This is your sign to lift weights

Welcome back to another episode of how to twenty-something where today’s episode is me basically screaming at you to get your booty in the gym and lift weights.. Ok so i won’t actually scream at you

But If you needed a signal from the universe, consider this your sign with flashing lights and giant letters smacking you across the face, grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you saying get in the gym

I know I know the gym can be a pretty intimidating place, you probably don’t know what to do when you get there, and don’t want to look like a fool or injure yourself

So i want to help you find your way into the gym in the most frictionless way possible

This episode is going to help you with your mindset, create a plan that can be used with only dumbbells, and emphasize how important it is for you to lift weights

I’m actually going to start with that last part on why the heck you should take me up on this sign to get in the gym

For starters, right now, you’re in your twenties which means you are at your peak physical fitness abilities in terms of recovery, time, and muscle building capacity

Once you hit 30, your body begins to deteriorate

In fact, after age 30 you naturally lose 3-5% of your muscle mass per decade without resistance training

It’s why you can very clearly tell who lifts weights and who doesn’t when you have friends in their 30s 

All your body wants to do is break you down, break down your muscle, your balance, your skills, your resiliency 

It’s a very much if you don’t use it you lose it scenario

Everything stops progressing and either maintains what you’ve already built or regresses

Why this happens? I have no idea

If i were to guess it’s because we didn’t used to live past the age of 35 hundreds of years ago, so naturally our outdated system thinks it’s time to get ready to die

Our body is also really good at doing exactly what we tell it to do

So if you’re telling it to sit all day and not lift anything heavy then you’re body is going to get rid of what it’s not using 

It’s trying to be an efficient system but efficient doesn’t mean optimal

Which means you have to try your hardest to keep up with what you built in your twenties.. Which also means you need to build as much as you can in your twenties

It doesn’t mean it’s too late for you when you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, it just means you should absolutely use your twenties to your advantage and lift weights with the goal of building muscle and strength

When you lift weights, you are setting yourself up for the easiest aging process ever

If you look at your grandparents, and even your parents, as they age they move less, they have more aches and pains, their posture is atrocious

Gravity turns them into walking candycanes who can barely get off the couch

It sounds harsh I know, but the idea behind this episode topic came from two new personal training clients of mine who are 76 and 78 years old and have been lifting weights in their old age

And I was blown away with their strength and motility because I compared them to when my grandparents were their age and were not moving around like that and it’s only gotten worse now that they’re in their 90s

Lifting weights gives you freedom

Freedom to move, freedom to be independent, freedom to recover from any injuries faster

Lifting weights is an investment in your current and future self

Not only that, but muscle shapes your body in a very flattering way, movements in the gym carry over to practical movements in real life, and it keeps your insulin levels in check

You can build muscle in areas you otherwise feel insecure to give your body a better, more firm shape to it

In terms of practical carry over to real life… you squat every time you get on and off the toilet or up and down from your chair

You overhead press when you put bowls on a top shelf or your carryon luggage in the overhead bin unassisted

And because you are signaling to your body to build and preserve muscle on a regular basis, by going to the gym consistently every week, you’re keeping your bones strong so when you fall in your old age it doesn’t become catastrophic

And if you didn’t know, muscle is very metabolically active tissue

In layman’s terms that means it takes a lot of energy on your body to maintain your muscle mass

Energy is calories

So you burn more calories at rest when you have higher muscle mass

Now those are just the physical reasons as to why this is so important for you to be implementing weightlifting into your exercise regimen

On a mental note though, resistance training has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression since you’re proving to yourself that you can do hard things and stay disciplined

I actually used this as an example with one of my clients who struggles with discipline in school, but is very disciplined when it comes to the gym

I told him to use his relationship to the gym as proof that he can show up, can push himself, and be disciplined

Not only that buy the gym is a great stress reliever to your mind, as long as you don’t overdo the stress to your body

It helps balance your hormones out 

It’s the best investment in your health, body, and longevity that you could ever make

I want you to think of every rep you do, so every time you lift up a weight and put it down, it’s the equivalent of putting a dollar into an investment account

It might not seem like a lot in the moment but it compounds like crazy over time

And specifically in your twenties… your ability to recover faster, push yourself harder, and explore your time and relationship to the gym makes this decade the best time to get started

Besides, you most likely have a desk job so you’re spending at least 8 hours a day teaching your body to be seated and hunched over your desk

Your hips get tight, your hamstrings get lengthened, your head protrudes forward, your shoulders round

Now you’re 28, 29 years old and your posture is atrocious

Lifting weights in the gym, fights against all of those patterns you’re recruiting day in and day out

And it doesn’t take a lot of effort to be in the gym

You don’t have to lift 5-7 days a week

I’m talking twice a week for 45 minutes to an hour

That’s it

All of my workouts are around 50minutes not including a 10 minute warmup 

And i lift full body twice a week

It’s so doable

So now that i’ve covered the why you should get your butt in the gym, let’s talk about what might be stopping you from walking through the gym doors 

