My first experience with weight lifting started in gym class in eighth grade.
We were given the option to play basketball at the end of class everyday or go into the weight room and learn proper weightlifting skills and techniques.
It’s easy to hurt yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing. Imagine trying to bench press too much weight with no one around to help you once the bar slams into your chest and starts to strangle you. We learned to start out slow and to always have someone close by to spot you in case you slip and can’t get the barbell off your body. Nowadays I have a gym membership and do all of my weightlifting in the mornings before heading to work. It gives me so much energy and there isn’t a better way for me to start my morning every single day. When I worked with a personal trainer for a few months, he taught me a lot of skills and techniques that I would have never learned otherwise. I had neglected my lower body and my legs so we focused on squats every week over anything else. Pretty soon my legs were looking toned and my endurance was increasing constantly. It felt nice being able to walk long distances with so much ease. These days my weightlifting workout program is constantly evolving. I try to change the numbers of sets and repetitions daily, while swapping out different kinds of workouts by the week. Right now I have been spending as much time doing cardio while I’m at the gym as I do weightlifting. When I get to the weight room, I focus on my core and my upper body.