Ilona Maher Shares Her No. 1 Strength Training Tip for Success in the Gym

Ilona Maher’s personal mantra isn’t “Beast. Beauty. Brains” for nothing. The Olympic athlete and content creator is known for her strong physique, and in a new Instagram reel, posted on March 31, the rugby player shared her personal mindset on strength training.

“Girls love to comment, ‘Ilona, you’re so strong, I wanna be strong like you,’” Maher began her video. “You know how you can be strong like me is to continue to add more weight. Sometimes when I’m in like classes or watching women lift, they pick up a weight and say, ‘Oh I can do it,’ and they continue to do that weight for every set. Whereas for me, when I pick up a weight and I do it, I think ‘O.K., the next set, I’m gonna add a little bit more weight.’”

In addition to sharing that progressive overload is what works for her in the gym, Maher encouraged her 5.4 million followers on the platform to not be afraid of pushing themselves during a workout.

“I think sometimes we limit ourselves and we’re scared to try more or we’re scared to fail,” the House of Maher cohost added. “When you pick up the 10, you do it for the first set, pick up the 12 next time, go to the 15, continue to add. You can do so much more than you think. I’m not a coach or a trainer, but that’s just what works for me.”

Plenty of Maher’s followers chimed into the comments section to thank the athlete for sharing her insight. Others, as always, hyped Maher up.

“You are SO empowering!!!! A true inspiration 🔥🔥🔥,” one fan wrote.

“👏🏾👏🏾 a word. As a gym coach I can confirm this is 100% accurate! Along with training intensity! We are all stronger than we realise 💪🏾,” fellow rugby sevens athlete Deborah Wills added.

“Yes! We’re so much stronger than we’ve been led to believe,” the official Two Peas Wellness account chimed.

“I’m still learning this,” sister Olivia Maher noted.

“Coach/trainer here… you’re right 🙌,” wellness coach Jillian O'Neil added of Maher’s method.

Maher, who regularly posts content from the gym, also shared an entirely relatable video following a workout on March 21. While clad in a red workout set, she shared her excitement over the feeling of leaving the gym on an endorphin high.

“Just finished a tough workout, it’s an ‘everything shower’ day, a movie I want to see is available, and I have dinner plans,” she wrote atop the video of her sweat sesh.

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