Weight training…it works, but I’m finding it frightfully dull

[FourForYouGlenCoco1]

I started a training program back in August with an online coach, which consists of mostly weight training (3-4 sessions per week) with the aim of progressive overload. The results are great: I’m getting stronger and I’m dropping inches.

However, I find the repetition utterly dull (Bulgarian split squats in particular 😩). The thought that this is probably the best I can do for my body and health and that it has to be done FOR THE REST OF MY DAYS makes me shudder!

Has anyone grown to love it?? Any advice, or do I just need to get over it?!

What about trying crossfit? I love it, such a good mix of classes...olympic lifting, strength, gymnastics.

As per pp, it might well be that I'm not working out hard enough but I definitely listen to music, podcasts or audio books. Usually music while I'm doing cardio and then a podcast or book when I'm doing weights

Nobody loves Bulgarian split squats!

Ain't that the truth. I have fallen for weights hard but I still hate Bulgarian lunges. shudder

But being strong, seeing yourself get stronger, seeing muscle definition develop under your skin is such a trip. Once upon a time I could barely manage a dead hang and now I can do multiple chinups.

I'd go to a in person PT as has been suggested. I love weights but my coaches change stuff up, and I get a good crack. Onlines useful but I wouldn't like to do it full time.

@DreadPirateRobots
I absolutely love being strong and seeing muscle definition! I once got complimented on my strong legs at the gym which was pretty cool IMO
I can do pull ups but not from a dead hang so 💪🏼 to you.

Start going to some f45 classes, lots of weights, amazing results, and super fast and interesting.

Body pump does build muscle , any exercise that challenges your muscles and fatigues them will. I like that it’s a bit cardio I always come out on a high

@Menopants body pump tones the muscle, it’s cardio with weights.
To build muscle you need to lift as heavy as possible, in the 8-12 rep range and rest inbetween sets. If you don’t rest I.e do a 5 minute track, it’s cardio.

I am having this discussion with DH who lifts heavy weights at the gym whereas I have started Body pump. Surely the person who does body pump has stronger muscles than someone who doesn’t do it. Maybes not as strong as someone who does heavier weights and fewer reps but there must be some change.

Maybe, @VoyagerOfTheTeenYears but the proof is in the pudding, as it were.

If you've been going to Pump for a little while and the amount of weight you've got on the bar has increased significantly then you're getting stronger. If you're still lifting the same light weights then you're not.

I quite like Pump for being a fun way to spend an hour, but never saw real results from it the way I do from lifting heavy weights.

Here are some ideas:

(1) Lift even heavier. You might need a different coach for this - a strength coach not a regular all-round gym coach. I compete in a strength sport. My coaching is expensive but worth it. For me Bulgarian split squats are an accessory exercise not the main event which involves lifting heavy barbells. If you already have a home gym setup with a squat rack you are well equipped to explore this.
(2) Try a different strength sport: Olympic weightlifting (the sport that is in the Olympics, lifting the weights above the head), or strongman/strongwoman (like “world’s strongest man”, lugging around stones and that sort of thing)
(3) I did BodyPump at the beginning of my strength training journey and I do like it. It gets results quickly and the music is motivating. However my experience is that BodyPump is limiting; your strength will reach a plateau and because the programming is the same class after class it becomes challenging to progress beyond that.
(4) Just do something else entirely. Strength training is great but the best sport is the one you enjoy doing. Climbing (as in rock climbing); CrossFit/Hyrox (not my thing but lots of people love it); that military fitness thing where you run around a park being shouted at (ditto).

If you want to find out more about lifting heavy Mumsnet has a board for it: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_weights_room

Here is an explanation about the heavy weights low reps etc.

https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-correct-number-of-reps-per-set-in-the-gym/

Yes, if you lift lighter weights hundreds of times you will get better at doing that. And it may be a good way to get into lifting, with a good instructor, and is a good conditioning workout. But if you want to be able to lift heavy weights a few times, to build more muscle and strength, you mainly need to practise that. I do a mix of calisthenics (so currently working on weighted pull ups, albeit low weights) and weights and I might do 15-20 reps for warm up, but then drop down for working sets - usually between 3 and 10.

OP, that sounds very boring, especially as you are doing it all at home (on your own?). I think that's a big ask. It is great you are seeing results but I would look to mix it up somehow, either by changing programme or joining a gym, or getting some PT in a park (someone near me does small group strength training in the park so cheaper than usual) or something.....it is clearly working for you so would be a shame to fizzle out tho I quite see why you are bored.

Me too! I do cardio as a reward to myself, after weights.

I listen to podcasts or audiobooks while exercising which helps me if I am finding it tedious - is that an option for you, OP?

If you have a squat rack and bench, you are not limited!

I see a PT once a week, he does me a programme of 3 workouts per week, which he changes every 4 weeks. So there's not time to get bored. Once I've done it 4 times, I'm on to the next one...

Do some raving in your kitchen and throw in some plyometrics.

This is a good one. I can only manage three rounds though at the moment 😆

www.self.com/story/jump-squat-cardio-circuit

I wonder if the Own Your Menopause might make a useful addition to your PT sessions? There are usually offers on it, I paid £80 for a year and there are lots of workouts including strength, pilates and yoga. They vary from about 20 minutes long to about 45 I think and cover all levels and basic equipment.

I don't think you need to be peri-menopausal to benefit from it.

Another option might be the Strength and Conditioning and Yoga for Runners app. It's not just for runners, though it's aimed at them. For £10 a month you get a weekly strength session plus a weekly yoga session and the entire back catalogue. Most sessions are based on the premise that you are at home and don't have fancy equipment.

Also if you are really keen on strength, look up Strength Coach Claire.

I fear the essential problem is that all exercise is tedious beyond endurance. I have yet to find a solution, so am currently fat and flabby, with weights gathering dust in the corner.

OP, sounds like you need a new coach, someone who will help you set goals and push you a bit harder.

I LOVE lifting weights, for me it is meditative and is a great supplement to my hectic life. I do steady state cardio alongside it. Also, the health benefits for women lifting heavy stuff are incredible. However I know a lot of people don't find it as great, but a lot of that is because they haven't found their motivation for it.

As @erinaceus says, I am also a competitive lifter, and my programme is very different to a generic keeping fit programme.

Have you tried something like crossfit or military fitness? Both are multifactored and have a social element to them. Your at home setup will then give you lots of opportunity to progress quickly!

Also, I find body pump part of the franchise of "exercise to tone" bullsh*t. Toning is not really a thing, other than a word developed for women who are scared of getting "too muscular" which is very difficult for most....

Looking more sculpted is down to building muscle and getting leaner to show that muscle off. You cannot build decent muscle by lifting 5kg weights week in, week out. It is however better than doing nothing....

Try a class or look up Caroline girvan on YouTube…her workouts are great! She also has an app now but I think it’s about £10 a month and I think she still has quite a lot of free stuff on YouTube

I find it dull, difficult, don't really enjoy it, but do it consistently because it's good for me. I feel great when it's over!

Listen to a podcast while you're doing it?

as others have suggested in a class, group setting might be more enjoyable.

F45 do strength/weight training classes

Another vote for Caroline Gibran.

Boredom is pain
no pain no gain🤷🏻‍♀️😬