Advice for a female new to weights

olalola1981

Hi

I'm down about 10 lbs, currently looking to lose another 10-20 depending on how the weight comes off. I've lost so far through diet and cardio but I'm seeing a tonne of posts that recommend incorporating weights into your routine.

I'm just looking for advice on where I should start! I'm looking to improve tone and promote fat loss rather than particularly build muscle. If anyone has any advice, or recommended youtube channels I'd be really grateful.

Thanks!

jellybeanhed313

I just started Chalean Extreme at home DVD's. It is focused on weight training. Adding weights to your workout will change your body like no cardio every could!
I don't have too much advice or experience here as I just started myself, but I know that you want to lift as heavy as you can. You should not be about to get past 10 or 12 reps. By 10-11 you should feel like you cannot possibly lift another ounce, but keep your form.

albertine58

First of all, toning = buildng muscle. There is no difference. If you've never done weight training before, I really recommend a few sessions with a trainer to make sure you're doing everything properly so you don't get injured. I can't afford 1-on-1 personal training but for years I've done small-group training classes and bootcamps where I get a lot of one-on-one attention and immediate feedback about my form. If this isn't an option for you and you want to do it on your own, I highly recommend kettlebells- and don't be afraid of heavy weights! No lame 5-lb weights. Even if you've never strength trained before, you should be able to start with a pair of 10's for most exercises. I never use less than 15 lb dumbbells, and the kettlebells I use are 25-40 lbs. Use a weight that you can only do 8-10 reps with- do NOT let anyone tell you that light weights, higher reps are for "toning" and heavy weights will make you "bulky." That's complete nonsense but it's all over the internet, and there are even bad trainers out there who advocate this. thefitnessista.com has good workout plans, and some youtube videos too. Best of luck to you!

candiceh3

I'm about to start New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROL4W). Happy to have a new training partner

The programs are downloadable online.

4legsRbetterthan2

I second going to a trainer, at least once so they can show you exercises and fix your form if you need it; obviously doing things wrong and hurting yourself is not helpful. They should talk to you about what results you are looking for and make you your own plan too. You don't have to spend tons of money and get training sessions every week or anything but that one intro session can be super helpful if you have no experience.

a_stronger_me13

Lift heavy and lift often with cardio being purely preferential. I also recommend creating a small deficit and losing the last bit of weight slowly as you will start to see composition changes and also the smaller deficit will aid in recovery from lifting while minimizing loss of lean body mass assuming you're getting adequate protein.

Starting Strength is a good place to start. I think Strong Lifts is even better... and completely free. New Rules is another good place to start, if you like variety its probably the best choice, if you're okay with doing the same movements every other workout but getting in lots of good form work than SS or SL are great options and you might even see better progress with them. There is a lot of literature out there for all of them, for sale or for free.

ETA: A trainer for a session or two is also a worthwhile investment... BUT I recommend going to them with a pretty stubborn attitude about wanting to do a progressive strength program centered around the Big 4 or at least Big 3 movements, squat, deadlift, bench and strict press. Unfortunately, trainers know what sells and for a lot of people they don't want to buy into the fact that results come from hard work and pushing yourselves... and that, NO, WOMEN DON'T FREAKING GET BULKY OVERNIGHT AND ESPECIALLY NOT WHILE IN A DEFICIT.

sarahrbraun

I second going to a trainer, at least once so they can show you exercises and fix your form if you need it; obviously doing things wrong and hurting yourself is not helpful. They should talk to you about what results you are looking for and make you your own plan too. You don't have to spend tons of money and get training sessions every week or anything but that one intro session can be super helpful if you have no experience.

THIS^^^

I used a trainer for 6 months ( it was only supposed to be 6 weeks, but I really enjoyed it), and he wrote out routines for me to follow on my own. We are fairly close, and he knows that I WANT him to call me out if he sees me using bad form on something.

A few months ago he asked me if I would do him a favor and join a free class he was teaching, just to make sure he was unavailable to teach a different class. It ended up being the BEST thing I could have done! No one else showed up, so I got 6 weeks of 1 on 1 classes for FREE :bigsmile: