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Coming off a month of focusing on upper body only, we will now transition to a simple full-body strength routine you can add to any cardio routine you already have in place. Ready to keep walking? Good! We are keeping up with our daily walks, but on the strength training days, the walk is optional.
Many people assume the main reason to incorporate strength training into their routine is to tone the body. While strength training increases muscle mass that can lead to tighter, toned muscles, it’s far from the only benefit.
Strength training exercises improve bone density and increase flexibility in the joints. Building strength in your muscles also helps improve balance, speed up the metabolism and burn calories. Muscle mass decreases naturally with age, so as you get older incorporating strength training workouts into your regimen becomes even more important. Strength training has also been largely associated with preventing injury.
A 31-day strength-training plan for beginners
Download a printable calendar here.
The strength training plan features 5 upper body exercises with dumbbells, 5 lower body exercises done using your bodyweight, and 5 core strength-training moves.
Each exercise will be performed 10 times, and then repeated for a total of three rounds. For example, on upper body days, you’ll do every exercise 10 times, and then once you’ve finished one round, you’ll complete two more rounds.
If you don’t have dumbbells for the upper body exercises, you can grab water bottles or soup cans. I recommend starting with 3-pound dumbbells, unless you’ve used weights before and feel comfortable with 5-pound weights. For upper body and core, start with 10 repetitions. Then, to make things more challenging after a couple of weeks, increase to 15 repetitions.
For lower body, I’ve provided modifications for every exercise. If any of the moves bother your knees, stick with the modifications!
In addition to the strength training workout routine, we’ll also continue with our 20-minute walks to help with cardiovascular shape and mobility. (Don't forget you can walk on strength days too!)
Upper body strength routine
Bicep curl
Grab your dumbbells and start with your arms hanging by your sides. Hug your elbows in towards the side of your body, and then curl the weights up towards your shoulders. Slowly lower them back down. Keep pressing the elbows in towards your side, and be careful not to let your arms swing. If your arms are swinging, you may be using too heavy of weights.
Overhead press
Stand with your feet as wide as the shoulders and hold one dumbbell in each hand. Bring the dumbbells up to a goal post position at shoulder height. Press the weights up towards the ceiling, so that they are slightly in front of your head (just enough so you can see the weights with your eyes without looking up with your neck). Relax the neck and keep your shoulders down away from the ears. Bring the weights back to the goal post position.
Tricep kickbacks
Holding a weight in each hand, hinge forward at the hips with a flat back. Hug your elbows in toward your sides, and kick the weight toward the back of the room by moving the arm below the elbow only. Feel the back of your arm tighten as you press the arm back, and then release it back to the starting position.
Hug a tree
Hold the weights out to your sides at shoulder height, parallel to the floor. Relax the shoulders down, and then pull the arms toward the front of you as if you’re hugging a tree. Keep the elbows level with your arms — don’t let them dip down — and be conscious of the shoulders starting to raise up. If this happens, it means the weight is too heavy or you’re too fatigued, so you can either perform less reps or decrease the weights.
Serve a platter
Start with your arms at your sides. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle so that the weights are out in front of you. Reach the arms straight forward, as if you’re serving a platter, and then pull them back in toward you. Keep the palms facing up the entire time.
Lower-body strength routine
Side lunge
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and then step your right foot a few feet to the right as you bend the right knee. Keep the left leg straight, and sink back into your right glute. Press down through the right heel to come up to the starting position. Repeat 10 times and then switch sides.
Modification: Standing side leg raises
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and step the right foot to the right so that your toe is resting on the ground and your weight is in the left foot. Point the foot and engage the quad. Lift the leg up as high as the hip, and lower it down. Repeat 10 times, and then switch to the left leg.
Stationary lunge
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips and your hands on your hips. Step your left foot back a few feet. This is your starting position. Bend the right knee so that it is over the right ankle, and bend your left knee so that the knee reaches down towards the ground. Look in the mirror and make sure your spine stays straight up and down and that you’re not leaning forward. Press down through the front heel to come up to the starting position. Repeat this 10 times then switch sides.
Modification: Standing leg lifts
Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Point your right foot in front of you and squeeze the quad. Lift the leg up almost as high as your hip, and then lower it down. Repeat 10 times and then switch to the left leg.
Squat
Begin standing with your feet as wide as the shoulders. Then press your glutes back as you bend your knees pretending that you’re sitting back into a chair. Press down through the heels to come up.
Modification: Modified squat
Holding onto a counter, chair or table with one hand for balance, step the feet out as wide as the shoulders. Sit your glutes back and then bend your knees to lower into a half squat. Keep the knees over the toes and pull the abs in. Press down through the heels to stand back up.
Calf raises (all levels)
Stand with your feet as wide as your hips. Come up onto the toes to lift the heels off of the ground. Then lower the heels down. Repeat 10 times.
Curtsy lunge
Standing on your feet with your feet as wide as your shoulders, step your right foot back behind your left and to the left of your left foot. Bend both knees as you lower down into a lunge in this curtsy position. Then press down through your left heel to bring your right leg back to center.
Modification: Standing with your feet as wide as your hips, balance on your left foot as you bring the right knee up towards your waist in front of you. Lower the foot down.
Core routine
Crunch
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor a few inches in front of your butt. Place your hands behind your head with the elbows open wide. Pull your naval in and gently press your low back into the ground. Curl up with your head, neck and chest and pretend that you’re holding an egg between your chin and your chest and you don’t want to crack it! From here, curl up as high as you can lifting the shoulder blades off of the ground. Exhale as you come up, and inhale as you lower down.
Glute bridge
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Keeping your heels on the ground, lift your hips up and squeeze your glutes. Pull your naval in towards your spine, and slowly lower down one vertebra at a time.
Bicycle abs
From the crunch position, bring your knees up into a table-top position. Curl up with your head, neck and chest. Then bring your left knee in as you extend your right leg straight out on a diagonal. Curl your right elbow toward your left knee, and then switch to curl the left elbow towards the right knee as you switch the legs.
Double leg lift
Start lying down on your back with your arms flat by your sides and your legs extended. Lift the legs up together, hugging the inner thighs in, and point the feet up toward the ceiling. This is the starting position. Slowly lower the legs down a few feet (or as far as you can without letting the back pop off of the ground). Pull the naval in toward the spine to prevent your back from arching. Use the abs to pull your legs back to the starting position.
V-sit
Start in a seated position; engage your core muscles and gently lean back a couple of inches. Gradually lift your legs up in the air so that are in a table-top position. Reach your arms straight out in front of you so that they are parallel with the ground. Keeping your core engaged, extend the legs straight up to a 45-degree angle into a "V" position. If this is too challenging, hold onto the backs of the legs for support. Hold this "V" position with the shoulders relaxed, abs pulled in and inner thighs squeezing together for 10 seconds. You can reach the arms up for an advanced version of this exercise.
