If you’ve ever asked yourself “Am I doing too little or too many reps and sets?” then this guide is for you.
This article is part of our Strength 101 series, and we’ll show you exactly how to determine the number of repetitions and sets for specific exercises, so you can build your own workout routine.
It sounds easy, but depending on your goals, the answer to “How many reps and sets should I do?” can vary greatly.
We work hand-in-hand with our Online Coaching Clients to create the correct workout program that suits their goals, needs, and available equipment
In today’s guide on workout programing, we’ll cover (click each to get right to that answer):
As Coach Jim mentions above, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and defines one complete motion of an exercise.
And one “set” is a consecutive number of reps without stopping.
And one “smorgasbord” is a buffet of food.
This has nothing to do with this article, but it’s a fun word to say.
As we mentioned throughout our Strength Training 101 series, how many reps and sets you should do is really going to be dependent on your goals.
Oh, you’re just starting your strength training journey?
Well, make sure you grab our free guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. I’ll send it to you for free when you join the Rebellion (that’s us!).
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Alright, let’s break down reps and sets for you, because I can see you still have questions.
How Many Reps Should I Do?
Remember, “Rep” stands for “repetition” and is more or less one complete exercise.
Like a push-up:
So “2 sets of 5 reps of push-ups” means, “5 consecutive push-ups, a rest, then another 5 consecutive push-ups.”
Cool?
Cool.
When deciding on how many sets and reps to do, it begins by asking“What am I trying to get out of this workout?!“
We’ll group different rep ranges into different goals, for:
Muscular endurance
Muscle size
Overall strength
I’m going to share with you the commonly accepted answers, but they ALL come with a HUGE caveat that I’ll share at the end of this article.
I’m going to start with the “widely accepted numbers here.”
Let’s chat about the following:
1) MUSCULAR ENDURANCE (long-lasting muscle) – Endurance means encouraging and training your muscles to perform for an extended period of time. This means doing a LOT of repetitions.
People targeting muscular endurance will aim for a range from 12 to 20+ reps.
Obviously, you won’t be able to lift heavy amounts of weight for 20+ reps, so you’ll be lifting lighter loads.
Also, because you’re targeting endurance improvements, you want to decrease the amount of rest between sets: 30 seconds to a minute.
If you are a runner or cyclist, strength training with higher repetitions can help your muscles develop more endurance as well!
Reps for increased muscular endurance: 12+
2) MUSCLE SIZE (“sarcoplasmic hypertrophy”) – This is for guys or gals looking to build larger muscles.
The scientific term here is “sarcoplasmic hypertrophy,” as it focuses on increasing the amount of sarcoplasm, the non-contractile fluid found in your muscle.
Up to 30% of your muscle’s size is attributed to the sarcoplasm, so focusing on this type of hypertrophy helps build overall size.
Rest time between sets should be short, about 60 to 90 seconds.
Reps for increased muscle size: 6-12
3) STRENGTH AND POWER (“myofibril hypertrophy”) – If you’re training for specific sports and just want to get stronger with more power – but not necessarily get bigger, this is the strategy for you.
This type of training focuses on strengthening the myofibril, the contractile part of the muscle, hence the name “myofibril hypertrophy.”
For this, target reps in the 1-5 range. And yep, that means you’re going to be picking up heavy weights, focusing all that concentrated effort into just one or a few reps.
Something to note: not only are you shocking your muscles, but you’re also putting a lot of pressure on your body’s central nervous system.
Here’s that caveat I was discussing:
A 2015 study [1] called into question the best rep strategy for building muscle or size:
“It appears that high-intensity resistance (sets of 3-5 reps) training stimulates greater improvements in some measures of strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men during a short-term training period [compared to sets of 8-10 reps].”
What this means: Do not freak yourself out by worrying if you should do 4 sets or 5 sets of 8 reps or 10 reps.
Our advice would be to START with lighter weight, with more reps as you learn the movement for safety’s sake. Then decide if you want to stay at higher reps and lower weight or vice versa.
You do you, because either one will get you results!
What this means: Don’t overthink it.
Pick up heavy stuff for 3-4 sets of 5 reps. Pick up a weight that is heavy enough that you can only complete your specified number of reps.
Challenge yourself on bodyweight exercises, either by making them more difficult, adding weight, or doing high reps to failure.
And then do more next time.
This forces it too to adapt and become stronger, which is critical for strength and power.[2]
You need to increase your rest period because lifting this heavy fatigues the central nervous system and you’ll need longer to recover.
You might be waiting 3-5 minutes between sets when training in this fashion.
TO RECAP, these are the rep ranges you should be considering:
Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength.
Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size.
Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.
I realize this is a lot to figure out, so if you are somebody – like me – who just wants to be told what to do and outsource all the worry of “am I doing the right workout for my goals?” I got you covered!
I’d love to learn your story, and then build a custom program that fits your goals. We’ll help you with your nutrition, your workouts, and even check in regularly to keep you accountable!
How Many Sets Should I Do?
As explained above, a “set” describes a group of repetitions performed for an exercise without stopping.
For example, if you do 10 squats right now, you just did 1 SET of 10 reps of squats.
So let’s talk about the “correct” number of sets per exercise.
Here’s the simple answer “3-5 work sets of a given exercise.”[3]
Why 3 to 5, and why not 6 or 10 sets?
This answer of “3 to 5” has a story behind it.
3 sets became popular in 1948 when the physician Thomas L. DeLorme suggested 3 sets of 10 reps to be an effective form of weight training.
Delorme came to his conclusion after prescribing strength training to his injured patients, as a way for them to rebuild muscle and rehabilitate.
He recorded and analyzed their improvements. When Delorme published his findings, it was one of the first academic looks on how to strength train.
As one of the pioneers, Delorme’s recommendations stuck and became “permanently etched into the collective subconscious of the fitness community.”[4]
And THAT’S the history of 3 sets at 10 repetitions…
I do want to point out that more volume (more sets of exercises) per week resulted in more mass compared to less volume (fewer sets of exercises) in this study[5].
Anyways!
Don’t stress yourself out by worrying if you should do 5 sets or 4 sets or 3 sets.
The correct answer is: however many sets you can do, with your target rep range, without compromising your form.
“STEVE, JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO.”
FINE! Pick a weight that feels light to you, and then do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Did 3 sets of 10 reps of a 65 lb bench press? Do 3 sets of 8 at 75 lbs this week!
Did 3 sets of 5 pull-ups last week? Go for 3 sets of 6 this week.
This is a great place to start as you start to figure out your weight training routine and goals:
There is evidence of 3 or 5 sets performed leading to more gains in endurance, size, and strength when compared to just doing 1 set per workout.[6] If you are trying to bulk up quickly, or just build more muscle, volume is the name of the game.
This makes sense. You are forcing your muscles to do more work overall.
So, if after your third set you feel like you can do a fourth, go for it. And if you have the energy, get that 5th set.
Any more than that, and you should be thinking about increasing your weight instead. 6+ sets of an exercise with lots of rest makes for a LONG workout, and we are trying to be efficient here.[7]
If you’re not sure if “3 sets of 10” or “5 sets of 5” is right for you, we got you covered.
We’ll build a program that fits your goals, and then adjust it each month based on your progress. Never guess or wonder what you should be doing again.
How to Build a Workout Routine!
Now that you have “edumacated” yourself on how your specific goals influence the number of reps per set, and what sets actually are, you can build your workout program around this info.
TO RECAP, aim for 3-5 sets in the following rep rangers per exercise based on your goals:
Endurance: 12+ reps per set.
Hypertrophy (bigger muscles): 6-12 reps per set.
Strength (dense, powerful muscle): 1-5 reps per set.
Oh, remember that “caveat to all of this” I mentioned above?
A recent study showed that heavier weight for low reps created more muscle mass than a higher volume (lower weight for more reps).[8]
Studies show that bodyweight training exercises can build muscle, but require a LARGE number of sets per rep, and pushing oneself to absolute failure.[9]
What this means: studies suggest targeting heavier weight with fewer reps for big lifts like squats and deadlifts to build muscle, while targeting high reps to absolute failure with bodyweight exercises for muscle building.
Oh, and Nutrition is still 90% of the equation!
Your rep range doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think, so don’t overthink it!
It doesn’t matter if you train like a bodybuilder, you ALSO need to eat enough food to provide your muscles with enough calories to rebuild themselves bigger and stronger! This is the biggest mistake I see skinny people make when trying to bulk.
This brings me to my final point: because nutrition is 90% of the equation, your sets and reps don’t matter nearly as much as you think they do!
All that matters? Doing MORE this workout than the last workout.
Picking up a weight that’s 5 lbs. heavier than last week.
Progressive overload is a concept that Coach Jim explains in this video:
So get out of your own head, and START TODAY:
1) GET HELP: If you want expert guidance and accountability so you don’t have to figure out all of this stuff on your own, I got you.
Click the red button below to get the details about our amazing online coaching program:
2) FIGURING IT OUT OUT ON YOUR OWN!
Download our free Strength Training 101 Guide! You get it free when you join our Rebellion (the name of our awesome free online community). Sign up in the box below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
And no, I wasn’t born this strong (that would be strangely awesome). It’s only after discovering a love of strength training that I learned how to handle weight like this.
Obviously, we won’t start you out lifting that much at first. But we will set you up on a path that if you want to, one day you’ll be able to.
Before we get to it, if you’re in a hurry, I want you to know we’ve compiled all our strength training material into a friendly guide so you can read it at your leisure (I’m picturing you reading the guide poolside, sipping a lemonade).
Download Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Should Women Lift Weights? (Why You Should Start Strength Training)
Everyone should start strength training: people of every sex and gender, the young, the old…everyone.[1]
#1) When you’re stronger – life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger.
#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).[3]
#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:
#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.[5]
#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture and reduce back / hip pain.[6]
#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape.
#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.[7]
Although strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, it’s estimated that only about 20% of women do it, far below that of our male counterparts.[8]
That sucks.
It’s part of my life’s work to reverse this trend and to do so, I’m going to need your help.
You in?
Perfect!
Is Strength Training Different for Women?
Here’s something that may shock you: there’s no reason everybody – of any gender or sex – shouldn’t strength train the same way!
Yep, you don’t need 3-pound pink dumbbells, unless you like 3-pound pink dumbbells! You can train with free weights and barbells just like everybody else at the gym.
Yes, there are biological differences between the sexes. For example when strength training, people with typical male anatomy will produce more type IIa fibers than people with typical female anatomy, who will in turn produce more type I fibers than men.[9]
The American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between sexes in their strength training recommendation.[11] So neither shall we.
So what exactly is strength training, you may be asking?
“Strength training” of any kind can be explained by two things:
#1) Movement of any weight (including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.
#2) Progressive overload: exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and will constantly be rebuilding themselves to get stronger.
Coach Jim walks you through different strategies for progressive overload in this video:
Before we get into the ins and outs of strength training, I need to address a question we get over and over from the women in our coaching clients:
Will I get bulky if I lift weights?
If you see a woman who is incredibly muscular and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the very specific goal of building muscle and looking that way.
It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.
We simply don’t have the same amount of testosterone as people with male anatomy to get there easily.[12] It’s something we cover in great detail in our guide on How to Build Muscle as a Woman.
If you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.
So strike “I don’t want to get bulky” from your vernacular.
Alright, let’s talk about how to actually get started strength training.
Strength Training Level 1: Bodyweight Workouts
If you’re just starting your strength training journey, our first stop will be a bodyweight workout.
Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”
Duh.
This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.
Why is this the best place to start?
Here are two big reasons to do bodyweight training:
#1) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:
#2) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.
By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.
Bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.
For example, you can start with knee push-ups:
Then go to regular push-ups:
Then elevated push-ups:
Then even up to things like handstands:
And even handstand push-ups:
You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).
Want a sample bodyweight workout you can try? You got it:
This is the Beginner Bodyweight Workout (3 Circuits):
20 Bodyweight squats.
10 Push-ups.
10 Walking lunges (each leg).
10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
If you’re following along at home, you just did your first full-body workout using weights!
Want a custom-built dumbbell workout? Something designed for the weights in your apartment’s gym?
Our Nerd Fitness Coaches can do just that! Plus they’ll scale your workouts as you grow stronger, turning you into a superhero!
Strength Training Level 3: The Wide World of Barbells
You made it! It’s now time to start training with barbells!
This is going to help you become ultra-powerful and strong.
It’s how I transformed myself into the person I am today.
The reason barbell training is so important is that it allows you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. This is great for building powerful, strong muscles in your core, legs, glutes, and so on.
Show me somebody that’s strong at both of these movements, and I’ll show you somebody that’s in better shape than most of the human population.
But wait!
Even an empty barbell can be heavy (normally 45 pounds or 20Kg), so before we jump into the deep end, let’s make sure you are strong enough to proceed.
You’ll need to be able to complete a goblet squat with a 45 pound dumbbell (shown earlier) and the Romanian deadlift with 20 pound dumbbells.
Here’s how to perform the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells:
Our test to see if you can handle barbell training will be the Level 4 Gym Workout: Dumbbell Division C (taken from our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym).
You’ll need to be able to go through the following before you start training with barbells:
10 goblet squats – 45 lbs (20Kg dumbbell),
10 Romanian deadlifts with 20 lbs dumbbells (9-10 Kg)
10 push-ups (on knees or regular)
10 dumbbell rows with each arm – at least a 20 lb dumbbell
Can’t do those movements at that weight? Stick to the Level 4 Gym Workouts until you build up the strength to progress to barbells.
Once you CAN do the above, the real fun is going to start!
We’re gonna replace the goblet squat with a back squat and the RDL with a barbell deadlift.
Here’s a video demonstration on how to perform the barbell back squat:
I would also encourage you to read How to Squat Properly for a full tutorial, especially if you’re just learning how to squat.
Here’s a step-by-step video on how to do the deadlift:
That’s it! Do each of these once a week and you’ll be rocking an awesome strength training practice.
Are you doing the workouts correctly?
A good way to tell would be to record yourself doing the movement and then match them against the gifs and videos in this guide. If they look close you’re doing great!
We also provide form checks in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Through our snazzy app, a Nerd Fitness Coach (like me!) will review your movement to make sure you are training correctly and safely!
The simple to learn but tough to implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.
And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.
How much weight should I start with?
If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.
If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (as a reminder, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).
“How fast should I add weight to the bar?”
Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”
Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!
So go SLOW. Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week. It’s a big part of how he transformed (jokingly) from Steve Rogers to Captain America.
And if you are looking for this content in an easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Can Strength Training Help with Weight Loss?
We get questions relating to weight loss and strength training all the time, and it’s something we cover throughout our Strength Training 101 series.
Let me quickly address it here:
Fat and muscle are two different things – one can’t transform into the other.
We all have plenty of muscle right now (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to move, walk, sit upright, etc.), the muscle is just hiding underneath a layer of body fat.
