Making strength training fun
surfbug808
Posts: 251 Member
I've always been active. Formerly danced, did martial arts for 15 years, now I surf and long-distance ocean swim, just joined a soccer team. These are things I take pleasure in and always look forward to.
I have never truly enjoyed strength training (using body weight/kettle bells/barbells/machines). I've joined gyms, hired trainers, tracked my successes... and then I lose momentum after 6 months to a year. I need to amp it up again since I'm trying to lose weight but maintain muscle. What has helped me is having a intimate social gym community, and seeing my strength progress... right now training to videos is also keeping me going.
What do you love about strength training?
What helps make it more enjoyable?
What kind of strength training exercises do you find the most helpful and fun?
What else helps you stay on track and on target?
Whatever it is... just the things you personally love about it in general, or using certain inspirations, affirmations, a song playlist, how you warm-up or finish, the exercise lists you make or don't make, how you reward yourself, use your rest periods or whatever, I'm looking for tips and tools that can make my strength training feel more fun. Thanks!
I have never truly enjoyed strength training (using body weight/kettle bells/barbells/machines). I've joined gyms, hired trainers, tracked my successes... and then I lose momentum after 6 months to a year. I need to amp it up again since I'm trying to lose weight but maintain muscle. What has helped me is having a intimate social gym community, and seeing my strength progress... right now training to videos is also keeping me going.
What do you love about strength training?
What helps make it more enjoyable?
What kind of strength training exercises do you find the most helpful and fun?
What else helps you stay on track and on target?
Whatever it is... just the things you personally love about it in general, or using certain inspirations, affirmations, a song playlist, how you warm-up or finish, the exercise lists you make or don't make, how you reward yourself, use your rest periods or whatever, I'm looking for tips and tools that can make my strength training feel more fun. Thanks!
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i do strength training i enjoy. which is body weight work on the aerial hammock or aerial hoop
i call it my sneaky workout because it's fun and i don't know how hard i worked until the next day.
that's the trick-find a version you like.1 -
Honestly, I love it because I love seeing my weights progress even if it's just one more rep or adding the 2.5 lb plates.
What helps make it enjoyable... I don't really need help like I said I like to see my strength progressing and that's enough for me. I work on in my basement though and I blare music that makes me feel strong and powerful and confident. That type of music is different for everyone but having it playing makes it easier on my mentally to push through hard days or sets.
But the best thing I did was join a program with a coach. I do TWK with Katie Sonier. She programs 6 days a week and focuses on progressive overload. There's a private FB group she has set up for members to post videos for form feedback and just overall support from the other women in the group and I find this really motivating and because I'm recording myself for feedback I am more conscious of my form and push myself harder.
Before I joined a program I would just kind of do whatever whenever and do what I liked and skip what I didn't and somedays I would finish and somedays I wouldn't. Since joining a program my consistency is better because it's written out for me "do this on this day" "do this many sets with this many reps" and the form feedback has been good for me to get the most out of my lifts even on days when we are going lighter weights. My coach makes suggestions for what weight range to aim for for each rep range based on prior feedback and form she's seen.
What also helps keep me motivated is setting specific weight training goals. For example, by the end of 2020 I want to be able to chin ups and pull up for 5 unassisted reps. As a person who started at the beginning of this year hardly able to do 1 assisted rep that's going to take dedication and consistency.
Or being able to squat x amount. Hip thrust x amount. I just had to sit and make myself realistic but specific goals to strive to meet.
More importantly... I stopped relying solely on motivation and made it about dedication. I set those goals and told myself I would do it. I may fail but I'm going to try my hardest and to do that I have to be dedicated and show up on the days I don't want to show up. I made a commitment to myself to be my best.3 -
Maybe take a look at some of the recommended programs here and see if any of them sound more fun right off the bat:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p12 -
Honestly, the thing I love most about strength training is what it's done for my appearance. My posture, proportions, and self confidence are all improved. Secondarily, getting stronger/being strong is fun and makes things easier.
What made it enjoyable for me was when I finally ditched popular highly marketed programs like P90X and P90X3 and started using a more traditional approach. I went from working out because it was something I was supposed to do to something I genuinely enjoy and look forward to.
I'm a big proponent of compound barbell movements and think of functional planes rather than specific movements or muscle groups; though there is a place for that sort of accessory specificity if really concerned with aesthetics. A Push/pull pair in the vertical & horizontal planes paired with legs-based push/pull is really all you need; boils down to bench press, rows, overhead press, pullups, squats, and deadlifts. I focus on those at least 90% of the time.