Because I know you’re not lazy, even if it you think you are

There’s actually a lot more mental fortitude that comes with trying something new than you’re giving yourself credit for

And that is because you’re going to suck at first and no one likes sucking

We love to try something and nail on the first go around, but unfortunately that is just not how life works

So that high potential for sucking is backed by some fears that I want to touch on as it pertains to the gym

When you don’t know what to do, then you’re not going to go

You need a plan

Which i will help you with in a few minutes

Truthfully, in today’s day in age there is no excuse for not knowing what to do

There’s the internet, there are podcasts, there are online programs, and there are personal trainers

You have a lot of access to information and help

But that could also lead to information overload which is another wall that you hit when it comes to your relationship to lifting weights

However, not knowing what to do is not a reason to avoid doing it

The second fear that ties into no knowing what to do is the fear of being judged, looking like an idiot, and/or hurting yourself

The hurting yourself, totally valid, i don’t want you to hurt yourself either

But being judged or looking like a fool is something I can help you with right now

For one, no one is watching you as closely as you think they are

That is, unless, you’re doing something totally wild in the gym that is cause for attention

If you think someone is staring at you and judging you, there is a really good chance they’re just staring off into the void as they rest in between sets

Secondly, every single person in that gym was once in your shoes.. A beginner

It is actually the most widely accepting place to be because everyone at one point in their life didn’t know what they were doing and were scared to step foot off the cardio machines and into the weight section

And yes, I was one of those people

Heck, I even feel a little intimidated when I’m at a new gym trying to workout and I’ve been a personal trainer for 6 years and lifting a few years before that

Now, when it comes to being afraid of hurting yourself, as long as you start light until you feel you’ve mastered the movement, then you don’t need to worry as much about getting injured 

Just leave your ego at the door

Which brings me to the third and final part of this episode and that is getting started, creating that plan so you don’t hit information overload

This is what I teach in my intro to weightlifting class, which is in person, but if you want me to make a virtual one, let me know and I’ll put something together!

So the first thing you need to decide is how many days you’re going to commit to going to the gym right now

If you’re inconsistent or have never lifted weights then start with 1 day a week 

I’m going to help you create 2 full body workouts that can be used for anywhere between 1 and 3 days a week

Because you absolutely do not need to be in the gym 5-7 days 

It’s actually diminishing returns after 3 days where each additional day doesn’t give you the added benefit like you think it does

Why i like teaching people, especially beginners, full body, is because right now you’re not consistent so if you hit lower body with the intentions to hit upper body later in the week and don’t end up making it, well now you’re kind of lopsided in the muscles you worked

Whereas full body touches on every major muscle group every time you go to the gym

And the best formula for making sure that happens is to pick a lower front exercise so something that targets your quads like lunges or squats

an upper front exercise, these are your push movements like overhead press, chest press

A lower back exercise for hamstrings and glutes this could be hip thrusts, deadlifts, or single leg of either

And an upper back exercise, or your pull movements: pull-ups, lat pulldowns 

That’s it

Throw some core in at the end and bam you have a full body workout

So think the front of your thighs, your chest, the back your thighs, and your back

Accessory exercises like hamstring curls, leg extensions, bicep curls, triceps, etc can all be done at the end based on time and motivation but really aren’t that necessary for building a well rounded physique 

For sets and reps, keep it simple.. Do 3 to 4 sets of 8-12 reps where you pick a weight that makes the last two reps challenging but your form isn’t breaking down

And as the movements get easier and the weight feels easier, then you go up

That’s how you progress.. Slowly nudging the weight based on how your body feels 

And that’s it

That’s an entire, extremely effective workout

And can be done with pretty much all dumbbells except the back exercises I mentioned

Okay, so now I’ve covered why you should you lift weights, your mindset around doing so and some fears, and gave you a plan to get you started

A plan that I follow myself, and take all of my clients through as well.. Just within their own needs and goals 

So if you were waiting for that sign from the universe to do right by your body and get in the gym.. This was it

The only thing left now is to go do it

Start with something

And the future you who is carrying groceries up the stairs at 75, throwing your kid in the air at 35, moving furniture to your new apartment at 25.. However old you are right now, your future self is begging you to show up in the gym

And that person is going to be so glad you did

Now go lift some circles and email me if you have questions or need help.. That’s what i’m here for

It doesn’t even need to be about working together and actually at the time of me creating this episode, my personal training schedule is full so i’m not even accepting in person clients, but always accepting online ones unless otherwise said

So on that note, this does conclude another episode of how to twenty-something

If you liked what you heard, learned something new, are inspired to go to the gym today, or know someone who needs this hear this episode then please share it

Post it to your story, send it to a friend, give me a 5 star rating just do something to help me help all of the twenty-somethings navigating the most confusing decade of their life

And as always, I can’t wait to be in your headphones again next week with another brand new episode