Weight lifting for beginners

watchemmygetswole

The only time I ever set foot in a weight room is to get to the cardio room. I'm very interested in lifting, and have been doing research for a couple months now. My only problem is that I have absolutely no idea how to work the machines? What on earth do I do once I get there? Every answer I've ever stumbled upon is to ask someone for help but my gym is on my college campus and I would prefer not to have to ask the big spooky football players. I do have a friend who I could tag along with, but she won't be back until the fall semester and I can't keep putting this off. Any advice?

hill8570

Starting out, it'd be a lot more efficient to be hitting the free weights (dumbbells, barbells) rather than the machines. Most college gyms have a pretty nice selection of free weights.

annaskiski

Here's a good workout program:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

Here's the summary

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/560459/stronglifts-5x5-summary/p1

watchemmygetswole

hill8570 wrote: »

Starting out, it'd be a lot more efficient to be hitting the free weights (dumbbells, barbells) rather than the machines. Most college gyms have a pretty nice selection of free weights.

Sounds great! I also don't know what to do with those, haha. I'm probably over thinking this all, I just don't want to show up and be a deer caught in headlights.

hill8570

The Stronglifts program @annaskiski referenced is good. Starting Strength and Ice Cream Fitness are in a similar vein. If you're into books, Bret Contreras' "Strong Curves" lays out another good program. There are plenty of others, but they all share a similar theme: start out with a relatively small number of full-body weighted exercises, and increase a weights a little bit each week.

andrewq6100

it's definitely going to be intimidating at first, get yourself acclimated by getting on the machines with no weights, and just adjusting the seats etc. when I started weight training I would watch youtube videos on proper form and how to for the exsercise or machine I would be using, to make sure I am doing it correctly and safely. Time consuming, yes, and sometimes people will stare like why is he watching youtube by the machine BUT duck them because it's better to learn then to guess. never guess cause you might hurt yourself, and don't worry about taking your time because with time you will learn to master those machines and different variations.

sbl1881

There are a number of printable programs on pinterest that you can look at. It helped me with my upper body workout. I'm just starting out too.

inka912

annaskiski wrote: »

Here's a good workout program:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

Here's the summary

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/560459/stronglifts-5x5-summary/p1

I agree. Stronglifts is a good program, especially for beginners. I've been doing it for the past 4 weeks and really like it

ArmyofAdrian

I'll also recommend Stronglifts.com. There is even an app, and it's all free.

I'd also recommend YouTube videos to study proper form. Look for videos from Mark Rippetoe or Alan Thrall. You can practice the movements in privacy without weights if you want just to get the general feel first. Obviously start out very light when you get to the weight room. You main purpose in the first couple weeks will be just to "teach" your body how do do the exercises properly.

And by the way, as a beginner you actually have an advantage in that you gain strength more quickly in the beginning. Later the gains slow down a bit but will continue to progress as long as you keep training.

Good luck and have fun!

maranarasauce93

ArmyofAdrian wrote: »

I'll also recommend Stronglifts.com. There is even an app, and it's all free.

I'd also recommend YouTube videos to study proper form. Look for videos from Mark Rippetoe or Alan Thrall. You can practice the movements in privacy without weights if you want just to get the general feel first. Obviously start out very light when you get to the weight room. You main purpose in the first couple weeks will be just to "teach" your body how do do the exercises properly.

And by the way, as a beginner you actually have an advantage in that you gain strength more quickly in the beginning. Later the gains slow down a bit but will continue to progress as long as you keep training.

Good luck and have fun!

LISTEN TO THIS! Rippetoe is a legend and Alan Thrall is brilliant. And remember get form down before increasing weights.
Also, I recommend doing a linear push/pull/legs program to help with strength training. There are some good examples of how this might look and you can always look up the exercises used to help you with this. The internet is a magical tool for learning about fitness.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/

shor0814

maranarasauce93 wrote: »

ArmyofAdrian wrote: »

I'll also recommend Stronglifts.com. There is even an app, and it's all free.

I'd also recommend YouTube videos to study proper form. Look for videos from Mark Rippetoe or Alan Thrall. You can practice the movements in privacy without weights if you want just to get the general feel first. Obviously start out very light when you get to the weight room. You main purpose in the first couple weeks will be just to "teach" your body how do do the exercises properly.

And by the way, as a beginner you actually have an advantage in that you gain strength more quickly in the beginning. Later the gains slow down a bit but will continue to progress as long as you keep training.

Good luck and have fun!

LISTEN TO THIS! Rippetoe is a legend and Alan Thrall is brilliant. And remember get form down before increasing weights.
Also, I recommend doing a linear push/pull/legs program to help with strength training. There are some good examples of how this might look and you can always look up the exercises used to help you with this. The internet is a magical tool for learning about fitness.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/

Don't just watch Rippetoe's videos, read his Starting Strength book from cover to cover.

Alan Thrall is great at explaining and showing and he has a pair of tree trunks for legs.

ArmyofAdrian

Between the Stronglifts program and learning form from Mark Rippetoe and Alan Thrall, you'll already know more about strength training than many of those "spooky" football players. Any of them (with a soul) will respect the heck out of you for doing the big lifts, even if it's with 10 lbs to start with:

Squat -
Deadlift -
Bench press -
Bent row -
Overhead press -

Those are hard-core by ANY standards!

zara_2010

Bodybuilding.com app (which is free) have 100's of free video demonstrations and workout plans. I was the same when I first started out, now I dominate the gym floor lol.