Hearing the words ‘lifting weights’ can be daunting to some individuals with little to no experience in the gym. For many it is an untapped area, due to the fact they may feel intimated or have a fear of getting hurt.       

However, it doesn’t need to be like that. Lifting, in its simplest form, creates strength and endurance through the use of weights, enabling muscles to adapt and get stronger.          

Some benefits of weightlifting can include:

• Enhanced mental wellbeing
• Improved self-confidence
• Effectively working out all major muscle groups
• Helping you to become stronger overall and making your bones stronger
• Greater mobility and flexibility
• Lower risk of injury.

Lifting Workshops with Sport Aberdeen

If you are interested in learning to lift but don’t know where to begin, then why not come along to one of our quarterly lifting workshops which are free to attend for members.

These workshops are designed to guide you through the basics of weightlifting, including the importance of warming up, setting up correctly, and your posture and positioning throughout. The sessions are delivered in small groups of one to three individuals to ensure everyone is equipped with the knowledge that is needed to lift safely.

It should be noted that these aren’t solely for beginners, anyone who fancies it can sign up! The workshops are structured as follows: 

1. The session will begin with a chat to determine how familiar and confident you are – not only with weights, but with being in the gym in general.
   
   
2. Following on from the chat, you will begin to warm up with some light cardio which could involve walking on the treadmill for a few minutes to increase your heart rate.
   
   
3. Once your heart rate is up, you will move over to the lifting platforms where the trainer will talk through the equipment and explain the safety precautions that you should be aware of. This will include how much you should be attempting to lift, as well as the importance of foot and bar positioning and posture while lifting.  
   
   
4. After the safety information has been passed on, the trainer will demonstrate four different exercises – deadlifting, squat, chest press and single arm row – and then they will talk you through each as your give it a go for yourself. The trainer is there to help and make you feel safe and confident with the weights – they will be understanding of your preferences and will step in if you require extra assistance.
   
   
5. Whilst you complete each of the four exercises, the trainer will be there to answer any questions. They’ll give you tips on how many reps or sets you should be doing, depending on the area that you would like to improve i.e. strength and power, endurance, and so on.
   
   
6. Once both you and the trainer are happy with your completion of the four exercises, you will be taken through a cooldown and you’ll have another chat whilst putting the weights away. This is your opportunity to ask any final questions you have about lifting or tips for improvement in the future.

Our next lifting workshops will take place in August, so keep an eye on our Facebook page for when these go live.

If you’d like to visualise what the workshop will be like, click here to watch our video from the last workshop in June.