Welcome Ladies!
This week's weight training program was meant to teach you some basic and well established chest exercises among free-weights and barbells.
Here's a re-cap of what we accomplished...
Warm-up 5-minutes on the treadmill or elliptical
*All Repetitions between 8-15 for 2 sets.
1) Flat Chest Press -> with dumbbells
2) Flat Chest Press -> with barbell
3) Incline Chest Press -> with dumbbells
* Think of these three exercises as being in the same "Group".
4) Chest Fly -> mid-cable crossover
5) Lying Fly -> with dumbbells on a bench
* Think of these two exercises as being in the same "Group".
6) Push-ups
CHEST TIPS
- Incline will hit your upper pecs slightly more than flat bench chest-press. (This is slightly above the breasts)
- When performing the dumbbell chest press, have your arms bent at a 90 degree angle at your elbows so your weights don't begin to tip in and consequently fall on your head.
- Always be aware of what your muscles are FEELING!
- Don't get so consumed on counting repetitions that you forget your muscles are fatiguing!
*Keep in mind we did not cover Close-grip Chest Press or Reverse Barbell Chest Pulls.
What Next?
Many of you are probably wondering "what is next?". Your chest may be feeling sore after last week and the rest of your body is lagging behind. Women's weight training is a semester-long class to teach you all the exercises you need to know along with how to put them together to be able to train on your own.
Unfortunately, we all want to know how to do this in one 50 minute class. You want me to tell you the magic recipe for getting the best body ever and increasing your motivation, but I will tell you my secrets if you stick around long enough to listen.
Many of you will not stick around because it's too hard, you're impatient, and you're not seeing results fast enough. I want you to know I am here to work together with you if you truly want to learn how to workout on your own and feel confident about lifting weights and exercising. I'm using this blog as a tool for all of us to work together so we can collaborate and inform one another on what needs to be accomplished in order to learn how to weight train by the end of the semester.
I need feedback from you because this is the first time I've taught women's weight training on my own and you're all my clients. Tell me what YOU need. I can tell you that I am stubborn at times and although I love circuit-style training and high intensity intervals that is not what this is meant to be because...
....Form and quality takes precedence over quantity. As the class picks up, so will you and eventually you won't need me anymore :)
You will not see results and may even introduce the possible risk of injury if you're form is not perfected before you increase your weight. Increasing your weight should be something to strive for because adding weight is necessary to increasing muscle mass and muscle function for improved metabolic functioning.
If you were sore this past week that is AWESOME! Increases in weight should be gradual...so don't worry about moving up this next week when we do back!
Form will be a priority in the class for the next several (four-ish) weeks, then we will start adding weight.
Sharing the FITT Formula with your Child
Frequency, Intensity, Time
Fitness For Life is a great way to share what your doing in the weight room with your child even if you don't directly talk about weight training. *Scroll down to Step 4 of the link: We are concerned with Muscle Activities, how frequently we should be doing them, the intensity, and the time.
Frequency (weight-lift at least 3x per week).
Intensity (Overload the muscles using weights, exercise bands, or calisthenics)
Time (60 minutes per day)
Ask your child what type of activities they're involved in and how they're feeling. Activities at school should be enjoyable for them! Share your learning experience with them!
