Strength Training : A beginner's diary
Thus I started weight training or strength training. It wasn’t easy. Firstly you have to know exactly what you are doing to convince others who confuse weight training with weight lifting. You have to start with the lowest weight. 1.5kg is reasonable enough. 10 minutes daily or 20 minutes on alternate days bring pretty good results. And here is the rest of it. STRENGTH TRAINING: A BEGINNER’S DIARY, PUBLISHED IN "WOMANS ERA", 2004
(1,441 WORDS)
Nearing forties is a bittersweet experience. The feeling that you are over the hill is so pervading that it is very easy to give in and give up to fate. Your sense of “Oh it’s all over” grows in proportion to your waist length. Your knees start making embarrassing clicking sounds to the world every time you change from sitting to the standing position. Your calf muscles protest by cramping when you revel in your usual early morning stretching. Your whole day becomes punctuated by “Oh I wish I could lie down for just a minute”. Mentally, too, remembering where you kept that last magazine you were reading or where you saw that face becomes taxing, if not embarrassing. And then when you visit the doctor because you are having headaches; and he tells you that you need glasses as age is catching up on you – you know the party is over.
But the funny thing is: it is at this age you are at your most creative and original. It is as if you are so scared at the turn your life is taking that you want to do something really outstanding. That is why I suddenly wanted to do “strength training”. I had always known that my husband was right when he said “Do it now before it is too late”. But it took my knees to click to really pay attention to what he was saying. I am in my late thirties (do I do this deliberately: this self torture?) doing many things without doing anything really significant. And being a homemaker (however wonderful and creative that may be) you need to exercise the right muscles the right number of times. For a person like me who has always been on the slim side, weight has never been the problem. Lethargy is and so is the thought that god was on my side all along; but now has decided that I have had enough spoon feeding and should learn to take care of our most precious possession: our body.Thus I started weight training or strength training. It wasn’t easy. Firstly you have to know exactly what you are doing to convince others who confuse weight training with weight lifting. You have to start with the lowest weight. 1.5kg is reasonable enough. 10 minutes daily or 20 minutes on alternate days bring pretty good results. Before I began I had to read up a lot about it because if you do not do it the right way you may hurt yourself and your enthusiasm. If you exercise your calf muscles today you should avoid that the next day and do something different. Come back to the calf muscles the day after and so on and so forth. The initial weeks are thrilling actually after the first day first show uneasiness. The whole neighborhood gets to hear you are doing something different and gaze at you in wonder. Every time you see those Hollywood sizzlers you think you have something in common: that slight hint of muscles. Your husband starts looking at exciting clothing items. And to top it all: he has you in mind. But all this is short-lived: two months or three months at the most. Then what began as excitingly different becomes monotonous punishment. Enthusiasm wanes. Craving for the good things in life grows. You stop as suddenly as you began. And like marriage this is the real challenge. The excitement is over. You have to work hard to get results and enjoy your work internally- not because others think it is exciting. And if you really get over this phase the real battle is won. You may frequent the gym on alternate days now but there is a new determination, a new strength in your training.
Some salient features that I came across in my wild surfing online:
-What running was in the 80’s and aerobics was in the 90’s, strength training is now-Strength training decreases the rate of loss of bone mass and thereby can prevent osteoporosis
-It also helps prevent the loss of muscle, which is inevitable with ageing. You may not lose weight but you lose unwanted fat as muscles replace fat
-Strength training helps strengthen the vaginal muscles and thereby increases sexual pleasure
-It gives a new strength to your personality-The perspiring, which comes with these exercises and all other exercises, is the best facial.-It helps improve your posture and thereby apparently add inches to your height
-Strength training is also recommended at or after sixty years of age as it decrease chances of wear and tear as you pull, push or lift objects as part of your daily chores (but of course you must take medical advice and professional guidance)
DO’S AND DON’TS
-Do begin with lower weights: 1.5kg for a woman till it feels like there is no strain at all. Then graduate to a higher weight.-Do it very SLOWLY so you feel that slight strain on the desired muscle
-Do ten minutes per day or twenty minutes on alternate days
-Do supplement your strength training routine with the abdominal crunch.
-Do the Kegel exercises in between.
-Do the exercises in sets of 10 or 12 doing three sets per session-Do not do the same exercises on consecutive days. Leave a day’s gap to exercise the same muscle
-Do increase your intake of carbohydrates as you are burning more fuel-Do drink plenty of water to replace water loss through perspiring
-Do stretching exercises before and after weight training
-Do not give up midway. It has far too many benefits.