Habit building, goal setting, and continuous improvement are all things that help me stick with it. I've made a not-insignificant investment in equipment for my homegym, which makes it convenient to steal away for a workout whenever I need to.3 -
I do Olympic weightlifting because it’s the strength equivalent of martial arts. You need to learn movements, develop speed and explosiveness, improve endurance, understand when to tense and relax, focus on breathing and it’s difficult (for me). It’s replaced the martial arts I had to give up and I absolutely love it.2
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I started liking strength training a lot more after switching from high reps, low weights, which is what I thought women were supposed to do, to low reps and high (for me) weights.6
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i do strength training i enjoy. which is body weight work on the aerial hammock or aerial hoop
i call it my sneaky workout because it's fun and i don't know how hard i worked until the next day.
that's the trick-find a version you like.
I might do best with something I already inherently enjoy, rather than attempt to enjoy.
I do appreciate progress tho. I make mini-goals and then milestones. Once I reach a certain milestone, I often stop or slow down and don't maintain... maybe I need to switch up the type of exercises so there's more novelty and enjoyment. A definite driver right now is my appearance. I like how I look, but my spouse recently said in a most loving way that I'm "rounder" (due to medical issues I was not able to work out for 3 months and gained weight).I want to be more toned than round! I prefer functional movement too, and right now I'm rehabing an injury so that's another motivator to do strength training.claireychn074 wrote: »I do Olympic weightlifting because it’s the strength equivalent of martial arts. You need to learn movements, develop speed and explosiveness, improve endurance, understand when to tense and relax, focus on breathing and it’s difficult (for me). It’s replaced the martial arts I had to give up and I absolutely love it.
Appreciate the more detailed descript... I can see why it would appeal.
Making strength training fun is important to me if I'm going to keep it up long-term!0 -
Finding something I can't do and then working towards achieving that. For the longest time that was a body weight Turkish Get Up. Now I can do them with (light) weights and I am working towards heavier. Currently working towards an unassisted pull up and getting to grips with animal flow.3
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Music really helps me. I got a pair of Bluetooth headphones and have playlists for weight lifting.
I also like using apps to keep me focused. I work a lot and it’s nice to not have to think of a plan when I get to the gym. My favorites are Nike Training (free) and I’m really enjoying fitbod, which you can customize based on available equipment.1 -
I've found the consistent improvement shown on a practically daily basis to be "motivation" enough. Each session, I've picked up a greater weight than the session before. Actually look forward to the next session to see how high I can go. Then, when failure inevitably occurs, there is the de-load and restart and I get to do it all over again only with a greater outcome. Much like running, where you can see your times/distance improve, you get to feeling much better at your activity and at your daily life; what more could you be asking for? If personal improvement and evidence of same, doesn't "motivate" you...3
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If your goal is muscle maintenance then a minimal dose of strength training will do. 2x per week, nose to toes full body. The rest of the time stick to the stuff you enjoy. You don't have to love the process, just accept it, do it and know it works...3
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I am doing the ChaLEAN Extreme video series and I’m really enjoying it. It’s a 90 day weight program where you do three weight days a week, each day of the week a different workout. At the end of 30 days you start a new disk with new workouts. She also has a cardio and abs workout as part of the program but I skip those and do my own cardio on off days. The videos are only 30-40 minutes long so it takes up minimum time. I enjoy doing exercise videos and it keeps me more motivated than when I tried to do a weight program on my own.1
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If your goal is muscle maintenance then a minimal dose of strength training will do. 2x per week, nose to toes full body. The rest of the time stick to the stuff you enjoy. You don't have to love the process, just accept it, do it and know it works...
Absolutely. Plus know that the strength training is helping your other activities. Use it to improve everything else.2 -
I do strength training because it enables me to do everything else. I basically enjoy seeing the progress. I’ve heard about ckassesa videos but I don’t really need them, so can’t recommend.
However I’d love to hear about your ocean swims. I do 1 mixing the lake this summer and was pretty proud of myself for that 🤣. I’m dumbfounded by some of these ocean swims.2 -
Adding five pounds to he bar on every lift every session as a novice is fun.
Watching people gape in disbelief when you do a set of five with more weight than they've ever put on a bar is fun.
Being known as "that strong guy" at work when you're surrounded by peers half your age is fun.
Slapping your first forty five pound plate on the bar is fun.
Slapping another forty five pound plate on the bar is fun.
Setting new personal bests is fun.
Not wanting to do the lift and realizing the easy warmup reps were once a personal best is fun.
Realizing after bailing out of a bad lift that you're not as fragile as you once were is fun.
