Am I doing the right thing?

[girafferafferaffe]

I currently do 20 minutes a day strength training using the apple fitness+ app and my watch. I use 5kg weights (started with 3kg). Is this too light? I ache after doing them and I feel that I am more toned and I'm getting better at push-ups etc. I have a shoulder injury so I am trying to build my strength back up on that side too. I have been cutting down to around 1200-1400 cals so I am hoping to lose weight too.

Currently 13 stone 5.8 and 5'6' height.

It depends what you are doing with them, to be honest. Whatever weight you use is going to be about right for the exercise if you can do maximum 12 good quality reps but couldn't really face doing many more. Aching after doing them is not always the sign of an effective session. That said, if you are trying to rehab an injury then you need to be careful and ideally will have had advice on what (and how much) to do by a physio.

What exercises are you doing with them?

Are you able to find a local PT? With a previous injury it would be useful to get advice to avoid making it worse whilst getting the exercise you want.

The advice is for it to not be too easy so you can breeze through a set. In a set of 10 it should be challenging by rep 6-8.

I think with 5kg presses for example are definitely hard by 6-8 reps. There are PTs near me but it's finding the money/time for them (I work, come home, exercise, then go and get my 4 year old).

I do the fitness+ strength workouts which are usually mixes of squats, lunges, rows, curls, presses, flys, press ups etc.

As others have said, you need to train to failure. And you need to have a progressive programme because our bodies are clever and they adapt. So you don’t get the training effect after a while.

Have a look a MegSquats on YouTube. She has a couple of videos explaining how you plan a progressive programme for yourself.

But if you want to get stronger you also need to eat appropriately. I’m not sure that 1200 calories is enough! Could you up it to 1500? But make sure you’re getting a lot of protein. Serious heavy weight training people say that it should be up to 30% of your daily intake.

Yep, as pp said, to get strong you need to eat. I aim for 100-120g protein/day with my weight training.

I do eat a lot of protein currently but I will definitely try to eat more. It's really difficult to find a balance between trying to lose the fat I have but also put on muscle !

Try Caroline Girvan!!

But start off using HALF the weights she's using.

EPIC 1, 2, 3, BeastMode, Epic Heat...... plus loads of shorter workouts, both targetted and full-body.

Seriously, you'll never look back - she'll change your life.

I'm similar as I'm trying to lose weight but wanting to get stronger. I recently discovered that warming up protein bars (grenade ones) make a delicious dessert (20g protein).

Thanks all you've been really helpful. I try to think to myself that the main thing is I can now run around with my daughter and not be exhausted. Just wish I was a bit skinnier!! Haha

The other thing is add is that 20 minutes a session probably isn’t long enough, particularly with the light weights you’re using.

I've been weight training three times a week for nearly two years. I have lost weight, but the thing I have really noticed is that my body shape has changed. I'm smaller than I was when I weighed less. This is because I've lost body fat and built lean muscle.

Try heavier weights for things like squats, lunges, etc where you are working bigger muscles if your shoulder can take it.