My body and me (part 2)
Lifting weights and resistance training - how it started
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It has taken me a couple of weeks for me to return to a topic that I started about exercise, and my relationship with my body. The brief pause was due to the amount of stuff I wanted to say about the topic, but also about how emotive the topic felt at the time of my post first (and still feels). Anyway, this post is about how I was first introduced to lifting weights and became hooked.
If someone had told me when I was younger, or just when I was younger than 34, that the longest and most consistent relationship I would have with a form of exercise would have been lifting weights, I would have laughed and then dismissed it.
Me, lifting weights? You must be joking.
It is not as though I had never lifted weights before the age of 34, but my previous experiences in the weights area of a gym consisted of picking something up from the weight racks such as a dumbbell, realising that it was heavy, and then returning it to where I found it. I wandered aimlessly in the weight areas of gyms like a ghostly apparition, as if I found myself there disoriented on the way to somewhere else.
More than anything, I felt like I didn’t belong. Weightlifting just wasn’t for me. That’s what I told myself.
It’s a bit of convoluted story to how I began lifting weights in my mid-30s, but the super short version relates to a low point with my mental health that coincided with finding an advert online for a local female-only class-based resistance training gym1. Add to the mix that my only main form of physical activity was walking around the school site at break/lunch and between classrooms where I was working at the time.
After a week’s worth of rather hellish introductory sessions at the female-only gym, I was asked by one of the receptionists if I wanted to buy a batch of sessions (like a ClassPass) that were valid for a few months or if I would consider taking out a full membership. Both options had their merits and drawbacks, a batch of sessions would provide greater flexibility, but I discovered that those with a full membership would get priority booking for the classes. On the other hand, the membership option was expensive, and a part of me balked at the idea of paying what was a decent sum of money for a gym membership each month, but the upside was that I could attend unlimited sessions.
After a little consideration, I thought that if I was going to get ‘fit’, then I needed to demonstrate some commitment, which in this case, would be reflected in my bank balance. So, I went for the minimum membership option which at the time was for six months.
After years of feeling lost in open-gyms, the basic setup of how this gym operated felt revolutionary by comparison. All of the sessions were class-based and the vast majority involved strength/resistance training, although there were some spinning classes, yoga, and mobility sessions offered. One of the trainers developed the programming so that they were able to ensure that the movements built upon one another, but were not repetitive from week-to-week, or class-to-class. As the gym had a strength focus, the principles of progressive overload were adopted to avoid plateauing, and so over time additional weights and/or reps would be added based on your comfort and levels of exertion (or RPE)2. Also, every few months, the gym held testing days, where some movements were assessed to see if there had been any changes to a particular load that you were able to squat, press, and lift.
I was also introduced to different types of equipment and movements that would have left my head spinning in the old OG (open-gym) days: TRXs (suspension weight training), gorilla rows, sleds, power-cleans… the list goes on, but the superb trainers were always on hand, no matter your ability. And speaking of the trainers, they helped me become better acquainted with the broader world of resistance training. They educated me about nutrition, the benefits of lifting weights for the body, particularly for females as we get older, and the power of having a plan and routine for a workout. It felt like I was learning something new and exciting in each session.
During the first membership block, I attended roughly three classes a week. And for the most part I stuck to this. There were days when I was tired, hormonal, lazy, feeling crappy/was genuinely ill, and I did cancel individual sessions. I just wasn’t feeling it. There were also times when I would drag my ass there and found that if I managed to get through just a part of the session, by the end, I felt better for it.
And then before I knew it, my first membership block was up. The same receptionist at the gym approached me from six months earlier, and following a chat about my experiences, she asked if I was interested in another membership.
I did not hesitate – yes! And this time, I signed on for another two-years!3
Six and a bit years later after I first entered a resistance training gym, and I have moved to another facility that offers something a bit different in terms of the goals and direction I have with my fitness now. It’s a fab place, and there are men there too! But I will always look back at the female-only gym will deep affection and warm memories (some sweaty ones too!), because I now have the skills and knowledge to head to the weight areas of open gyms, and rather than wander about like a ghostly apparition, I can hold my own.
And I have also rephrased some of my self-talk about lifting weights, being in the gym, and generally how I see my body: I do belong here.
Although I love lifting weights, I appreciate that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Maybe you tried it, and hated it. And to offer some balance, there are lots of different exercise modalities beyond the world of resistance training that are awesome too!
Thanks for stopping by, and if there is something in this piece that resonated, let me know by liking, leaving a comment, or sharing it with a friend (and they don’t necessarily have to be into weights).
Sarah xx
That is a mouthful! And resistance training is used interchangeably with strength training, and weight training.
Important to note here, that there was an added incentive to sign up for a longer contract as this meant that the monthly membership payments were reduced.
I'd love to find a place like this near me. I'm going to do some googling later!
The first time I experienced what it's like to exercise in a gym was in 2018 at the grand old age of 42. ☺️ And it was by chance and while on a holiday in Phuket, Thailand. I was feeling energy drained and depressed from work and my life experience had reached to that point of gloomy days on end. I took a sabbatical to figure out what to do next. I knew I wanted to experience something different to recharge at the beginning of the sabbatical before doing the work of figuring out what to do with my life. Asked a friend in Singapore (my hometown) for suggestions on what to do on a sabbatical - had not taken one and didn't know anyone then close to me who did it - and she came back with this place Phuket Cleanse https://www.phuketcleanse.com/. At the time of speaking, she said she hadn't been there but 2 or 3 of her colleagues had taken sabbaticals and been there for a period of time. I was drawn to the opportunity of not having to think about what to eat and do as this is an all-inclusive package. Had not experienced many of the activities listed and I thought, "Why not?!" At the end of my 10 days stay, I had tried different kinds of yoga, aqua dancing, dancing classes, muay thai, breath work, strength class, soundbath meditation etc., ate fantastic delicious vegan food that I never knew possible and met many people who were on their on life transition journeys with familiar and unfamiliar experiences to mine. Oh boy, it was such a treat to be sampling so many kinds of activities and I left
feeling energised and my mind at peace, and most of all, I knew what types of exercise activities I really enjoyed and that group classes is a accountability structure I need to keep me exercising. Since then, I signed up for gyms that offer a wide variety of classes and try different classes in the beginning to see what I might enjoy.