In order for us to lose weight and look better, we want to do two things:
Build our muscles stronger and tighter.
Reduce the fat covering those muscles!
And luckily, both of those things happen simultaneously through strength training!
So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.
You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).
You do NOT need to do hours of cardio for weight loss – weight loss is 90% a result of your nutrition. So honestly, you don’t need to ever set foot on a treadmill again (unless you WANT to).
Strength training will help you lose weight and look better IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:
As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight” article (full of fun Harry Potter references), combining a caloric deficit and strength training is magic:
You’re not consuming enough calories to carry out your body’s daily functions.
Your body needs to use lots of calories to rebuild the muscle that was broken down during the strength training workout.
Your body has no choice BUT to pull from fat stores to get stuff done!
Just by doing those two things (get strong, reduce calories), all sorts of wizardry and witchcraft takes place in your body:
Get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
Build tight dense muscle.
A revved up metabolism while rebuilding muscle.
Burning of body fat to get things done.
Yeah, you’re hearing me correctly.
Lose the body fat that sits on top of your muscles and you’ll make your muscles tighter and denser = look better without clothes on.
So how do you put this into practice?
Pick one of the strength workouts we covered earlier (start at the Beginner Bodyweight Workout if you feel unsure where to begin).
Oh, what’s that? You just want somebody to tell you exactly how to train for your body, and how to eat for your goals?
Fine!
Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program – it’s helped hundreds of women lose weight through strength training – and proper nutrition. We work with you on habit building and lifestyle design to actually get stuff done!
The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
Great news:
The best strength training exercises are universal. No matter your size, shape, sex, gender, age, or whether you love Star Trek more than Star Wars, these are the best exercises to build a great physique.
I’m going to share with you the 9 best strength training exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!):
Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)
Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)
Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!
Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.
Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.
Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. Recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and a great core workout.
Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.
Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!
Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than chest.
Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:
1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):
2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose as it’s the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!
3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength (back, biceps, and forearms).
4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)
5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips. Warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength-building exercises.
And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:
6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:
7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”
This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:
8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.
As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.
9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.
And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…
A Meal Plan for Strength Training (Healthy Eating 101)
So far, we’ve been more or less just talking about exercises when it comes to strength training.
This is logical, because this is in fact a guide on how to perform certain exercises to grow strong.
However, we constantly remind our coaching clients that 90% of their success or failure on their fitness journey will come down to what they eat.
“Success” in this context really comes down to your goals.
Are you looking to bulk up? You’ll need to eat more calories than you burn.
Are you looking to slim down? You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
At this point, you might be thinking “Staci, how many calories do I need?”
To answer that question, it’s time for the Nerd Fitness Calorie Calculator!
(Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! [14]).
If you want to bulk up and gain weight, take your TDEE and add 250 calories to it to get our daily goal. This should result in gaining half a pound per week.
Want to lose weight? Take your TDEE and subtract 250 calories to receive your daily goal. This should result in losing about a half-pound a week.
The other piece of the equation outside of a caloric surplus/deficit is protein.
Since you will be strength training and building muscle, you’ll need to make sure you are eating protein at every meal. It’s the number one macronutrient for creating new muscle tissue.[15]
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein required for muscle growth vary wildly from source to source (and woman to woman).[17]
Here is our recommendation:
If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g per pound of bodyweight (2.2 g/kg).
If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.
Let me simplify it for you:
“To build muscle, target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).”
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:
Here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes. Rebel Leader Steve and I both supplement with shakes daily to meet our protein goals.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting enough!
Whenever we speak with new Online Coaching Clients, protein is the macronutrient we begin every discussion with! It’s THAT important when it comes to either weight loss or building muscle. I’m not kidding when I say it should make up a portion of every meal you eat.
The Top Frequently Asked Strength Training Questions for Women
Here are some of the most common questions we receive from women beginning their strength training practice in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.
#1) Will I get bulky lifting weights? I really don’t want to.
I have GREAT NEWS!
Strength training will not make you bulky, UNLESS you want it to!
You get to pick how you want to look, so you do you.
Just remember that women who compete as bodybuilders didn’t start looking like overnight:
They have eaten, trained, and potentially taken supplements specifically so they can look like that! Which is great. Good for them.
They’ve been working towards that goal for years, probably decades.
Here’s the truth: when you pick up heavy things (like barbell training), your muscles get STRONGER (but not necessarily bigger).
If you actively eat for the goal of building muscle and getting bigger, you CAN build muscle and size.
Again, if you want bigger arms or stronger glutes, AWESOME. You do you.
Let’s talk about the reverse: If you pick up heavy things and eat a caloric deficit, your muscles will get stronger and denser; you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will lose weight and get that “toned” look that many women are after.
Sir Mix-A-Lot was wrong. Don’t do side bends and sit-ups, because you’re wasting your time!
Side bends don’t get rid of love handles. They will simply strengthen your side muscles without actually reducing any fat there, potentially making you bigger around the waist unless you change your diet as well.
Sit-ups will not remove belly fat. They can also wreak havoc on your lower back, and are an incomplete exercise.
Your body cannot spot reduce fat in specific locations. If you have flabby arms or a big stomach, doing thousands of bicep curls and thousands of crunches won’t help.
Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain locations in a certain order.
When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first, then your legs, then your belly, then your chest, and THEN your butt.
Or in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup.
No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears.
Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake in a way that doesn’t make you miserable:
Big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done). Our section on the best strength training exercises for women would be good examples of compound movements.
#3) How many days a week should a woman lift weights?
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You build muscles while resting, not working out, so you generally want 48 hours before engaging the same muscle group again.
If you made it up to our “The Wide World of Barbells” section, you can do the DAY A workout on Monday and the DAY B workout on Thursday. That’ll give you plenty of time to recover.
Want more? Maybe on the weekend, you sneak away for a short hike.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like a lot at first. We are interested in building the habit of strength training initially. We can up the frequency once you’re rocking and rolling.
Learning to meal prep would also be a good use of your time between training sessions.
4) Can I do strength training at home?
You sure can!
Many of our coaching clients have gotten in great shape simply by doing bodyweight exercises at home.
Here are a few resources to get you strength training in your living room:
Beginner Bodyweight Workout: many a Rebel have started their fitness journey here, and you can do it right in your own living room (if your dog will let you).
Advanced Bodyweight Workout: crushed the Beginner Bodyweight Workout? Then try this advanced circuit on for size.
42 Best Bodyweight Exercises: want to get your hands dirty? Use this guide to create your own bodyweight workout you can do anywhere!
20-Min Kettlebell Workout: own a kettlebell? Want one? With one single piece of equipment you can get in a great workout.
We can also build you a custom workout for your exact situation, whether you’re stuck at home or in an office, we can create a solution that fits your busy life!
How to Begin Lifting Weights as a Woman (Next Steps)
Since 2009, Team Nerd Fitness has learned a tremendous amount about how to best serve the ladies of this community.
I want to share with you my favorite success story.
Meet Leslie, a very sedentary single mom who works long hours that managed to lose 100+ lbs with the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program:
So if you’re tired of the same ole same ole and you’re ready to start strength training, you’re in the right place!
Not sure what to do or how to get started?
1) Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Our philosophies help women like Leslie above and they can be the philosophies that help you become strong inside and out.
Click on the image below to schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit for each other!
2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!
You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide!
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
4) Do a strength training workout this week! The most important step you can do is to actually start.
Check out “Value of resistance training for the reduction of sports injuries” to learn more. Source: PubMed.
Read “Resistance training and sarcopenia” for more. Source: PubMed
This study “Skeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure” explores more. Source: PubMed
Here’s a study on different forms of exercise and their impact on pain, “Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults.” Source: PubMed.
You can learn more at, “Strength Training and All‐Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality in Older Women.” Source: PubMed.
Read “Practices, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Resistance Training Among Women Enrolled in College.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Age and sex affect human muscle fibre adaptations to heavy‐resistance strength training.” Source, The Physiological Society.
Since Women produce more type 1 muscle fiber, they might be able to perform more reps of an exercise than a man could. Don’t stress this. This marginal difference is overkill for a beginner.
Read, “American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance.” Source, PubMed.
There’s always one of you.
Studies have shown the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to bevery accurate in determining BMR and TDEE
Read, “Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation.” Source, PubMed.
If you are pregnant or lactating, you’ll need even more protein than our below recommendation. Examine has a great article pointing out protein requirements.
And no, I wasn’t born this strong (that would be strangely awesome). It’s only after discovering a love of strength training that I learned how to handle weight like this.
Obviously, we won’t start you out lifting that much at first. But we will set you up on a path that if you want to, one day you’ll be able to.
Before we get to it, if you’re in a hurry, I want you to know we’ve compiled all our strength training material into a friendly guide so you can read it at your leisure (I’m picturing you reading the guide poolside, sipping a lemonade).
Download Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Should Women Lift Weights? (Why You Should Start Strength Training)
Everyone should start strength training: people of every sex and gender, the young, the old…everyone.[1]
#1) When you’re stronger – life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger.
#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).[3]
#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:
#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.[5]
#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture and reduce back / hip pain.[6]
#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape.
#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.[7]
Although strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, it’s estimated that only about 20% of women do it, far below that of our male counterparts.[8]
That sucks.
It’s part of my life’s work to reverse this trend and to do so, I’m going to need your help.
You in?
Perfect!
Is Strength Training Different for Women?
Here’s something that may shock you: there’s no reason everybody – of any gender or sex – shouldn’t strength train the same way!
Yep, you don’t need 3-pound pink dumbbells, unless you like 3-pound pink dumbbells! You can train with free weights and barbells just like everybody else at the gym.
Yes, there are biological differences between the sexes. For example when strength training, people with typical male anatomy will produce more type IIa fibers than people with typical female anatomy, who will in turn produce more type I fibers than men.[9]
The American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between sexes in their strength training recommendation.[11] So neither shall we.
So what exactly is strength training, you may be asking?
“Strength training” of any kind can be explained by two things:
#1) Movement of any weight (including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.
#2) Progressive overload: exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and will constantly be rebuilding themselves to get stronger.
Coach Jim walks you through different strategies for progressive overload in this video:
Before we get into the ins and outs of strength training, I need to address a question we get over and over from the women in our coaching clients:
Will I get bulky if I lift weights?
If you see a woman who is incredibly muscular and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the very specific goal of building muscle and looking that way.
It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.
We simply don’t have the same amount of testosterone as people with male anatomy to get there easily.[12] It’s something we cover in great detail in our guide on How to Build Muscle as a Woman.
If you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.
So strike “I don’t want to get bulky” from your vernacular.
Alright, let’s talk about how to actually get started strength training.
Strength Training Level 1: Bodyweight Workouts
If you’re just starting your strength training journey, our first stop will be a bodyweight workout.
Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”
Duh.
This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.
Why is this the best place to start?
Here are two big reasons to do bodyweight training:
#1) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:
#2) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.
By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.
Bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.
For example, you can start with knee push-ups:
Then go to regular push-ups:
Then elevated push-ups:
Then even up to things like handstands:
And even handstand push-ups:
You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).
Want a sample bodyweight workout you can try? You got it:
This is the Beginner Bodyweight Workout (3 Circuits):
20 Bodyweight squats.
10 Push-ups.
10 Walking lunges (each leg).
10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
If you’re following along at home, you just did your first full-body workout using weights!
Want a custom-built dumbbell workout? Something designed for the weights in your apartment’s gym?
Our Nerd Fitness Coaches can do just that! Plus they’ll scale your workouts as you grow stronger, turning you into a superhero!
Strength Training Level 3: The Wide World of Barbells
You made it! It’s now time to start training with barbells!
This is going to help you become ultra-powerful and strong.
It’s how I transformed myself into the person I am today.
The reason barbell training is so important is that it allows you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. This is great for building powerful, strong muscles in your core, legs, glutes, and so on.
Show me somebody that’s strong at both of these movements, and I’ll show you somebody that’s in better shape than most of the human population.
But wait!
Even an empty barbell can be heavy (normally 45 pounds or 20Kg), so before we jump into the deep end, let’s make sure you are strong enough to proceed.
You’ll need to be able to complete a goblet squat with a 45 pound dumbbell (shown earlier) and the Romanian deadlift with 20 pound dumbbells.
Here’s how to perform the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells:
Our test to see if you can handle barbell training will be the Level 4 Gym Workout: Dumbbell Division C (taken from our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym).
You’ll need to be able to go through the following before you start training with barbells:
10 goblet squats – 45 lbs (20Kg dumbbell),
10 Romanian deadlifts with 20 lbs dumbbells (9-10 Kg)
10 push-ups (on knees or regular)
10 dumbbell rows with each arm – at least a 20 lb dumbbell
Can’t do those movements at that weight? Stick to the Level 4 Gym Workouts until you build up the strength to progress to barbells.
Once you CAN do the above, the real fun is going to start!
We’re gonna replace the goblet squat with a back squat and the RDL with a barbell deadlift.
Here’s a video demonstration on how to perform the barbell back squat:
I would also encourage you to read How to Squat Properly for a full tutorial, especially if you’re just learning how to squat.
Here’s a step-by-step video on how to do the deadlift:
That’s it! Do each of these once a week and you’ll be rocking an awesome strength training practice.
Are you doing the workouts correctly?
A good way to tell would be to record yourself doing the movement and then match them against the gifs and videos in this guide. If they look close you’re doing great!
We also provide form checks in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Through our snazzy app, a Nerd Fitness Coach (like me!) will review your movement to make sure you are training correctly and safely!
The simple to learn but tough to implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.
And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.
How much weight should I start with?
If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.
If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (as a reminder, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).
“How fast should I add weight to the bar?”
Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”
Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!
So go SLOW. Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week. It’s a big part of how he transformed (jokingly) from Steve Rogers to Captain America.
And if you are looking for this content in an easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Can Strength Training Help with Weight Loss?
We get questions relating to weight loss and strength training all the time, and it’s something we cover throughout our Strength Training 101 series.
Let me quickly address it here:
Fat and muscle are two different things – one can’t transform into the other.
We all have plenty of muscle right now (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to move, walk, sit upright, etc.), the muscle is just hiding underneath a layer of body fat.
In order for us to lose weight and look better, we want to do two things:
Build our muscles stronger and tighter.
Reduce the fat covering those muscles!
And luckily, both of those things happen simultaneously through strength training!
So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.
You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).
You do NOT need to do hours of cardio for weight loss – weight loss is 90% a result of your nutrition. So honestly, you don’t need to ever set foot on a treadmill again (unless you WANT to).
Strength training will help you lose weight and look better IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:
As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight” article (full of fun Harry Potter references), combining a caloric deficit and strength training is magic:
You’re not consuming enough calories to carry out your body’s daily functions.
Your body needs to use lots of calories to rebuild the muscle that was broken down during the strength training workout.
Your body has no choice BUT to pull from fat stores to get stuff done!
