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Resistance Training Basics: How to Stop Guessing and Start Growing

By Tessa — Lifting heavy and lifting you up. Strength is the whole personality. ·

Getting Started Without the Gymtimidation

I’ll be honest: the first time I walked into a serious weight room, I spent ten minutes pretending to tie my shoes just so I could scope out which rack looked the least intimidating. I was twenty, I had zero idea what a deadlift was supposed to feel like, and I was convinced everyone was watching me. Spoiler alert: they weren’t. They were too busy worrying about their own form or trying to remember if they actually locked their car.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m a personal trainer living in Denver, dragging my golden retriever, Barbell, on hikes, and still occasionally feeling like a total goofball when I miss a lift. But that’s the beauty of resistance training. It’s not about being the most intimidating person in the room; it’s about proving to yourself that you can do hard things. If you’ve been wanting to start lifting but feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of info out there, let’s strip it back to the basics. No ego, no gatekeeping—just the foundation.

It Starts with the 'Big Three' (Plus One)

When people ask me where to start, I don’t tell them to buy a fancy belt or start tracking their macros to the gram. I tell them to master the human movement patterns. Whether you’re at a mid-range gym or doing bodyweight work in your living room, resistance training is just about moving weight through a full range of motion.

Focus on these four pillars: 1. The Squat: Whether it’s a goblet squat with a dumbbell or a barbell back squat, learn to sit back into your hips. Keep your chest up and your core braced like someone is about to poke you in the stomach. 2. The Hinge: This is your deadlift movement. It’s all about sending your hips back while keeping your spine neutral. Think of it as shutting a car door with your butt. 3. The Push: Think overhead press or push-ups. This builds that upper body strength that makes carrying all your groceries in one trip a reality. 4. The Pull: Rows, pull-downs, or pull-ups. We spend so much time hunching over laptops and phones; pulling movements are the antidote to that 'gamer posture.'

Don’t try to do everything at once. Pick one variation of each of these and practice them until you stop feeling like a newborn giraffe.

The 'Form Over Everything' Mantra

I placed second in a powerlifting meet last year, and I still have days where my form looks like absolute trash if I get tired. It happens. But when you’re learning, speed is your enemy.

If you can’t control the weight on the way down, it’s too heavy. Resistance training is about the eccentric phase—the lowering part of the movement. If you’re just dropping the weight and letting gravity do the work, you’re missing out on half the muscle-building stimulus. Slow down. Count to three on the way down. If you’re shaking, that’s just your muscles waking up and realizing they have a job to do. Embrace the shake. It’s basically your body’s way of saying, ‘Oh, we’re doing this now? Okay, let’s get stronger.’

How to Actually Build a Program

Don’t overcomplicate this. You don’t need a six-day-a-week split that would make an Olympian cry. If you’re new, start with two or three days of full-body resistance training a week.

Example structure:

Keep it simple. If you can’t explain your workout to a friend, it’s probably too complicated. Consistency is the secret sauce. A mediocre workout done consistently will always beat a 'perfect' workout done once a month.

Dealing with the Inner Critic

Here’s the part that really matters: you are going to feel awkward. You might use the wrong machine, you might drop a plate (I definitely have), and you might feel like you’re doing it wrong. That is not a sign that you don’t belong there. It’s a sign that you’re doing something new.

Remember, even the strongest people in the gym started by picking up the pink dumbbells and feeling like they had no idea what they were doing. My dog Barbell has more confidence than I do on most days, and he’s literally named after gym equipment. Channel that golden retriever energy—be happy to be there, be excited about the process, and don’t take yourself too seriously.

Strength isn’t just about the numbers on the bar. It’s about the fact that you showed up for yourself when you could have stayed on the couch. That’s the real win. You’re building a body that can handle life, and that is a pretty cool thing to do.

Got a favorite lift you’re working on, or are you still trying to figure out which machine does what? Drop a comment below or shoot me a message—I’d love to hear how your training is going. Let’s get after it!

About the author: Tessa — Lifting heavy and lifting you up. Strength is the whole personality.. Chat with Tessa on Personible.