I am very grateful to live in a time period when weight lifting and women putting on muscle is more invited than ever. While mainstream media will likely always prey on the insecurities of females, I am hopeful there will be more and more spaces that encourage and welcome ladies into the weights section. Because, my God, there are so many benefits to gain and lessons to learn from the iron.

My first exposure to weights was in my home. My dad had a gym in the garage, and we had a pull up bar mounted in my sister’s bedroom doorway. I’ve loved pushing my body, learning about it, and exercising since I can remember. And I am zero percent mad about it.

In 2004 I began weight lifting at least three days per week for high school athletics. I am sure it wasn’t pretty, but however cringe my form may have been, it gave me a base and love for resistance training. I continued on to pursue an associates in fitness training, and then a degree in exercise sport science. All the while being my own guinea pig in the gym.

That’s, in essence, today’s post – a culmination of over 15 years of fucking up, and learning a lot from time in on the floor. Through injuries, CrossFit, bro science, and timeless programs like the Wendler 5/3/1. Take it or leave it, but I hope at least one of these resonates with you.

Lessons come from having a misconception, messing up, going the wrong way, etc. It’s a part of this process. Everyone starts with an empty barbell, or a PVC pipe. From that spot to maxing out you’re going to make mistakes. But also, you’ll learn and continue with a bit more knowledge on this long haul journey of weight lifting for life.

8 Weight Lifting Lessons:

1 | Strength is a skill. Load conservatively and focus on the pattern.

2 | There is probably a way to move WITH your pain, and even use movement to decrease said pain.

3 | Get used to working the same 10-15 exercises and variations of them for-literally-ever.

4 | You don’t need to train or test 1 rep maxes to increase strength.

5 | Mobility is more important than you think. And mobility is NOT stretching (that’s flexibility). When mobility is intentionally built into your program, you’ll feel it.

6 | Working pillar strength outside of the axial load of heavy lifts will likely have positive carryover into most exercises.

7 | Wear flat shoes

8 | Always re-rack your weights – at home or in a gym. It’s a discipline that will have carry over into the rest of your life. It is a respect to yourself, the space and the process. Let’s go.

So which ones have been your biggest aha/realization?

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