Just by doing those two things (get strong, reduce calories), all sorts of wizardry and witchcraft takes place in your body:
Get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
Build tight dense muscle.
A revved up metabolism while rebuilding muscle.
Burning of body fat to get things done.
Yeah, you’re hearing me correctly.
Lose the body fat that sits on top of your muscles and you’ll make your muscles tighter and denser = look better without clothes on.
So how do you put this into practice?
Pick one of the strength workouts we covered earlier (start at the Beginner Bodyweight Workout if you feel unsure where to begin).
Oh, what’s that? You just want somebody to tell you exactly how to train for your body, and how to eat for your goals?
Fine!
Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program – it’s helped hundreds of women lose weight through strength training – and proper nutrition. We work with you on habit building and lifestyle design to actually get stuff done!
The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
Great news:
The best strength training exercises are universal. No matter your size, shape, sex, gender, age, or whether you love Star Trek more than Star Wars, these are the best exercises to build a great physique.
I’m going to share with you the 9 best strength training exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!):
Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)
Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)
Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!
Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.
Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.
Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. Recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and a great core workout.
Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.
Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!
Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than chest.
Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:
1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):
2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose as it’s the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!
3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength (back, biceps, and forearms).
4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)
5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips. Warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength-building exercises.
And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:
6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:
7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”
This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:
8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.
As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.
9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.
And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…
A Meal Plan for Strength Training (Healthy Eating 101)
So far, we’ve been more or less just talking about exercises when it comes to strength training.
This is logical, because this is in fact a guide on how to perform certain exercises to grow strong.
However, we constantly remind our coaching clients that 90% of their success or failure on their fitness journey will come down to what they eat.
“Success” in this context really comes down to your goals.
Are you looking to bulk up? You’ll need to eat more calories than you burn.
Are you looking to slim down? You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
At this point, you might be thinking “Staci, how many calories do I need?”
To answer that question, it’s time for the Nerd Fitness Calorie Calculator!
(Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! [14]).
If you want to bulk up and gain weight, take your TDEE and add 250 calories to it to get our daily goal. This should result in gaining half a pound per week.
Want to lose weight? Take your TDEE and subtract 250 calories to receive your daily goal. This should result in losing about a half-pound a week.
The other piece of the equation outside of a caloric surplus/deficit is protein.
Since you will be strength training and building muscle, you’ll need to make sure you are eating protein at every meal. It’s the number one macronutrient for creating new muscle tissue.[15]
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein required for muscle growth vary wildly from source to source (and woman to woman).[17]
Here is our recommendation:
If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g per pound of bodyweight (2.2 g/kg).
If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.
Let me simplify it for you:
“To build muscle, target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).”
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:
Here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes. Rebel Leader Steve and I both supplement with shakes daily to meet our protein goals.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting enough!
Whenever we speak with new Online Coaching Clients, protein is the macronutrient we begin every discussion with! It’s THAT important when it comes to either weight loss or building muscle. I’m not kidding when I say it should make up a portion of every meal you eat.
The Top Frequently Asked Strength Training Questions for Women
Here are some of the most common questions we receive from women beginning their strength training practice in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.
#1) Will I get bulky lifting weights? I really don’t want to.
I have GREAT NEWS!
Strength training will not make you bulky, UNLESS you want it to!
You get to pick how you want to look, so you do you.
Just remember that women who compete as bodybuilders didn’t start looking like overnight:
They have eaten, trained, and potentially taken supplements specifically so they can look like that! Which is great. Good for them.
They’ve been working towards that goal for years, probably decades.
Here’s the truth: when you pick up heavy things (like barbell training), your muscles get STRONGER (but not necessarily bigger).
If you actively eat for the goal of building muscle and getting bigger, you CAN build muscle and size.
Again, if you want bigger arms or stronger glutes, AWESOME. You do you.
Let’s talk about the reverse: If you pick up heavy things and eat a caloric deficit, your muscles will get stronger and denser; you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will lose weight and get that “toned” look that many women are after.
Sir Mix-A-Lot was wrong. Don’t do side bends and sit-ups, because you’re wasting your time!
Side bends don’t get rid of love handles. They will simply strengthen your side muscles without actually reducing any fat there, potentially making you bigger around the waist unless you change your diet as well.
Sit-ups will not remove belly fat. They can also wreak havoc on your lower back, and are an incomplete exercise.
Your body cannot spot reduce fat in specific locations. If you have flabby arms or a big stomach, doing thousands of bicep curls and thousands of crunches won’t help.
Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain locations in a certain order.
When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first, then your legs, then your belly, then your chest, and THEN your butt.
Or in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup.
No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears.
Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake in a way that doesn’t make you miserable:
Big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done). Our section on the best strength training exercises for women would be good examples of compound movements.
#3) How many days a week should a woman lift weights?
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You build muscles while resting, not working out, so you generally want 48 hours before engaging the same muscle group again.
If you made it up to our “The Wide World of Barbells” section, you can do the DAY A workout on Monday and the DAY B workout on Thursday. That’ll give you plenty of time to recover.
Want more? Maybe on the weekend, you sneak away for a short hike.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like a lot at first. We are interested in building the habit of strength training initially. We can up the frequency once you’re rocking and rolling.
Learning to meal prep would also be a good use of your time between training sessions.
4) Can I do strength training at home?
You sure can!
Many of our coaching clients have gotten in great shape simply by doing bodyweight exercises at home.
Here are a few resources to get you strength training in your living room:
Beginner Bodyweight Workout: many a Rebel have started their fitness journey here, and you can do it right in your own living room (if your dog will let you).
Advanced Bodyweight Workout: crushed the Beginner Bodyweight Workout? Then try this advanced circuit on for size.
42 Best Bodyweight Exercises: want to get your hands dirty? Use this guide to create your own bodyweight workout you can do anywhere!
20-Min Kettlebell Workout: own a kettlebell? Want one? With one single piece of equipment you can get in a great workout.
We can also build you a custom workout for your exact situation, whether you’re stuck at home or in an office, we can create a solution that fits your busy life!
How to Begin Lifting Weights as a Woman (Next Steps)
Since 2009, Team Nerd Fitness has learned a tremendous amount about how to best serve the ladies of this community.
I want to share with you my favorite success story.
Meet Leslie, a very sedentary single mom who works long hours that managed to lose 100+ lbs with the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program:
So if you’re tired of the same ole same ole and you’re ready to start strength training, you’re in the right place!
Not sure what to do or how to get started?
1) Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Our philosophies help women like Leslie above and they can be the philosophies that help you become strong inside and out.
Click on the image below to schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit for each other!
2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!
You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide!
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
4) Do a strength training workout this week! The most important step you can do is to actually start.
Check out “Value of resistance training for the reduction of sports injuries” to learn more. Source: PubMed.
Read “Resistance training and sarcopenia” for more. Source: PubMed
This study “Skeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure” explores more. Source: PubMed
Here’s a study on different forms of exercise and their impact on pain, “Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults.” Source: PubMed.
You can learn more at, “Strength Training and All‐Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality in Older Women.” Source: PubMed.
Read “Practices, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Resistance Training Among Women Enrolled in College.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Age and sex affect human muscle fibre adaptations to heavy‐resistance strength training.” Source, The Physiological Society.
Since Women produce more type 1 muscle fiber, they might be able to perform more reps of an exercise than a man could. Don’t stress this. This marginal difference is overkill for a beginner.
Read, “American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance.” Source, PubMed.
There’s always one of you.
Studies have shown the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to bevery accurate in determining BMR and TDEE
Read, “Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation.” Source, PubMed.
If you are pregnant or lactating, you’ll need even more protein than our below recommendation. Examine has a great article pointing out protein requirements.
And no, I wasn’t born this strong (that would be strangely awesome). It’s only after discovering a love of strength training that I learned how to handle weight like this.
Obviously, we won’t start you out lifting that much at first. But we will set you up on a path that if you want to, one day you’ll be able to.
Before we get to it, if you’re in a hurry, I want you to know we’ve compiled all our strength training material into a friendly guide so you can read it at your leisure (I’m picturing you reading the guide poolside, sipping a lemonade).
Download Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!) below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Should Women Lift Weights? (Why You Should Start Strength Training)
Everyone should start strength training: people of every sex and gender, the young, the old…everyone.[1]
#1) When you’re stronger – life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger.
#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).[3]
#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:
#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.[5]
#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture and reduce back / hip pain.[6]
#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape.
#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.[7]
Although strength training is one of the best things you can do for your health, it’s estimated that only about 20% of women do it, far below that of our male counterparts.[8]
That sucks.
It’s part of my life’s work to reverse this trend and to do so, I’m going to need your help.
You in?
Perfect!
Is Strength Training Different for Women?
Here’s something that may shock you: there’s no reason everybody – of any gender or sex – shouldn’t strength train the same way!
Yep, you don’t need 3-pound pink dumbbells, unless you like 3-pound pink dumbbells! You can train with free weights and barbells just like everybody else at the gym.
Yes, there are biological differences between the sexes. For example when strength training, people with typical male anatomy will produce more type IIa fibers than people with typical female anatomy, who will in turn produce more type I fibers than men.[9]
The American College of Sports Medicine doesn’t differentiate between sexes in their strength training recommendation.[11] So neither shall we.
So what exactly is strength training, you may be asking?
“Strength training” of any kind can be explained by two things:
#1) Movement of any weight (including your body weight) – Doing ANY exercise that pushes your muscles outside of their comfort zone, forcing them to rebuild stronger to prepare for the next challenge.
#2) Progressive overload: exerting slightly more effort than last time (lift a heavier weight or do 1 more rep) consistently. Your muscles will constantly have to adapt and will constantly be rebuilding themselves to get stronger.
Coach Jim walks you through different strategies for progressive overload in this video:
Before we get into the ins and outs of strength training, I need to address a question we get over and over from the women in our coaching clients:
Will I get bulky if I lift weights?
If you see a woman who is incredibly muscular and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the very specific goal of building muscle and looking that way.
It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.
We simply don’t have the same amount of testosterone as people with male anatomy to get there easily.[12] It’s something we cover in great detail in our guide on How to Build Muscle as a Woman.
If you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.
So strike “I don’t want to get bulky” from your vernacular.
Alright, let’s talk about how to actually get started strength training.
Strength Training Level 1: Bodyweight Workouts
If you’re just starting your strength training journey, our first stop will be a bodyweight workout.
Bodyweight training is simply doing an exercise in which your own body is the “weight” you are “lifting.”
Duh.
This is the BEST place for anybody – regardless of weight or age – to start their strength training journey.
Why is this the best place to start?
Here are two big reasons to do bodyweight training:
#1) You always have your body with you (unless you are a ghost, in which case, this is awkward). This means you can work out ANYWHERE with bodyweight training:
#2) Using your body for resistance training is the most “human” thing ever! By learning to push and pull and hang and squat and lunge, you are doing what your body is literally designed to do.
By getting strong with bodyweight movements, you’re making yourself antifragile and less injury-prone.
Bodyweight training isn’t as easy to ‘scale’ the difficulty as some of the other strength training methods (“put more weight on barbell”), but you can get REALLY strong with just bodyweight training.
For example, you can start with knee push-ups:
Then go to regular push-ups:
Then elevated push-ups:
Then even up to things like handstands:
And even handstand push-ups:
You just have to know HOW and WHEN to scale up (we can help there too).
Want a sample bodyweight workout you can try? You got it:
This is the Beginner Bodyweight Workout (3 Circuits):
20 Bodyweight squats.
10 Push-ups.
10 Walking lunges (each leg).
10 Dumbbell rows (use a milk jug or other weight).
If you’re following along at home, you just did your first full-body workout using weights!
Want a custom-built dumbbell workout? Something designed for the weights in your apartment’s gym?
Our Nerd Fitness Coaches can do just that! Plus they’ll scale your workouts as you grow stronger, turning you into a superhero!
Strength Training Level 3: The Wide World of Barbells
You made it! It’s now time to start training with barbells!
This is going to help you become ultra-powerful and strong.
It’s how I transformed myself into the person I am today.
The reason barbell training is so important is that it allows you to pick up heavy weights and do movements that recruit every muscle in your body. This is great for building powerful, strong muscles in your core, legs, glutes, and so on.
Show me somebody that’s strong at both of these movements, and I’ll show you somebody that’s in better shape than most of the human population.
But wait!
Even an empty barbell can be heavy (normally 45 pounds or 20Kg), so before we jump into the deep end, let’s make sure you are strong enough to proceed.
You’ll need to be able to complete a goblet squat with a 45 pound dumbbell (shown earlier) and the Romanian deadlift with 20 pound dumbbells.
Here’s how to perform the Romanian deadlift with dumbbells:
Our test to see if you can handle barbell training will be the Level 4 Gym Workout: Dumbbell Division C (taken from our Beginner’s Guide to the Gym).
You’ll need to be able to go through the following before you start training with barbells:
10 goblet squats – 45 lbs (20Kg dumbbell),
10 Romanian deadlifts with 20 lbs dumbbells (9-10 Kg)
10 push-ups (on knees or regular)
10 dumbbell rows with each arm – at least a 20 lb dumbbell
Can’t do those movements at that weight? Stick to the Level 4 Gym Workouts until you build up the strength to progress to barbells.
Once you CAN do the above, the real fun is going to start!
We’re gonna replace the goblet squat with a back squat and the RDL with a barbell deadlift.
Here’s a video demonstration on how to perform the barbell back squat:
I would also encourage you to read How to Squat Properly for a full tutorial, especially if you’re just learning how to squat.
Here’s a step-by-step video on how to do the deadlift:
That’s it! Do each of these once a week and you’ll be rocking an awesome strength training practice.
Are you doing the workouts correctly?
A good way to tell would be to record yourself doing the movement and then match them against the gifs and videos in this guide. If they look close you’re doing great!
We also provide form checks in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. Through our snazzy app, a Nerd Fitness Coach (like me!) will review your movement to make sure you are training correctly and safely!
The simple to learn but tough to implement answer: lift enough so that you can get through the set, but not too much that you have NO fuel left in the tank at the end.
And then, try to lift sliiiightly more than last time.
How much weight should I start with?
If you are using dumbbells or a kettlebell, always err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy.” You want to learn the movement correctly and build correct form.
If you are training with a barbell, ALWAYS start with JUST the bar, no matter the exercise (as a reminder, a standard barbell weighs 45 pounds).
“How fast should I add weight to the bar?”
Here’s what we teach all of our coaching clients: add the minimum amount of weight each week you can, even if you THINK you can lift more. It’s better to finish a workout full of momentum and say “I can do more!” than defeated and saying “that was too much, crapola.”
Think of it this way, even if you are adding just 5 pounds per week to the bar, within a year you would be lifting 300+ pounds!
So go SLOW. Team NF’s Steve even bought little half-pound weights and increases many of his lifts by just 1 pound per week. It’s a big part of how he transformed (jokingly) from Steve Rogers to Captain America.
