It’s obvious that my rants about women and weight lifting have struck a chord with people around the internet. I frequently talk to women about lifting because they see me and the progress I’ve made and how much I’m enjoying myself, and they want in on it too. So I’m not even going to talk about why I think women should lift weights at every age, the health benefits of resistance training, or how awesome it can make you look and feel. I’m just going to jump into the three things that have helped me get started lifting and feeling confident in the weight room.
Buy The New Rules of Lifting For Women.
This book is great. It’s clear, fun to read, and lays everything out for you. From high-protein meals that also include tons of veggies and do not cut out any food groups or give you stupid diet gimmicks to follow, to detailed workout instructions and weight lifting plans, it has it all. I haven’t even finished it yet, and every chapter continues to blow my mind.
Subscribe to the Fitness Blender YouTube Channel.
I’ve probably said this a million times and it’s nearly always the first thing out of my mouth when people talk to me at the gym, but I’m in love with the Fitness Blender videos. I started using them for HIIT workout ideas a couple years ago, and since then I’ve realized that they have incredible strength training workouts that you can view literally any time. The website has some paid programs and I’m sure they’re worth it, but if you want to walk into the gym and get started with a weight lifting workout to fit your schedule and your workout level, you can do that with Fitness Blender on YouTube. You can go from bodyweight exercises to really challenging free weight workouts all for free. Plus, if you’re not sure of what you’re doing, just search for something like “upper body” or “squats” in their channel, watch it for instructions, then try it on your own with light weights and get a feel for the correct form. It’s a great resource, and once you’re ready to start pushing the weight higher, you can. No pressure!
Acquire Some Weights and Get Going!
There are weight sets available from Amazon or sometimes Craigslist, but you can also just get a cheap gym membership (like $10/mo) and hit up the weight room. Bonus: free weights are usually not the busiest part of the gym! And don’t worry one bit about being in the weight room. You belong there just as much as anyone else, and if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable with unsolicited advice or creepery behavior, talk to gym staff. I haven’t had any issues (I think it’s because I always look pissed), but I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t heard about creepers or even well-meaning guys trying to give advice that ends up making women feel uncomfortable. Just don’t let it scare you away from trying this out. Or if you really would be more comfortable working out at home, start off with a small set of weights and a full mirror and do it up at home. You can still get an awesome workout, and you can jam out to some Martha Reeves in your underwear or whatever. I don’t know. How do other people work out at home? That’s just me.
I want to share more nuggets of muscley wisdom, but this is it for now. The next challenge for me really will be figuring out how to keep up with strength training while also training for long distance runs, so we’ll see how that goes.
Plus, it’s almost March! Spring will be here before we know it!