Weight training questions

lemur_lady

Hits. I am still relatively new to weight training and have a few questions I hope you experienced lifters can help me with

1) Can you build strength while eating at a deficit? I ask because I have heard you cannot build muscle while on a deficit but wasn't sure if extra muscle= extra strength. I have been doing it for about 3 months and am just starting to try out the 10lb dumbbells, to me they seem really heavy ( I can get about 5-7 reps done with them depending on which lift I am doing) but I know people on here can lift loads more. How can I increase my strength?

2) I usually get in between 3 and 4 workouts a week, never on consecutive days. My average workout is 10 mins cardio followed by 30 mins of weights then another 10-20 mins of cardio depending on my energy levels. Does this sound ok or could I possibly be over/undertraining?

3) Some people I've heard talk about aching muscles after weight training like its a good thing but others have said the opposite. How do I know if I have got in a decent workout or if I've over done it?

ell_v131

Sorry I don't have an answer for you, but wanna keep watching out for the replies as I have similar questions! Good luck on your journey!!!

Yanicka1

Hits. I am still relatively new to weight training and have a few questions I hope you experienced lifters can help me with

1) Can you build strength while eating at a deficit? I ask because I have heard you cannot build muscle while on a deficit but wasn't sure if extra muscle= extra strength. I have been doing it for about 3 months and am just starting to try out the 10lb dumbbells, to me they seem really heavy ( I can get about 5-7 reps done with them depending on which lift I am doing) but I know people on here can lift loads more. How can I increase my strength?

2) I usually get in between 3 and 4 workouts a week, never on consecutive days. My average workout is 10 mins cardio followed by 30 mins of weights then another 10-20 mins of cardio depending on my energy levels. Does this sound ok or could I possibly be over/undertraining?

3) Some people I've heard talk about aching muscles after weight training like its a good thing but others have said the opposite. How do I know if I have got in a decent workout or if I've over done it?

1) you can gain strength on a deficit and good gains at that. To increase your strength , you have to lift heavier

2) what kind of strength workout are you doing? It should centre around the big lifts like squats, deadlifts and bench presses. I suggest you try stronglifts 5 x 5... It is a great program for beguiners

3) DOMS ( pain in the muscle) is not a good indication of a good or bad workout.

Shawshankcan

Over training is thrown around too much. It takes a lot more than people realize to get to that point.

cwolfman13

Hits. I am still relatively new to weight training and have a few questions I hope you experienced lifters can help me with

1) Can you build strength while eating at a deficit? I ask because I have heard you cannot build muscle while on a deficit but wasn't sure if extra muscle= extra strength. I have been doing it for about 3 months and am just starting to try out the 10lb dumbbells, to me they seem really heavy ( I can get about 5-7 reps done with them depending on which lift I am doing) but I know people on here can lift loads more. How can I increase my strength?

2) I usually get in between 3 and 4 workouts a week, never on consecutive days. My average workout is 10 mins cardio followed by 30 mins of weights then another 10-20 mins of cardio depending on my energy levels. Does this sound ok or could I possibly be over/undertraining?

3) Some people I've heard talk about aching muscles after weight training like its a good thing but others have said the opposite. How do I know if I have got in a decent workout or if I've over done it?

1 ) Strength gains while you are a beginner lifter come largely from neural adaptation, not muscle growth...you can make solid strength gains for a long time before needing to add significant mass. You will hit a wall while eating at a deficit faster than you would at maintenance or whatever...but that's just because you are at a deficit of energy.

2) you should be doing an actual program...just lifting some dumbells here and there isn't going to do much for you...your weight threshold should be different for different lifts....i.e. you're going to be able to squat far more than you can bench press and if you want optimal results you need to work to capacity for each lift. 3-5 reps is "strength" range...8-12 reps is hypertrophy and/or physique work. A tried and true program will have you focused largely on the big 4 compounds (squats, bench, OH press, Dead Lifts)...things like curls and what not are generally considered assistance work in that they ultimately should be used to assist you with those big lifts. You also need progressive overload...meaning you sould be regularly increasing the weight your are pushing and pulling...doing months on end of 10 Lb dumbbells isn't really going to do much for you. A true program is going to tell you how often you should be going...typically full body training is 3x weekly which is what I recommend for beginners. Later on you can start doing 4x splits, but really not necessary at this point.

3) DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) isn't necessarily an indicator of whether you've had a good workout or not. I usually have a little DOMS, but I'm never super sore and writhing in pain or anything.

stt43

1) Yes, but most likely your strength will go down. You will be much stronger with increased calories.
2) You aren't overtraining. Three or four times a week is usually good.
3) Sometimes muscle ache is a sign of an intense workout (but you can have a good workout without it), and sometimes it is a sign of muscle injury.

lemur_lady

Hits. I am still relatively new to weight training and have a few questions I hope you experienced lifters can help me with

1) Can you build strength while eating at a deficit? I ask because I have heard you cannot build muscle while on a deficit but wasn't sure if extra muscle= extra strength. I have been doing it for about 3 months and am just starting to try out the 10lb dumbbells, to me they seem really heavy ( I can get about 5-7 reps done with them depending on which lift I am doing) but I know people on here can lift loads more. How can I increase my strength?

2) I usually get in between 3 and 4 workouts a week, never on consecutive days. My average workout is 10 mins cardio followed by 30 mins of weights then another 10-20 mins of cardio depending on my energy levels. Does this sound ok or could I possibly be over/undertraining?

3) Some people I've heard talk about aching muscles after weight training like its a good thing but others have said the opposite. How do I know if I have got in a decent workout or if I've over done it?

1) you can gain strength on a deficit and good gains at that. To increase your strength , you have to lift heavier

2) what kind of strength workout are you doing? It should centre around the big lifts like squats, deadlifts and bench presses. I suggest you try stronglifts 5 x 5... It is a great program for beguiners

3) DOMS ( pain in the muscle) is not a good indication of a good or bad workout.

I am doing things like squats, lunges, bent over rows, bodyweight things like planks and some other lifts I read about
in NROLFW that you can do with dumbbells. These are my only peice of equipment as I don't have the money (or confidence) to join the gym.