Women In The Weightroom
Assumptions about the differences between men and women, as well as the emphasis for women’s exercise being focused on being attractive to men, have been used as excuses to exclude and alienate women from the weight room. Although weight lifting and strength training has become more popular among women, there is still room to be more inclusive and welcoming.
The most important factor in exercise for weight loss is simply showing up
There’s a lot of argument about what the right kind of exercise is, if you want to lose weight. The answer is, it probably doesn’t matter - so long as you’re actually exercising consistently. Different activities can certainly have different secondary effects aside from burning calories, and this should be considered in the context of what goals you have for your training aside from weight loss.
You Probably Don't Need To Lose Weight
For most people, weight loss should be a consequence, not a goal, of getting in shape. The emphasize should be on developing new habits which are healthy for you, regardless of whether or not this impacts your weight in the short or long term. Most people face serious barriers to weight loss which render it not worthwhile as a primary goal.
How Beginner Lifters Mess Up Their 1RM Attempts
Testing your one rep maxes (1RM) is a way to measure strength progress, but there are a lot of wrong ways to go about them. Attempting maxes too frequently or too soon, wasting your energy during a warm up, or not tapering/peaking beforehand, can all lead to 1RM that aren’t representative of your strength. It’s extremely important to take proper precautions when doing 1RM because the heavier the weight, the more likely it is it’ll cause a serious injury if something goes wrong. Remember that there are many other ways to measure strength and progress, and not meeting your goal on a 1RM is not the end of the world, nor proof that your training isn’t working.
Paused Reps In Your Training
Pauses in reps can be very useful for building muscle mass and practicing strict form, especially when doing higher reps or exercises where you tend to zone out or speed through. Pauses at the bottom of each rep helps keep you aware of your form as well as letting your muscles re-engage for the second part of the lift. Pause reps can be a great way to add more difficulty to your workouts, but it’s best to assess each lift to see if it will be beneficial.