If you want to get stronger in body and mind, this beginner’s full-body workout is a good place to start. Our bodies want to be fit and strong, fast and powerful. It is just that in our modern-day lives, in which we spend the vast majority of our time sitting down, we aren’t living up to our potential. The benefits of lifting weights are endless. It strengthens your muscles and your bones, too. It reduces your chances of developing osteoporosis, something of which postmenopausal women are particularly at risk. Lifting weights supports all other types of training – running, cycling or swimming – by developing muscular strength.
Perhaps the most valuable benefit of resistance training, and the main reason I love it so much, is that lifting weights enables you to function better in everyday life. You can carry shopping, pick up your children, move furniture with ease. It helps make you healthier mentally, too: you become more confident and feel happier from the endorphins.
If you’re unsure about lifting weights, check with your doctor, especially if you haven’t exercised in a while or have a medical condition. Don’t push yourself unless you know it’s safe to do so. But when you’re ready to go, this routine is a great place to start. It should take around 30 minutes, and all you need is a set of dumbbells – start on 4-6kg and work up.
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The warm-up
Warming up is essential when weight training. You wouldn’t just hop on a treadmill and start sprinting, and it’s the same with weighted workouts. You need to loosen up your joints, warm up your muscles and get your body moving before you start. This increases blood flow to your muscles, helps to improve your range of motion, so you can perform exercises more effectively, and reduces the risk of injury. To warm up I recommend using dynamic stretches and movements which increase your body temperature and heart rate to prepare you for exercise. These also help fire up your nervous system, so it is ready to move some heavy weights. Here are some of my favourite moves.
Upper body
Arm circles
Stand in an upright position, bring your arms up so they are in line with your shoulders, then bend them. Start to move the arms in a circular motion forwards and backwards, warming up the shoulder joint. These can also be performed with straight arms.
Walkouts
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Bend forward from the hips and touch your hands to the floor. Walk your hands away from your body until you reach a plank position, keeping your legs as straight as possible. Slowly walk your hands back towards your feet and return to a standing position. Repeat.
Toe touches with torso twists
Stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart. Keep your legs straight and bend forward from the hips. Twist to the left and take your right arm to your left foot, lifting your left arm behind you. Twist to the right and take your left arm to your right foot and your right arm behind you, rotating from the torso. Repeat.
Lower body
Reverse lunges with a twist
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Take one leg behind you and lower down into a lunge with your knees both forming 90-degree angles. At the same time, lift your arms above your head and lean away from your front knee, feeling the stretch down your hip. Return to standing and repeat on the other side.
Side lunges
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Take a step out to the side and bend the outside leg to form a 90-degree angle, with toes pointing forward. Drop down into a side lunge and feel the stretch in the inside of the lengthened leg. Return to standing and repeat on the other side.
Leg swings
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Hold on to a stable object to your side and swing the outside leg backwards and forwards, keeping your core stable and moving from the hip. Try to increase the range of motion with each swing. Repeat on the other side.
Beginner’s full-body workout
Do each move 10-12 times, then repeat twice, so you complete three sets of each exercise before moving on.
Squat and press
1 Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart and your toes ever so slightly pointing outwards. Hold the weights at shoulder height with your palms facing inwards.
2 Lower down into a squat position, keeping your chest upright. As you return to a standing position, in a smooth movement push the weights up above you into a shoulder press with your arms extended overhead. As you lower your arms, return to a squat position. Repeat.
Curtsy lunge with curl
1 Stand with your feet hip-width apart and dumbbells by your sides.
2 Step back and to the side in a diagonal movement, crossing the moving leg behind the static leg, and lower into a lunge until your front knee is at a right angle. As you step into the lunge, curl both arms upwards and bring your palms to your chest with your elbows tight to your sides. As you step out of the lunge (returning to the starting point), lower your arms back to your sides. Repeat on the opposite leg.
Push-ups
1 On the floor, come into a high plank position with your hands directly below your shoulders and feet together.
2 Bend your arms until your elbows are at a right angle, lowering your chest towards the floor and keeping your core engaged and your back straight. Straighten your arms to return to the starting position and repeat.
Single arm rows
1 Hold a dumbbell in one hand and place your other hand on a stable raised platform at around knee height, softening your knees, leaning your body forwards and keeping your back straight.
2 Allow the weight to naturally hang below you, then bend your arm to pull the weight to your torso, keeping your elbow tight to your body and squeezing your back at the top of the movement. Lower to the starting position and do all reps on one arm before switching sides.
Bent-over tricep extensions
1 In a standing position, bend your knees slightly and lean your torso forwards, keeping your back straight. Keep your arms close to your body with your palms facing inwards.
2 Squeezing your triceps, extend your arms backwards until they are straight and squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement. Lower back to the starting position with control. Repeat.
Russian twists
1 Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Hold a dumbbell out in front of you. Keep your back straight and lean back.
2 From here, twist your upper body and core to one side until your arms are parallel to the floor. Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side. That is one rep.
Glute activation workout
When you sit at a desk all day, or have a sedentary lifestyle, your bum cheeks (glutes) get sleepy. They can become weaker than the surrounding muscles, which can lead to those muscles overcompensating, risking injury. That is why glute activation is essential. All you need is a small looped resistance band just above your knees. The more advanced you become, the thicker the band should be.
Side walk
1 Take a high squat position, keeping shoulders back and core tight.
2 Take a small step to the side, pulling from the knee and staying in the high squat. Take a few more steps, then go in the opposite direction. Your glutes will be on fire!
Squats
1 Place feet hip-width apart and gently push knees slightly out so there is tension on the band.
2 Sit back and down into a squat position, keeping knees pushed out and chest upright. Extend back up to a standing position by pushing through heels. Repeat.
Hip thrust
1 Lie down with knees bent and feet planted.
2 Push knees out so there is tension on the band. Lift hips up by pushing through heels, squeezing glutes at the top of the movement. Return to the starting position with your knees keeping tension on the band the whole time. Repeat.
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