And if you are looking for this content in an easily digestible form, make sure you download our free Strength 101 Guide when you join the Rebellion below:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Can Strength Training Help with Weight Loss?
We get questions relating to weight loss and strength training all the time, and it’s something we cover throughout our Strength Training 101 series.
Let me quickly address it here:
Fat and muscle are two different things – one can’t transform into the other.
We all have plenty of muscle right now (otherwise we wouldn’t be able to move, walk, sit upright, etc.), the muscle is just hiding underneath a layer of body fat.
In order for us to lose weight and look better, we want to do two things:
Build our muscles stronger and tighter.
Reduce the fat covering those muscles!
And luckily, both of those things happen simultaneously through strength training!
So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.
You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).
You do NOT need to do hours of cardio for weight loss – weight loss is 90% a result of your nutrition. So honestly, you don’t need to ever set foot on a treadmill again (unless you WANT to).
Strength training will help you lose weight and look better IF you do two key things for effective weight loss:
As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight” article (full of fun Harry Potter references), combining a caloric deficit and strength training is magic:
You’re not consuming enough calories to carry out your body’s daily functions.
Your body needs to use lots of calories to rebuild the muscle that was broken down during the strength training workout.
Your body has no choice BUT to pull from fat stores to get stuff done!
Just by doing those two things (get strong, reduce calories), all sorts of wizardry and witchcraft takes place in your body:
Get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
Build tight dense muscle.
A revved up metabolism while rebuilding muscle.
Burning of body fat to get things done.
Yeah, you’re hearing me correctly.
Lose the body fat that sits on top of your muscles and you’ll make your muscles tighter and denser = look better without clothes on.
So how do you put this into practice?
Pick one of the strength workouts we covered earlier (start at the Beginner Bodyweight Workout if you feel unsure where to begin).
Oh, what’s that? You just want somebody to tell you exactly how to train for your body, and how to eat for your goals?
Fine!
Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program – it’s helped hundreds of women lose weight through strength training – and proper nutrition. We work with you on habit building and lifestyle design to actually get stuff done!
The Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
Great news:
The best strength training exercises are universal. No matter your size, shape, sex, gender, age, or whether you love Star Trek more than Star Wars, these are the best exercises to build a great physique.
I’m going to share with you the 9 best strength training exercises that every beginner should master (scroll down for full video and explanations!):
Push-up: uses every push muscle in your body (chest, shoulders, triceps)
Bodyweight squat: uses every muscle in the lower body (quads, hamstrings, glutes, core)
Bodyweight row: works every “pull” muscle and helps prepare you for a pull-up!
Pull-up or chin-up: the best “pull” exercise in history! Everybody should have a goal to get their first pull-up.
Bodyweight dip: advanced “push” movement that targets your push muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) in a different way than push-ups.
Barbell squat: the best bang for your buck on muscle building. Recruits nearly every push muscle in your whole body, and a great core workout.
Barbell deadlift: the favorite exercise of every coach at Nerd Fitness. Uses every “pull,” leg, and core muscle in your body.
Barbell benchpress: as basic and powerful as they come. Uses every “push” movement in your upper body and can get you strong as heck!
Barbell press: press the bar above your head! Targets shoulders and triceps more than chest.
Click on any of these exercises to get a FULL explanation of the movement, step-by-step:
1) The Push-Up: The best exercise you could ever do for yourself when it comes to using your bodyweight for push muscles (your chest, shoulders, and triceps):
2) The Bodyweight Squat: This exercise serves a dual purpose as it’s the foundation for building strength AND helps build proper mobility. If you are going to ever do barbell squats, you need to work on hitting proper depth with a bodyweight squat first!
3) The Inverted Bodyweight Row: Until you can get your first pull-up or chin-up, these exercises are GREAT to start building your pull-muscle strength (back, biceps, and forearms).
4) The Pull-Up and Chin-Up: Once you can support your bodyweight above the bar, the world becomes your playground. No strength training routine should be without pull-up or chin-up work! (Click here if you can’t do a pull-up or chin-up yet?)
5) The Bodyweight Dip: As you start to get stronger with push-ups and need to find a way to increase the challenge, consider doing dips. Warning: these are very advanced, but incredible strength-building exercises.
And now we’re into the best weight training exercises:
6) The Barbell Squat: Probably the best exercise when it comes to building strength and muscle throughout your whole body. It also burns crazy calories and makes life better. This is a MUST:
7) The Barbell Deadlift: Maybe the best exercise of all time. Actually no, it IS the best exercise of all time. It’s certainly the most primal: “pick the weight up off the ground. Done.”
This is a very technical lift, so make sure you read our article on how to do it with proper form:
8) The Barbell Press: Press a barbell above your head. This recruits all of the muscles in your chest, shoulders, and arms in order for you to lift the weight over your head.
As a bonus, you need to really flex and brace your core, which gets those muscles working too.
9) The Barbell Bench Press. Lie on a bench, and lower a barbell until it almost touches your chest. Pause, and then press it back up towards the sky. Repeat! And get strong.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: commit to trying ONE of these movements in the next week. Use 20 seconds of courage, recruit a friend who has lifted or trained before, and try your best.
And if you want somebody to help you put these into a workout program, teach you HOW to do these movements properly, and have the confidence to know you’re training correctly for your goals…
A Meal Plan for Strength Training (Healthy Eating 101)
So far, we’ve been more or less just talking about exercises when it comes to strength training.
This is logical, because this is in fact a guide on how to perform certain exercises to grow strong.
However, we constantly remind our coaching clients that 90% of their success or failure on their fitness journey will come down to what they eat.
“Success” in this context really comes down to your goals.
Are you looking to bulk up? You’ll need to eat more calories than you burn.
Are you looking to slim down? You’ll need to eat fewer calories than you burn.
At this point, you might be thinking “Staci, how many calories do I need?”
To answer that question, it’s time for the Nerd Fitness Calorie Calculator!
(Note: we have used The Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to create this calculator! [14]).
If you want to bulk up and gain weight, take your TDEE and add 250 calories to it to get our daily goal. This should result in gaining half a pound per week.
Want to lose weight? Take your TDEE and subtract 250 calories to receive your daily goal. This should result in losing about a half-pound a week.
The other piece of the equation outside of a caloric surplus/deficit is protein.
Since you will be strength training and building muscle, you’ll need to make sure you are eating protein at every meal. It’s the number one macronutrient for creating new muscle tissue.[15]
Protein can come from any number of sources, including:
As we cover in our “How much Protein do I need?”, claims for the amount of protein required for muscle growth vary wildly from source to source (and woman to woman).[17]
Here is our recommendation:
If you’re of healthy weight, active, and wish to build muscle, aim for 1 g per pound of bodyweight (2.2 g/kg).
If you’re an experienced lifter on a bulk, intakes up to 1.50 g/lb (3.3 g/kg) may help you minimize fat gain.
Let me simplify it for you:
“To build muscle, target at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (2.2 grams per kg).”
If you’re curious, from our healthy eating article, this is what a portion of protein looks like:
Here’s how much protein is in a serving of food:
4 oz (113 g) of chicken has around 30 g of protein.
4 oz (113 g) of salmon has 23 g of protein
4 oz (113 g) of steak has 28 g of protein.
Want to get more protein? Consider protein shakes. Rebel Leader Steve and I both supplement with shakes daily to meet our protein goals.
Whatever you do, make sure you’re getting enough!
Whenever we speak with new Online Coaching Clients, protein is the macronutrient we begin every discussion with! It’s THAT important when it comes to either weight loss or building muscle. I’m not kidding when I say it should make up a portion of every meal you eat.
The Top Frequently Asked Strength Training Questions for Women
Here are some of the most common questions we receive from women beginning their strength training practice in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program.
#1) Will I get bulky lifting weights? I really don’t want to.
I have GREAT NEWS!
Strength training will not make you bulky, UNLESS you want it to!
You get to pick how you want to look, so you do you.
Just remember that women who compete as bodybuilders didn’t start looking like overnight:
They have eaten, trained, and potentially taken supplements specifically so they can look like that! Which is great. Good for them.
They’ve been working towards that goal for years, probably decades.
Here’s the truth: when you pick up heavy things (like barbell training), your muscles get STRONGER (but not necessarily bigger).
If you actively eat for the goal of building muscle and getting bigger, you CAN build muscle and size.
Again, if you want bigger arms or stronger glutes, AWESOME. You do you.
Let’s talk about the reverse: If you pick up heavy things and eat a caloric deficit, your muscles will get stronger and denser; you will burn the fat on top of your muscle, and you will lose weight and get that “toned” look that many women are after.
Sir Mix-A-Lot was wrong. Don’t do side bends and sit-ups, because you’re wasting your time!
Side bends don’t get rid of love handles. They will simply strengthen your side muscles without actually reducing any fat there, potentially making you bigger around the waist unless you change your diet as well.
Sit-ups will not remove belly fat. They can also wreak havoc on your lower back, and are an incomplete exercise.
Your body cannot spot reduce fat in specific locations. If you have flabby arms or a big stomach, doing thousands of bicep curls and thousands of crunches won’t help.
Your body is genetically predisposed to storing fat in certain locations in a certain order.
When you start to lose weight, your body will lose the fat you currently have in a certain order as well – it might come off your arms first, then your legs, then your belly, then your chest, and THEN your butt.
Or in a different order, depending on your personal genetic makeup.
No amount of targeted exercise will change how that fat disappears.
Want to lose weight? Reduce your caloric intake in a way that doesn’t make you miserable:
Big compound movements that recruit lots of muscle (and thus force your body to rebuild lots of muscle, which requires extra calories burned, even after the workout is done). Our section on the best strength training exercises for women would be good examples of compound movements.
#3) How many days a week should a woman lift weights?
Unless you’ve been strength training for years and know what you’re doing, we recommend that you pick a full-body routine that you can do 2-3 times a week.
You build muscles while resting, not working out, so you generally want 48 hours before engaging the same muscle group again.
If you made it up to our “The Wide World of Barbells” section, you can do the DAY A workout on Monday and the DAY B workout on Thursday. That’ll give you plenty of time to recover.
Want more? Maybe on the weekend, you sneak away for a short hike.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t seem like a lot at first. We are interested in building the habit of strength training initially. We can up the frequency once you’re rocking and rolling.
Learning to meal prep would also be a good use of your time between training sessions.
4) Can I do strength training at home?
You sure can!
Many of our coaching clients have gotten in great shape simply by doing bodyweight exercises at home.
Here are a few resources to get you strength training in your living room:
Beginner Bodyweight Workout: many a Rebel have started their fitness journey here, and you can do it right in your own living room (if your dog will let you).
Advanced Bodyweight Workout: crushed the Beginner Bodyweight Workout? Then try this advanced circuit on for size.
42 Best Bodyweight Exercises: want to get your hands dirty? Use this guide to create your own bodyweight workout you can do anywhere!
20-Min Kettlebell Workout: own a kettlebell? Want one? With one single piece of equipment you can get in a great workout.
We can also build you a custom workout for your exact situation, whether you’re stuck at home or in an office, we can create a solution that fits your busy life!
How to Begin Lifting Weights as a Woman (Next Steps)
Since 2009, Team Nerd Fitness has learned a tremendous amount about how to best serve the ladies of this community.
I want to share with you my favorite success story.
Meet Leslie, a very sedentary single mom who works long hours that managed to lose 100+ lbs with the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program:
So if you’re tired of the same ole same ole and you’re ready to start strength training, you’re in the right place!
Not sure what to do or how to get started?
1) Check out our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Our philosophies help women like Leslie above and they can be the philosophies that help you become strong inside and out.
Click on the image below to schedule a call and see if we’re a good fit for each other!
2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!
You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide!
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
4) Do a strength training workout this week! The most important step you can do is to actually start.
Check out “Value of resistance training for the reduction of sports injuries” to learn more. Source: PubMed.
Read “Resistance training and sarcopenia” for more. Source: PubMed
This study “Skeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure” explores more. Source: PubMed
Here’s a study on different forms of exercise and their impact on pain, “Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults.” Source: PubMed.
You can learn more at, “Strength Training and All‐Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality in Older Women.” Source: PubMed.
Read “Practices, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Resistance Training Among Women Enrolled in College.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Age and sex affect human muscle fibre adaptations to heavy‐resistance strength training.” Source, The Physiological Society.
Since Women produce more type 1 muscle fiber, they might be able to perform more reps of an exercise than a man could. Don’t stress this. This marginal difference is overkill for a beginner.
Read, “American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults.” Source, PubMed.
Read “Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance.” Source, PubMed.
There’s always one of you.
Studies have shown the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation to bevery accurate in determining BMR and TDEE
Read, “Dietary protein for athletes: from requirements to optimum adaptation.” Source, PubMed.
If you are pregnant or lactating, you’ll need even more protein than our below recommendation. Examine has a great article pointing out protein requirements.
So you want answers to the question, “What is Progressive Overload?”
Well my friend, you’ve arrived at the perfect place.
Progressive overload is one of the key principles of strength training, which is why we focus on it extensively with our coaching clients. Today, we’ll share these same principles with you too.
In the video above, I walk you through the ins and outs of progressive overload.
First, let’s give a definition:
For strength training, progressive overloading is doing slightly more than last time – like lifting a heavier weight or doing one more rep.
The name of the game is overloading our current capabilities, slowly but surely.
By doing this consistently, we get stronger – since our bodies adapt to the ever-increasing demands placed on them.
Said another way, without overload, there is no adaptation by the body.
When you challenge your body through resistance training, it responds with:
Neuromuscular adaptations and increased coordination. After some resistance training, the nerves in your muscles will fire better, making them more responsive. Plus, the more you do a movement, the better you’ll get at it (coordination).[1]
Increased muscle and bone mass. When you subject your muscles and bones to resistance training, they grow larger and stronger.[2]
Improvement in connective tissue strength. Not only will your muscles grow stronger after progressively overloading them, but so will all the connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, etc.).[3]
Increased lactic acid tolerance. When you exercise intensely, lactic acid will build up and eventually slow you down. But the more and more you progressively overload, the more of a tolerance you’ll build up to lactic acid.[4]
Don’t worry about the terminology here.
You can think of progressive overload much like a video game:
When you start an RPG, the first bad guys you encounter will be weak. They only give you a little bit of XP for defeating them. They’re probably rats or slimes or something.
Once you beat a bunch of these rats, you’ll accumulate enough XP that you can level up and fight something else (a goblin perhaps).
As you keep fighting tougher and tougher enemies, eventually, you’ll be able to take down a dragon!
Working out is the same thing:
At first, you might only be able to do push-ups against a wall. NBD! Knock out these wall push-ups until they start feeling easier, then begin doing push-ups on a counter-top (this is progressive overloading!).
Continue to put in the work and decrease the height of your push-ups until you’re doing them on the ground! Congrats, dragon slayed!
