Will 15 pounds make a difference for Strength Training?

jenniator

Hey everyone. Sorry for the stupid question, but I was wondering if lifting 15 pounds is enough to keep most of my muscles when I lose weight and to get stronger. I'm new to strength training and the past 5 days, I've been doing 10-25 minutes of strength training. I work out all different parts of my body. I have no strength at all and struggle with lifting 15 pounds ha ha. But I was wondering if it's enough to make a difference or if it's too less. Of course I want to work my way up higher, but I don't want to push to hard since I'm always so sore after. I think it might be making a difference since I feel a tiny muscle coming when I flex which made me really excited that I might be seeing results Also I was wondering how much does the elliptical work out your legs? I've been using the elliptical for a hour 5 days a week and they are pretty sore, so I'm not sure if I need to strength train that area.

McCloud33

It's all about what's difficult. If you can do more than 12 reps of an exercise with any weight, it *might* be too light. If you're trying to gain size, a weight that you can do for 4-8 reps is what they say to use. If you're going for strength, 2 to 6 reps. This is why a lot of people recommend the 5x5 programs as it's somewhat of a hybrid between building strength and size.

leggup

Yes, you still need to work your legs, even if you're doing cardio or resisted cardio on the elliptical. See what @McCloud33 said about rep ranges. If you can do 12-15 reps, it's time to add weight.

You can reduce soreness the following days by making sure your form is good, consuming plenty of water and protein, and gradually progressing. You will still hurt some, but it will become a dull soreness.

jemhh

What exercises are you doing right now? I think that a lot of people who have never weight trained and try to come up with their own routines start off with isolation exercises (bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, etc.) For those, 15 pounds may very well be too high, since you are struggling with them. I would suggest looking into an established routine and then progressing through that. If you do compound lifts (which a good routine will be centered around) you might have soreness to start but it usually decreases a bit over time.