Fitness Tips - My Weights Routine

So I have finally got round to posting about fitness. I have had a few people ask me on my instagram page what I do at the gym (https://www.instagram.com/piafashionandlifestyle/​). I am by no means a fitness expert, however I have learned a few things along the way that may be able to help others starting out on their fitness journey - and that's what this post is all about. Specifically, I want to talk about my weight training routine - and no ladies, lifting weights will not make you bulky! Although that being said, I am only little so I'm not exactly winning any prizes for strongest lifter in the gym!

Most of what I've learned has come from my boyfriend who is pretty knowledgeable in this area (after all, he does have a Doctorate and a Sport Science degree), therefore this would probably be my first tip: find someone who can help you. It doesn't have to be a paid personal trainer, it doesn't have to be an olympic athlete - just someone who knows a little more than you do who can help you along the way.

Before I even talk about my routine ... or exercises ... or anything like that, my second tip is to find a routine that you enjoy. The best routine for you is one you are committed to doing consistently. So things like how many days you train ... or what training split you choose ... or what exercises you pick ... should largely come down to what you enjoy to do.

"How many days do I lift weights?" - Well, right now I aim for 3 weights sessions a week. There are other things I like to do outside to keep me fit, but these are topics for another blog post if you'd be interested? Some weeks I may do more weights sessions than this - for example, if I am training together with my boyfriend at the weekend, then I may be doing 4 or 5 weights sessions a week. Set yourself a minimum target and anything above that is a bonus.

"How do I structure my training days?" - As I aim for 3 weights sessions a week, there were 3 ways that I could have structured my sessions:

1) 3 full-body sessions (where I train every muscle group)

2) a lower body / upper body split (meaning on one training day I would train legs and on the other I would train everything else)

3) a legs / push / pull split (where on session 1 I train legs, session 2 I train chest, shoulders and triceps and on session 3 I train back and biceps)

For me, a legs/push/pull split is most enjoyable - it means I can spend a lot of time focusing on each muscle group but it also means I can get my sessions completed quickly which is really beneficial given my hectic lifestyle. Doing a legs/push/pull split means that I can go into the gym on different days and still have enough recovery for all of my sessions (so, I'm not one of these people who will go every Monday, every Friday etc, it will change from week to week)

"What exercises do you actually do on each day?" - I will write another post about this, but for me right now - I follow some key principles on each of my days that allow me to pick the right exercises. For example:

Leg day - I aim for 1 compound exercise for both my quads and hamstrings, along with 1 isolation exercises for them both

Push day - I aim for 2 types of chest movements (1 press and 1 fly); 2 types of shoulder movements (1 press and 1 lateral) and 2 types of tricep movements (1 push down and 1 overhead)

Pull day - I aim for 2 types of back movements (1 vertical pull and 1 horizontal pull); 1 movement for my rear delts and 2 bicep movements.

If you're reading this and thinking "what does this even mean?!" then DON'T WORRY! I was in the same boat not so long ago! In the next few posts, I will go into a lot more detail about all of the above and you can even try some of the exercises the next time you're in the gym!

However, if you can't wait that long, please drop me a message https://www.instagram.com/piafashionandlifestyle.

Credit: piafashionandlifestyle