Muscle Motivation

MUSCLE

MOTIVATION

Building muscle has more benefits than you may realize!

STORY BY RACHEL KEELE PHOTO BY RAYNO VICTOR DESIGN BY KEITH BULLARD

As a personal trainer, group fitness instructor, nutrition coach and manager of the Andreasen Center for Wellness, a lot of people share their personal fitness goals with me. What do I hear more than anything else? People want to be stronger! Of course, people still want to “look good”, but gone are the days of focusing on weight loss or aesthetics alone.

Incorporating strength training into a workout routine has many benefits. While it can help create a toned or muscular physique by increasing muscle mass, it also helps manage overall weight, as muscle requires more energy to exist in your body than fat does. This means that the more muscle you have, the more calories you will use, even when not exercising. In addition, the body tends to take longer to recover from strength workouts than those workouts that are purely cardiovascular (such as jogging or cycling). This means that while you may burn more calories during a run compared to a lifting session, you will probably burn more calories in the hours, and in some cases days, following a challenging strength workout.

Perhaps most importantly, increasing strength inevitably increases ability. Whether it’s hitting a baseball further, managing a heavier pack on your next hiking trip, or carrying all your groceries into the house in one trip, building strength will improve your everyday life.

Just like exercise in general, there is no “one size fits all” for strength training. Ultimately, strength is built through resistance. This can be achieved with a loaded barbell (via power lifting, Olympic lifting, cross training, etc.), free weights (such as kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands, sandbags and all manner of weighted items), and even just the weight of our bodies. In a pinch, I’ve been known grab some books or the Costco-size bottle of laundry detergent to make a quick home workout tougher. Whatever you use, keep this goal in mind: you’re looking for muscle “failure”. This means your last few reps should be very hard to impossible and you should feel sore later.

While there are likely millions of strength workouts available online, here’s one to try! You’ll need a set of dumbbells and about 20 minutes.

Perform three to five rounds of the following movements, 10-20 reps each. The number of rounds and reps you choose could be based on how heavy your weights are or how much time you have. Just remember that last round should be tough!

Rachel Keele is the Director for University Wellness and the Andreasen Center for Wellness. She received an MA in Educational Psychology from Andrews University and is a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach and group fitness instructor. Rachel enjoys spending time with her husband, Donnie Keele who serves as Dean of Men at AU, as well as their two dogs. She also loves cooking, eating and contemplating food.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s a quick workout to point you in the right direction.

Renegade Row: Start in a plank position with arms extended and hands gripping the dumbbells on the floor. Make sure they’re lined up under the shoulders, you have a straight line from shoulders to heels, and you’re bracing the muscles through your core. Pick one hand up and pull the elbow straight back until the dumbbell is next to your rib cage, then return the dumbbell to the floor and do the same motion on the other arm. Do your best to keep your chest pointed down towards the mat throughout the movement.

Goblet Squat: Start standing tall with the feet under the shoulders and holding a dumbbell against your chest with elbows pulled in. Brace your core and begin the squat by pushing the hips backwards, like you’re sitting down on a stool. Then bend the knees and continue to lower the hips, keeping your chest up, weight in the heels and knees in line with the toes (not drifting in towards the middle). Reverse the movement to return to your starting position.

Reverse Suitcase Lunge: Start

standing tall with dumbbells hanging by your sides (like you’re holding a suitcase in each hand). Draw the belly button into the spine and brace the core as you step back with one leg, dropping the knee down to the floor, keeping the chest up. At the bottom of the movement, the front knee should be over the ankle, and the back knee should be under the hip. Keep the weight in the front heel as you step back to the starting position. Repeat on the other side.

Hammer Curl to Press: Start

standing tall with feet under the hips and arms hanging to your sides, palms facing the thighs. Draw the belly button in towards your spine. Leave the upper arms in place as you bend the elbow and draw the dumbbells up to your shoulders to complete the curl. From there, extend the arms, driving the dumbbells straight up to the ceiling, finishing with the arms fully extended and in line with the ears.

Don’t arch your back!

Glute Bridge Floor Press: Lie

on the floor with your elbow at your sides and dumbbells pointed up towards the ceiling. Bend the knees placing the heels on the floor under the knees. Press the shoulders into the floor as you push the hips up toward the ceiling, trying to create a straight line from shoulders to knees. Hold this position as you extend the arms, pressing the dumbbells up towards the ceiling. Lower the dumbbells and repeat the pressing motion keeping the hips up until the reps are complete.