I find that strength training is excellent because my body and my muscles are in a routine that exceeds my comfort zone, breaking my muscle fibers, forcing them to rebuild. My body and my muscles adapt to rebuild stronger to be prepared the next time.

The body is constantly rebuilt to rebuild muscle by burning extra calories all the time, so strength training is cool.

I need to enroll in a gym ?

No, you can have a good strength training at home. You can buy weights or make bodyweight movements.

What’s a good workout program ?

A good training program in full body has two exercises from each components :

Leg exercises : bodyweight squat , lunges, barbell squat, deadlift

Push exercises : push up, dips, overhead dumbell press, barbell overhead presse, bench press

Pull exercises : Pull ups, bodyweight rows, dumbbell rows, barbell rows

Core (abs) : plank, side plank, raise knees

Ok, I saw the list of exercises but I do how many sets and reps ?

There are 2 things :

Generally, a strength training program, it’s 3-5 sets of 5-10 repetitions for an exercise. 60 seconds to rest between sets and to change exercise.

You can do a set of exercise and quickly move up with another, and so on. You make this circuit until you’ve done the same number of sets for each exercise, it’s the super-set.

Typical example :

• Set 1 : 8 repetitions
• Rest : 60 seconds
• Set 2 : 8 repetitions
• Rest : 60 seconds
• Set 3 : 8 repetitions
• Rest : 60 seconds
• Set 4 : 8 repetitions
• Rest : 60 seconds
• Example super-sets :

Exercise 1 : 10 bodyweight squat

• No rest, continues with the next exercise
• Exercise 2 : 10 push ups
• No rest, continues with the next exercise
• Exercise 3 : 10 dumbbell rows
• No rest, continues with the next exercise
• Exercise 1 : 10 bodyweight squat
• Repeat the circuit !
• How many times I have to train ?

I advice you to train 2-4 days per week depending on your goal and your schedule. Avoid working the same muscle group two days in a row.

At the gym, I don’t know how to do the exercises in the list. I can only use the machines ?

I don’t like machines because they force your body to make a unnatural move. Bodyweight exercises and free weights are safer, healthier and better in the long term. I promise you.

But if you’re not sure of movement exercises, you can start with the machines and then make the transition to the free charges.

How to know what exercise program to follow ?

Yes there are many exercise programs that will give you good results. Remember 2 things :

• The diet is 80% of the battle. If you follow a strength training program and you eat healthily, your body will change.

• Select a program and keep it. The best plan is to follow the program by being patient and consistent.

I don’t see progress, I do something wrong ?

When we do strength training, we try to lift more weight or do more repetitions every 2 months. If you don’t add weights or repetitions, you will not make progress.

IMPORTANT : Note that you do in training. The strength training only works if you gradually increase the difficulty. You need to know what you did last month for what to improve.

How to find an advanced version of the exercise I do ?

The goal of strength training is « progressive overload ». You want to constantly lift weights heavier or challenge yourself with movement more difficult. Our body adapts quickly, and if we lift the same weight or do the same number of repetitions, our body adapts and we will have fewer gains from the same amount of work.

We need to make difficult things, HARDCORE !

If you train with barbell or dumbbells, simply added more weight and more repetitions to be stronger.

If you train with bodyweights movements, you need to increase the difficulty of movement once it became easier.

How to increase the difficulty of bodyweight movements  ?

• Adding weight for dips or pushups

• By elevating your feet when you make push ups

• Make the pistol squat instead of the bodyweight squat

DON’T BECOME A GNOME !

-Steph