Strength training is essential, whether you want to lose weight or simply feel stronger and fitter. Resistance exercises help protect your bones and maintain muscle mass, which naturally decreases with age.
According to Megan Rencher, a certified personal trainer, “Strength training also helps with weight loss because the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day.”
You might be wondering just how often you need to train to reap the benefits. Megan recommends that strength-training beginners start with just two to three sessions per week, with at least one day off in between. When you’re only working out a few times a week, it’s best to focus on exercises that hit all the major muscle groups.
That is to say, if you work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays train legs, back, chest, shoulders, abs, biceps and triceps on all three days.
Eventually, you can work your way up to strength –training most days, rotating between upper and lower body workouts at each session. This gives each specific muscle group a chance to recover and rest. This also helps prevent burnout and boredom because you’re mixing things up.
The more important fact is that your muscles grow and get stronger when they are being “rebuilt” during rest; not while you’re working out.
As an example; I’ll give you my workout schedule:
- Monday: chest and triceps
- Tuesday: hamstrings and glutes
- Wednesday: back and biceps
- Thursday: shoulders and abs
- Friday: quadriceps and calves
- Saturday and Sunday: active recovery
How long will it take to see results from such a program, you may ask. Every body will respond differently to a specific workout routine, but you should start seeing and feeling the benefits soon enough. Megan says that you should see definite bodily changes after roughly eight weeks.
The food you eat will also play a huge part in your results.; so eat a clean, balanced diet with a healthy amount of protein.
That’s it for now; see you all next time.