So whenever you’re following a progressive overload strategy, just tell yourself “I am earning XP here to grow strong.”
How Do I Overload My Muscles? (8 Ways to Progressive Overload)
There are all sorts of ways for you to achieve progressive overload.
Here are eight strategies for increasing work and overloading your muscles:
#1) Increase the weight. This is the most common way to make a weighted exercise in the gym more challenging. We’ll talk a bit later about how to choose the correct weight.
#2) Increase the reps. This is the other most common way to make things more challenging. So instead of 10 push-ups, go for 11. Then 12 the next time. And so on.
#3) Increase the sets. So instead of doing 3 sets of 10 push-ups, you can do 4 sets of 10 push-ups, then 5 sets of 10 push-ups, etc.
#4) Increase the frequency of your workouts. Let’s say you work out twice a week, Monday and Thursday. Maybe we add an extra day, so Monday-Wednesday-Friday. That way we get more total work in for the week.
#5) Decrease rest time. Instead of increasing the weight, or reps, or sets – you simply decrease the time you rest between sets. This will tax your body more and might be a good option for some, based on their goals and schedule (especially if you are short on workout time already).
#6) Doing more difficult variations. This is relevant for bodyweight exercises in particular, where we’re not adding weight to anything.
Or back to the example of push-ups, you can do them against a wall, then a counter-top, then the floor.
Switches like that would make the movement more challenging, and thus an overload strategy.
#7) Slow down through the range of motion. Play around with the exercise tempo! If you take a longer time to do a push-up, you’ll increase the time your muscles are under tension and working.
#8) Hold the position. Just like slowing down, this will increase the time under tension for the muscles, and therefore more work. You could pause at the bottom of your squat:
Or at the top of a chin-up:
Boom!
For any given workout, there’s likely a way to make it more challenging, and thus, perfect for progressive overload.
Let’s now chat about when to make an exercise more difficult.
How Do I Know When I’m Ready for Progressive Overload?
The key to progressive overload is continuing to make a workout more and more challenging.
How do you know when it’s time to move up?
Unfortunately, you won’t start glowing with stars after you’ve completed a certain number of workouts.
We’ll probably have to wait for the “singularity” for that.
However, you’ll know when you’re ready to increase weight or intensity when you complete the prescribed number of sets and reps for an exercise, and you still feel like you could do a few more reps.
This will happen MUCH more often for a beginner.
Here’s what’s going on:
When you just start working out, you’ll adapt and progress quickly. Much of this is just from improved coordination and comfort with the exercise.
That means you’ll be able to progressively overload at a faster rate – likely adding weight or intensity every workout or every week.
It’s important to understand that progressive overload won’t continue upwards forever.
For example: If you started benching 45 pounds, and added 5 pounds every week, after two years you’d be benching over 500 pounds.
Which would be insane…
But that’s not how it works.
After a while, progress will go slower and slower.
You may even plateau and sit at a certain intensity for several weeks or more. That’s ok.
It’s hard to say how long you’ll be at each stage.
How fast you can progressively overload depends on a lot of factors, such as:
With that being said, don’t be afraid to test the waters with a more difficult exercise. You can always go back down if it doesn’t feel right.
But do move up from time to time. It might surprise you how much more you can handle!
How Much Weight Do You Add to Progressively Overload?
Normally, we recommend going up in small increments when adding weight to your exercises.
For barbell lifts, adding 5 pounds (or about 2.5 kilos) to each side is generally a good rule of thumb.
That would be an increase of 10 pounds or 5 kilos for the entire lift. So you might go from benching 75 to 85 lbs.
This rate of increase is an average recommendation but may differ based on what exercise you are doing.
For upper body lifts, this may be too much of an increase for you. In that case, look to add 2.5 pounds or about 1 kilo – to each side of the bar. That would be an increase of 5 lbs or 2 kilos for the entire lift. If that’s too much of an increase, there are smaller fractional plates that allow you to increase weight in even smaller quantities than that.
For lower body lifts, we may want to add more weight – so 10 pounds – or about 5 kilos to each side of the bar. That would be an increase of 20 lbs or 10 kilos for the entire lift. So you might go from deadlifting 135 lbs to 155 lbs.
For either case, if you are using dumbbells, increase the weight of the dumbbell by whatever amount you’d add to the side of the bar (e.g. 5 lbs per side = 5 lbs per dumbbell).
Don’t let the thought of “needing” to continuously work harder scare you off from exercise.
It’s up to you how far you push things, and there is no right decision for everyone. Do what works best for you.
How to Continue to Grow Strong (Next Steps)
There you have it, my friend.
A step-by-step plan on how to progressively overload.
Let’s now leave you with some workouts, so you can get started TODAY.
After all, you can’t progress if you never get going.
Here are three guides to help you start overloading your muscles:
Beginner Bodyweight Workout. This 20-min routine can be done ANYWHERE. Yep, even there. If you don’t know how to start working out, start here.
The Best 8 At-Home Workouts. Once you get cozy with our beginner workout above, the funs just getting started. From there, you can learn moves designed for a Jedi Knight, train like Batman, or even just do push-ups against a wall. It’s all covered in this home workout guide.
The Beginner Guide to the Gym.If you’re heading to the gym for your path to overload, read this. Our guide will show you how to use everything from a treadmill to a weighted barbell.
Alright my friend, you got this.
If you want any more help from us, here’s how to continue your journey with Nerd Fitness.
#1) Our Online Coaching Program: perfect for someone who wants an expert (like me!) to design the right path for progressive overload. We’re all different, so why not have a coach guide you through a program that’s custom-made for you?
You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program would be a good fit. Just click on the image below for more details:
#2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts (that grow more and more challenging) check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
Next Step Number #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. You’ll meet individuals from all different walks of life, all of whom are trying to level up their lives.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
Alright, I want to hear from you:
What’s your plan for progressive overload?
Are there tips or tricks I’m missing?
Have you been stuck at a certain level for a while?
We all need community to support, encourage, and uplift us to be the healthiest versions of ourselves. In today’s episode, Robin shares the positive impact The Balanced Life Sisterhood community has created, as well as features from 5 Sisterhood members.
These members share what drew them into The Balanced Life Sisterhood, how Pilates has helped them become the best version of themselves, and the reasons they keep coming back and rolling out their mats every day. Join Robin and The Sisterhood in this encouraging and insightful episode.
Show highlights: what you can look forward to in this episode!
How The Balanced Life Sisterhood has created a positive community for women
Robin shares why she invited Sisterhood members to share their journey
Cynthia shares what inspired her to join the Sisterhood and what keeps her motivated
Erin discusses how the Sisterhood has improved her mindset, physical strength, and self-care
Jil reveals the positive changes she’s seen in her life from joining the Sisterhood
Lara shares how Pilates has healed her body and helped her manage life changes
Melissa discusses how shifts in her life led her to Pilates and how it improved her relationship with her body
Joining the Sisterhood is an investment we make in ourselves.
Let’s jump in, Scuba Steve style, so you can start seeing results!
If you’re somebody that wants a Yoda in your corner to coach you through the ups and downs of your fitness journey, we’re here for you with our Online Coaching Program!
No shame or judgments – just a supportive person who works hard to help you succeed 🙂
WHY THE NUTRITION INDUSTRY MAKES ME SO ANGRY
I took this picture walking around Manhattan last week:
There is some SERIOUS psychological warfare going on here, and it hurts my soul.
For starters, they advertise as “THE” flat belly tea.
This means there are many other companies selling similar products, which would ALSO lead me to believe this is a lucrative product to sell!
They list every fitness buzzword and term every marketer uses when it comes to selling health and fitness: gluten-free, “removes waste,” organic, “burn fat,”
Including some real head-scratchers.
“Strengthen your colon?”
How the hell do you strengthen your colon?!
This reminds me of the brilliant Saturday Night Live skit about “Colon Blow” cereal:
But I digest digress…
People are buying this stuff, even if they know it probably won’t work.
Like buying a lottery ticket even when we know the odds of winning are 0% – what we’re really buying is “hope”:
Hope that this will actually work – unlike the last 10 attempts.
Hope we can overcome 20 years of bad choices with a beverage.
Hope that this product will give us the confidence and self-love we deserve.
Don’t get me wrong.
“Hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies.”
I just HATE when hope gets weaponized to sell you expensive snake oil and pretty-packaged fluff.
This is what we are rebelling against here in the NF Rebellion: marketers and companies who are crappy enough to prey on our hopes and fears and sell snake-oil in a bottle.
We’re also rebelling against that voice in our head that talks down to us, calls us failures for not getting in shape yet, and berates us every time we break down and eat a cookie.
I say no more.
Let’s fight fire with fire science.
How much exercise do I need to do to lose weight?
There are a few generally accepted truths when it comes to weight loss.
All of these come with baggage attached, and your results will vary depending on your
So, you would need to be running/walking an additional 5 miles per day,7 days a week, to lose one pound per week.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to run an extra 5 miles a day.
Nor do I want to!
Not only that, but as you’ll see below – this idea of just burning an extra 500 calories per day to lose a pound a week only works early on.
You’ll quickly run into speed bumps and roadblocks – figurative ones, try to avoid the real ones on your run – that slow down your progress significantly.
Simply put, exercising your way thin has been proven time and time again not to work.
Here are three such reports:
#1) Many people develop increased appetites as a result of exercise, which leads to no weight loss. Time Magazine got in trouble for pointing this out – even though they were right!
You might think this is some sort of evil sorcery worthy of “He Who Must Not Be Named,” but unfortunately – it’s just 2nd-grade math.
When you start to lose weight, there is less of you that needs ‘fuel.’
In other words: your metabolism doesn’t have to work as hard to fuel all of your bodily functions, has less weight to carry, and thus it will burn significantly fewer calories compared to when you were much bigger.
Here is the estimated daily resting calorie burn (“sit on your ass all day”) of a 35-year old male nerd at 3 very different weights – which you can learn from our Calorie Calculator:
300 lbs: 2,600 calories.
250 lbs: 2,300 calories.
200 lbs: 2,000 calories.
WHAT THIS MEANS: Unless you adjust your calorie intake as your weight decreases… your previous calorie intake amount becomes less and less effective at weight loss, until you hit an equilibrium.
Put a different way: this person could eat 2,300 calories per day and over time, lose 50 pounds (from 300 pounds to 250 pounds), but that’s where he’ll hit equilibrium: calories burned equals calories consumed.
In order for him to lose the next 50 pounds, he’ll need to decrease his caloric intake even more, and then STAY at that calorie consumption to keep the weight off.
And then it gets even worse!
There are buckets of anecdotal evidence of a bodily feature called “adaptive thermogenesis.”
Which has nothing to do with the band Genesis – though feel free to listen to “Invisible Touch” right now.
It might soften the blow while you learn about “adaptive thermogenesis.”
“Adaptive thermogenesis” refers to the process in which our bodies will adjust based on how many calories we burn – and do whatever it can to preserve the body fat we have.
Our bodies WANT to maintain the extra body fat we have (“I don’t know when I’ll need this, better save”), and are actively working in unison to preserve it – so even after a few pounds are lost from running, it’s going to be a persistent challenge to keep the weight off.
This is why so many people can LOSE weight, but can’t seem to keep the weight off.
This is also not even factoring in all of the other issues around our bodies: environmental issues (you can smell Cinnabon minutes before you see it!), psychological challenges, menopause, various medication side effects, hormones, depression, anxiety, and other issues.
These things cause our bodies to crave food, to try and store food, and make it tough for us to keep our calorie intake under control, because chocolate cake.
To Recap:
You can’t exercise your way to weight loss.
Your metabolism slows down when you lose weight.
Your environment and food scientists are trying to get you to overeat.
Your body will try to keep its fat stores.
Even when you lose weight, your body wants to keep the fat it has.
If you lose weight, you have to keep working on it or you’ll put the weight back on.
This is all terrible, horrible, no good, very bad news.
And the toughest truth of all: Due to those factors above, it might not be your fault that you’re overweight…but it IS your responsibility to navigate!
I know, I know.
However, there is HOPE!
And here at Nerd Fitness – and in the Star Wars universe – rebellions are built on hope.
We have thousands of success stories from people who thought they couldn’t lose weight…until they did.
People HAVE lost weight, and kept it off.
People who are older, bigger, have more children, less money, more illnesses, and bigger hardships than you.
It’s a constant battle, but one that’s absolutely worth fighting.
And this means that you are not broken. You don’t have metabolic damage. You are not doomed.
You might be playing life on “Legendary” difficulty, but people like you have succeeded.
It starts by using all of the tools at our disposal, because the forces working against us are doing the same.
Let’s get nerdy.
The Science of Fat Loss
YES, it would be awesome if you could drink a tea, or wrap yourself in plastic, and it would somehow magically make you lose weight or fat.
YES, it would be amazing if a 30-minute bootcamp class was enough to still allow you to eat junk food all day every day and not gain a pound.
YES, it would be amazing if you could take a magic pill that reversed the past decade of damage you’ve done to your body.
It would also be cool if superheroes were real and I could fly.
Well, not like that.
Come on, Aquaman. People can see you.
We live in a world of science, physics, and thermodynamics.
This means we should ALWAYS look at life through the following lenses:
Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is PROBABLY the correct one.
Law of energy: Energy can’t be created or destroyed, only transformed.
Reality: If it sounds TOO good to be true, it probably is.
Let’s apply this to our waistlines:
If we are overweight…
It’s not because we have “toxins” in our body that need to be flushed out.
It’s not because we didn’t spend enough time in the “fat-burning” zone during our “muscle confusion” bootcamp.
It’s not because we picked the wrong ‘fat burning’ product tea.
These are all pseudoscience buzz terms to sell products, and have no truth to their claims.
Occam’s Razor dictates the simplest solution is PROBABLY the right one.
So what’s the simple explanation to why we’re overweight?
Every day, we consume food that gets transformed into energy.
This food has three options once it enters our body:
Fuel our bodily functions: fuel our organs, regulate our body temperature, etc.
Pass through as waste: pee and poop.
Get stored as fat: saved for a rainy day.
If we are overweight, we are consuming more ‘energy’ than our bodies need every day. Because our body doesn’t need all of it, too much is being stored as fat.
This brings us to the main point of our nutritional focus:
If weight loss is our goal, we must consume FEWER calories than we burn on a consistent basis.
By doing so, our body HAS no choice but to dip into that “rainy day” fund of fat stores to still get all of its bodily tasks done each day.
Do this consistently, and that’s how we end up with a lower number on the scale and a smaller pants size.
“Steve I know I should eat less. It’s doing it consistently that’s the tough part. Have you tried CAKE?!”
Great point.
And yes, cake is awesome.
But we have to start somewhere!
And it starts here: we need to eat fewer calories, but it ALSO has to be sustainable and enjoyable, otherwise we’ll never stick with it.
