A medical weight loss plan includes more than just the right nutrition. You also need to engage in the right type of exercise, to both burn calories and increase your overall metabolism. Walking, biking, jogging, or swimming all represent great forms of aerobic exercise to burn calories, but you also need to perform strength training. Strength training will help you replace the fat tissues you’re losing with new, stronger, and more toned muscles. And that will mean increasing your metabolism so that you can maintain your medical weight loss results.

But for those of you new to strength training, it can be difficult to know how to begin. Just follow these seven steps, and you’ll find yourself getting leaner and stronger in no time.

Talk to your doctor. Make an appointment with us first. In most cases strength training will be safe, but we want to check for underlying conditions that might limit the types of exercise you should can do safely.

Seek expert advice. Strength training can be ineffective or even dangerous if performed incorrectly. If you’ve never lifted weights before, make an appointment with your gym’s personal trainer or seek advice from an experienced friend.

Stretch. Make sure to warm up your muscles and stretch before each strength training session, and stretch again afterward when you’re cooling down.

Start where you’re comfortable. You don’t want to start off lifting the heaviest weights you can manage. Start with weight that feels comfortable, but just challenging enough that you have to push through your last set.

Watch your form. If you can’t maintain proper form throughout the entire exercise, you need to decrease the weight a bit. Using incorrect form can increase your likelihood of injury.

Commit to a schedule. Schedule workouts three times per week, stick to your commitment, and you will see results.

Track your progress. It can be motivating to look back and see how much stronger you’ve become, month after month. And motivation is often the number one key to sticking with a medical weight loss plan long term.

If you have any other questions about your nutrition plan or exercise, call us to schedule an appointment. We’re here to offer you the support you need so that you can reach your goals.