The Benefits of Strength Training

Strength training involves using your own body-weight, weight machines at the gym, free weights or resistance bands to build up strength through increased resistance over time. When exercising for strength we would typically follow a reps and sets approach. Reps refers to the number of times you do an exercise without stopping for a break (end of the set). Sets refers to the number of times you perform the reps. For example you might do 5 sets of 5 reps for a strength training workout session. Typically we look at lower reps to build strength and the difficulty should be quite high in comparison to a lighter weight and higher reps for muscle building or endurance. What Are The Benefits of Strength Training?

● It’s the only way to choose how to change your body shape. With strength training you can target areas of your body where you would like to increase muscle mass. You can’t target fat, but you can target where you gain muscle. You can’t achieve this with cardio, such as running. You may be able to lose weight but you can’t choose where it comes from. ● You can achieve a lower body-fat percentage including strength training in your fitness regime, than training cardio alone. ● Increased metabolism. If you compare a kg of muscle in comparison to a kg of fat: the kg of muscle needs more calories to maintain it than a kg of fat. This means you will burn more calories at rest, than you would if you didn't have that muscle. ● Strengthens bones. Bones get stronger by applying resistance to them over time, studies have shown that older people are less likely to have osteoporosis if they have done strength training. According to Layne & Nelson(1999) 'Both aerobic and resistance training exercise can provide weight-bearing stimulus to bone, yet research indicates that resistance training may have a more profound site specific effect than aerobic exercise.' ● Less injury. Stronger muscles means you are less likely to get injured, suffer from poor posture or get aches and pains from simply not moving enough. It’s amazing how many people come to me with shoulder and back pain, simply because they haven’t done any (or very little)strengthening exercises in their adult life. ● Strength training helps with stability and can enable you to do other exercises such as running or team sports with less risk of pain from previous injuries ● Mental health. When you feel and look strong, it naturally lifts your mood. You might train with a personal trainer or a group of people so the social aspect is great for mental health too. ● Strength training not only strengthens our bones to prevent osteoporosis, but it also helps to lower your resting heart rate, this means a lower risk of heart problems in later life.

What Are the Benefits of Body-Weight Strength Training?

Body-weight strength training involves using your own weight as the resistance to build strength and muscle. Some common body-weight strength exercises are push-ups, glute-bridges and step downs. There are many exercises and variations to suit different levels.

Some benefits include:

● None or little equipment required

● You can workout anywhere- your living room, backyard ,local park, the beach… etc

● You can train outside, which is pretty great living in sunny Sydney!

● It can be less intimidating than going to a weights room at the gym

● It encourages weight-loss: as you are lifting your own body-weight, if you lose weight it becomes easier and you can do more

● You can build a more streamlined body shape or train for muscle - you get to choose

The key to strength training is to start off slowly and gradually move on to harder progressions or harder variations of exercises so you continue to reap the benefits. Add strength training to your exercise regime and stay consistent to look and feel stronger session by session.

Dave Mace is the Founder and Head Coach at Maximum Potential Calisthenics based in Jannali (and other areas in Sydney).

Let Me Help You Set Some Goals

I love the New Year. I just feel like it’s a reset. A chance to revaluate what you did last year and set some new goals. What worked, what didn’t, do you need to change anything, focus on something specific?

A lot of people can be overwhelmed by setting goals.

I am a firm believer in writing them down and breaking them down. If you don’t write them down then you forget about them or you don’t have direction.

As I am big goal setting fan, I want to share with you how I do it.

Here is what goals should not be, they should not be generic.

To lose weight To be healthier To earn more money To make time for myself To be more present To eat less meat

The actual goal itself if fine but we need to get more specific.

I want to lose 9kg by September as I am turning 40 – that’s 1kg per month I want to focus on my health more – I will do this by aiming for a daily step goal and eating 5 fruit and veg every day I would like to earn $10,000 more this year – I will focus on finding a new job in January that will pay me my worth I would like to make more time for myself – everyday I will do 1-2 things just for me such as go for a run, study, watch a Netflix show, paint my nails I would like to be more present – from 6pm until bed time I will put my phone away I would like to eat less meat – I will aim to have 3 meat free days per week.

The list above is much more specific. Each goal above will then need its own action plan but for the sake of your goal list let just stick to the goal or we will be here all day, but what I mean is once you have established the goal and the timeframe then you need to have a plan of how to get there. So, let’s take the 1kg weight loss per month. How will you do that? What diet will you do?

Let’s focus on the list first though.

What I advise is that you make your goals list a working document. So you can amend and change as you go over the year.

Here are the goal categories I have. Feel free to add or change. Try to add 5-10 goals in each category but don’t stress if you have less in one and more in another, all our lives are so different.

1. Career

What’s the plan here? Do you want to change jobs? Do you want to start your own business? When do you want to make these changes by specifically?

2. Finances

How much do you want to earn? How much do you want to save? When and how will you do this? Do you want to pay off your credit card, by when??

3. Health

My favourite of course. I have 15 in this category. This can be anything from getting your moles checked out, to making sure you drink enough water. Remember be specific with timeframes, also be realistic. This should include mental health too 😊

4. Relationships

This one is a goodie. It gets you thinking who you want in your life and what you need to work on. A good chance to get rid of the drainers. I made a few points on a few of my relationships and I also made a list of relationships I want to keep strong.

5. Materialistic

Stuff you want to buy and by when. This helped me declutter my brain a bit ad I went through each room in my house and wrote down the things that have been bugging me no matter how small or big. This could include you changing your wardrobe too.

6. Personal development

Do you want to study something, when will you start it? Do you take up a hobby? This is your year!

