Imperfect Action - Strength Training

As a reminder from the blog post in December: 

Imperfect action

‘the practice of taking steps toward a goal, even if they are not perfect, to gain momentum and make progress.’

So we imagine you have read the last post and you have done a month of increased walking and activity and you feel as though you’re ready to start incorporating a more structured form of exercising. (if not go back to December and have a read! :) )

Strength training increases muscle mass, increases bone density and assists in fat loss, which ultimately helps lower the risk of long term health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. 

For mental health, strength training can be a great way to give you time to lift weights and only ‘lift weights’ - a great way to practice mindfulness and give you a focus and attention to something outside of your daily stresses. This can be a healthy way to manage your stress whilst being beneficial to your mind and body. Particularly important in our lives as medical students and/or doctors.

So how do you start strength training? 

Look at your starting point and ask yourself these questions: 

• Have you ever stepped foot in a gym before? 

• Do you have any anxiety around going into the gym? 

• If you have been to the gym before what barriers stopped you continuing/going back? 

We want to understand baseline and set goals that align with them. 

Then, we need to start gently, try getting to the gym once/twice a week to see if you manage to get there and where you fit the gym into your normal routine. Aiming for longevity and kindness to yourself - remembering that each session is a form of meditation and self care. After a couple of weeks you can reassess to increase these sessions or keep them as they are. Remember we aren’t jumping into 4 sessions a week straight away and then giving up after 2 weeks - we are doing things imperfectly! 

Helpful tips: 

• Sometimes joining a class with a set time and day can be a helpful thing to do when you get started to add extra motivation and accountability. 

  
  

• Knowing what exercises you’re wanting to do before you get into the gym is really helpful and can take away the extra layers of anxiety that can be present for new gym goers. You can google work out videos, use apps, discuss with friends who already train - or you can get a coach to add in some extra support. Fill out an excel spreadsheet with what you want to do before the session and record the weights you are lifting - let’s give ourselves some positive feedback to encourage the habit. Seeing the weights go up each week and seeing the times you have turned up can really really help boost your mood and commitment.

  
  

• Take a friend! The gym can be a wonderful community and when you have a busy medic schedule socialising can feel hard to manage sometimes. Exercising together is a great way to chat and create a positive environment for each other. 

Finally, strength training is not for everybody and if you have tried and you don’t like it - that’s absolutely fine! There are many sports and exercise styles to help your mind and body. There is no ‘one size fits all’ to any of us, trying out different exercises and sports is great fun and an excellent way to build healthy hobbies and support your mental health. 

By Dr H Thompson