We asked hundreds of women about strength training. Here’s what we heard.

Last weekend we spent two days at the Women’s Lifestyle Expo in Christchurch, chatting with wonderful women about life and how strength training could fit into their busy schedules. With our own lives pretty full too, we think those answers might interest you and probably resonate with quite a few of you. Because after all, we want to be strong for the life we want to live without fitness taking over. 

So the question we asked everyone was this: What would help you most?

And this is what we heard you say:

• 34 % – I don’t know how to get started with strength training
• 32% – I don’t know how to stay consistent
• 27% – I don’t know what exercises to do
• 7% – I want to lift safely and learn good technique

Most of the women we spoke to wanted to know where to begin, what to do, and how to keep going.

Maybe that sounds like you too. If so, you’re in very good company!

Maybe you’ve thought about strength training for a while. Maybe you’ve started before, then life got busy and the weights ended up behind the laundry basket. (No shame! We have all been there.)

That’s normal. When there are hundreds of workout programs online, figuring out which one to start with is often the hardest part. It’s not a lack of willpower on your end, it’s too many choices and we all have decision-fatigue to cope with. So taking the first step is often harder than doing the actual workout. 

We’ve also heard a few women say that they think they feel behind when it comes to strength training or that they simply are too old to start. But you know what, you're never too old to begin building strength, and you certainly don't need to catch up with anyone. You can start where you are, with what you have, and take it one step at a time.

Staying consistent is another answer that came up a lot and that is probably the second hardest thing to do. Making something stick when your life is so full with work, family, a house that never stays tidy, school runs, holidays and just pure exhaustion. Many of us have started and stopped and started again only to stop once more. That doesn’t mean you are failing, it just means you lead a full life and that working out 4-5 times a week doesn’t fit your schedule. So maybe consistency isn’t the problem after all, but a bar that’s been set too high? We had to learn realistic goal setting ourselves and it took us a while to get there. For us consistency doesn't have to mean doing more. It means finding something you can realistically keep doing. Two workouts a week that you actually do are worth far more than an ambitious plan that never quite fits into your week.

Knowing what exercises to do came as a close third answer. Should I focus on full-body exercises, have upper-body and lower-body days? Should I be doing exercises for my balance as well? And what is actually practical for me to do? Should I do body weight or find videos with weights and how heavy should they be? It is a jungle out there for sure. We found that focusing on movement patterns works better for us than targeting individual muscles and that a slow but steady progression is the way to go. 

So, where do you go from here?

Looking at those answers, we're reminded that strength training shouldn't be another thing to get perfect at. It needs to fit into our lives, without making us feel guilty when a week doesn't go to plan.

You can start small. You don't need to know everything before you begin, and you certainly don't need to find five spare hours in your already busy week.

For us, two 30-minute workouts a week is manageable, it fits our lives, and it's something we can keep coming back to.

Because at the end of the day, fitness itself isn't the goal. A capable body is. One that helps us keep doing the things we love, feel confident trying new things and enjoy the full lives we’re living.

Thank you

To every woman who stopped by to chat with us at the expo, thank you. We loved hearing your thoughts, your questions and what matters to you.