A frequently asked question and one that has a varied and nuanced answer. One might assume my answer is going to be strength training, and they’d be partially correct.
The answer that I often give and will continue to stand by regarding this question is- The best kind of exercise is the one you can show up and do consistently.
Yes, I would be lying if I didn’t say that using weights in your training is beneficial for pretty much everyone when done correctly. It’s what my clients do, and it is 100% what I do personally. It also comes with some caveats.
I don’t want to work out for hours. I can, I DON’T WANT TO. If my programming takes me longer then 30m to complete I will lose interest and not finish it. I learned a lot about how I view my training in the past year and half and efficiency plays a big role. That being said my big lifts aren’t going to increase by leaps and bounds, and my mobility is not going to improve if I don’t give it at least 5 minutes (more like 10-15) each day. I know that, and I’m ok with it.
But enough about me, what about the women that trust me with their journey? My new clients don’t have sessions longer then 40 minutes. That includes their warm up and their cool down. We focus and we are efficient with our time and movement. We utilize big full-body exercises that focus on several systems/ parts at once. We start where we need to start and we increase load as needed. Some days we stretch and spend time on the floor, other days we swing kettlebells and push the sled. My goal for every sessions is that you leave our time together feeling better then you did when you arrived.
So yes, weights are MY favorite. I have kettlebells and a couple badass strong women to thank for that. But at the end of the day the best exercise is something you can show up and do consistently. Lifting, Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, taking a walk with the dog, or a group fitness class at your local Rec center. Whatever it takes, movement is movement and that’s how you begin. From there you get to dive deeper and cherry-pick a bit more but that’s a post for another day.
I’ll end with saying- If you want to make changes to your routine but feel like you don’t know where to start I do consultation calls to see if we would be a good fit. Leave me a note here or at sara@activelylivingawesome.com and lets chat. We all start somewhere.