We already have a thread on weight loss, and some of us have been using this thread to discuss our fitness goals. However I think it deserves it's own thread, especially when it comes to strength training. Strength training is an underrated exercise. I rarely see women doing it, and even men too often just try to bulk up their arm while neglecting their legs and back. It's important to be strong all over. I get pain from doing simple tasks, and it's because I'm weak. Having weak muscles leads to bad posture, which makes me walk slow and hold pencils wrong. Larger muscles also burn a lot of calories, and improve your athletic performance in every way.
About a week ago my uncle started taking me to the gym to teach me how to build muscle. He is extremely strong and knows a lot on this subject, so this is basically like getting a personal trainer for free. He actually offered this 3 months ago, but I did too much stuff this summer so never took him up on the offer. Now he has a demanding full time job and parenting but he still takes the time to teach me.
Last Saturday we started with legs. I was incredibly sore for days after that, but I already felt stronger in my legs. I have been told the first day is really bad but once you get used to it it doesn't feel that bad. This makes sense because I haven't done a real workout since my teens, and I have never done serious strength training in my life. Then Sunday we did arms. I took a break, and for the last 4 days I kind of went nuts and did 4 days in a row of workouts. I did arms and legs again with him, then on Saturday and Sunday we did chest and triceps, and back. These are all the major muscle groups he said I should focus on right now.
Other than normal soreness I haven't had any bad experiences, except my left trapezius is currently in a lot of discomfort from shrugging the wrong way. It feels warm, like a sunburn. You can get seriously hurt by lifting weights with bad posture, but it's difficult to have good posture without good muscles, so it's kind of a catch 22. Overall I feel great, much better than I feel after most forms of exercise, except today I just feel exhausted because I pushed myself too hard.
I'm also going to physical therapy to fix my shoulder posture issues. My right shoulder is much less flexible than my left, and my shoulders hunch forward too much. This is because my front muscles are stronger than my back muscles. This posture causes me to get pain in my trapezius when I draw.
Everyone share your experiences, progress, and questions here.