New to strength training... So many questions!!

karynclarke

Hi all! I'm hoping you guys can help me with some questions that I have...

Some background: I am 35, female, 5'5", and currently at 204 lbs (down from 228 lbs). I am still losing, MFP set to 1.5lbs a week (and I eat back my exercise cals). I play roller derby (for the past 4 1/2 years), usually attend 5 hours of practice a week.

I've joined the gym at my work, and have had 1 PT session - was/am completely clueless when it comes to weights. It was a really good session and am feeling less clueless now. Unfortunately, I can't afford to use the PT regularly, so I've found a program (from the sticky) that I feel confident in trying, but want to ask some basic questions before I go and hurt myself!

The program I've chose is the M&S dumbbell 8 week program for beginners. So now my questions...

1) Do I do a warm-up? Stretches before and/or after? If warm-up is a yes, there's a rowing machine would this be good or do I need rowing machine plus something else? And how long should I be warming up for?

2) I can only get to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. The program is 8 weeks Monday, Wednesday, Friday (I know the actual days aren't important, but am guessing the rest day in between is). Should I follow it Mon, Tues, Fri for the 8 weeks, or adapt it and do 2 days for 12 weeks?

3) Sets... The plan is 3 sets of so many for each exercise, Do you do 1 set of each one and repeat it 3 times through or is it 3 sets of each on (with rest in between?) then move on to the next?

4) How do I choose what weight to start at?

5) Pull-ups are on the plan, but I so can't do one (yet). Can I adjust by using the pull down machine?

I think that's all the questions I have, and any help to get me going in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

sijomial

Hi all! I'm hoping you guys can help me with some questions that I have...

Some background: I am 35, female, 5'5", and currently at 204 lbs (down from 228 lbs). I am still losing, MFP set to 1.5lbs a week (and I eat back my exercise cals). I play roller derby (for the past 4 1/2 years), usually attend 5 hours of practice a week.

I've joined the gym at my work, and have had 1 PT session - was/am completely clueless when it comes to weights. It was a really good session and am feeling less clueless now. Unfortunately, I can't afford to use the PT regularly, so I've found a program (from the sticky) that I feel confident in trying, but want to ask some basic questions before I go and hurt myself!

The program I've chose is the M&S dumbbell 8 week program for beginners. So now my questions...
Well done on choosing a program. That's put you streets ahead of people who just wing it!

1) Do I do a warm-up? Stretches before and/or after? If warm-up is a yes, there's a rowing machine would this be good or do I need rowing machine plus something else? And how long should I be warming up for?
Depends! Some people like a cardio warmup, some prefer using light weights or warm up sets so you do the same exercise at light weight in exactly same movements before moving on to the "working sets". Rowing machine is a good choice for a cardio warmup as it works most of the body (elliptical also good for the same reason), time depends on long long for you to feel loose and ready to lift but not tired (5 - 10 mins perhaps?). Dynamic stretches are OK as part of a warmup if you like but don't do static stretches before lifting.

2) I can only get to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. The program is 8 weeks Monday, Wednesday, Friday (I know the actual days aren't important, but am guessing the rest day in between is). Should I follow it Mon, Tues, Fri for the 8 weeks, or adapt it and do 2 days for 12 weeks?
Being new to the exercise you are going to need more recovery time / rest days. Maybe start with just two lifting sessions a week and when you start to get more acclimatised add in the third day after a while. But do all three different workouts in rotation.

3) Sets... The plan is 3 sets of so many for each exercise, Do you do 1 set of each one and repeat it 3 times through or is it 3 sets of each on (with rest in between?) then move on to the next?
3 sets for each exercise then move on to the next is more traditional for strength training as opposed to circuit training.

4) How do I choose what weight to start at?
Experiment but start light, you want to be finding the last couple of reps hard but not so hard your form suffers.

5) Pull-ups are on the plan, but I so can't do one (yet). Can I adjust by using the pull down machine?
Excellent idea.

I think that's all the questions I have, and any help to get me going in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

karynclarke

@sijomial Thank you for answering so fully!

I will start with Mondays and Fridays, rotating the workouts, for a bit and add in Tuesdays if/when I feel ready.

I'm really looking forward to starting, I've been meaning to add in strength training for a couple of years, but only just kicked myself in the *kitten* enough to start now. Probably because I felt so lost on where to start.