Women who lift???

lowpro1983

I am just starting to lift weights. Just curious to those women who already lift or are just starting out even....how much weight did you start with? How often did you increase the weight? I wanted to start off slow to get comfortable and learn the proper form for all of the exercises. I've researched online and downloaded apps and videos on my phone to learn the proper form as well.

So far, I am loving it - finishing week 2 and excited about week 3. I'm not following any program exactly.. researching on my own and creating my own workouts at home.

Any advice, tips, suggestions, etc are welcome. Thanks!!! :bigsmile: feeling strong today :bigsmile:

ced1389

Start out slow & low! That's actually something I learned way back in high school (which actually wasn't that long ago) sports conditioning. Start out with lower weights and if that seems easy for you, try higher repetitions. The most important thing isn't the weight, it's your form and completing your sets. If you're curling 25 pounds but not doing it correctly, that's not exactly beneficial.

I used to go up (not by much) every week or so. If I felt like the higher weight was more difficult, I might lessen my sets to 8 reps instead of 10 or 12. Listen to your body, it's the best detector of whether or not you're doing too much or too little.

I'm sure you're already doing this, but the biggest tip I have is to not overwork certain muscles. I used to see girls in there everyday doing the same thing. You need to rest and work different parts of your body, which is why I do arms & chest, then legs, etc all on different days.

Glad you're feeling strong!

ElizabethKalmbach

What is your end goal of lifting? Building muscle or building strength?

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

The first time I ever squatted I could only do 95lbs for 5 reps. Then I was able to add 5-10 pounds each workout. Then your strength gains slow after a few weeks to a few months and it's more like 5-10lbs a month (usually 5lbs for upper body like bench and OHP and 10lbs for lower body like dead lift and squat).

ClareWantsProgress

I've tried all combinations - and truthfully mixing it up is always a good idea - but one approach I've used with good results is this:

Start with a weight you can comfortably lift 8 times, for whichever exercise you are doing. Then do 4 sets of 8, or as close to eight as you can lift with good form.

Example: bicep curls. Start with 10 pounds, or 5, or 2 - whatever your current strength level is. (NOTE: everyone is different, so do NOT compare yourself to someone 10 years younger, 40 pounds heavier, and a life-time gym member.) Your sets might look like this:

1st week: 8, 6, 5, 3
2nd week: 8, 7, 6, 4
3rd week: 8, 8, 7, 5
4th week: 8, 8, 8, 6
5th week: 8, 8, 8, 8

Continue doing this until you can do 4 sets of 8, then increase the weight slightly and start over with your 4 sets of 8. I found that I had noticeable gains with this approach instead of trying to increase the weight on each set and getting fatigued and never really getting anywhere. (I had plateaued after years of lifting.) I also like this approach since you just have a warmup set and then use the same weight for the next 4 sets instead of changing the weights for each set. I get more done in less time that way.

Don't work out the same body part on two consecutive days, and don't forget to rest. I lift Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and do cardio on the other days, plus walking every day.

Example:
Tuesday: incline press, flat press, triceps kickback, triceps pressdown (chest and triceps)
Thursday: lunges, squats, leg curls, toe raises, bicep curls (legs and biceps)
Sunday: Arnold presses, side/front lifts, bent over raises, lat pulldowns (shoulders and back)

Lastly, about once a month I have a week where I do low weights/high reps, just to shake things up a bit. It's amazing how quickly your body adapts to the stress you put on it, so it's good to "surprise" it once in a while by doing sets of 20 reps but with a low weight, or alternately to do a week of high weight, low rep (just be careful not to hurt yourself - I use less than my max for those weeks and do 4 sets of as many reps as I can - usually only 3-5 because of the heavier weight.)

Sorry this is so long - hope it helps.

lowpro1983

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I currently have some 10 lb dumbbells that I use for most of my exercises.

I used 30 lbs for my bench press and dead lift last week and squats....and I actually increased it to 50 lbs yesterday. I can definitely identify weak spots, and I was worried that I may have increased too soon. I was able to do 10 of each 3 times...with resting in between of course.

Also, I'd like to build some muscle. Are there different approaches for building muscle versus strength?? Since you asked which I was trying to achieve?