2 more questions, guys! Barbells and snacks questions.

CASEYSgirl93

1. What weight barbells do I want to get more muscle for weight gain? I don't want to look super muscular. I just wanna weigh more. My arms are tinyyy. My thighs and butt are thick, and my belly is tiny. I don't guess I can choose too much where the weight goes? Do I want 5 lb barbells? 20? More? Less?
2. If I'm eatin midnight snacks, do I still put those all under snacks on my diary? Do I put them under breakfast if it's at like 2 AM and I am skippin breakfast that mornin. I prob need to have breakfast every mornin, but I don't. Thanks!

Sued0nim

The question is not the weight .but basically you need to be able to increase weights progressively. The question is what are you going to do with barbells?

Why don't you start by finding a decent progressive lifting programme...and progress ...there's a range of exercises that can work your upper torso ...push ups, pull ups, rows, curls, inclines, bench press, triceps, lats...you shouldn't work on arms in isolation you're not Popeye

Anything you eat goes in your diary

Breakfast is personal choice

mabo8073

Only you can decide which barbell is better for you choose the barbell which isn't super heavy ( where you can't do the workout in aa correct form) and not super easy to do . The right barbell for you is the one that you can do tge workout in a good form and feel fatigued near the end of workout.hope this helps. And 2.definitely snacks

riffraff2112

1. What is right for you, really depends on you. There will be a difference in how many reps you perform depending on what your goals are (strength vs building muscle vs cardio). Pure weight gain is not my specialty (i usually want to do the opposite) but I would think building the habit of working with weights, with a time proven beginner workout is the best option. You definitely can fine tune when you get accustomed to the exercises and want to target specifically.

You can actually change the size of your specific body parts with muscle training. Weight loss is a little different that way cause the weight tends to come off randomly, but muscle size can be targeted.

Trust everyone when they tell you that you wont get too big. That takes years of training and eating like crazy, plus some genetics.

For beginners, find a weight that fatigues the muscle you are working while doing about 10 reps in good form. You should be able to lift it for 3 sets and have that muscle pretty exhausted (but not painful). The rep range can vary immensely depending on your goals as mentioned above but most workout for beginners start with a very universally accepted 8-12 range as beginners tend to show progress quite rapidly. After a few workouts you will find that weight easier and then can up it a bit, and progress on.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to google 'beginner workout' and fine tune the search for your actual goals, lots I want to add but time and space is limited. Lots of good stuff online.

2. snacks

good luck

peaceout_aly

CASEYSgirl93 wrote: »

1. What weight barbells do I want to get more muscle for weight gain? I don't want to look super muscular. I just wanna weigh more. My arms are tinyyy. My thighs and butt are thick, and my belly is tiny. I don't guess I can choose too much where the weight goes? Do I want 5 lb barbells? 20? More? Less?
2. If I'm eatin midnight snacks, do I still put those all under snacks on my diary? Do I put them under breakfast if it's at like 2 AM and I am skippin breakfast that mornin. I prob need to have breakfast every mornin, but I don't. Thanks!

When I first started, I had similar goals to you. You are one step ahead of where I was though because you realize the importance of lifting versus a cardio focus. As for the weights, it takes a LOT to look "bulky" and the girls you see that are extremely muscular have made it a point to achieve that look by eating a ton and following specific programs. I would suggest looking into different programs. Arms are build not only with dumbbells, but with the row machine, pull ups, push ups, cable and lat machine work. Personally, I stay around 15-20 lbs. with the dumbbells and work towards increasing my reps. As for all the other exercises I mentions, I progressively increase either weight or reps. It's all about what exercises you do!

As for midnight snacks, I usually log them on the "current" day just out of habit. If it's after midnight they go for breakfast and if it's before they go for an after dinner snack. Just my way. It's personal preference though!

cwolfman13

1. The weight you use is going to be variable to the lift you are performing...i.e. you're going to be able to squat more than you can bench and bench more than you can OH press, etc. You shouldn't be using the same amount of weight for every lift.
2. I would suggest a structured program...this will help you in regards to where to start, what movements to do per given session, when you should increase weight, etc.
3. Many programs have you start with less (often far less) weight than you can actually handle...reasons are two fold...1) work on form; 2) train your tendons and ligaments...your muscles can handle more of a load than your tendons and ligaments...tendinitis is a common problem when people start off with something too heavy, even though their actual muscles can handle it.
4. Ultimately you want to be using a weight per given lift that is challenging...you don't necessarily want to be at failure for your last rep or two, but you want to be close.
5. You want to progressively overload...meaning you want to be able to increase the weight your lifting progressively over time. This is usually a fairly linear process for a beginner as you recruit existing muscle and your CNS adapts to load...it gets more difficult as you progress.

AnvilHead

peaceout_aly wrote: »

...As for the weights, it takes a LOT to look "bulky" and the girls you see that are extremely muscular have made it a point to achieve that look by eating a ton and following specific programs...

And taking anabolic steroids.

Building muscle is difficult and takes a long time - even for men, who have much more testosterone than women. You can lift as much and as heavy as you want without worrying that you're suddenly going to wake up one morning with huge muscles.