The feeling of satisfaction after finishing a full body workout by pulling more off the floor in your deadlift set than ever and being unable to do anything else for a few minutes but sit there and pant from the exertion is a feeling that never gets old.5 -
If your goal is muscle maintenance then a minimal dose of strength training will do. 2x per week, nose to toes full body. The rest of the time stick to the stuff you enjoy. You don't have to love the process, just accept it, do it and know it works...
Absolutely. Plus know that the strength training is helping your other activities. Use it to improve everything else.
Manageable and validating. When I was strength training at the gym in the past, I did all my exercises so that it was guided to becoming a more powerful surfer. That helped. Yeah, definitely aiming for the fully body workout. Those are the most enjoyable for me and I love seeing progress. I think I just need to take the pressure off myself.I do strength training because it enables me to do everything else. I basically enjoy seeing the progress. I’ve heard about ckassesa videos but I don’t really need them, so can’t recommend.
However I’d love to hear about your ocean swims. I do 1 mixing the lake this summer and was pretty proud of myself for that 🤣. I’m dumbfounded by some of these ocean swims.
Ocean swims are awesome! Great full body workout. There is some resistance in the surf & currents and the body has to constantly adjust. Also, seeing marine life gets me out there even more. It's very different from pool swimming. I think that for some people it's just about getting over the fear of being in open water. But I love it!
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I like doing it with a friend. We call it 'Whinge and Weights' (Whine and Weights for Americans). We left heavy things and talk about whatever's bothering us or share stories or whatever. Time flies that way.
If I do it on my own, I like music, podcasts, or audiobooks. I like that I can do it on my own time at my own speed, and I end up zoning out and feeling oddly refreshed and exhausted at the same time.
I couldn't ever only do weight lifting though. I do it 2x a week, then do yoga, running, ballet, etc as well.3 -
surfbug808 wrote: »I've always been active. Formerly danced, did martial arts for 15 years, now I surf and long-distance ocean swim, just joined a soccer team. These are things I take pleasure in and always look forward to.
I have never truly enjoyed strength training (using body weight/kettle bells/barbells/machines). I've joined gyms, hired trainers, tracked my successes... and then I lose momentum after 6 months to a year. I need to amp it up again since I'm trying to lose weight but maintain muscle. What has helped me is having a intimate social gym community, and seeing my strength progress... right now training to videos is also keeping me going.
What do you love about strength training?
What helps make it more enjoyable?
What kind of strength training exercises do you find the most helpful and fun?
What else helps you stay on track and on target?
Whatever it is... just the things you personally love about it in general, or using certain inspirations, affirmations, a song playlist, how you warm-up or finish, the exercise lists you make or don't make, how you reward yourself, use your rest periods or whatever, I'm looking for tips and tools that can make my strength training feel more fun. Thanks!
What I love about “strength” training is the power it adds to my sport.
What makes it more enjoyable for me is progress.
Supersets may be helpful for certain goals and “fun”. Variety—I.e., alternatives or subs allowable in the program.
Logging helps me stay on track as does switching to a training program that helps me with my current goals.
Dynamic stretching body weight circuits are my main warm-up.
Reading about fitness inspires me. Classic rock helps with my cardio.
Rest periods? For strength training, I just try to focus on the next lift.
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I'd love one of these. As a rower, I know that physics matter in lifting. Most lifters know about force but many forget the old physics equation. V*F = W (work). Velocity if the V. This device adds Velocity training to weight training. Velocity training is all the rage now in golf, baseball and other high level sports. Ever hear in baseball that someone has "fast hands"?
https://www.thisisbeast.com/en/product
This even measures weight lifting in Watts generated. Something that cardio buffs can relate to. It also tells you when you should optimally end a set (because your velocity is slowing down).0 -
surfbug808 wrote: »If your goal is muscle maintenance then a minimal dose of strength training will do. 2x per week, nose to toes full body. The rest of the time stick to the stuff you enjoy. You don't have to love the process, just accept it, do it and know it works...
Absolutely. Plus know that the strength training is helping your other activities. Use it to improve everything else.
Manageable and validating. When I was strength training at the gym in the past, I did all my exercises so that it was guided to becoming a more powerful surfer. That helped. Yeah, definitely aiming for the fully body workout. Those are the most enjoyable for me and I love seeing progress. I think I just need to take the pressure off myself.I do strength training because it enables me to do everything else. I basically enjoy seeing the progress. I’ve heard about ckassesa videos but I don’t really need them, so can’t recommend.
