10 Top Tips For Strength Training That I Shared With My Daughter Today

Today was a special day at the gym for me.

My 17 year old online-schooled daughter Mia joined me for the first time.

I didn’t push it by suggesting that we do a selfie together. That will hopefully come, lol.

Fortunately, I seem to be a slightly less embarrassing mother than before.

I think it’s partly due to the new muscles I got.

I’m so happy that its inspired and motivated her.

It was awesome to work out with her and alternate on the same machines.

Actually, it would be an unexpected top bonus from this journey, if we can do this together.

She was full of questions in the car afterwards and I thought I’d share the 10 main tips I gave her.

For background, she does not need to shed any fat. I do not want her to calorie count or calculate her macros, but I do want her to get results that she feels excited about.

So here’s the tips I gave her:

1. Eat protein with every meal. increase your protein intake, especially on the days you train. Also, eat lots of fruit and veg and carbs of course. Then you will lift stronger if you are well fueled.

2. Eat something before and after you train. It’s recommended to have protein within 45 minutes of your workout. A handful of almonds will do the trick with some fruit.

3. Do 3 or 4 sets of circa 12 - 15 reps for each exercise.

4. Go to failure on the last set. That means that you push to or beyond your limit. That way your muscle gets the message that it needs to grow.

5. Focus on you at the gym. Drop any shyness or fears you have about what others think. They are too focused on their journey to care and this is your journey. Be serious if you want serious results.

6. Avoid injury by focusing on form. Don’t be shy about asking the trainers if your form is correct. Also watch YouTube videos as some explain form well. I like The Sculpted Vegan’s explanations, so I search on her videos. I'd additionally recommend 10 minutes daily stretching - yoga or pilates.

7. Focus on strength training over cardio. Cardio is great, but if you want to build muscle, you’ve got to focus on that, especially since you don’t want to burn fat.

8. The DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness - that you will have tomorrow is unavoidable. Walking down the stairs will hurt. It will be gone in a few days and wont come back. It will only return if you stop strength training for a while and then return to it.

9. Stay serious and focused. Try not to be on your phone. This is your time for you. It’s like meditation. You need to rest between sets for about 90 seconds. Don’t delay that, especially between your first and second sets when you go lighter. Other people might be waiting to use your machine. Also, it’s better for your muscle growth to not wait too long.

10. Last tip - but the most important one - CONSISTENCY IS KEY. Commit to a schedule and stick to it. Show up on the days that you don’t feel like it. Prioritize it over your social life. You’ll start to feel so amazing from it after a few weeks that you will thank yourself for it.

If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well. It's a pity to spend hours exercising to only get meagre results. You don’t have to kill or starve yourself. You just need to understand what’s effective and efficient.

I haven't spoken about the food side of things in this post, but if you want to burn fat, then I've lots of great tips on that topic too.

But I promise you that your biggest obstacle on this journey will be the resistance you feel inside your own mind. That's why I recommend you join The FIT Program - it's 30 bite-size lessons packed with information and motivation around fat-burning and staying on track with food etc. I understand the resistance. I feel it too, especially with the food side of things. But there are things you can do to help yourself. Having rock solid boundaries is definitely one of them. Message me if you are interested to join us. It's an evergreen program which means that you can access the trainings according to your schedule, but if you want to follow the last grueling 2 weeks of my intense 3 month FIT journey, then now is a good time to come join in!

The physical and mental health benefits of choosing this lifestyle are too many to mention. I'd love you to discover them for yourself.