How to Know If You Should Start Lifting Weights

I often hear from beginners that weightlifting doesn’t feel right to them.  They feel more drawn to things like yoga, pilates, dance, and sometimes running.  These are all great forms of physical activity but they do not replace what weightlifting has to offer.

Think of it this way: Some people love carbs and crave less protein, but does that mean they shouldn’t ever eat protein?  Or that protein just is not for them?  Some people love meat, but does that mean they should never eat vegetables?  Of course not.  Every individual usually has a natural leaning towards particular elements of movement.  Some people are more drawn to movement practices that are more fluid and airy (think dance, yoga, tai chi). Others are drawn to heavy and powerful movements (think plyometrics, weightlifting, boxing).  Neither is better and both are needed.  They compliment each other.

I try my best not to be a dogmatic individual, and while you might not need to necessarily get in to weightlifting seriously, lifting weights is a good practice to have because of the benefits it brings.  Here are some signs you could benefit from lifting weights:

• You have a slow metabolic rate.
• You struggle with general inflammation.
• You have poor blood sugar regulation.
• You get sick often.
• Daily life is energetically taxing. Things didn’t used to be as difficult.
• You lack coordination.  You tend to hit yourself on things and trip over nothing.
• You are a female approaching the age of 50 and want to maintain strong bones.
• You struggle to speak up for yourself and don’t have clear or firm boundaries.
• You often feel foggy headed and want to think more clearly.

While weightlifting is not a direct cure for all of these, it can dramatically help in the process.  Individuals with higher muscle mass generally have less health problems, longer lives, and higher quality of lives than those without.  This is because of the benefits of higher muscle mass, more dense bones, good coordination, and the mental aspect of overcoming obstacles once not possible.  But still, some people feel that weightlifting just is not natural for them and just does not feel right.  Let’s talk about why.

Here’s an illustration: You decide to go shopping because your current wardrobe is just not working for you anymore.  Its comfortable because it’s what you’ve worn for a long time but the seasons are changing and you know you need some new clothes.  So you go out and see the PERFECT dress in a window so quickly go in to try it on.  You snag one off the rack and head straight to the fitting room.  To your dismay it looks horrible on you.  It’s way too tight.  You can barely get it zipped.  It falling out of it and feel like a stuffed sausage in it.  You have no idea how anyone looks good it this. You take it off immediately and decide to never try it on a again or any other kind of dress for that matter because of how awful it looked and made you feel.

This is what many people do with weightlifting.  They decide to give it a try, but they try the wrong size and try to shove themselves in to that mold for a long time until the point where they throw in the towel and adamantly decide it’s not for them.  But was it all forms and quantities of weightlifting?  Or was it simply what that person was doing and how they experienced it?

The difference is that for most people clothes shopping is a little easier to figure out than weightlifting. Many women understand what style looks best on them, what feels comfortable, and understand the concept of sizing up or down depending on how something fits. They’ve essentially been developing this skillset their whole life. But not everyone understand this with weightlifting.

Weightlifting has so much variety and many variables can be manipulated to fit what you need at that point in time.  I’m guessing you haven’t worn the same style of clothes and same size your whole life right?  But when things changed you didn’t assume you just shouldn’t wear clothes right?  Weightlifting, or any other form of movement for that matter, is not one size fits all.  So it’s highly likely that you have simply not tried the sizes that fit you right now.  You don’t need to lift insanely heavy.  You don’t need to do a million reps.  You don’t need to rest 5 minutes.  You are allowed to rest longer than 30 seconds.  You don’t need to do HIIT workouts that make you want to barf.  You don’t need to workout every day.  You can workout as little as 2x week.  You can work out at home or at a gym.  You can even do a combination of things.  You don’t need to stick to just one style.  It’s true that everything you do has a very specific effect (i.e. higher reps leans towards endurance, lower reps with heavier weight leans towards strength), but it’s important to understand that this is all on a spectrum.  You can still build muscle either way but firstly you need to start with something that you enjoy and can stick to long-term.

Once you find that dress you really like it’s possible that you’ll just stick with that style, but more often than not you will branch out and try other styles.  Maybe there will be some that you never wear, and some that you wear more often than others.  But you had to start somewhere.  So if you’re feeling like lifting weights is not for you, please explore this idea of what specifically it is that you don’t like about what you’ve done in the past.  This will give you more clarity as to what to look for and adjust in the future so that it is something you can pursue whether that be just a couple short sessions/week for those health benefits in a busy life or if it becomes something you fall in love with and wish to do even more often.  Never say never.

If you’re ready to give weightlifting another shot my workout program STRONG 1.0 is designed especially for beginners.  It’s not just a workout program (2-3 workouts/week) but also addresses mindset, habits, scheduling, nutrition, recovery, and more.  Every now and then I go through the program live with you, but I always have it available to do in your own time.  If you want the personal coaching element to it click the “LIVE” version to learn more, but if you’re a DIY kinda person, check out the DIY version.

Just click below the version you’d like to learn more about.

STRONG 1.0 (LIVE): Next round starting July 29th.

STONG 1.0 (DIY)

If you’re not sure where to get started I offer no-pressure consultations so that I can help guide you in the best possible direction for yourself.  You can book one HERE with me.

And finally, if you’ve made it this far, you’re legit! Thanks so much for reading and come say hi to me on Instagram at @estellecfitness.  Let me know how you found my page and what you’re hoping to learn more about.