And temporary changes produce temporary results. We want permanent weight loss!
Just saying “eat less” doesn’t factor the crazy biological, physiological, and/or emotional challenges we face every day:
We might eat when we’re stressed, depressed, or bored.
We might be on medication that is causing us to overeat without us realizing it.
We can’t eat just one potato chip without eating an entire bag.
We absentmindedly grab a handful of Peanut M&M’s when visiting Kevin in Accounting.
Not only that, but even when we pay attention to what we eat, studies show that we often underestimate our calorie consumption by 30+%.
Crap. This just keeps getting worse! What’s a smart nerd like you supposed to do in this scenario!?
If we KNOW we overeat without realizing it, and we KNOW restricting calories is tough to stick with long term, then the only path forward is to attack the problem differently.
Not with fit tea.
Nor with body wraps.
Not with “muscle confusion.”
But with science, math, and psychology.
What to Eat For Weight Loss
If weight loss is the goal, we need to shift our food choices to foods that give us more “bang for our buck” – healthy, filling, nutritious foods that fill us up and makes us less likely to overeat calorie-bomb foods.
These foods allow us to feel full, but still keep us under our calorie goal for the day:
Protein like meat, fish, eggs, and so on.
Fruit like apples, bananas, berries.
Vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale.
Quinoa, legumes, oats, rice, and potatoes.
These are foods that take up a lot of space in our stomach and make us feel full.
If we do this consistently, regularly, and without being miserable, we have a long term chance at losing weight and keeping it off.
Compare this to foods that don’t fill us up, but are loaded with calories – thus making it very easy to overeat without realizing it.
High calorie, easy to overeat foods like bread, fries, pasta.
Depending on what you eat, you could feel “OH SO FULL” after your meal or “Why am I already hungry again? NOM NOM NOM.”
Which means…
If you can start to make even SMALL changes, substituting nutrient-dense, calorically-light foods like protein, fruit, and veggies, for junk food – even occasionally, it’s going to shift the energy balance back in the right direction.
You’ll become more likely than not to eat fewer calories than you burn, moving you beneath your daily equilibrium.
Do that consistently, and you start to pull from those fat stores.
And we end up the holy grail:
Sustainable, non-miserable weight loss.
This is actually the secret sauce for ALL popular diets these days.
Military Diet: Nevermind. Please don’t do this diet.
ANY of the diets above will result in temporary weight loss if you strictly follow the rules, but not for the reason you’d think.
It’s not because we’re designed to eat like cave people (though we are), or that our bodies function differently on a Ketogenic Diet (it does), or even that fasting has plenty of health benefits (it does!).
Those things are like 2% of the reason why they work for weight loss. [2% is a statistic I made up to emphasize the smaller importance of any ancillary benefit compared to the bigger picture]
The other 98%: they make us more likely than not to consume fewer calories on average than we usually eat, which will lead to weight loss in the long term… if you can stick with it.
And each diet has rules and guidelines that speak to the specifics of individual people.
If you’re freaking out about how to eat and which diet to pick and you’re worried if you’ll even be able to stick with it, you’re not alone.
To help people like you change their habits around food to start seeing permanent weight loss results without being miserable!
WHICH DIET SHOULD I PICK To Lose Weight?
Nearly EVERY diet will work in the short term, because they all lead to temporary calorie restriction. Every diet above will fail you too in the long term, because you need to do the diet permanently to get the results permanently!
So in my opinion, you should only follow a strict diet like those above IF you can see yourself sticking with it consistently for the next 10 years.
“Steve, that’s melodramatic. Come on.”
That’s what I was going for.
If a diet sounds too restrictive to stick with permanently, then it’s too restrictive for you to devote weeks or months of your life to!
After all, temporary changes equal temporary results.
You’re better off picking a diet that you confidently feel like you can stick with permanently. You should be thinking in terms of “days and years,” not “weeks and months!”
Here’s the end goal we’re working towards:
Sustainable weight loss, weight maintenance, and actually enjoying life.
Looking in the mirror and being happy with what you see, and knowing that the weight stays off.
And most importantly, “normal” behavior that allows us to enjoy life, have great meals with friends and family, but also reach our goals.
Not temporary changes, but rather permanent small adjustments that adjust over time as we start to see results and build momentum.
Sound good?
Let’s get back to basics and start learning about the food we’re putting into our bodies.
Cool? Cool.
A PRIMER ON STRENGTH TRAINING
Conservatively speaking, strength training is the greatest thing ever invented in the history of the galaxy.
Okay, so maybe it’s third after electricity and Nintendo.
But I say this to make a point.
There’s a huge difference between “exercise” and strength training when it comes to body composition.
We cover this in a very in-depth manner in our “Can I Lose Weight and Build Muscle?” article – which is one giant Harry Potter allegory that you’ll love – but I’ll share the basics right here.
If your goal is consistent, permanent, healthy weight loss and weight management, 80-90% of the battle will be nutrition,
When it comes to exercise, you really only have TWO things to focus on:
What exercise do you love? Good. Do that.
Strength train as often as you have time for.
I’ll touch on the first one quickly.
When you do exercise you love, you’re giving your heart and body a good workout. You’re reminding yourself “I am living healthy” and THUS you should be more likely than not to stick with your healthy eating strategy.
Instead, go rock climbing, or hiking, or do yoga, or swing dancing, or LARPing.
Really, anything that gets you off your ass and moving. Cool? Cool.
How Strength Training Assists Weight Loss
Your body functions differently when you strength train, in all of the right ways.
We have a whole Strength Training 101 sequence that can you get you started, but I’ll whet your appetite with the nerdiest metaphor ever below.
You can find studyafter studyafter studythat shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management when combined with “calorie restriction.”
Let me explain it here quickly, borrowing from Harry Potter: (You know, the wizard.) At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when each student arrives they put on the “Sorting Hat,” an actual hat that determines which House (group) that child will join for his time at Hogwarts.
The hat acts almost like a traffic director:
“Harry, you will go to Gryffindor! Draco, you will go to Slytherin!”
Your body operates in a VERY similar fashion: every day, it receives new calories (when you eat), and it needs to decide what to do with them!
For example:
You eat a large Hawaiian pizza and 20 ounces of Mountain Dew. Your body has to do SOMETHING with all those calories.
To keep things simple, let’s look at the 3 most common results.
It’ll sort those calories into one of three Houses:
A: Burn for Fuel. B: Rebuild Muscle. C: Store as Fat.
Your body sorts most of those calories into “Burn for Fuel.” There’s a number of calories your body burns each day just existing: to keep your liver functioning, your heart pumping, your brain operating, and so on – it burns a good chunk of calories just keeping the lights on.
A 6’, 34-year old male weighing 250 pounds burns 2,300 calories a day just by existing.
A 5’5”, 40-year old female weighing 140 pounds burns 1,350 calories a day just by existing.
Now, if you don’t do any exercise, and you consume MORE calories than the rate you burn each day, the “Sorting Hat” in your body needs to put those calories somewhere!
Where do you think it’ll sort them?
“C: Store as Fat.”
However, your body’s sorting behavior changes when you strength train. Specifically, when you train in a way that really challenges your muscles. This is completely relative to where you are at in your life right now:
HEAVY weight training might be a 500 lb deadlift or a 5 pound dumbbell curl.
INTENSE bodyweight training might be a handstand push-up or a knee push-up.
When you strength train – by picking up something heavy – your muscles are “broken down” during the exercise itself, and then they rebuild themselves stronger over the next 24-48 hours. Guess what happens during those 24-48 hours? Your body will divert as many calories as possible to “Rebuild Muscle!”
It also diverts additional calories to “Burn as Fuel” to handle this increased “muscle rebuilding” activity.
This means two amazing things:
Your metabolism is revved up for this time period, burning more calories than normal.
Rebuilding muscle is a calorie taxing activity!
There are significantly fewer calories available for “Store as Fat.”
AND IT GETS BETTER. When you consume fewer calories than your body burns each day, continuing to strength train will cause your body to get even more clever. Let’s imagine a scenario where you’re eating fewer calories than you burn every day:
You strength train regularly, and your muscles break down and need to be rebuilt.
You don’t consume enough calories compared to how many calories your body needs to both rebuild muscle and fuel itself…
So does your body just shut down?
NOPE!
Your body has been preparing for this, by storing any excess calories over the years in the “Store as Fat” house.
This is the moment your body has been saving up for.
This means your body can pull from “Store as Fat” to make sure all the work still gets done, including your daily functions as a human, and rebuilding the muscle. This is the Tri-wizard cup[1] of physical transformation victory:
You get stronger and keep the muscle you have.
You burn through the fat you’re trying to get rid of.
You’re decreasing your body fat percent and keeping your muscle = look good naked.
This would be a “win-win-win” according to Michael Scott, Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton.
Want help learning how to strength train? You can absolutely build your own workout, or you can work with one of our coaches who can create a custom program that’s specific to your goals and lifestyle.
We’ll even make sure you’re doing the movements correctly via video, because we’re nice like that 🙂
BACK TO BASICS: How To Guarantee Successful Weight Loss
If you’re still reading, then there is hope for you yet.
You can do this – but you have to be smart and diligent about it! Stop trying to exercise your way thin, and stop trying to find ‘get fit quick’ solutions.
Instead, take this one day at a time. We’re here for you!
We talk about proper nutrition in our big “Healthy Eaters” guide, and we go more in-depth into the specific foods that we recommend, but it starts here:
You have to eat fewer calories than you eat now to lose weight, and do so permanently.
The best way to do that is to substitute more protein and veggies onto your plate.
Strength training will supercharge your results, building muscle and burning extra fat.
Understand you’re overeating, and forgive yourself for doing so – most foods have been designed for you to overeat!
YOUR MISSIONS, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THEM:
#1) Pledge to stop buying snake oil. If you’re not sure,ask yourself “Does this sound too good to be true?” and “What would Steve do?”
In addition: stop doing exercises you hate just to lose weight. Pick exercises you enjoy, and put all of your focus on slowly adjusting your nutrition instead!
Shun the Dark Side and come back to the Light!
#2) Be deliberate in your decisions. Every calorie counts. Every decision counts. So make ONE different decision as a result of you being more aware of what you put in your body.
Drinking water instead of soda or juice.
Swapping out a salad for fries once per week. It all counts, but make your decision deliberate.
You’re a smart person. You know what foods should be daily staples, and what foods should be occasional treats.It all counts. So make ONE decision differently to prove to yourself that you can change.
#3) Educate yourself on the serving size of ONE food that you eat regularly. Google it. Find out if what you THINK is a serving and what’s actually in a serving is anywhere close to accurate.
You might be surprised to find out:
A serving of pasta is HALF the size of what you normally eat with your meal.
How much peanut butter is considered a serving (hint: it ain’t much).
There are 2.5 servings in that one bottle of Green Machine Naked Juice.
I don’t want you to change the food or the portions yet. I just want you to educate yourself on what you’re eating, and compare it to how much you thought you were eating.
NEXT STEPS IF YOU WANT TO GO FARTHER!
If you are looking for more hands-on guidance, we have three options for ya!
1) 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program! If that sounds like you, and you’re looking for nutritional guidance, custom strength training routines just for your situation, and expert accountability, we’d love to hear your story!
2) If you want a roadmap for sustainable weight loss, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Try your free trial right here:
3) Join the Rebellion! Join our free email list and community – I send out two fun emails a week – and I’ll send you our free 10-level Nutrition Guide along with a bunch of other free bonuses. Get them when you sign up in the box below:
Download our free weight loss guide
THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life
Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace
What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating
3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target
#4) Do a strength training routine! We have so many awesome free options for you here on Nerd Fitness. Pick the ones that jump out at you!
PS: I know this HOPEFULLY goes without saying, but this is the internet: I totally get that this issue is very complicated to begin with. If you have a hormonal imbalance, PCOS, are on medication for any number of reasons, it could also be affecting your weight.
PLEASE speak with your doctor about your weight and any changes you are looking to make!
If you’re interested in training with gymnastic rings (which you are, ’cause you’re here), you may want to try our new app! It contains workouts that will have you level up to working out with rings. No guesswork needed, just log into the app and follow the next steps.
You can sign-up for a free trial right here:
What Are the Benefits of a Gymnastic Ring Workout?
Show me somebody, male or female, who trains with rings and I’ll show you one healthy, bad-ass individual!
I used to think rings were only for gymnasts. But much like other bodyweight exercises, rings are great tools for beginners, too.
Young or old, male or female, big or small, you can start simply by spending a few bucks on a set of gymnastic rings and working on some very basic movements.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a complete beginner or a super-advanced fancy person (and it certainly doesn’t matter if you’re “skinny” or “stocky”, male or female, Gungan or Wookie):
Anyone at any experience-level can train successfully — and safely — with rings.
How do I know so much about rings? Because I never leave home without them!
My love affair with gymnastic rings began as a simple crush many many years ago. I watched Olympic Gymnasts doing crazy stuff on the rings and said, “I also want to do crazy stuff on the rings someday, but I don’t know how.”
It was around this time that I had just moved to Washington, DC, and discovered that one of my fitness heroes, Jim Bathurst of BeastSkills fame, ALSO lived in Washington, DC. Eventually, I sheepishly asked him if he could show me around the rings, and he taught me how to get started with them.
In fact, he helped me get my first muscle-up (flashback to Skinny Steve in 2011):
After that, I’ve been in love with ring training and they never leave my side. For the past four years, I’ve been using my rings and training under the guidance of an online coach (my friend Anthony Mychal) – the results have absolutely blown me away.
This is why anytime I travel, I throw a set of rings and some chalk in my suitcase and I know I have a portable gym anywhere I can find a tree branch or swing set to hang them from!
I firmly believe that my quest to become Captain America has been aided by my ring training – it’s helped me build functional strength, bigger arms, broader chest, wider shoulders, and more. Plus I can now do cool things like this:
Now, you might have watched all those videos and then looked down at your stomach and said, “Uh, yeah. There’s no WAY I could ever do that stuff!”
WRONG!
Like any video game, there’s a leveling system you can follow. You start with basic movements like hanging from the rings:
Or holding yourself up in the push-up support position:
You can then progress to slightly more difficult things like a chin-up:
Or full push-up:
And eventually, end up doing all sorts of crazy stuff like muscle-ups:
And iron crosses:
If I haven’t scared you off yet, let’s get you started down your path to ring domination. You know my friend/hero Jim that I mentioned earlier? He’s now on Team Nerd Fitness (and our Head Coach!), and he helped us put together a pretty killer resource to help you become…
THE LORD OF THE FLIES RINGS
[cue the Rivendell music]
What Are the Best Gymnastic Rings to Buy? (4 Things to Consider)
You might be lucky enough to train in a Crossfit Gym or a commercial gym that happens to have gymnastic rings available.
However, if you’re like me, you might train at home or in a gym that doesn’t have rings, which means you’ll need to buy your own.
