7 effective strength training strategies

Once you know your way around the gym, it should be relatively simple to start a new strength training routine. What’s more difficult? Stick with it.

“I like to tell my clients that this is a lifestyle and it takes a long time to see the benefits,” says Jet Kaylaa certified functional strength trainer as a brand ambassador for both lulumon and Garmin. “Consistency over intensity is definitely the name of the game.”

Jeter started strength training when she was 12 years old, when she started getting serious about volleyball (she then went on to play for the University of Tennessee and then professionally), and the time when she teamed up. over the years has taught her a lot about what really helps you see results—and what doesn’t.

Her 7 Strength Training Strategies That Work

jet plane provided us with a list of the top strength-training strategies that work for her, including her favorite workouts, her gear essentials, and the mantra she follows. .

1. Before jumping in, she warms up whatever muscle she’s going to use

Like any good trainer, Jeter stresses the need to “wake up and warm up your body, especially your nervous system and core” before any workout. She sees this timing as a way to activate and tone her muscles, while improving tissue length and density in the process. Her favorite way to do all of that is by foam rolling, using small bandand do dynamic exercises like needle thread or cat-cow.

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Get your workout ready with one of Jeter’s favorite range of motion exercises:

2. She Sticks With What Works

Instead of climbing every train on the last fitness trend, Jeter prioritizes exercises she knows will work. “When I think about those movements that I go back and forth over and over again, week after week, month after month, year after year, those are really the things that don’t exist,” she said. sexy clown. It means squat for powerful quads, lifting calves to help with her running technique, and single footstep for motor control and stability.

3. She considers her feet as her foundation

When we focus on the larger muscles of our body—abs, glutes, biceps—it’s easy to forget all the little muscles we’re standing on. But the feet are the basis of any standing movement, so if they don’t anchor us properly, that can cause problems all over the chain.

Before starting any movement, Jeter makes sure her feet are gripping the ground like a tripod: “So the heel, big toe, and little toe are plugged into the ground so that the heel, big toe, and little toe are plugged into the ground to keep them from moving forward. really supports the body,” she says. This helps provide stability and prevents injury.

4. She makes sure her core is working

While you often hear coaches tell you to “activate your core,” that suggestion is meaningless unless you know how to do it. So Jeter is a bit more specific. “There are two things I advise people to think about: If someone punches you in the stomach—you’re going to have a hard time, right? And as soon as you pull your ribcage down toward your hipbones, you’ll create this wrap from the navel to the sides all the way to the back,” she says.

Jeter focuses on those two signals—while allowing enough room for 360-degree breathing—to help protect her spine during whatever exercise she’s doing.

5. She wears gear that serves her — and speeds her up

As a Lululemon ambassador, Jeter swears by the brand Thrilling training shoes ($128). “When you’re strength training, you want to feel supported,” she says. “And as someone who does dynamic moves in the gym, with these shoes, I feel like I can change direction, I can step up, I can sprint and still feel supported and have a distraction-free experience.”

She also recommends wearing a “super suit” whenever you work out. For her, it’s an all-black outfit, possibly with a pair of brightly colored shoes. (Favorites include Lululemon’s Wunder Train Pantyhose because of their high waists, and Find your speed shorts with its cool, flowing and sexy cut.) “If I wear all black at the gym, business is going to go down,” she says with a laugh. But this is not only the joy of put on clothes—you want to wear something that makes you feel confident and competent, that brings out the strongest version of you.

6. She is prioritizing sleep

We’re all working on something, and for Jeter, it’s more sleep. Although she used to only be able to work for 5 and a half hours a night, now she is trying to get more than 7 hours these days. Because she knows that, for any of her other strength training strategies to work, she needs a solid resting foundation. “You can only train to the point where you’ve recovered,” she says.

Research shows that one-third of Americans don’t get enough sleep. But Jeter knows the value of solid silence. “It’s where your brain gets rid of the junk, it’s where your muscles are repaired, it’s where you’re rejuvenated and refreshed,” she says.

7. She’s aiming for progress, not perfection

Jeter’s father is a professional soccer player and he always tells her to do her best—knowing that “your best” changes from day to day. Now, Jeter lives by the mantra towards the goal of becoming one percent better every day. “That means one percent more effort, more focus, more intent than the day before,” she says. “If one percent just lay down, you know, starfish on the carpet, well, hey, we’d be better off.”