-Do not overstrain
Stand with arms crossed over your chest. Slightly bend both knees. Press your body weight back into your heels for better balance. Lift your leg out to the side at knee height. Hold for three seconds. Finish one set for one side. Then switch to alternate side.
REAR FLYE (upper back and rear shoulders)
Lie abs down, arms perpendicular to your chest. Take light weights. Bend your elbows. Keeping your toes, ribs, and hips on the floor lift your arms four inches off the floor. Allow head to rise naturally. Movements should be smooth and unhurried.
DOUBLE EXTENSION (triceps)
Bend your elbows above your head to make 90-degrees angle. Slowly straighten your arms to full extension palms facing each other. Lower your forearms to starting position without resting weight or elbow.
FLAT FLYE (chest)
Lie back, knees bent. Extend your arms along your sides parallel to your chest. Lift weights off the floor four inches high. From this position lift and lower your arms for all sets. Keep chin off chest, lower back pressed to the floor and wrists straight.
Another variant of this exercise, which is helpful in lifting up a sagging bust line, goes like this. Lie back, knees bent. Hold the dumbbells as shown in Flat flye. But this time dumbbells should touch each other, elbows slightly bent. Lower both arms together on the floor behind your head till you are midway and you feel the strain on your muscles supporting your breasts. Bring back to starting position. Movements to be slow. .
BASIC SQUAT (quadriceps, glutes and thighs)
Stand tall, arms extended at your sides, chest raised, butt tight, knees tracked over your toes. Lower your hips contracting butt muscles and making 90-degrees angle at the knees. Hold for three seconds. Go back to starting position. Repeat.
HAMMER CURL (biceps)
Stand tall. Turn the weights to vertical position. Curl weights up to chest level. Hold for three seconds. Repeat.
EXTERNAL ROTATION (for shoulders)
Stand tall with weights in each hand. Open your chest and press knuckles in back of you keeping your wrists straight. Hold for three seconds.
TORSO STABILIZER (mid to lower back and sides)
Hold one dumbbell against your chest with both hands. Arch your back three to four comfortable inches. Then gently bend to left side, then front and right counting each side as one repetition, Movements to be strong and slow.
(These images and information regarding these exercises have been downloaded from msn.com/thrive on line/health for women)
-Soma Majumdar (Jot)
(1,441 WORDS)
Nearing forties is a bittersweet experience. The feeling that you are over the hill is so pervading that it is very easy to give in and give up to fate. Your sense of “Oh it’s all over” grows in proportion to your waist length. Your knees start making embarrassing clicking sounds to the world every time you change from sitting to the standing position. Your calf muscles protest by cramping when you revel in your usual early morning stretching. Your whole day becomes punctuated by “Oh I wish I could lie down for just a minute”. Mentally, too, remembering where you kept that last magazine you were reading or where you saw that face becomes taxing, if not embarrassing. And then when you visit the doctor because you are having headaches; and he tells you that you need glasses as age is catching up on you – you know the party is over.
But the funny thing is: it is at this age you are at your most creative and original. It is as if you are so scared at the turn your life is taking that you want to do something really outstanding. That is why I suddenly wanted to do “strength training”. I had always known that my husband was right when he said “Do it now before it is too late”. But it took my knees to click to really pay attention to what he was saying. I am in my late thirties (do I do this deliberately: this self torture?) doing many things without doing anything really significant. And being a homemaker (however wonderful and creative that may be) you need to exercise the right muscles the right number of times. For a person like me who has always been on the slim side, weight has never been the problem. Lethargy is and so is the thought that god was on my side all along; but now has decided that I have had enough spoon feeding and should learn to take care of our most precious possession: our body.Thus I started weight training or strength training. It wasn’t easy. Firstly you have to know exactly what you are doing to convince others who confuse weight training with weight lifting. You have to start with the lowest weight. 1.5kg is reasonable enough. 10 minutes daily or 20 minutes on alternate days bring pretty good results. Before I began I had to read up a lot about it because if you do not do it the right way you may hurt yourself and your enthusiasm. If you exercise your calf muscles today you should avoid that the next day and do something different. Come back to the calf muscles the day after and so on and so forth. The initial weeks are thrilling actually after the first day first show uneasiness. The whole neighborhood gets to hear you are doing something different and gaze at you in wonder. Every time you see those Hollywood sizzlers you think you have something in common: that slight hint of muscles. Your husband starts looking at exciting clothing items. And to top it all: he has you in mind. But all this is short-lived: two months or three months at the most. Then what began as excitingly different becomes monotonous punishment. Enthusiasm wanes. Craving for the good things in life grows. You stop as suddenly as you began. And like marriage this is the real challenge. The excitement is over. You have to work hard to get results and enjoy your work internally- not because others think it is exciting. And if you really get over this phase the real battle is won. You may frequent the gym on alternate days now but there is a new determination, a new strength in your training.
