Adventures in the weightroom

Junior high P.E. was a blast. It was before my rebellious days of refusing to dress out in high school. In high school I would 'forget' my clothes then sit grumpily on the bleachers reading books while everyone else threw straight and could run laps without dry heaving.

Junior high was different. In junior high everyone was energetic and wanted to have a good time. There were no favorites on teams because jocks hadn't yet come to be. We all participated in some after school sports (for me it was a short lived week in track, and then a year of cheerleading) so when it came time for P.E. we all played together. We had lessons on the rules of football, dodgeball, hockey, and jump rope. And then there was a two-week lesson on the weight room. Even in the carefree days of junior high I was intimidated by the weight room. I tried the bench press. I tried the overhead press. But I found myself most comfortable with leg exercises. My friends and I spent the two weeks hanging out on the leg press and leg curl machines.

I've been wanting to try weight lifting for some time now. Every now and then I do some exercises at home with dumbbells. But I know that to increase my performance with running, and to do a handstand press, I need to do weight lifting. Resistance training in general is so good for the body. It increases muscle endurance, build muscle mass, and increase bone mass which can prevent osteoporosis.

Yeah...not nearly that much weight

For the first time today in over a decade I went to the weight room. And I was so intimidated. I just stared around at everyone, my classmates included, moving around with ease and comfortable with what they were doing. I clung to my teacher like she was a lifeboat guiding me to safety. She showed me a couple different machine exercises such as chest flies and lat pull downs. She had me do the familiar leg curls. And then we moved on to squats.

I know squats are one of the most important exercises out there. Along with bench press and deadlifts they make up the core of most weight lifting routines (see Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe). These are all known as compound lifts. Unlike curls which isolate and work only one muscle, compound lifts work multiple muscles and therefore accomplish more. A curl will work the bicep, but a bench press will work many muscles in the chest and arms.

I've done body weight squats at home but have always second-guessed my form. So my teacher walked me through how to do squats with a barbell both over the shoulders and in front of the chest. She said that for the most part my form is good, though I do have a tendency to cross my toes over my knees. I did 3 sets of 5 with just the bar (45lb) then added on 10lbs for another 3 reps.

While I didn't do many lifts, today was a huge step forward to me. Hopefully next time I step foot in a weight room I won't feel so intimidated.