With January comes fitness fads, extreme diets and a whole host of ridiculous health trends that frankly, aren't sustainable - or probably even healthy. However, there's one style of training you can rely on to achieve a long-standing love of exercise: weight training.
Having slowly increased in popularity with women over the last few years, you only need to click on your Instagram to see hundreds of fitness influencers deadlifting, chest pressing and military pressing their way to fitness. It's why #girlswholift and #girlgains, as cringe as they are as hashtags, have millions of pictures attached to them, and why you'll see transformation pictures of weight gain- where women are proving the scales are meaningless when it comes to health and fitness.
With the days that women's fitness only meant two things, core and cardio, long gone, it's time we answered the questions any weightlifting beginner has. We spoke to expert personal trainer Maiken Brustad to find out exactly what we should be asking ourselves before we embark on weight-training...
1. Isn't weightlifting only for men?
‘Absolutely not,’ says Maiken, ’We need to stop gendering training and start focusing on what’s important for our health.’
You only have to scroll through Instagram to see that more women than ever are weightlifting. And it's not just about squatting to get an 'insta-bum', with weightlifting comes a strength you've never felt before, and so a journey that may have begun for aesthetic reasons very quickly takes on an entire new meaning where feeling strong and challenging your body is the ultimate goal.
2. How heavy should I be lifting?
‘When it comes to lifting there are many ways to do it,’ says Maiken, ‘ But in the beginning I would pay as much attention to the technique as possible before we start putting on more weight. When you feel like you have good control, you can put on a bit more weight. Remember, go slow in the beginning, but don’t be afraid to push yourself.’
3. Will it increase my chance of injury?
‘Yes and no,’ says Maiken, ‘Yes because you can get injured due to wrong technique or if you’re not warming up before starting, but these are easy to avoid. On the other hand, it’s been proven that strength training has a huge benefit on avoiding injury. We have to remember that strength training doesn’t only just firm and shape out body but it helps our joints and bones to stay strong as well. It’s a win-win situation if you ask me.’
4. Am I going to 'bulk up' if I start weight training?
‘I have gotten this question so many times, mostly from women,’ says Maiken, ‘NO, you won’t “bulk” up. The reason why is simply because we are built different than men and even for men it takes many years of hard training, supplements and diets to “bulk” up and get big. It will never come from a few squats and pull-downs as week. Trust me.’
5. How do I conquer the fear of entering the weights section when it’s dominated by men?
'My biggest advice in general is to never let anyone put you in a lane,' says Maiken, 'If you want to do something that is good for your health and body GO for it! Don't let any guys stop you. And I can promise you that the people in the weight section are focusing on themselves and their own training, that's at least what every one should be doing!
'I can promise you that you'll feel great after,' she continued, 'It's always a bit scary trying new exercises in the beginning, it's like that for everyone. The second time, it will be easier.'
6. Where can I learn the right technique?
‘If you are brand new to weightlifting I would highly recommend to seek assistant from a trainer or someone you know who knows how to lift property,’ says Maiken, ‘It’s so important to build up your confidence around lifting and also get the right technique in so you get everything out of your sessions. It’s also a skillset that will benefit you in many other day to day activities.’
7. How should I warm up before a weight session?
‘To warm up before any sort of activity is very important, but especially before training with weights,’ says Maiken, ‘My recommendations would be to get your heart rate up, either 3-5 mins on a treadmill, bike or the rower. Then mobility work, this is a very important stage. Work on hip mobility and activation of the core. Then I would recommend to warm up in the actual exercise you are doing. Let’s say you are doing squats, and you are starting on 40kg. Then I would warm up with just the bar, which weighs 20kg on its own, to get into the move and prepare the body for what’s next.’
8. Do I have to diet when I start with weight training?
‘Remember, you don’t HAVE to do anything,’ says Maiken, ‘It’s so important that we do training for a particular reason, and that it makes us feel good. When it comes to diets, I would say it all comes down to your personal goal. But with that being said it has been proven that a high protein diet will help on muscle growth and tone.‘
9. How long breaks and how many sets/reps should I be doing?
‘If you want to get a stronger muscle it’s recommended to do heavier weights and lower reps. So, for example 4 sets and with a weight you can lift 1-4 times,’ says Maiken, ‘If you want to grow the muscle maximally I would recommend doing 3-4 sets, or rounds, and 10-12reps. But you have to struggle on the last one, hustle for that muscle!’
10. Can weight training help me get a six pack?
‘So many of us think that the way to a six pack is from sit-ups and not eating, this is very wrong,’ says Maiken, ‘A six-pack is coming from lifting weights, especially the big lifts like squats and deadlifts and a healthy and balanced diet.
If you want to try a weight-training session with Maiken, click here for more information