Strength Training Works

I’ve been spending my Mondays with Adam doing glutes, guns and guts for a few months now.  I am still the wimpiest gal in class, but I have a workout buddy who I partner up with every week and she helps keep me motivated.  The workout still makes me sweat my brains out and feel like I’m going to die but I’ve learned to keep a towel tucked into the back of my pants like a little tail so that I always have it handy as we move through the circuit.

Here’s the thing that I want to tell you: strength training works.

Ok, so that isn’t a shocking revelation.  I’m just saying that with the rest of my weekly activity staying pretty much the same, I’ve lost three inches from my waist and hips since I added this into my week. 

Every week is a mash-up of a bunch of various exercises using dumbbells, barbells, TRX, steps, Bosu, and any other random stuff Adam finds laying around the gym. When I started out, I would always pick the lightest weight so that I could do more reps and not take breaks (who knew that one minute could be so long?).  I remember Adam telling me that he would rather see me doing less reps with a heavier weight and thinking he was crazy. 

As the weeks went along, I would pick at least one exercise on the circuit to try a heavier-than-I-wanted weight.  Sometimes I would surprise myself with being able to manage it.  Sometimes I would notice that the exercise felt more effective because other muscles were being recruited to provide stability.  I’ve learned that using heavier dumbbells (20lbs) for exercised like walking lunges forces you to engage your core and helps you keep your balance more than a lighter weight will. Sometimes I would just have to stop after a couple of reps and find a lighter weight.  C’est la vie!  

My favorite development over the past few months is the improvement in my posture and my shoulder strength.  I really took for granted having a strong upper back from all those years of ballet training.  Sitting at a desk, staring at a computer all day has that sneaky way of building that permanent hunched forward posture that is neither attractive or comfortable.  Eventually, I hope to get everything evened out; it’s nice to see and feel the progress so far.  It made me really happy when I could see the line of my shoulders more closely matching the line of the barbell when we were doing back squats last week. I am not a fan of the over-developed trapezius look.

So even though I suck at it and it hurts, I keep showing up and trying my best.  I’m never going to be the ripped girl in the belly shirt, but I am optimistic that if I keep it up, eventually I will be able to do a proper push-up (and maybe even crush some 10lb dumbbells for bicep curls).