advice on my lifting exercises

ummyasminah

Hi everybody. So I'm in week 3 of using MFP seriously, and so far so good. I'm doing cardio 3 days a week and weight training 6 days a week. I have a question about weight training though -- in terms of exercising I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm just trying to keep moving.

I've split my weight training into two segments: arms and legs. We have a weight station at home. I do bodyweight exercises for my leg workouts for now (squats, lunges, etc.). My question pertains specifically to arm day. These are the exercises I'm doing/are available on my machine:

Lat Pulldown: 3x8, 50 kilos
Chest Press: 3x8, 20 kilos
Pec Dec Butterfly: 3x8, 30 kilos
Rear Lat Pulldown: 3x8, 50 kilos

Is that giving me a good arm/upper workout, or should I incorporate some dumbell exercises as well? I have dumbells, but do not have a barbell. My machine also has a place you can do pull-ups, and I believe you can also do a sitting row pull or a standing, bent-over row pull.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks for reading!

janer4jc

I would use dumbbells also. I find that they allow enough variety to avoid getting bored with one routine. You could try New Rules of Lifting for Women or Body for Life for Women for ideas on exercises.

cdahl383

I'd add in some dumbbell exercises as they work your stabilizer muscles.

born2drum

I would suggest compound lifts:
Bench press
Deadlifts
Squats
Overhead Shoulder Press

Then you can choose whatever isolated exercises you want

ummyasminah

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I would suggest compound lifts:
Bench press
Deadlifts
Squats
Overhead Shoulder Press

Then you can choose whatever isolated exercises you want

Can you do the bench press or deadlifts without a barbell?

Sevio

As a previous reply mentions I would look into the New Rules of Lifting books. They will give you a program to work with and several workout variations so that you do not get bored. The book shows lots of different exercises using stability balls, dumbbells, etc.

In my opinion you can use dumbbells to bench press and deadlift. Since you are new to lifting it might be easier and a bit safer.

ummyasminah

Great, thanks!

SuperCrsa

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I would suggest compound lifts:
Bench press
Deadlifts
Squats
Overhead Shoulder Press

Then you can choose whatever isolated exercises you want

Can you do the bench press or deadlifts without a barbell?

You can actually use Dumbells yes.
Check out Youtube for some guides on form

But I totally agree with this poster that you should incorporate some of these!

:flowerforyou: