Welcome to the Simple Steps to Improved Health Challenge Day 10 Occasional Weight Lifting
Reminder to choose 1 of the first two actions to work on this week starting today or whatever day you want the week to start on for you. See Day 1 for more information about the challenge.
How Does Weight Lifting Improve Health
First off weight lifting will not give you big bulky muscles. Bodybuilders have specific routines and eating programs to build muscle. A bodybuilder does not look that way from lifting weights on occasion a couple of times a week.
Benefits of weight lifting include improved posture, gaining bone density, boosting metabolism, better sleep, maintaining weight loss, and lowering inflammation among many others.
Additionally, weight lifting boosts your confidence, lowers injury risk, improves flexibility and motility, and provides a mood boost.
How to Take Action
The first and most important is to check with your medical practitioner to verify you are healthy enough to lift weights. This is especially important if you have blood pressure issues or blood vessel disease. You also want to verify you can lift if you have had an injury.
Make sure you start off slow. It is important to do weight lifting with proper form so you don’t get injured this is especially important the heavier weight you lift.
If you have never lifted weights you can start with bodyweight exercises. Bodyweight exercises include pushups, pull-ups, lunges, squats, and planks.
You can use free weights which include barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and medicine balls.
Another option is to use resistance bands or tubing. The bands will indicate a weight equivalent. They can be found in a sporting goods store, online, or even Walmart for very light resistance.
If you go to a gym, then you can try weight machines. It is important to have a trainer at the gym show you how to use the machines with proper form. You also need to know how to increase and decrease the weight used on the machine.
Go Do it – Lift Weights
Choose which option you would like to try. If you are at home, try bodyweight exercises or free weights. No, you do not have to buy free weights. You can start with 2 cans of food that have the same weight.
If you don’t have a trainer to show you how to do the exercises and you are using low weight such as the food cans, then you look for a YouTube video. Search for “weight training for beginners” or “weight training with cans.” You will find many videos that can help you learn to lift with low weight to learn proper form.
Even with bodyweight exercises, you can find a YouTube video to show you good form. Search for “bodyweight exercises for beginners.”
Yes with such low weight you can do something for 3 or 4 days this week. Find an arm video for the first day, skip a day, do some bodyweight exercises the third day, skip a day, find a leg video the fifth day, skip a day, and other bodyweight exercises the seventh day.
This will allow you to learn if you like bodyweight exercises or free weights without needing to purchase anything.
Happy Lifting!
