Strength training

“As I sat in the parking lot of the gym looking over the print-out of my first strength training program, I was so nervous. I had done some resistance training before, but most of it was on the machines, or done in a private, women-only gym. This strength program required that I use the squat rack in the free weight area. Up until now, I had gone out of my way to avoid that section of the gym because it was always crowded, and the majority of the people in there were men. I felt intimidated and scared that I would look silly because I had no idea what I was doing. [...] I gathered up my courage and headed into the gym. I put my earphones in, marched into the free weight area, and did my workout. Once I was finished, I realized just how much I had let my imagination get the best of me. It turns out, nobody was paying attention to me or to what I was doing. At all. They were far too immersed in their own workouts.”

“The first couple of weeks were a mix of triumph and soreness. Pilates highlighted muscles I thought I already “knew,” while strength training unearthed completely new ones: upper back, glutes, rib-cage stabilisers. The DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) hit me after the very first workout, but I slept better and felt a new sense of awareness in my body.”

“To say I absolutely LOVED it would be an understatement and a half! While the sense of camaraderie and community was ever present and I enjoyed training with like-minded people wanting to get stronger; I was also thrilled to see progress! Previously, I had always just plugged away at workouts and “hoped” to see some results, but with this type of focused strength training, I started to see quantifiable progress! I managed to keep increasing the weights I was lifting and even set some legit PR’s (personal records)!”