Some salient features that I came across in my wild surfing online:
-What running was in the 80’s and aerobics was in the 90’s, strength training is now-Strength training decreases the rate of loss of bone mass and thereby can prevent osteoporosis
-It also helps prevent the loss of muscle, which is inevitable with ageing. You may not lose weight but you lose unwanted fat as muscles replace fat
-Strength training helps strengthen the vaginal muscles and thereby increases sexual pleasure
-It gives a new strength to your personality-The perspiring, which comes with these exercises and all other exercises, is the best facial.-It helps improve your posture and thereby apparently add inches to your height
-Strength training is also recommended at or after sixty years of age as it decrease chances of wear and tear as you pull, push or lift objects as part of your daily chores (but of course you must take medical advice and professional guidance)
DO’S AND DON’TS
-Do begin with lower weights: 1.5kg for a woman till it feels like there is no strain at all. Then graduate to a higher weight.-Do it very SLOWLY so you feel that slight strain on the desired muscle
-Do ten minutes per day or twenty minutes on alternate days
-Do supplement your strength training routine with the abdominal crunch.
-Do the Kegel exercises in between.
-Do the exercises in sets of 10 or 12 doing three sets per session-Do not do the same exercises on consecutive days. Leave a day’s gap to exercise the same muscle
-Do increase your intake of carbohydrates as you are burning more fuel-Do drink plenty of water to replace water loss through perspiring
-Do stretching exercises before and after weight training
-Do not give up midway. It has far too many benefits.
-Do not overstrain
BENTOVER ROW (mid-upper back)
Bend your knees and tighten your abs. Lift weights up to chest height and slightly back. Do not arch your back. Hold for three seconds and go back to original position. This is for a toned upper body.STANDING SIDELIFT (outer thighs and hips)
Stand with arms crossed over your chest. Slightly bend both knees. Press your body weight back into your heels for better balance. Lift your leg out to the side at knee height. Hold for three seconds. Finish one set for one side. Then switch to alternate side.
REAR FLYE (upper back and rear shoulders)Lie abs down, arms perpendicular to your chest. Take light weights. Bend your elbows. Keeping your toes, ribs, and hips on the floor lift your arms four inches off the floor. Allow head to rise naturally. Movements should be smooth and unhurried.
DOUBLE EXTENSION (triceps)
Bend your elbows above your head to make 90-degrees angle. Slowly straighten your arms to full extension palms facing each other. Lower your forearms to starting position without resting weight or elbow.
FLAT FLYE (chest)
Lie back, knees bent. Extend your arms along your sides parallel to your chest. Lift weights off the floor four inches high. From this position lift and lower your arms for all sets. Keep chin off chest, lower back pressed to the floor and wrists straight.
Another variant of this exercise, which is helpful in lifting up a sagging bust line, goes like this. Lie back, knees bent. Hold the dumbbells as shown in Flat flye. But this time dumbbells should touch each other, elbows slightly bent. Lower both arms together on the floor behind your head till you are midway and you feel the strain on your muscles supporting your breasts. Bring back to starting position. Movements to be slow. .
BASIC SQUAT (quadriceps, glutes and thighs)
Stand tall, arms extended at your sides, chest raised, butt tight, knees tracked over your toes. Lower your hips contracting butt muscles and making 90-degrees angle at the knees. Hold for three seconds. Go back to starting position. Repeat.
HAMMER CURL (biceps)
Stand tall. Turn the weights to vertical position. Curl weights up to chest level. Hold for three seconds. Repeat.
EXTERNAL ROTATION (for shoulders)
Stand tall with weights in each hand. Open your chest and press knuckles in back of you keeping your wrists straight. Hold for three seconds.
TORSO STABILIZER (mid to lower back and sides)
Hold one dumbbell against your chest with both hands. Arch your back three to four comfortable inches. Then gently bend to left side, then front and right counting each side as one repetition, Movements to be strong and slow.
(These images and information regarding these exercises have been downloaded from msn.com/thrive on line/health for women)
-Soma Majumdar (Jot)
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