The thought of strength training has always been very daunting to me. I've never been terribly physically active and athletic is one word I never use to describe myself. But you can't go very far down this path of health and fitness without hearing about a million times how important it is to develop some kind of strength training routine. I can't avoid the need to not just tone up but boost my metabolism and prevent osteoporosis, to name a few of the very good reasons to do it. After a lot of searching one of the most accessible, practical, low-cost and low-stress approaches to strength turning that I have found has been through Brian Johnson at CorpFit. I train with Brian once a week, and he has given me a two day a week program I can easily do on my own without any additional equipment. Here's Brian explaining how it works:

The older I get the more stiff I feel. I spend so much time at my desk and in the car, I had no idea how much emphasis would be placed on stretching and flexibility as critical to strength-building. Brian puts a lot of emphasis in this area for injury prevention and to help correct some of the damage my relatively sedentary lifestyle has done so far. Sometimes I feel like I could just stretch for a full hour. Wish that counted as the whole workout!

Brian is a real stickler for form - as it should be. He's always talking about the difference between building muscle and lifting weights - and having the right form makes the difference clear, when you're isolating the right area.

Like many women my age, my major weaknesses are in my "core" and my upper body, so I really want to focus on these areas. This simple routine is helping me do that without needing much guidance or intervention. Having these videos handy to watch - even on my phone in the morning - help me make sure I'm positioned properly. It looks easy but wears me out quick. The good news is that I notice the difference fast and can feel the results all day which motivates me to keep doing it. I took some "before" measurements to hopefully help gauge the difference in this area. If you follow this video along with us it's all you need to do - just do it more than once!

I am going to proudly wear a sleeveless dress to the big gala at work this May. No really, I am going to proudly wear a sleeveless dress to the big gala at work this May. Did I mention I am going to proudly wear a sleeveless dress to the big gala at work this May? Here's how:

Brian's practical, easy-to-implement advice has helped me so much since I've known him - here's some quick words of advice for "Beginners like me."

I'm grateful to know I can train without too much additional expense and no special equipment. I still like my workout DVDs and stretchy bands for variety, but these moves are now at the "core" of my routine. Thank you to Brian and CorpFit for the guidance. I'll report in on the results after a short while, when hopefully the change will be visible! All this, combined with my 10K training that I wrote about last time, should make for a great start to the new year... keep your fingers crossed. Sounds good in theory. Making it happen in reality is what 2012 is going to be all about ...

About Heather McKissick

Heather McKissick is a self-proclaimed fitness wannabe and a true novice at being "intentional" about her health and well being. She is particularly interested in the idea of resilience … how to bounce back from difficult circumstances or just plain keep going during her busy working life. She is 45, a non-profit CEO, a community leader, happily married for 15 years, and mother to two small and very energetic children, ages 5 and 10. "I just want to be the best I can be in all areas of my life," said McKissick. "The older I get, the more I realize that energy is everything, and I want more!"

Heather can be reached via Leadership Austin at www.leadershipaustin.org.