Barbell workout beginner

catherineroberts87

My goal is to tone up and get some definition in my arms and legs. Currently 135 pounds and female. I have a barbell set with 6x2.5 Kg and 6x1.5Kg plates, the bar itself weighs hardly anything. Will I be able to get decent results with this set? I’ve been working on my form with just the bar and I’ve recently added the lightest weight possible and I’m going to gradually increase the weights. But can I get decent results with total 24kg which doesn’t sound much at all compared to heavy lifters. I’m not very strong, can hardly do a push up and definitely cannot do a pull up! But I want to work on that will doing this barbell workout help with that? The routine I’m doing now is;
3 sets of 10 reps of squats, deadlifts, lunges, bent over rows, overhead press, front raises, upright rows, bicep curls, triceps bends. I don’t have a bench or a rack or anything like that.
Thanks

mortuseon_

The main thing is not the absolute weight you are lifting, it's about the progression. So you likely will have to upgrade from those weights eventually, since most Olympic barbells are around 20 kg, but if you are finding them difficult to lift right now then stick at it until the heaviest weight you have becomes easy. At that point, you'll need to seek out heavier weights. The most important part is that you're challenging your muscles regularly with progressive overload.

It sounds like you have a decent set of lifts that challenge larger muscle group in addition to accessory exercises so I don't think there's a huge amount you are missing although you might want to swap out some of the arm exercises for another one targeting your lower body, like glute bridges or similar. Down to you...!

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collectingblues

Echoing New Rules of Lifting for Women. I went with only a standard bar, since my lifting goals are rather low -- basically, I knew that it would take a very long time for me to need weights beyond what a standard could handle -- and I'm only two workouts into New Rules, but I like the explanations, and the guidelines, and that I feel like I'm doing something I didn't think I could do before.

At some point, you're going to need heavier weights, but for now, there's no harm in doing what you can progressively with what you've got, and then buy heavier plates as you need them.