It depends on your program. Lifting heavy weights for fewer repetitions will improve strength and a proper weights program should lead to hypertrophy (increase in muscle size). However, this does not mean you will get “bulky” as that is a common misconception (particularly among women).

Paired with the right diet and program, weights will build lean muscle through hypertrophy and strength gains.

A first assessment is an opportunity to meet with a trainer to ask any questions you may have in regards to your recent sign up to the gym.

The trainer will assess your current health and training goals and provide recommendations on which steps to take next to ensure you achieve your goals.

Additionally, the trainer will find out all of your experience that you have in the gym and assess how you move which will allow them to write you a program. Following on they will then book you in for a complimentary session to take you through your new program and ensure you are completing it with the correct technique.

Training frequency for each muscle group is dependent on each individual’s training goal, as well as their lifestyle factors such as work, family commitments, sporting load or other recreational activities.

Research suggests training each muscle group 2-3 times/week though is the magic number to gain optimum adaptations as well as avoid overtraining/fatigue.

Again, this is dependent on your training goals, but for most people cardio should be done after weights.

Cardio (whether High Intensity or Low Intensity for longer durations) can be taxing on the body and working muscles, which causes fatigue and depletes your energy stores. This can limit your anaerobic capacity to perform weights which should be the most strenuous activity, thus limiting your performance and possible training effect.

This ultimately depends on your goals and how often you are available to train and maintain a healthy lifestyle balance.

For most it is recommended to complete resistance training 2 times per week to maintain what you have and 3 or more to get adaptations from the body.

In addition, you should look to either incorporate conditioning work into these sessions or complete on other days depending on what works best for you. If you are having trouble figuring out what works best for you, then our friendly Personal Training staff are here to help you figure it all out.

It is important to train hard but smart – this means ensuring that you train consistently and create a routine. This involves finding times that you are able to train and also allowing yourself adequate time to recover between sessions.