Benefits of Strength Training
Regular participation in strength training has been shown to provide a whole host of benefits
Here’s how strength training can benefit you….
- Increase in lean muscle mass
- Increase in bone density
- Boosts Athletic Performance
- Decreases insulin sensitivity
- Increases Metabolism and weight management
- Increased quality of life as you age
Progressing in the gym with Strength Training
If you are a beginner and strength training is completely new to you, learning exercise techniques can be challenging. It can be difficult to gain confidence to progress weights, but with a coach and lots of practice, you will become stronger, and better and perform better at home and in the gym.
Here are a couple of important things to prioritise:
1. Always ensure a proper warm-up
Warming up is vital to activate your muscles, increase your core temperature and mobilise your joints. Doing some mobility exercises and gradually increasing your weights in your warm-up reduces your risk of injury.
2. Choose compound exercises first
Compound exercises work for multiple muscle groups at a time, for example, a deadlift. You want to do these exercises at the start of your workout while you're "fresh" and not too fatigued later in your session. Ensure the selection of exercise you use during your workout is catered to your fitness goal. If you want to get stronger at squatting, program squats into your plan.
3. Prioritise technique over weight
How you perform an exercise is everything! Always ensure proper technique in every single exercise you do. If you need to lighten the weight, work on building strength, stability, and control of these exercises and never let technique go out the window.
4. Increase intensity
Our body is smart and will always adapt to the load (weight) or stimulus we put it under. Progress the intensity of your training so you can make improvements. During week 1, you might start with kettlebell deadlifts and then as the week progresses, you can introduce the barbell by week 8. You can measure your progress in the gym by adding weight to the bar as a form of progressive overload.
In the BASE Fitness Strength program you will learn how to strength train, apply today for more information