Why Weightlifting?

Hello and welcome to my site!

I’d like to talk a little bit (actually a lot) about weightlifting. Why weightlift? There are so many reasons to weight lift, especially for us ladies. I personally tended to shy away from the weights because it’s out of my comfort zone. Knowing how to correctly perform a lift is not necessarily second-nature and its intimidating to work in with the guys, who are often more experienced and more comfortable in the weight room. In the past, I had no desire to lift weights. I ran. Not even; I jogged. My goal was to be skinny while eating as poorly as I could. And it worked out for me for a long time. Until college.

I began to put on weight and it wasn’t easy to take off any longer as I started getting older. After grad school, I had my first child. I was at my heaviest point and didn’t have the time or energy to work out and when I did my leisurely jog, it wasn’t cutting it for getting me back to my previous weight. I needed to step it up. When I started strength training, everything changed.

I started Jillian Michael’s Ripped in 30 which combines cardio and strength (handweights) in an interval-style workout. I did it over the course of two months instead of one. I definitely was not “ripped” but I lost weight right away and started seeing some definition. And there was very little time commitment so I had no excuse.

Eating less and exercising, I was able to lose all the weight and then some. I got very thin. I wasn’t eating healthy I was just eating very little and exercising hard three times a week. I thought it was cool to be skinny so I obsessed over it, but I wasn’t happy.

It was a long progression from interval-style workouts to deciding to lift heavy. In the early days, I knew lifting weights in some capacity was good for your metabolism and fat-burning. Over time, I read more and more about exersice and fitness.

I learned that lifting weights is super important no matter your goals; whether it’s weight loss or weight gain, appearance goals or health goals, pretty much everyone can benefit from strength training of some sort. I learned that lifting weights:

-increases your metabolism at rest! That means you burn calories when you’re not working out.

-strengthens your bones! That translates to a reduced risk of osteoporosis.

-can help you reshape your body in a way that cardio cannot!

-can be an incredible stress release! It’s a great way to get out your aggression.

These are just some of the many reasons to strength train.

I started lifting weights 3 years ago and I have learned so much along the way. Although I received my personal training certificate from NCCPT in December 2013, I have yet to train any clients (I still work full-time, commute and have two kids!). But you could say I practice on myself!

I started lifting “heavy” about a year ago. I learned basic, multi-joint lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, and cleans. I was totally intimidated to work out in the gym with guys unless I went with my brother or a male friend. I didn’t want anyone to see me and think, “This girl doesn’t know what she’s doing.” I mainly worked out in my garage or in the lady’s fitness room at the gym.

I didn’t have a very good training split and I definitely didn’t have the nutrition thing down. I ate ravenously because the after burn makes you feel like you’re starving. I was in denial about the close link between nutrition and fitness. I started to put on weight and got back up to the weight I was after giving birth. Only this time, with actual muscle mass, I didn’t look nearly as heavy. I looked sturdy because I was starting to get definition in my quads. My arms were a bit behind my legs still but my stomach was fairly flat, covered by a layer of fat (attributed to my poor diet and lack of abdominal training). I was a beginner and didn’t know what I was doing but I knew lifting weights was the right way to go. It was amazing to realize that skinny wasn’t the be all, end all and neither was the number on the scale. I knew you could shape your body with weight lifting. I was determined to do it. I just needed to learn how.

So when you decide to commit to a weight training routine, where do you start? In the next post, I will talk about how to get started from a beginner’s perspective.

How did you start your weight lifting journey?

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