That’s okay!
Rings are cheap (especially when you’re just starting and don’t need anything fancy). I’ve probably gone through 6-10 different pairs of rings to test them all out, and I’ll share my thoughts with you below.
For starters, you can either go with plastic/composite rings, or wooden rings. Jim, Staci, and I agree that wooden rings provide a better experience than plastic ones, but if plastic is your only option, make do with what you have!
Here are 4 things to consider when buying gymnastic rings:
#1) CHEAP AND EASY: If you’re not sure if rings are for you, but you’re ring-curious, I would consider starting with a set of wooden rings like these Peak Fitness Wooden Rings for less than $30. I guarantee the last thing you spent $30 won’t change your life the way these rings will.
#2) HIGHER QUALITY: My friend Peter runs FringeSport.com, and I can testify that his wooden rings are the highest quality rings I’ve ever used. If you KNOW you’re going to love rings and want to have a great pair that will last forever, go with these.
#3) FAST SET UP AND TAKE DOWN: These days, I use Rogue Competition Rings for one reason above all others. I have to set up and take down my rings each time I train, and the carabiners and segmented straps make for a quick setup and takedown.
#4) SMALLER HANDS?: Look for rings that are in “FIG” size. These International Gymnastics Federation rings are a bit smaller and thinner, which allows for better control for smaller hands.
How to Set up Gymnastic Rings (How to Hang Your Rings)
Now, if you’re responsible for hanging your own rings, either at home or in the gym, there are a few key things you need to be aware of.
For starters, where will you be hanging them from?
Depending on your clearance or where you choose to train, ANY of the following could be anchor points for you to hang them:
A tree branch in your local park (Be safe. If there’s any doubt of stability, move on!)
The top bar of a swing set in the playground down the street
The highest pull-up bar at your gym
The bar on the top of your squat rack in the gym
Two eye-bolts in your garage ceiling or use rafters/ i-beams in your basement or garage.
Hanging from your door frame pull-up bar
THE FIRST THING you need to do, if you have rings with proper clips, is learning how to hang them properly! I’ve seen MANY people hang rings improperly and can be very dangerous.
Here’s a video on how to hang your gymnastic rings, step-by-step:
If you are hanging them over something square or rough, it’s recommended to lay down some old towels first to minimize wear to the straps.
What’s that? You don’t have a place to hang your rings at home? Do you have a door frame? If so, you can MacGuyver a set up like Jim has done here in his home with a door frame pull-up bar! (His pull-up bar is this one.)
Depending on how much clearance you have, you might need to adjust the ring height a few times so that you can do work above or below the rings. (Exercises like dips, supports, and l-sits require different heights than rows and front lever holds).
WHAT ABOUT GLOVES?
Working with rings (and barbells) will inevitably build up some callouses on your hands. While we here at Nerd Fitness will simply pumice or shave off the extra skin, that might not appeal or be an option for you.
You can certainly wear gloves during your ring work, but we recommend against it.
A better alternative?
Take care of your hands and use some chalk to hold on tight!
Gymnastics chalk can be applied lightly to the points of contact (fingers, palm, and wrist) in order to absorb sweat and oil and give a better grip. There is even a “liquid chalk” product if your gym doesn’t allow regular chalk!
Chalk bag (this is what I use on my hands when I train)
Liquid chalk (what Jim uses in Gyms that don’t allow traditional chalk)
The 7 Best Gymnastic Ring Exercises for Beginners
The exercises below can help anyone get started TODAY with rings; you don’t need a childhood full of gymnastics practice.
Here are the 7 best gymnastic ring exercises for beginners:
#1) Hang From the Rings
One of the simplest exercises to do? Hang from the rings! This exercise is accessible to beginners, but is no joke.
It will help build up the grip strength necessary for future skills, and you may not be able to go long at the beginning.
If hanging from your ring is too difficult for you:
Simply adjust the rings so that you can hang from your arms and have part of your feet on the ground.
Don’t worry if you feel like 99% of your weight is still in your feet, there is still that 1% in your hands and arms, and that will definitely improve over time!
For those hanging from the rings with no problem, you can practice hanging scapular retractions. This is a fancy way of saying that we’re going to pull our shoulders and shoulder blades (scapulae) down away from our ears.
Do this with elbows totally straight, so all movement is going through the shoulders. Retract, relax, repeat. Tough stuff!
Here’s a video of Jim and myself going over the movement:
#2) Support Position
If you have never used rings before, even just holding yourself up with straight arms will be challenging! The rings will want to move all different directions.
Just like the hang from the rings, you can also set the rings up to a height where you can assist with your feet on the ground.
And again, even if you feel like 99% of your weight is in your feet, we can still work and improve the 1% that you are putting into your arms!
#3) Ring Rows
Ring rows are a classic exercise to build yourself up to a pull-up. You can set the rings up somewhere around hip to knee height. Then grab the rings and lean back to start the exercise.
By moving your feet forward or away from the anchor point, you can position your body in an infinite number of angles (which will adjust the difficulty).
Make it easy by leaning back just slightly,
Make it hard by putting your feet up on a bench and starting horizontal.
With an infinite number of angles you can position your body (to adjust difficulty), they are for absolutely everyone.
Make sure whatever your rings are attached to is solid before leaning back with straight arms and body. Then puff your chest up and pull it to the rings!
#4) Ring Chin-ups
Chin-ups on rings work the same as they do on the bar. You can also move your hands around easily to different positions (palms forward, inward, and backward).
Not quite at a chin-up pro yet?
Adjust the height of the rings to be able to assist with your feet! Or use a box like so:
#5) Ring push-ups
Push-ups on the rings will be much more challenging than ones on the ground, because you have to stabilize the “ground” before you even move!
Just like rows, you can adjust your body at an infinite number of angles to the ground to make the exercise easier or harder.
#6) Ring Dips:
Ring Dips are one of my favorite exercises for the awesome challenge they provide. Lower yourself down until your chest touches the rings (yes, that low!) and then push up until you are in a straight arm support position.
As with many of the other ring exercises, you can easily adjust the height of the rings so that your feet can assist a little or a lot.
#7) False Grip Practice
The false grip is a way to hold onto the rings so that the wrist is in contact with the inside edge of the rings. This will allow us to build up to more advanced skills like the muscle-up! (Aka a ring chin-up that transitions into a dip!):
Think of the false grip like a hook on the rings: between your forearm and hand.
To perform a false grip:
Place your wrist, pinky side and just below the crease of the wrist, on the inside edge of the ring.
Flex the forearm hard.
The support point is on the wrist, with the hands grabbing firmly to the ring.
Any of the pulling and hanging exercises we went over can be done with a false grip, just be warned that they’ll be a lot harder!
Want help pulling this all together for a full-body workout? Our new app will do all that for you, so you can start using your rings to their full potential:
4 Tips and Tricks for Using Gymnastic Rings
Keep the following four points in mind as you begin your gymnastic ring training:
#1) Your relationship with rings isn’t going to be a “do this for a month and be done”. This is a lifelong relationship – if you like it then you should put a ring on it. Get it? Because Beyonce and also Gymnastics.
Get used to playing with rings as often as you can…wake up your inner kid again and just enjoy moving around on the rings.
You didn’t think about a structured workout when you were a young kid on a playground; you just moved around and had fun. And while you’re discovering that fun again, your grip, muscles, and joints will be getting stronger.
#2) “What if I don’t have rings?” Well, if you want to learn to swim, you’ll have to eventually get into a pool, right!?
But if you’re at home, waiting for your rings to arrive, you can still perform a number of these exercises! Pushing and support exercises can be done on two sturdy chairs or the ground. Pulling and hangs can be done at a jungle gym (even the false grip can be practiced on a bar!). Be safe, but get creative!
#3) GO SLOW AND BE PATIENT! I know people who started doing violent kipping muscle-ups before their body, joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons were ready… and they injured themselves pretty seriously.
I even struggled with elbow tendonitis for a bit thanks to pushing myself too hard too soon on the rings. So slow down, build up your strength in each exercise slowwwwwly, and…
#4) Have fun with them. Remember, our goal is to find a workout that is not only something we don’t dread, but something we can look forward to! Working out without realizing it is a sure way to commit for the long term.
I’ll mention that helping people find workouts they enjoy is one of the benefits of our coaching program. If you dread heading to the gym to jump on a treadmill, maybe we can help!
How to Get Started Training with Gymnastic Rings
You now know everything you need to get going with gymnastic rings: what rings to buy, how to set them up, and how to train with them!
It’s time to shine my young Padawan!
Want help progressing with your gymnastic ring training from here?I’ve got 3 great options for you!
#1) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Plus, it’ll show you exactly how to start training with your new gymnastic rings!
Try your free trial right here:
#2) If you want step-by-step guidance on how to build a gymnastic ring workout, get stronger, and even eat better, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:
#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get strong, get healthy, and have fun doing so.
I’ll also send you tons of free guides like our Strength Training 101 ebook when you sign up:
Download our comprehensive guideSTRENGTH TRAINING 101!
Everything you need to know about getting strong.
Workout routines for bodyweight AND weight training.
How to find the right gym and train properly in one.
Okay, your turn!
I’d love to hear from you:
What sort of questions do you have about getting started with rings?
What is the biggest thing holding you back from giving them a chance?
You’re here because you want to learn how to improve your flexibility.
Well, you’ve arrived at the right place!
We’ve been hosting flexibility challenges in our app, Nerd Fitness Journey. Today, we’ll share with you the same exercises we use to improve general mobility.
If you’ve always considered yourself “inflexible,” you need this guide!
I promise you, if you follow the videos in our guide, you will be more flexible in 30 days.
Let’s get bendy!
What Are the 3 Best Flexibility Exercises? (Intro and Benchmark Test)
The above video comes from Nerd Fitness Prime, kicking off our 30-day challenge “Flexibility for the Inflexible.”
In it, Nerd Fitness Coach Matt discusses the three best exercises for improving flexibility, which are:
The Toe Touch
The Back Scratch
The Butterfly Stretch
Let’s go over each of these moves now.
#1) Toe Touch
To perform a standing toe touch:
Stand straight with your legs about hip-width apart. You want your legs to be straight, but don’t aggressively lock out your knees either (this feels like a “microbend” to a lot of people).
Begin by bending and leaning forward towards the ground with your quads (front of your legs).
Let your body rest naturally, as if you were a ragdoll. Keeping your hands relatively close together, straighten your fingers and begin to stretch down slowly to the ground.
The goal here, ultimately, will be to touch your toes.
Take a comfortable seat (or stand), with your torso and back tall.
Tuck your thumbs inside of your fist.
Place your right hand behind your head, down back over your shoulder. Reach as far down the middle of your back as possible, palm facing you.
Your other arm (left) is going to go behind and up, with your palm facing away. Reach this hand toward your upper hand (don’t strain).
Switch arms and reverse the moment.
Over time, we are going to work to bring your hands closer together.
#3) Butterfly Stretch
To perform a butterfly stretch:
Take a seat, with your legs facing out in front of you.
Bring both of your front feet together, with the bottoms touching, by bending your knees away from each other.
Grab both feet with your hands, with your elbows coming down toward your knee (they don’t have to touch).
Keep your back straight, and allow your knees to come down (if they can, don’t force it).
The goal here will be to bring your knees lower and feet closer to your groin, but don’t fret if this is challenging. Even Coach Matt has trouble with butterfly stretches.
Why these three exercises?
Coach Matt refers to the toe touch, back scratch, and butterfly stretch as “benchmarks.”
If you have decent mobility in these three exercises, you’re probably pretty flexible.
Improving these will be our mission for the next 30 days!
Each week, Coach Matt will provide three different video routines with exercises designed to target these specific benchmarks.
So in Week 1, you’ll find a video for:
Toe Touches
Back Scratches
Butterfly Stretches
You can do these videos all at once if you want, or break them up throughout your week.
Maybe you do a routine Monday, Wednesday, and then on Friday.
We’ll end this guide with some tips on starting a recurring practice.
At the end of our 4-week series, we’ll check-in, to see how everything is coming along.
Here’s what we need you to do right now: record where you are with these moves.
How far down can you reach with your toe touch?
How far apart are your hands during the back scratch?
How close are your feet and how high up are your knees during the butterfly stretch?
Coach Matt recommends a few ways to measure these benchmarks in the introductory video above, but even some subjective tracking would be useful:
“On a scale of 1 to 10, this move was tough, so I’d give it an 8.”
Don’t forget about this initial tracking, even if you don’t have a measuring tape. Just go through the initial benchmark tests the best you can.
Before we jump into the series itself, let’s discuss some general tips and tricks for improving flexibility.
Tips and Tricks for Increased Flexibility
First and foremost, all bodies are different.
You might have a great range of motion in your back scratch, but can’t get much range on your toe touch. Or maybe you’re like Coach Matt, where butterfly stretches are challenging.
Our goal here is to improve YOUR flexibility. We’ll all have different mobility ranges on Day 1.
All of us have to start somewhere, so don’t stress if you feel inflexible…
…that’s why you’re reading this guide.
No matter what, by going through this process, you’ll learn more about your body and develop tools for increasing your range of motion.
Next up…
Coach Matt highlights two general ways to increase your flexibility:
Function. This is your technique and awareness of your flexibility. Think of this as maximizing the potential of your current body.
Structure.This would be your body itself, and the range of motion of muscles, tendons, etc. Structure is about changing your body itself through these flexibility exercises.
You’re probably not going to increase the structural flexibility of your body after one stretching session. These things take time
However, you very well may increase your flexibility by improving your function or technique. As you go through the videos, Coach Matt will offer instructions on how to position your body for proper stretching.
This alone may very well increase your range of motion.
We’ll also be using three specific movement tools for improving flexibility:
#1) Active Range of Motion
This would be doing the complete movement of an exercise, fluidly.
So a normal bodyweight squat would be an active range of motion if you did the entire movement:
By going all the way down and back up with your squat, your muscles are engaged evenly throughout.
#2) Pulses
This movement has you stopping at a particular point of an exercise, like the bottom of a squat, and slowly and in control, pulsing slightly up and down:
You’re really only moving about an inch here for your pulses.
This will help you gain control of that particular area.
#3) Holds
As the name would suggest, here you’ll hold the position at a specific point of the exercise.
For example, for your squats, you may pause at the bottom of the movement:
This can help you grow stability during a particular stretch.
During the course of the next four weeks, we’ll be utilizing a combination of active range of motion, pulses, and holds, to increase your flexibility.
And with that, onto week 1!
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 1
For our first week, Coach Matt is going to start us off slow.
Here, it’s all about learning the foundations of the movement.
To increase flexibility, it often comes down to properly setting up the stretch.
We’ll begin by teaching you the basics.
Toe Touch Week 1:
Back Scratch Week 1:
Butterfly Series Week 1:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 2
This week, we’re going to identify the edge of your flexibility.