However I’d love to hear about your ocean swims. I do 1 mixing the lake this summer and was pretty proud of myself for that 🤣. I’m dumbfounded by some of these ocean swims.
Ocean swims are awesome! Great full body workout. There is some resistance in the surf & currents and the body has to constantly adjust. Also, seeing marine life gets me out there even more. It's very different from pool swimming. I think that for some people it's just about getting over the fear of being in open water. But I love it!
So where, how far, and how often do you ocean swim?0 -
i used to love working out, a combination of free weights and machines. i loved the feeling of adding 5 more pounds to an exercise, i liked mixing up the order of the exercises. and after a couple years, i liked having people stare as i lifted more than they thought a chubby, middle aged woman could; sometimes they'd come over and congratulate me. but it all started with a bodybuilding magazine that intrigued me enough to get started and a close friend who showed me how to use all the machines at the Y.
i didn't do squats or other exercises i didn't like for whatever reason. i loved doing leg presses and hack squats on a machine, so i did them instead.
i also enjoyed figuring out meals to support my heavy lifting. lots of protein, moderate carbs and fats. eating more often.
to me, it was all a fun thing to do, and i stayed involved by reading bodybuilder autobiographies and workout books, not to mention all the bodybuilding magazines. oh, and watching pumping iron 2: the women.2 -
I do strength training because it enables me to do everything else. I basically enjoy seeing the progress. I’ve heard about ckassesa videos but I don’t really need them, so can’t recommend.
However I’d love to hear about your ocean swims. I do 1 mixing the lake this summer and was pretty proud of myself for that 🤣. I’m dumbfounded by some of these ocean swims.
Ocean swims are awesome! Great full body workout. There is some resistance in the surf & currents and the body has to constantly adjust. Also, seeing marine life gets me out there even more. It's very different from pool swimming. I think that for some people it's just about getting over the fear of being in open water. But I love it!
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So where, how far, and how often do you ocean swim?[/quote]
I swim (or surf) 3x/week average. If swimming, avg 1 mile, more or less. Hawaii. Ocean swimming is mostly recreational for me so I'm not into measuring time, speed etc. though I do enjoy my improvements in terms of distance, strength and endurance.
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claireychn074 wrote: »I do Olympic weightlifting because it’s the strength equivalent of martial arts. You need to learn movements, develop speed and explosiveness, improve endurance, understand when to tense and relax, focus on breathing and it’s difficult (for me). It’s replaced the martial arts I had to give up and I absolutely love it.
I had one lesson in Oly lifting and man it is HARD!!! I tought "meh - I've been lifting for years, this will be a breeze" - how wrong I was LOL!
I agree with you that it's similar to martial arts (which I have also done a fair amount of in the past) - I hadn't thought of it that way until you pointed that out.
OP - in terms of what makes me enjoy lifting (I do bodybuilding-style lifting btw, I don't care too much about deadlifting 300 kilos or what have you, I focus more on 'sculpting' my body to look a certain way, and that doesn't require me to do 200 kg squats, and yes I use a Smith Machine and all sorts of other sacrilegious things that many of the lifters on here, particularly the 5x5 people will say are a waste of time, useless, etc).
I enjoy seeing the progress - first it was when the fat started coming off and the body composition started to change. Posture improved, I felt strong, my arms started to change from round fat shape to "toned" shape, the increases in weights was always a big thrill - when I could add an extra plate to whatever I was doing. After I lost the fat I started to focus more on the overall aesthetics. I wanted a massive back, so off I went to grow my wings. My shoulders were crappy and lagging, so now I focus more on them and they have improved and grown. My legs and butt suck because I hate leg day, but they're the next bit I need to really buckle down on and stop skipping because I'm quite happy with how my upper body has been coming along, but my legs and butt - not so much.
So yeah, I like to see the change in the body. It takes ages to notice things, but they happen. Plus, the feeling strong bit - I really like the feeling strong bit.
Oh - and I always get surprised at myself when I go and try something random for fun - like another sport - and realise how fit and strong I actually am. For example, I tried dragon boating and it was like WOW! I can DO THIS!1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I started liking strength training a lot more after switching from high reps, low weights, which is what I thought women were supposed to do, to low reps and high (for me) weights.
Did you find that improved results for you? I'm thinking of doing the same. Ta!0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I started liking strength training a lot more after switching from high reps, low weights, which is what I thought women were supposed to do, to low reps and high (for me) weights.
Did you find that improved results for you? I'm thinking of doing the same. Ta!
