Lifting: What I Wish I Knew When I Started

I’ve been lifting for 15 years now (🤯) and these are a few things I wish would’ve known when I started:

• It’s not about how many calories you’re burning while lifting. The thing is, we lift to build muscle and strength. If you want to burn a ton of calories *during* your workout, then you’re probably better off just doing cardio. HOWEVER, since we build muscle when we lift, that actually results in us burning more calories at rest since muscle is metabolically “expensive.” That just means it takes a lot of energy (aka calories) in order for that muscle tissues to exist!

• Don’t underestimate your strength! Keep track of the weights you’re using each week and be sure to utilize progressive overload and (safely) lift heavier over time.

• A “good” workout doesn’t necessarily mean you did 10+ exercises and totally obliterated your body. A good workout is one that challenges you, but also makes sense for your goals and was programmed appropriately. I like to aim for 5-7 exercises in my strength workouts.

Everyone starts somewhere and I think we learn a LOT from our mistakes in our fitness journeys. No matter what, keep going and keep learning!

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