We won’t push or strain ourselves too much, but we’ll use our breath as a sign of difficulty.
The goal here is to understand how flexible you may actually be (you might be able to reach farther than you think).
However, as Coach Matt will continuously remind you, if it feels unsafe, DON’T DO IT!
Toe Touch Week 2:
Back Scratch Week 2:
Butterfly Series Week 2:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 3
In Week 3, it’s all about exploring and expanding your flexibility exercises.
We’ll be testing your movements and begin thinking about ways to “go off the rails” a little here and there.
In our third round of exercises, you’ll begin changing, adapting, and remixing the moves to increase your range of motion.
With flexibility, some creativity can be a good thing, which will be your focus for this stage.
Toe Touch Week 3:
Back Scratch Week 3:
Butterfly Series Week 3:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 4
In the last week of “Flexibility for the Inflexible,” it’s all about building strength.
Muscle will help you hold and expand mobility positions, so this week Coach Matt covers exercises designed to couple strength with your flexibility.
We’ll even mix in some weights into your routine here.
Toe Touch Week 4:
Back Scratch Week 4:
Butterfly Series Week 4:
Next Steps for Becoming More Flexible
The video above is a “re-cap party” with Coach Matt, ending the 30-day Flexibility for the Inflexible challenge we ran for Nerd Fitness Prime members.
Let’s go over some highlights.
#1) Continue to test and retest your flexibility benchmarks.
That which gets measured gets improved, so continue to track your toe touch, back scratch, and butterfly stretch.
Remember, these tests don’t need to be some precise measurement rounded to the nearest millimeter (although if you want to do that, have at it).
Instead, they can be subjective:
“This is really tough, I can’t bring down my knees at all.”
to…
“I could probably sit like this for 15 minutes.”
Don’t stress out over how precise your measurements are, but do keep a record of how these stretches feel. It’ll help us know if you’re improving.
#2) Use your breath as a guide.
Breathing can often be a signal of excretion levels:
If your breath is calm and normal, what you’re doing is within your comfort range.
If you’re huffing and puffing a lot, or even holding your breath, you’re probably exerting yourself too much.
As Coach Matt highlights, during your flexibility exercises, don’t push too far past your comfort zone.
Yes, we should find your edge, but we also want you to feel in control during your stretches so you can really “own” the movement.
If you find yourself having to catch your breath, it could be a sign you’ve gone too far.
Be mindful of your breathing during our flexibility exercises.
#3) You don’t have to stretch every day.
You probably noticed that we provided three 20 minute videos per week to help improve your flexibility.
This was intentional, because you don’t have to stretch every day to increase your range of motion.
Truth be told, you don’t even need to do 20-minute sequences three times a week to improve flexibility. Even just 10 minutes of flexibility exercises a couple of times per week could improve your mobility.
To do so, you can continue to follow the videos in this guide, or I have some other resources for you to check out.
Here are three more guides for improving your flexibility:
21 Yoga Poses for Beginners. Yoga can be a great practice to improve your flexibility. If you’ve never tried it before, check out our guide. We’ll provide video sequences designed for beginners, so don’t worry if you have no clue what a downward dog is. We’ll teach you.
Three Full-Body Stretching Routines to Cool Down. After a workout, a good stretch can be the perfect way to lower your heart rate. Our guide will offer you three different routines to perform after your workout (or whenever) so you can start improving your flexibility.
How to Touch Your Toes. Since the toe touch is the go-to benchmark to see how flexible you are, we have a complete guide on getting you there. If you’ve always dreamed of being able to reach your little piggy wiggies, start here.
The most important thing you can do now?
Get to it!
You’re not going to get any more flexible by reading articles online, so pick a sequence from today and get going!
If you like our style here at Nerd Fitness, I have three great options on how you can continue your journey with us:
Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your experience level, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!
For example, let’s say you have an old injury and couldn’t perform one of our flexibility exercises. A Nerd Fitness Coach can work with you to create a customized routine for your exact situation.
Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below:
Option #2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Plus, you can take part in flexibility challenges alongside a group of nerds who are all trying to better themselves!
Try your free trial right here:
Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
Complete and track your first workout today, no gym required.
Alright, now I want to hear from you!
Did you try our “Flexibility for the Inflexible” series?
Did you find any of the exercises easier or harder than the others?
Any tips or tricks to help the “inflexible”?
Let me know in the comments!
-Steve
P.S. Personally, I’ve found a yoga practice to be incredibly helpful in improving my mobility. We have an entire course on starting home yoga as part of Nerd Fitness Prime.
You’re here because you want to learn how to improve your flexibility.
Well, you’ve arrived at the right place!
We’ve been hosting flexibility challenges in our app, Nerd Fitness Journey. Today, we’ll share with you the same exercises we use to improve general mobility.
If you’ve always considered yourself “inflexible,” you need this guide!
I promise you, if you follow the videos in our guide, you will be more flexible in 30 days.
Let’s get bendy!
What Are the 3 Best Flexibility Exercises? (Intro and Benchmark Test)
The above video comes from Nerd Fitness Prime, kicking off our 30-day challenge “Flexibility for the Inflexible.”
In it, Nerd Fitness Coach Matt discusses the three best exercises for improving flexibility, which are:
The Toe Touch
The Back Scratch
The Butterfly Stretch
Let’s go over each of these moves now.
#1) Toe Touch
To perform a standing toe touch:
Stand straight with your legs about hip-width apart. You want your legs to be straight, but don’t aggressively lock out your knees either (this feels like a “microbend” to a lot of people).
Begin by bending and leaning forward towards the ground with your quads (front of your legs).
Let your body rest naturally, as if you were a ragdoll. Keeping your hands relatively close together, straighten your fingers and begin to stretch down slowly to the ground.
The goal here, ultimately, will be to touch your toes.
Take a comfortable seat (or stand), with your torso and back tall.
Tuck your thumbs inside of your fist.
Place your right hand behind your head, down back over your shoulder. Reach as far down the middle of your back as possible, palm facing you.
Your other arm (left) is going to go behind and up, with your palm facing away. Reach this hand toward your upper hand (don’t strain).
Switch arms and reverse the moment.
Over time, we are going to work to bring your hands closer together.
#3) Butterfly Stretch
To perform a butterfly stretch:
Take a seat, with your legs facing out in front of you.
Bring both of your front feet together, with the bottoms touching, by bending your knees away from each other.
Grab both feet with your hands, with your elbows coming down toward your knee (they don’t have to touch).
Keep your back straight, and allow your knees to come down (if they can, don’t force it).
The goal here will be to bring your knees lower and feet closer to your groin, but don’t fret if this is challenging. Even Coach Matt has trouble with butterfly stretches.
Why these three exercises?
Coach Matt refers to the toe touch, back scratch, and butterfly stretch as “benchmarks.”
If you have decent mobility in these three exercises, you’re probably pretty flexible.
Improving these will be our mission for the next 30 days!
Each week, Coach Matt will provide three different video routines with exercises designed to target these specific benchmarks.
So in Week 1, you’ll find a video for:
Toe Touches
Back Scratches
Butterfly Stretches
You can do these videos all at once if you want, or break them up throughout your week.
Maybe you do a routine Monday, Wednesday, and then on Friday.
We’ll end this guide with some tips on starting a recurring practice.
At the end of our 4-week series, we’ll check-in, to see how everything is coming along.
Here’s what we need you to do right now: record where you are with these moves.
How far down can you reach with your toe touch?
How far apart are your hands during the back scratch?
How close are your feet and how high up are your knees during the butterfly stretch?
Coach Matt recommends a few ways to measure these benchmarks in the introductory video above, but even some subjective tracking would be useful:
“On a scale of 1 to 10, this move was tough, so I’d give it an 8.”
Don’t forget about this initial tracking, even if you don’t have a measuring tape. Just go through the initial benchmark tests the best you can.
Before we jump into the series itself, let’s discuss some general tips and tricks for improving flexibility.
Tips and Tricks for Increased Flexibility
First and foremost, all bodies are different.
You might have a great range of motion in your back scratch, but can’t get much range on your toe touch. Or maybe you’re like Coach Matt, where butterfly stretches are challenging.
Our goal here is to improve YOUR flexibility. We’ll all have different mobility ranges on Day 1.
All of us have to start somewhere, so don’t stress if you feel inflexible…
…that’s why you’re reading this guide.
No matter what, by going through this process, you’ll learn more about your body and develop tools for increasing your range of motion.
Next up…
Coach Matt highlights two general ways to increase your flexibility:
Function. This is your technique and awareness of your flexibility. Think of this as maximizing the potential of your current body.
Structure.This would be your body itself, and the range of motion of muscles, tendons, etc. Structure is about changing your body itself through these flexibility exercises.
You’re probably not going to increase the structural flexibility of your body after one stretching session. These things take time
However, you very well may increase your flexibility by improving your function or technique. As you go through the videos, Coach Matt will offer instructions on how to position your body for proper stretching.
This alone may very well increase your range of motion.
We’ll also be using three specific movement tools for improving flexibility:
#1) Active Range of Motion
This would be doing the complete movement of an exercise, fluidly.
So a normal bodyweight squat would be an active range of motion if you did the entire movement:
By going all the way down and back up with your squat, your muscles are engaged evenly throughout.
#2) Pulses
This movement has you stopping at a particular point of an exercise, like the bottom of a squat, and slowly and in control, pulsing slightly up and down:
You’re really only moving about an inch here for your pulses.
This will help you gain control of that particular area.
#3) Holds
As the name would suggest, here you’ll hold the position at a specific point of the exercise.
For example, for your squats, you may pause at the bottom of the movement:
This can help you grow stability during a particular stretch.
During the course of the next four weeks, we’ll be utilizing a combination of active range of motion, pulses, and holds, to increase your flexibility.
And with that, onto week 1!
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 1
For our first week, Coach Matt is going to start us off slow.
Here, it’s all about learning the foundations of the movement.
To increase flexibility, it often comes down to properly setting up the stretch.
We’ll begin by teaching you the basics.
Toe Touch Week 1:
Back Scratch Week 1:
Butterfly Series Week 1:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 2
This week, we’re going to identify the edge of your flexibility.
We won’t push or strain ourselves too much, but we’ll use our breath as a sign of difficulty.
The goal here is to understand how flexible you may actually be (you might be able to reach farther than you think).
However, as Coach Matt will continuously remind you, if it feels unsafe, DON’T DO IT!
Toe Touch Week 2:
Back Scratch Week 2:
Butterfly Series Week 2:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 3
In Week 3, it’s all about exploring and expanding your flexibility exercises.
We’ll be testing your movements and begin thinking about ways to “go off the rails” a little here and there.
In our third round of exercises, you’ll begin changing, adapting, and remixing the moves to increase your range of motion.
With flexibility, some creativity can be a good thing, which will be your focus for this stage.
Toe Touch Week 3:
Back Scratch Week 3:
Butterfly Series Week 3:
How to Improve Your Flexibility: Week 4
In the last week of “Flexibility for the Inflexible,” it’s all about building strength.
Muscle will help you hold and expand mobility positions, so this week Coach Matt covers exercises designed to couple strength with your flexibility.
We’ll even mix in some weights into your routine here.
Toe Touch Week 4:
Back Scratch Week 4:
Butterfly Series Week 4:
Next Steps for Becoming More Flexible
The video above is a “re-cap party” with Coach Matt, ending the 30-day Flexibility for the Inflexible challenge we ran for Nerd Fitness Prime members.
Let’s go over some highlights.
#1) Continue to test and retest your flexibility benchmarks.
That which gets measured gets improved, so continue to track your toe touch, back scratch, and butterfly stretch.
Remember, these tests don’t need to be some precise measurement rounded to the nearest millimeter (although if you want to do that, have at it).
Instead, they can be subjective:
“This is really tough, I can’t bring down my knees at all.”
to…
“I could probably sit like this for 15 minutes.”
Don’t stress out over how precise your measurements are, but do keep a record of how these stretches feel. It’ll help us know if you’re improving.
#2) Use your breath as a guide.
Breathing can often be a signal of excretion levels:
If your breath is calm and normal, what you’re doing is within your comfort range.
If you’re huffing and puffing a lot, or even holding your breath, you’re probably exerting yourself too much.
As Coach Matt highlights, during your flexibility exercises, don’t push too far past your comfort zone.
Yes, we should find your edge, but we also want you to feel in control during your stretches so you can really “own” the movement.
If you find yourself having to catch your breath, it could be a sign you’ve gone too far.
Be mindful of your breathing during our flexibility exercises.
#3) You don’t have to stretch every day.
You probably noticed that we provided three 20 minute videos per week to help improve your flexibility.
This was intentional, because you don’t have to stretch every day to increase your range of motion.
Truth be told, you don’t even need to do 20-minute sequences three times a week to improve flexibility. Even just 10 minutes of flexibility exercises a couple of times per week could improve your mobility.
To do so, you can continue to follow the videos in this guide, or I have some other resources for you to check out.
Here are three more guides for improving your flexibility:
21 Yoga Poses for Beginners. Yoga can be a great practice to improve your flexibility. If you’ve never tried it before, check out our guide. We’ll provide video sequences designed for beginners, so don’t worry if you have no clue what a downward dog is. We’ll teach you.
Three Full-Body Stretching Routines to Cool Down. After a workout, a good stretch can be the perfect way to lower your heart rate. Our guide will offer you three different routines to perform after your workout (or whenever) so you can start improving your flexibility.
How to Touch Your Toes. Since the toe touch is the go-to benchmark to see how flexible you are, we have a complete guide on getting you there. If you’ve always dreamed of being able to reach your little piggy wiggies, start here.
The most important thing you can do now?
Get to it!
You’re not going to get any more flexible by reading articles online, so pick a sequence from today and get going!
If you like our style here at Nerd Fitness, I have three great options on how you can continue your journey with us:
Option #1) If you want a professional coach in your pocket, who can do video form checks, provide feedback, and adjust your workouts based on your experience level, check out our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!
For example, let’s say you have an old injury and couldn’t perform one of our flexibility exercises. A Nerd Fitness Coach can work with you to create a customized routine for your exact situation.
Personally, I’ve been working with the same online coach since 2015 and it’s changed my life. You can learn more by clicking on the box below:
Option #2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!
Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).
Plus, you can take part in flexibility challenges alongside a group of nerds who are all trying to better themselves!
Try your free trial right here:
Option #3) Become part of the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.
Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out from home” guides.
Get your Nerd Fitness Starter Kit
The 15 mistakes you don’t want to make.
Full guide to the most effective diet and why it works.
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Alright, now I want to hear from you!
Did you try our “Flexibility for the Inflexible” series?
Did you find any of the exercises easier or harder than the others?
Any tips or tricks to help the “inflexible”?
Let me know in the comments!
-Steve
P.S. Personally, I’ve found a yoga practice to be incredibly helpful in improving my mobility. We have an entire course on starting home yoga as part of Nerd Fitness Prime.
