Overview of My Journey:
Week One: Operation Strength Training
- My inspiration for this project mainly stemmed from the fact that I was on fitness TikTok and because you know “new year, new me” and I wanted to do better at being consistently active.
- So, I set myself a 5 step plan that seemed easy enough.
- I also started looking into various YouTube accounts and apps that could help me throughout my process
- Thankfully, I got a bunch of lovely suggestions from my peers on a whole bunch of different online resources to try
Week Two: First Day (Workout) Jitters
Online Sources Used: Strength Training For Beginners: The 5 Best Exercises (aaptiv.com), TikTok (to make my video)
- This week I used a website to learn some basic information about strength training (reps, sets, rest) and also 5 basic strength training movements
- Then, I followed a workout using those basic strength training exercises
Week Three: Perks of Virtual Workouts
Online Sources Used: Zoom, Local Barre Digital Subscription, an #edtc300 friend, Fitbit App, and Wheelhouse Live
- This week was very exciting because I did an online workout over zoom with Caelyn Hembroff! I had never done barre and although it isn’t strength training specific I did notice some overlap in moves, especially the squats!
- Then, I tried an upper-body workout from the Fitbit app. It was a good workout, however, I didn’t enjoy having to follow it off of my tiny phone screen. I like the bigger screen of my laptop
- Lastly, I did a Wheelhouse “Off the bike” workout video. I liked this video because it was fairly beginner and incorporated all 5 of the exercises I learned in week 2, PLUS some new ones, and of course also some cardio.
Week Four: Operation Strength Training: Podcast Edition
Online Source Used: Anchor
- This was the week I made it to step two because I went to my apartment gym! I didn’t use any online workout source this week, I just sort did the workout from week two and then played around with some of the machines to try and figure them out!
Week Five: Classmate Recommendations For The Win
Online Sources Used: MadFit YouTube channel, Nike Training Club App, and InShot (to make my video)
- I really enjoyed the MadFit Youtube channel! I did a quick upper body workout and a dance workout which was super fun. It was interesting having strength training moves like squats thrown in with dance moves but oddly enough it worked!
- With the Nike Training Club, I did three different workouts and I really liked all of them! The app was really easy to set up and use. I just did basic strength training moves again – it sounds boring but repetition is sort of a key aspect in strength training! However, once again I just didn’t like using a small screen to follow the workout.
- I used a new video-making app for this week which I actually really enjoyed using! I found it easier and more user-friendly than iMovie (not that iMovie is overly difficult to use). The only downside is that you can only make one video without a watermark and then all the rest have watermarks.
Week Six: A Little #edtc400 Guidance and a Dash of Lockdown One Nostalgia
Online Sources Used: YouTube channel HASfit, Chloe Ting YouTube channel, Animoto (to make my video)
- The Hasfit YouTube channel is a strength training-specific channel which I really liked! It was also a bonus that the video had two people: one doing the normal exercise and the other doing a modified version! Since my arms are much weaker than the rest of my body I found myself doing modified moves for arm workouts but I could keep up well it the other aspects!
- The Cloe Ting workout was short and sweet but also extremely difficult because I hadn’t done any ab specific workout yet in this journey since most strength training workouts already work the abs.
- I also tried Animoto for the time to make my videos for the week and it was very fun and easy to use!
Week Seven: Classmate Recommendations For The Win [Part 2]
Online Sources Used: Sydney Cummings YouTube channel, URFIT On Demand, Animoto (to make my video), and InShot (to make my video).
- Sydney Cummings has a strength training-specific series on her channel and I picked a video right in the middle of the series for some reason (you know why would I start at the begging like a normal person). This was the longest video I did but it went very well and I really liked it! Sydney definitely gives personal trainer vibes which is great for motivation.
- The workout I did from the URFIT channel was a recorded video of a live workout class which was strangely enjoyable! It almost felt like I was also there because the instructor has reference to correct form or adjust time since there were actual people there when it was being filmed.
Week Eight: Stumbled My Way Back on Fitness TikTok
Online Sources Used: Caroline Girvan YouTube Channel and InShot (to make my video).
- This YouTube channel was recommended on TikTok so I had to try it out! This channel also had a strength training-specific program which was nice. The video I did I found to be very fast-paced, especially when I was trying to figure out new exercises and have the correct form. By the time I would have the exercise figured out it would be switching to a new one.
Week Nine: Back To Basics, Should Be Easy Right?
Online Sources Used: Shelley Darlington “How to start weight training for women,” Jetfit, Windows video editor (to make my video).
- By this point, I had been exposed to many different exercises and combinations of exercises
- So, this week I had focused on learning how to actually structure a workout, for the week and long term. I learned this from Shelley’s video but after watching it I was still slightly confused
- Luckily, I had the Jetfit app suggested to me! This app was my saving grace because of how easily it lets you structure your workouts and then when you are actually doing the workout it gives you audio cues to keep you on track
- I did have some technical difficulties this week which led me to use my laptop webcam and the windows video editor in order to make my video. But hey it worked just fine!
Where I Started vs Where I Am Now:
At the beginning of my journey I wasn’t working out regularly and when I did workout, I only did cardio. I was very nervous to start weight training because I honestly had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting myself into. To be honest, I didn’t even really know what strength training was, I just kept hearing about it on TikTok and wanted to try it out.
Now, I have a pretty good grasp of beginner strength training exercises and the correct form. I learned this through research and the various follow-along type videos I tried throughout the semester. I also have a pretty good idea of how to properly structure strength training workouts to be the most effective. I didn’t achieve all of the goals I set out for at the beginning of this journey but I am still proud of how far I’ve come and everything I’ve learned so far. I am now well set up for achieving those missed steps in the future.
Top Recommendations:
YouTube Channels:
Apps:
Online Subscriptions:
Video Making:
Podcasting:
Final Thoughts…
Being able to do a learning project like this in a university class was an AMAZING experience. I am glad I picked a project that allowed me to stay active because throughout online learning staying active has been a challenge – I just sit at my desk for 8-10 hours a day. I was also surprised how easy it was to learn strength training online, I think part of the convivence has to do with the pandemic which forced some fitness companies to move virtual. Another major contributor to my success in this learning project was my #edtc300 peers and my #edtc400 mentors for their recommendations of online sources! Special shout out to:
Also, a big thank you to everyone for following along with my strength training journey! Everyone’s words of support or encouragement were VERY much appreciated and helped to keep me motivated over the semester!
Once more I just want to give a big thank you to all of #edtc300 students as well as Katia and Amanda for the wonderful semester!!
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