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Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Welcome back to the Well Within Reach Podcast brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Gabby Cinnamon. In this episode, we're chatting with Erik McMillin, a personal trainer at the Riverside Health Fitness Center about the benefits of strength training for overall health. When it comes to getting fit, most people think they need to do a lot of cardio like running, walking, or biking, but strength training also plays a key role in building a healthier.

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Gabby Cinnamon (Host): I'm back with Erik McMillin, personal trainer at the Riverside health fitness center. Erik, can you talk about your role as a personal trainer before we get into the topic of strength training?

Erik McMillin: Yeah, of course. so as a personal trainer, I try to help my clients reach their health and fitness goals. I usually set up like an initial appointment with them, to discuss their specific goals and a little bit about their health history. And if they have any injuries that we need to discuss. From there, we discuss how many times to train per week, usually that range between one and five days per week. And then during the training sessions, I walk them through the proper technique of each of the movements. And this kind of helps ensure that the client doesn't get injured and that they can achieve their maximum benefits. The sessions are typically one hour long and they consist of the warmup, the main workout, and then a little cool down at the end.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So what is strength training and are there different kinds of strength training?

Erik McMillin: Yeah. So strength training is the performance of physical exercises to improve your strength and your endurance. There's tons of different forms of strength training, including free weights, which are gonna be like your dumbbells, your Barb bells, kettle bells, a bunch of weight machines. We have a bunch of the fitness center ranging from head to toe. Your leg machines, upper body mass machines. Resistance bands is a great form of strength training. And even body weight exercises, such as push up, pull up, sit up, and many more.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So when you talked about your role as a personal trainer, you touched on, you know, everyone's different and kind of, coming up with a plan that works for somebody, the number of times a week you train and what kind of workouts you do. Are there certain types of strength training, that are better for certain people or that you might prescribe to a certain client versus another client?

Erik McMillin: Of course. Yeah. Like you said, everyone's a little bit different. I think there's three important factors that can relate to all populations in all age ranges. Strength training needs to be safe, effective, and fun, so I think safety should always be the first priority. and as a trainer, my goal is to reduce the injuries and make sure that my clients are properly performing each of the exercises with the right technique. The exercises must also be effective as well. There needs to be a muscle stimulation in order to gain muscle size and strength and Endurance.

Without the stimulation, you may be working out. but you may not achieve the goals that you kind of have set for yourself. And then a very important one is I think strength training, working out needs to be fun. Just making the workout fun, makes it a little bit easier for the client to keep coming back the next day and hitting their workout as many days per week as they can. If every workout was dreadful, no one would ever wanna work out, so I think keeping things fun leads to consistency and overall, I think consistency leads to healthier lives and helps you achieve your goals a little bit faster.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So one of the things I think, that people, when they start a health journey is they think, if they're trying to initially like lose weight, they just think, cardio and like that kind of stuff, but what ways does being physically stronger help your overall health and wellness? And how does that tie into, a health and fitness journey?

Erik McMillin: Of course. Yeah. So, strength training is obviously gonna help you with your muscles a little bit, building the muscles up, gaining strength, but it can also boost your metabolism a little bit and improve your metabolic rate. It does this by adding overall skeletal muscle mass to your frame, and this boosts your metabolism. A way I like to think about it is that if someone has 90 pounds of skeletal muscle mass, and maybe their metabolic rate is about 2000 calories, and then the same person works out for a month. They gain two pounds of muscle mass.

Their metabolism might increase by a hundred calories, which just means they're burning more calories throughout the day, just by being alive and doing their day to day functions. So strength training is gonna help with that. It's also gonna improve your heart health and can lower your LDL, which is gonna be your bad cholesterol, and also improve your blood circulation a little bit, keep the blood moving. We don't want it to be stagnant, just sitting in our blood vessels. Strength training can also lower the risk of injury and fall by improving your mobility and flexibility.

Especially in your lower body, by strength training, your. And then it can improve your overall self-confidence and boost your mood. it's the craziest thing, like after a long Workday, I know I still have to do my hour long workout. but most of the times after that hour long workout, I feel that I have more energy than before when I was going into it.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Yeah, I think most people think it would be, the opposite of, oh, this is gonna drain me, but I feel the same way, and I think a lot of people, once they start that journey, they're like, oh, I feel so much better and I can do things after I work out more focused and that kind of stuff. So when the new clients come to you, are there any misconceptions that you hear from them about, strength training in general? There are like some common ones?

