exercise love. I hope you start to enjoy it!
Thanks girly! I do feel strong once I finish a strength workout. I could see myself really getting to like that feeling. 😀