We’ve all heard about the importance of exercise, but when you’ve been sedentary for a period of time it is tough to work out where to start. This applies to both men and women alike.

The human body is a very adaptive mechanism. Treat it properly and it will improve by getting stronger and healthier. Neglect it and it will “adapt” to that as well – by acquiring “lifestyle diseases” like Type II Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.

The key is understanding where to start to reap the benefits without sending yourself over the edge. A properly tailored resistance training program (also known as weight or strength training) provides the following benefits:

• Develops stronger and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• Increases your resting metabolic rate as you gain muscle, which helps your body burn energy more efficiently, aiding with weight control.
• Stronger muscles protect your joints from injury and also help with the maintenance of general function helping you to remain independent as you age.
• Improves your stamina meaning you don’t fatigue as easily.
• Improves your self imagine and body imagine lowering the incidence of depression.
• Enhances sleep patterns.
• Offsets the incidence of myriad of lifestyle diseases including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes and obesity.

Well rounded exercise programs, such as the one’s designed here at Guy Leech Fitness incorporate tailored, personalised components of aerobic exercise – to improve your heart and lung fitness, as well as a flexibility (stretching) component and some strength training. The appropriate fitness plans will help you build lean muscle and lose weight in a controlled manner.

Ideally the strength component of your training plan should be completed at least twice a week for beginners building up to three sessions as you become stronger. All the major muscles of the body (legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms) should be worked and the program should be general in nature ultimately incorporating 2-3 sets of between 10-15 repetitions of each exercise.

Remember, if you’ve been largely sedentary for the last couple of years and are a male (35 or older) or a female (40 or older), particularly if you have a pre-existing medical condition, consult with your doctor before starting any new exercise or nutrition program.

Once you have these formalities out of the way it’s time to get started. A typical beginner’s strength training program includes 8 to 10 exercises designed to work all the body’s major muscle groups. Begin with one set of each exercise, comprising as few as 5 repetitions, no more than twice a week. Ultimately aiming to 2-3 sets of 10 to 15 reps, every second or third day. Once you can comfortably do 15 reps of an exercise you need to increase the load against which your body is working by either increasing the weight or increasing the number of repetitions performed (see progressive overload principal below).

Before launching into your strength training exercises, it is important to warm up. This is where your aerobic exercise and flexibility exercises can be incorporated into your exercise program.

Some examples of resistance training?

Basically anything that requires your body to work against a resistance greater than what it experiences in everyday life. You can use any of the following:

• Free weights – classic strength training tools such as dumbbells, barbells or kettle weights.
• Weight machines – devices that have adjustable seats with handles attached to either pulley weights or hydraulics.
• Resistance bands – these are like giant rubber bands that provide resistance when stretched.
• Body weight – you can do many exercises with no equipment just using your own body weight (e.g. push-ups, crunches and squats.).
• Water based activities. Simply moving your limbs against water provides greater resistance than what you experience on dry land. Water based resistance training is ideal if you are in the midst of rehabilitation or extremely overweight and looking for a gentler exercise option as a starting point.

The basic principals and terminology around strength training:

• Program – your overall fitness program comprising your aerobic exercise, flexibility/stretching routine and strength training.
• Weight/resistance – different weights, for example a 3kg dumb bell or a resistance band used for different exercises within your strength training program.
• Exercise – a particular movement designed to target a specific muscle or muscle groups (e.g. Bicep curl to target the bicep muscle or push up designed to target the chest, shoulders and back of the arms).
• Repetitions or ‘reps’ – the number of times you repeat each exercise in a set.
• Set – a group of repetitions performed without resting (e.g. Two sets of bench press with 12 reps would mean you do 12 bench presses then rest for 45-90 seconds before completing another 12 reps of bench press).
• Rest – the break you take between sets.
• Circuit – moving quickly from one exercise to the next with little or no break between the exercises.
• Variety – in order to maintain enthusiasm and continue to force the body to adapt and improve it is important to regularly change your program. Even in resistance training variety is the spice of life!  
• Progressive overload principle – as mentioned  previously; the human body is a very adaptive mechanism. To keep it improving your training loads need to be completed to the point where it's hard for you to do another repetition. The aim is to provide enough resistance to fatigue the muscle group and force it to adapt (i.e. Become stronger, improve it’s endurance, etc. – whatever is the goal of the training program). To achieve this you’ll need to make regular adjustments to the training variables such as frequency, duration, exercises for each muscle group, resistance used, the number of sets and repetitions completed.
• Recovery – muscles only improve when adequate time and appropriate nutrition is provided for repair and growth after a training session. With strength training that is a period of at least 24-48 hours before a training stimulus (i.e. Another strength training session) can be applied once more.

Keep it safe by:

• Form, form, form. Learn how to execute an exercise correctly and make sure that appropriate technique is always applied. This greatly lowers the risk of injury. If you're not sure whether or not you’re doing an exercise properly seek guidance from an appropriate health professional such as an exercise physiologist or physiotherapist.
• Start conservatively. The biggest barrier to exercise adherence is when people launch head long into a training program that is way too intense and difficult for their level of fitness. They end up sore or worse still injured, disillusioned and quit. By starting conservatively and building slowly and progressively over time (a) you’re more likely to adhere to your exercise program in the long term and (b) achieve your long term health and fitness goals. Remember back to the progressively overload principal discussed above! This is something your need to do for the rest of your life – not two weeks here and there.
• Breathe! Never hold your breath when exercising. With strength training breathe holding increases blood pressure significantly and can be dangerous for those individuals who are so predisposed (e.g. Suffers of high blood pressure).
• Where possible work with a “spotter” someone who can help you maintain your form if necessary. You need to control the resistance at all times whether raising or lowering the weight rather than swinging it through the range of motion. Re-read the first point in this section – form, form, form!

Exercise is essential for all of us. It is as important to our wellbeing as eating and sleeping.

When you’ve been sedentary for a period of time the key when commencing an exercise program is to ensure that it is tailored to, and appropriate for, YOUR level of fitness so as to avoid any potential pitfalls.