Outside's Live February Q&A with Moves Columnist and Personal Trainer, Jenny McCoy

Outside’s Moves columnist Jenny McCoy, a NASM-certified personal trainer, is back for another live Q&A session to answer your most burning fitness and workout questions. Her previous session last month focused on winter training and staying motivated to crush your training goals after January comes to a close.

On Tuesday, February 24, between 2 P.M. and 3 P.M. Eastern time, McCoy will be available to answer your questions about specific moves and form tips. Not sure if you’re doing a squat the right way or lowering enough into a lunge? McCoy’s got you. But worry not, if you don’t have a move- or form-related question, you can still ask about anything related to your personal fitness journey.

While she can provide general workout advice, she cannot offer nutrition or supplement recommendations, nor can she offer injury treatment plans. If you’re dealing with pain, please seek out the guidance of a physical therapist or doctor.

This Live Has Ended. Here Are Some of Your Questions and Answers.

QUESTION: HI JENNY! OK, so I *know* I need to lift. But with two other sports (running and tennis), I find myself falling off the gym wagon all the time. Any advice on how to make it stick? Or guidelines on how often I have to go?

Jenny McCoy: Hi! Start with the small goal of lifting once a week for, say, 20 minutes. If you have free weights at home, do your lifting there so it requires less activation energy than going to the gym. Once you’ve established that habit, try adding a second day and/or increasing the length of your session to 30 minutes. The ultimate goal is at least 2 full-body sessions a week. These sessions can be as short as 30 mins if you pick compound moves and stay focused 🙂

Q: I work kettleballs or free weights at my local gym into the majority of my workout routine. It works great for me, until I don’t have access to my gym. How do I keep the intensity of my routine when I’m traveling, the gym is being renovated (the horror!), or the bros are hogging the weights?

JM: Consider buying resistance bands! They are pretty inexpensive, easy to travel with, and a really effective way to add external resistance to your exercises when you don’t have access to weights. They won’t stimulate your muscles exactly the same as weights, but that variety is actually a good thing for ensuring your body is continually challenged.

Q: Hello Jenny, I am a 65-year-old male, in OK health except for a little knee meniscus pain, which I am seeing a doctor to solve. I need to burn fat. I currently use cycling indoors and outdoors to ramp up cardio, and strength train 3-4 days each week with dumbbells and a Concept_C2 rower. What else can I do to boost metabolism? This aging process is rough! Thanks for your help!

JM: Hi! It sounds like you have a great routine in place. With your cycling, make sure to incorporate a variety of intensities and workout types so that your body is continually challenged. (For example, instead of ONLY doing long aerobic rides, also incorporate high-intensity interval training-style rides, threshold rides, power-focused rides, etc.). Also, when you strength train, make sure to use heavy-for-you weights so that your muscles get the stimulus they need to grow bigger and stronger. Ideally, the weights are heavy enough so that by the end of each set, you could only manage 1 or 2 more reps with good form. Lastly, outside of your workouts, focus on incorporating more low-intensity movement into your day–for example, go on a gentle walk after each meal, do your own house and yard work, take the stairs where you can, etc.

For a look at the full list of questions and answers from this live, check out the comments section below this article. Thanks for joining!