7. Spirituality

Do you want to start practicing yoga, meditation, do a mindfulness course? Journaling?

8. Your character

This is an interesting one as it gets you thinking about what you are like as person, what you like about yourself and maybe what you would like to change. For example – do you want to swear less, are you too bitchy, judgemental, defensive. Do you want to focus on being a happier person? Do you need to be nicer to yourself?

9. Experiences

What do you want to do this year, where do you want to go? Not just holiday but also places you’ve meaning to visit. Put a time on it.

There we have it, did I cover everything? If you sit down for an hour and work through these categories it can really get you excited about the year ahead. It will give you focus and from this you will get action points. Just saying we are going to do something is easy but it very rarely happens. Writing it down makes us accountable and we can reflect on the list all the time.

I recommend looking at it once a month and changing or updates as life happens.

Print of off and stick it on your wall so you can see it every day.

I hope this helps you xx

10 Steps to Success.

I found this podcast called the mindset mentor. It’s a goodie but one specific podcast was about what success looks like and it really got me thinking about my idea of what success is.

When I was growing up, I never had big dreams, in fact I wanted to be a cleaner because I liked cleaning my bedroom. It was normal to finish school, get a job (or continue education), get married, have a family, struggle financially but get by, live for that one big holiday every year, wish the years away for retirement because you probably hated your job. This is what I expected of my life because it was the norm.

Your success could look like

To earn a million before you are 30 To have a family and be a stay-at-home mum To be a tiktok star To be the best at what you do

The idea of a successful changes as you get older.

Through my 20’s that changed to wanting to earn as much money as possible as I thought that that’s where happiness lies. The better phone, the better car, handbags, designer clothes.

In my 30’s and becoming a parent I started wanted a better quality of life. We moved to Australia from the North of England and that changed a lot for me. That is when I really started my health journey and changed my perspective on so many things. Sure, you need a certain amount of money to have a certain quality of life but my focus on what makes me happy changed and it wasn’t clothes, cars or anything materialistic. It was being at home, going for beach walks, drinking nice coffee, being with my family and finding passion in my work.

I saw this quote and it resonated with me so profoundly that its how I will strive to life my life.

LIVE A LIFE THAT YOU NEVER NEED TO TAKE A HOLIDAY FROM

Which also leads nicely into another one

FIND A JOB THAT NEVER FEELS LIKE WORK

These two things are what success looks like to me. The goal is happiness, a full life, to be content and have a life that is full of purpose. However, to achieve the above in not something that happens overnight and this is why this podcast helped me.

No matter what idea of a successful life looks like all the following points are relevant to help you get there. Some I already do but some I would love to focus on more in the future.

Here they are.

1. Take care of your body.

Feeling good, having energy and well rested is only going to be a good thing. You will see that successful people always work out, they eat nutritionally dense foods, they drink lots of water and they prioritise sleep. If you don’t do these things then in comes the sickness and eventually burnt out. It should be a non-negotiable.

2. Be productive not busy.

I love this one. Prioritise what is most important on your to do list. Ask yourself this question. Is what I am doing actually getting me closer to my goal?

Busy v’s productive are very different. We have these huge to do lists and we do the easy ones first convincing ourselves that its ok because we are busy but are they really productive?

3. Wake up early.

We hear a lot about these really complex morning routines. Its really not necessary. This is for you to have a little time to yourself. Just half an hour is enough. For a couple of years now I have got up at 5.30am, I go do 15 minutes of yoga, make a coffee and sit in my office and do a little of work in the quiet. Its usually something easy like write a post, blog or plan my diary. It’s a real game changer for how you set yourself up for the day.

4. Develop a good network

Get rid of the bad and nourish the good. I’m talking about people. Do they lift you up, do they make you feel good, do they want the best for you? Or they are jealous of you, do they hold you back. Surround yourself with like minded people. I think we could all try and phase a few people out of our lives.

5. Try to see failure as a stepping stone.

I think we are all a little guilty of not doing things because we are scared of failing, we don’t always admit it, even to ourselves. Failure is not failure until you completely give up. Instead, if we learn from that failure and get better is it even failure? Some of the most successful people in world failed a lot, Simon Cowell, Richard Branson. We only here about the successes! The same with your fave IG influencer, they have shit gym sessions, they just post the good ones.

6. Say no more than you say yes.

Hand’s up if you a people pleaser! How great would it be to say no to things? I would love to get better at this. We need to be smarter with our time and put our energy where it is needed not doing thing we do not want to do.

7. Constantly learn.

We never know everything. Always ask questions. Sometimes I feel like I know nothing about Nutrition, there is still so much to learn. Reading books, reading studies, listening to podcasts. The most successful CEO’s read 60 books a year! I must start reading.

8. Setting goals.

In a study done of Harvard students, 3% of them wrote down their goals in life. 10 years later they followed up those 3% were 97% more successful that the rest who didn’t write down their goals. So interesting.

Goals change all the time but writing them down, clearly where you can see it. Give yourself a deadline. Set small process goals as to how you will get there.

9. Make decisions

Being indecisive can really hold you back. I have to say I am good at this; my husband would say I am impulsive and I would say he never makes decisions. You have to take action to move forward.

10. Consistently test boundaries

Pushing past the comfort zones. This can be uncomfortable. Feeling the fear but then doing it anyway. If you consistency do this you then get a new comfortable. An example is public speaking – the first time is so scary but if you consistency to do it becomes easier.

I hope this helped you as it helped me. My biggest takeaway was actually really thinking about what my successful life looks like as seeing how its changed over the years. Also, goal setting will be a focus for me in the future, learning to say no more and being productive not busy.