My Favorite Type of Workout for Core Strength, Balance, and New Weight Lifters
Weightlifting can be so intimidating, am I right? In college, I wouldn’t go to the gym unless my good friend (who actually knew what she was doing), came with me. I would huddle next to her while trying my best not to let my puny arms be noticed by the jacked summer sales dudes who were always there. I felt like an idiot.
The good news is that I don’t feel that way anymore and you don’t have to either. What I now know is that weightlifting doesn’t need to be scary! And it’s okay if the gym isn’t your scene. You can get those muscles firing right in the comfort of your own cozy home.
Stick with me and I’ll walk you through my very favorite kind of weightlifting workout for beginners. It’s also fabulous for core strength, and balance, and it’s also a great workout for seasoned lifters to cycle back to after heavy training periods.
My Fave Kind of Workout for Beginner Weight Lifters
This beginner workout type is called stabilization training. While it doesn’t have the cutest name, this kind of workout will make you feel cute (once you get the exercises down).
While it can be especially helpful for those of us who are new to weightlifting, clumsy or ripening into a beautiful older age, it is invaluable for everyone.
Here’s all the cool stuff you can get from following a stabilization training routine:
Overall strength and endurance gains
Better balance
Strong core
Improved form for future workouts and everyday life
Better coordination
Reduced back pain (granted that your pain isn’t the result of an injury or illness)
Injury prevention
Improved range of motion
In so many ways, balance, core stability, and coordination are the fountain of youth and the foundation for strength gains and you get these through stabilization training!
Have I convinced you to jump on the stabilization training express yet? Friend, it is awesome. Consider giving it an honest shot and keep reading to learn how!
Stabilization Training 101
Stabilization exercises are meant to be, ironically, unstable so that YOU have to do the work of stabilizing your body.
Stabilization workouts are designed to challenge your balance and engage your core more than “traditional” weight-lifting exercises do. Training the core in this way is fabulous because a strong core is going to help you move better, increase strength, help prevent injuries, promote a healthy back, and generally give you a higher and more sparkly quality of life.
Stabilization workouts include “unstable” exercises such as a bicep curl performed while standing on one leg, or a dumbbell chest press using a yoga ball as a bench, rather than an actual bench. This will cause you to engage your core and challenge your balance during all exercises.
However, to avoid injury and maximize gains, you should first be able to perform the basic version of an exercise before going to the unstable variation.
For example, you should be able to properly perform a bicep curl BEFORE moving onto the unstable single-leg bicep curl. You should be able to do a regular plank before performing it on a yoga ball.
Stabilization workouts include 12-20 repetitions of each exercise (meaning you repeat each exercise 12-20 times in a row) and do anywhere from 1-3 sets.
The best part? You get to choose the number of repetitions and sets based on your goals, how much time you have, how heavy the weights are, etc. I am a busy mama with kids who crawl all over me when I exercise, so I stick with 12 reps and 1-2 sets.
How to choose the right amount of weight to use for stabilization exercises
Choose a weight (or you can simply use your body weight), that will challenge you to 50-70% of your highest effort.₁ So basically you want to be challenged but able to repeat the exercise for 12-20 reps with perfect form. If you are breaking form, you need to choose a lighter weight.
While the load you are lifting won’t be super intense, you will still get a great workout. And you may be surprised to find your muscles trembling, even when you have plenty of energy.
To reiterate, exercise form is critical, so be sure to keep exercises unweighted until you can perform them correctly.
Sample List of Stabilization Exercises:
For Balance: Single Leg Balance, Single-Leg Windmill
Full Body: Single Leg Squat Touchdown, Curl to Overhead Press
Shoulders: Single Leg Overhead Press
Arms: Single Leg Bicep Curl, Stability Ball Triceps Extension
Legs/Glutes: Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Stabilization exercises are intended to be done at a tempo (speed) of 4/2/1
If you were to do a bicep curl, that would mean that you contract your biceps to lift the weight for 1 second, hold the weights at the top for 2 seconds, and then take 4 seconds to lower the weight. Rinse and repeat.
Stabilization exercises are also made to have little or no rest in between, about 0-90 seconds depending on how hard you want to make the workout.
I know I’m getting technical. Don’t overthink it. If it’s hurting your brain too much, just lift and lower without thinking much about it.
Stabilization exercises are great for new weight lifters as they are “designed to prepare the body for the demands of higher levels of training that may follow.”₂
Depending on your goals, you could graduate from stabilization training to more intense exercise training later on. Usually, we stay in the stabilization phase for about 4-6 weeks. If you love it and want to stay in it indefinitely, that’s completely fine as well.
Also note that even if you are a seasoned lifter, it is good to come back to these exercises after phases of more intense exercise to “maintain a high degree of core and joint stability….and allow the body to actively rest from more intense bouts of training.”₃
Putting it all together
Well there you are, friend! You now know all about stabilization training. Now all you need to do is put the pieces together.
Go through the exercise list and select at least one exercise for each body part (balance, body, core, chest, shoulders, arms, back, legs/glutes). Decide how many reps of each exercise to do (12-20) and how many sets to do (1-3). Use your body weight to select a weight load that you will challenge you but allow you to keep perfect form during the whole workout. Repeat the workout 2-3 times a week and you are golden.
However, I do have a gift for you because I know starting can be the hardest part! I also want you to have the opportunity to see how great stabilization training can be! So, I’ve created this workout for you, absolutely free. I hope you enjoy this phase of training as much as I have.
Disclaimer: As always, please do not take this article as a substitute for professional advice. Please always consult a medical professional for any injuries or before starting this or any exercise program.
Sources:
₁ Penney, S. (n.d.). Stabilization endurance: NASM's optimum performance training. NASM. Retrieved February 23, 2022, from https://blog.nasm.org/nasm-optimum-performance-training
₂ NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training, Clark, Michael A., Lucett, Scott C., Sutton, Brian G
₃ NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training, Clark, Michael A., Lucett, Scott C., Sutton, Brian G
