5 Essential Strength Training Tips for Beginners in Wood Dale
- Una Fitness
- Jul 28
- 4 min read
Have you always dreamed of getting stronger? You can — with strength training.
By doing progressive and big bang-for-buck exercises, you’ll be able to lift bags of groceries in one go, build muscle, and even develop a firm physical foundation for every other fitness pursuit you might have down the road.
Does this sound like a plan? You’ll be glad to know that getting started is a lot easier than you think.
Here are five beginner workout tips in Wood Dale to kickstart your strength training journey.
1. Get Yourself Checked (Before You Potentially Wreck Yourself)
Everyone on their body transformation journey will have different starting points — and that’s ok. For you, knowing yours means getting a medical assessment before embarking on a strength training program.
Right away, you need to get the following looked at by a licensed medical professional:
Potential heart issues
Blood work
Your past injury history
These pieces of information can give you a better idea of whether or not you’re good to go to hit the squat racks and bench.
And if you’re signing up for our Una Fitness Strength Training Program, your medical results will enable us to develop a personalized and flexible program that’s not only fun and effective but safe.
2. Think: Movement Patterns Over Exercises
While choosing the right exercises can help you go far in your strength training journey, thinking in terms of “right vs. wrong” exercise can get you rabbit-holed — not something you want if you want things simple but effective.
So, instead of thinking of exercises right away, the best mindset is to think of movement patterns first.
When we talk about movement patterns, we’re referring to the basic ways we as humans can move. Right off the bat, there are five:
Pushing
Pulling
Hinging (moving the hips from front to back and vice versa)
Squatting
Carrying
Adding an exercise that belongs to each movement pattern already gets you a full strength training session.
And speaking of exercises, that brings us to the next tip.
3. Pick as Few Foundational Strength Exercises as Possible
When strength is the goal, there’s no need to do seven different isolation exercises to get ready for that summer trip to Oak Street Beach. As mentioned earlier, you just need to pick an exercise that falls under one of the five basic movement patterns.
For example, for a squat, you can choose a back squat, front squat, (kettlebell) goblet squat (Dan John approves).
As for pushing, there’s the oldie-but-goodie bench press (a Monday staple for many of our members) and shoulder presses. If pulling is on the menu, you can’t go wrong with pullups and rows.
Carries are easy. Simply walk a distance holding kettlebells or dumbbells or by bear-hugging a sandbag or D-ball.
When in doubt, we have all of these foundational strength exercises in our Una Fitness Strength Training Program. Book a consultation, and let us take the guesswork out of your strength training.
4. The Rule of Three and Five
In one podcast interview, famous neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman talked about the rule of three and five. Under this rule, you perform:
Three to five chosen exercises
Three to five sets
Three to five minutes between sets
Three to five days a week
This rep and set count may seem like it’s on the low end, but once again, we’re training your ability to produce maximum force — not get a pump or red-line your heart and lungs with mileage.
The reps are low because the required intensity for strength training is high. And that brings us to the next tip.
5. Add Weight Each Week
It’s not just the reps, sets, and exercises that will elicit strength gains. Without load, you won’t see progress. For this reason, you need to try to add weight to the bar every week.
Weekly weight increases will stimulate your muscles and nervous system to adapt to increasing resistance. Over time, you’ll experience these adaptations as improved strength.
Bonus Tip: Don’t Neglect Nutrition and Recovery
When you’re training for strength, what you can recover from matters just as much as what you do in the gym. For this reason, don’t forget to dial in your sleep and, most importantly, nutrition.
For sleep, make sure to get at least seven hours. When it comes to your nutrition, eat mainly nutrient-dense foods and prioritize protein. High-nutrient and protein-dense foods will help your muscles recover while sleep repairs your cells and gets your nervous system ready for the next workout.
The Una Fitness Strength Training Program Takes the Guesswork Out of Strength Training
There you have it. You’ve just read the five (plus one) beginner workout tips Wood Dale trainees swear by. By putting our tips into practice, you’ll be able to craft your own strength training program and see the results you’re after.
But if you still need help, we’ve got you covered.
At Una Fitness, we offer personalized, flexible training with meal plans designed for various trainees and goals.
Book a consultation and kick-start your strength journey with Una Fitness.
And for fitness gear for beginners, check out our impressive line of fitness merchandise that will work just as hard as you do.
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