Erik McMillin: Yeah. I think one of the most common ones that I hear a lot is that strength training will make someone look a little bit bulky or like they have too much muscle mass. I think this might be because of body building or a little bit of the media. So like body building is a sport that competitors compete to display like the most pleasing body, most aesthetic body. most of the time they achieve this by, strength training. So it's very understandable that some people will relate strength training to bulkiness.

But the thing that some people don't always understand is that most body builders, such as like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he's a big one from back in the day, they achieve their bulky physiques through like years and years of training. And sometimes even like performance enhancing drugs, such as steroids. but Arnold Schwarz Ander, he's a great example. He would spend. Two to three hours in the gym training. sometimes multiple times per day. So he's like always in the gym working out. And he also used performance enhancing drugs to get that bulky big, physique.

But strength training for like the average gym goer. I don't think it's gonna make you bulky. I think it can help you lose some body fat and kind of tone your muscles a little bit.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So how do you sell. Sell, quotation mark. Strength training, to clients who maybe have only done in a cardio in the past, or they do come in with these misconceptions? I think females especially might come in, oh, I don't want huge arms. I don't want this, you know? Right. how do you get past that with them? And, give them pass the, I only need to do cardio mindset?

Erik McMillin: Right. So I usually go back to the whole metabolism, how we're gonna increase your metabolism. So by gaining that skeletal muscle mass, improving the muscles on your body, you're gonna boost that metabolic rate. And then in doing so your body's gonna burn more calories throughout the day, no matter what you do. And then by burning more calories, it's gonna help you be in a caloric deficit to lead to some fat loss and even some weight loss too.

and this is why I always recommend strength training to everyone. No matter your age or experience, with the proper coaching and techniques, we can keep you safe and we can lead you to whatever goal you're aiming for.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Someone comes to you, they've never picked up a weight or, done any machines. How do you recommend that that person, gets into strength training?

Erik McMillin: Yeah. Good question. I always recommend a personal trainer. just starting out, this kind of helps ensure that they're not gonna get injured and that the trainer can program the right exercises for them. Because like we were talking about earlier. No, one's the same. Everyone has different goals and different abilities. Beginners should always start with lightweight, I think until they can properly perform the correct technique. And then they'll slowly advance to a little bit heavier weights and more advanced movements.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): What are some mistakes that you see people making when they start, strength training for the first time?

Erik McMillin: Yeah, so a common air is, people just starting out, might lift a little bit too heavy at the start, and lifting too heavy can lead to the incorrect technique, which can kind of turn into the injury. And that just sets us back a little bit farther. Reaching our goals. so I think the goal of strength training is to continuously gain muscle and strength. but like I said, if you're lifting too heavy, you might get injured and set it back for a little bit. Whereas if we start a little bit light, we can progressively, gain strength and endurance over time.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): You kind of touched on this, but do you have to lift heavy to see the benefits of strength training?

Erik McMillin: Yeah, so I don't believe lifting heavy is essential to get the benefits of strength training. but over time your muscles are gonna grow and they're gonna adapt to where you can lift a little bit heavier weights. But you can achieve all the benefits of strength, trained by lifting lighter weights with the proper form and the proper program.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Can you talk a little bit more, about how getting a personal trainer can help you learn more about strength training and make sure that you're doing what you need to do?

Erik McMillin: Right. Yeah. So personal trainers are gonna be with you, throughout the workout, kind of one on one. They're gonna provide you with the proper technique and go over little tips and tricks that you might not know. They're gonna make sure that you're not lifting too heavy, but also that you're not lifting too light and that you're pushing yourself a little bit. They're a good accountability partner for you. And they're gonna program the workouts that are specific to you and your goals.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Yeah, I think when working with a personal trainer, You know, that's the building confidence piece that helps a lot of people and makes them, want to continue to work out and keep on their health journey. And knowing that you're using proper form is a big part of that confidence boost, a personal trainer could be very beneficial in helping you with that confidence in the gym. To learn more about Riverside Health's Fitness Centers, team of personal trainers, visit rhfc.me. Erik, is there anything else you would like to add?

Erik McMillin: Like you said, if anyone is ever interested in learning more about strength training, the Riverside Fitness Center offers exercise orientations to all its members. These are free, but during the exercise orientation, a coach is gonna show you how to properly work, exercise machines, and even free weights, if you're a little bit more advanced and I wanna start with those. And then from there, you can start with a personal trainer, and start working towards your health and fitness goals.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Well, thank you so much for sharing all this information with us today. And thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Erik McMillin: Of course, my pleasure.

Gabby Cinnamon (Host): And thank you listeners for tuning into Well Within Reach brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. Make sure to comment, rate, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our podcast.