first time lifting advice for female

c2111

HI there, as you can see from my pic I've bought a second hand home gym, anyway I'm at my goal weight maintained for over a year and already do cardio, shred & running.

I've never lifted, I'm 40 yo female 139 llbs 62 kg , so any advice on routine would be appreciated, I guess I'd really like to define my shape more and gain some muscle :-) thank you

MissB46

have a look at Stronglifts 5x5 its basic compound lifts and a good place to get you started

Hadabetter

Learn proper form, and don't deviate from it. There are probably YouTube videos for every lift or piece of equipment. If not, a one-time consult with a personal trainer might be well worth the money.

Galatea_Stone

The machine you have seems to have a seated chest press, a dip station, a lat pulldown, and I can't see what is on the other side.

These are great accessory exercises. They won't give you a total body workout (you'd still be missing working your posterior chain (gluteus, hamstring, calves), but it's a good place to start. I would get on youtube and search for videos based on the brand of the item you bought. Doing this will be your best bet in finding as many of the exercises you can do with it as possible.

As you progress, you may want to consider getting an olympic bar, some free weights to go on it, and look into a squat rack. No rush on it, but once you start lifting, you may find you really like it and want to do more.

c2111

Thank you people great advice, I looked into the 5x5 and looks great, also ill look at Utube, get my form correct, I like the idea of personal trainer to show me how to use the machine correctly so shall look into this too, and discover what all the different bits are called :blushing.

Thanks again , I think ill reduce my cardio and train 45 mins x 3 a week , and then 2 days of cardio, I'm pretty strong from Pilates with gym band that I use and doing shred and ripped many times. My height is 5'7 and BMI approx 22 so l'll measure myself today & get some before pics.

Lifting seems like a natural progression as I don't believe I can achieve much more, thanks again for advice.

WampBreh

Congratulations on maintaining the your weight for that period of time!

Some great advice already posted but I just want to add that you shouldn't be afraid to lift heavy (once you've got your form down). You wont get super big muscles like a bloke!

ndj1979

starting strength and new rules of lifting for woman are great resources…

I would suggest getting a power rack and barbell so you can squat, deadlift, overhead press, and bench press….that is if you have room for it...

MonaLisaLianne

I have a great book called "Strong Women Stay Young" that has good advice, excellent directions, is not over-the-top and has kept me lifting free weights for a couple of years now. Lifting really works to make me feel better, stronger and (apparently) to burn more calories even when at rest. I am *not* a fanatic about it (I only lift 15 lbs. each arm) but I do like what it's done for me.

c2111

More great advice, I intend t lift heavy :-). I'll also keep an eye out for a power rack etc, and I will getthe book strong women and look into nrolfw :-) thanks everyone :flowerforyou: I actually could do with some friends who lift too so please add me , got to stay accountable :-)