I used to train with kettle bells and I found that doing higher weights with lower reps provided me with more of the results I wanted, greater strength and confidence.1 -
surfbug808 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I started liking strength training a lot more after switching from high reps, low weights, which is what I thought women were supposed to do, to low reps and high (for me) weights.
Did you find that improved results for you? I'm thinking of doing the same. Ta!
I used to train with kettle bells and I found that doing higher weights with lower reps provided me with more of the results I wanted, greater strength and confidence.
Thank you!0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I started liking strength training a lot more after switching from high reps, low weights, which is what I thought women were supposed to do, to low reps and high (for me) weights.
Did you find that improved results for you? I'm thinking of doing the same. Ta!
Butting in here to say that I found the same. I tend to stick in the 8-12 rep range but will push higher from time to time. Whatever people say about cardio for fat burning I find that less is more on the cardio front so long as I work at high intensity.
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What do you love about strength training?
I love how strength training changed and sculpted my body. Over time it has gotten rid of the jiggles in areas where I didn't want it and it have given my body a tightness that I am proud of. My posture has improved too and I also love feeling and being strong. For example, I loved being able to easily pick up all 5 heavy grocery store bags with one hand yesterday.
What helps make it more enjoyable?
I discovered more then just lifting weights and putting them down such as using kettlebells, doing high reps at a low weight (cardio, but I still enjoy it at times), using various types of resistance bands, aerial yoga, barre, Pilates and even using my own bodyweight such as old school push-ups on my toes is quite effective. Music always give me a good push as well.
What kind of strength training exercises do you find the most helpful and fun?
This Youtube trainer I follow has great bodyweight and resistance band workouts that I use most days of the week. Between that and freestyling my own workouts I really enjoy what I do and my results. I lost weight doing programs such as Chalean Extreme which got me started.
What else helps you stay on track and on target?
I plan my workouts and my meals for the next day the night before. This really keeps me on track.
Also I do upper/lower splits. On Mon and Wed I focus on my upper body and Tues and Thurs I focus on my lower body. The rest of the week varies on how I feel. This give me a basic guide to follow, along with a short break in between to rest.
In addition to that, I'm always doing different activities/exercise besides strength work and fitness walking to keep myself from getting bored.3 -
rainbow198 wrote: »What else helps you stay on track and on target?
I plan my workouts and my meals for the next day the night before. This really keeps me on track.
Also I do upper/lower splits. On Mon and Wed I focus on my upper body and Tues and Thurs I focus on my lower body. The rest of the week varies on how I feel. This give me a basic guide to follow, along with a short break in between to rest.
In addition to that, I'm always doing different activities/exercise besides strength work and fitness walking to keep myself from getting bored.
I don't have a set routine like devoting Mon-Thur to particular workouts or that kind of thing. It's something I'm still experimenting with but I would like to create that kind of schedule. Right now, I swim/surf when the conditions are good, which means the days can be in a row, or every other or whenever. I think that on the days I'm not in the water or playing a soccer game (scheduled according to soccer org), I'd like to devote to strength training, and alternating upper/lower body with rest. But yeah, having varied activities keeps it novel for sure. I don't tend to plan my meals, but I cook everyday and am used to home prepping the day of, so that seems to be okay. I do need to put together an inspiring music playlist. I like that you have a basic guide, that allows for variation and freedom to do other activities. If I get too strict with myself, I enjoy it less.
I think I also need to figure out when or if to combine my swim/surf with strength training on the same day, if that's easily workable without burning out.
Any tips on how you guys combine other activities (that focus on cardio or something else) on the same day as strength training?
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surfbug808 wrote: »Any tips on how you guys combine other activities (that focus on cardio or something else) on the same day as strength training?
When combining cardio and strength workouts on the same day I do one of the following:
1. I have a 2 a day where I do cardio in the morning and strength training in the evening.
2. Cardio/strength circuits such as cardio for 3 minutes (running in place, jump rope, plyometrics, using my mini stair stepper etc.), followed by a compound strength exercise such as a squat to an overhead press or a lunge to a tricep kickback. Then repeating with cardio followed by another strength move.
3. I use walk at home workouts which incorporates aerobics with light strength work using bodyweight, light weights or a resistance band. Sometimes I wear ankle weights and wrist weight for the entire workout as well depending on how I'm feeling.
4. Use a go to workout (Youtube/fitness DVD's) that incorporates both cardio and strength training.
It sounds like you have a good overall routine going, so good for you!
Maybe try winging your strength workout depending on your swim schedule? I'm not sure, but a lot of swimming and strength training sounds intense and rest is important. Hopefully another swimmer can chime in with some advice. Good luck!4
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