I Want to Be Stronger
I want to be stronger. Great now why do you want to be stronger? What is it that you can't do now that you use to be able to do? It's an important question because that will determine your strength routine.
There are a lot of unique (crazy) exercises designed to strengthen every muscle in the body. They look really cool when someone else is doing them but seem impossible when you try them. Good news, you don't have perform squats while standing on top of a stability ball. There are simpler exercises that will get you the same results but you first need to know why you want to be stronger.
There is a specificity to exercise which simply means you have to do exercises specific to your goal in order to be better. For example working on machine weights won't make someone a better basketball player. He/She has to do exercises specific to basketball and you have to do exercises specific to your goal. Please be realistic, don't expect to do a 100 push ups at age 60 because you use to that many when you were 20, and stopped doing the push ups when you turned 30. I don't like delivering bad news but that won't happen that was 30 years ago.
Once you have your strength goals then you can google search exercises for whatever your goal may be or work with a personal trainer (if your budget allows).
Disclaimer: if you don't exercise regularly or if you have a clinical diagnosis check with your doctor before starting a strength exercise program. Here are simple strength guidelines when starting a program.
There are a lot of unique (crazy) exercises designed to strengthen every muscle in the body. They look really cool when someone else is doing them but seem impossible when you try them. Good news, you don't have perform squats while standing on top of a stability ball. There are simpler exercises that will get you the same results but you first need to know why you want to be stronger.
There is a specificity to exercise which simply means you have to do exercises specific to your goal in order to be better. For example working on machine weights won't make someone a better basketball player. He/She has to do exercises specific to basketball and you have to do exercises specific to your goal. Please be realistic, don't expect to do a 100 push ups at age 60 because you use to that many when you were 20, and stopped doing the push ups when you turned 30. I don't like delivering bad news but that won't happen that was 30 years ago.
Once you have your strength goals then you can google search exercises for whatever your goal may be or work with a personal trainer (if your budget allows).
Disclaimer: if you don't exercise regularly or if you have a clinical diagnosis check with your doctor before starting a strength exercise program. Here are simple strength guidelines when starting a program.
- Choose strength exercises specific to your goals
- Perform exercises every other day 2-3 days/week. Very simply put you break down your muscles to build them back up and make them stronger(there is a longer more complicated explanation for how you build strength if you're interested clink on this link). Your muscles need a day to recover for the rebuilding process.
- Each exercise should be done between 1 to 3 sets, 8 to 15 repetitions (repetitions are the number of times you do the exercise and once you have completed between the 8 to 15 reps that constitutes 1 set). Rest about 1 minute between each set. Now if you want to maintain your strength all you need is 1 set for each exercise completed 8 to 15 times. To improve strength complete 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps.
- Never hold your breath when performing the exercise. Exhale during exertion (as you move through the exercise exhale and inhale as you come back to the starting position).
If you need a starting point, check out the exercise page for videos on simple strength training exercises. For those if you who have knee, back, ankle, shoulder, etc issues you may have to modify exercises to minimize discomfort. One size will not fit all. You may need to talk with someone qualified that can help you modify certain exercises. The no pain no gain concept is not a good approach to strength training. Also nutrition is very important to building muscle strength and I encourage talking to a dietitian regarding specific nutritional advice in order to build muscle strength.
Contact me with questions. Please fill out the pre-exercise assessment in order to provide me with more information. An exercise calendar can be provided, please see link for a sample calendar. For a starting point try the sample program below.