New to lifting, help!

eimaj5575

Ok so I decided to start lifting yesterday. I am excited and I want to eventually do Stronglifts 5x5. My question is.... I am starting very low in weights bc I basically only have done cardio up to this point and have no strength. I thought it would be best to do weights with higher reps until I can build enough muscle to lift heavy at lower reps. Is this the way to start? Or should I lift heavy from the start? I am not sure how to start and I dont want to jump in too fast if I should be starting slow. Any advice would help a lot. Thanks in advance.

katro111

Start with the bar and get your form correct. If you feel it's really easy with just the bar, then add 5 to 10lbs to it and try again. It took me a few SL workouts to find a good weight for me; I went up drastically within the first 3 or 4 lifting sessions. Trial and error, but you'll get there!

krokador

When you say light weight, just how heavy does that entail? Are you using dumbbells? You could always start out with a standard bar (20lbs or so) instead of an olympic bar. Or one of the fixed weight ones.

Going really high rep won't really build that much strength. it's more of an endurance kind of thing. You still want to stay in a range below 8 reps if your goal is mostly strength gains, IMO. 8-12 will still get your some strength gains, but you'll progress quicker in weights going /heavy/ from the get go.

eimaj5575

I did a bar which is around 20lbs and added 15lbs of weights. It wasnt heavy in regards to what I think heavy lifting should be. I did 10-12 reps per set. Should I warm up with that then add the heavy weights and do Stronglifts 5x5?

chubby_checkers

Jump into Stronglifts now. Test out the movements with the Olympic bar (45lbs) to see how that works. I'm betting you can lift more than you think you can. If it's too heavy, you can use the standard bar (20lbs) or fixed barbells, like the other ladies mentioned. You can also modify all of the movements so they can be done with dumbbells.

This program has you adding weight quickly, so your strength will increase. As kroc mentioned, you're doing more endurance rather than strength building. I'd follow the program as written, and make modifications to your starting weights if needed. You'll be surprised how quickly you progress.

eimaj5575

Thanks for the advice. I guess I will start the program Stronglifts 5x5 and really work on my form. thank you

Leadfoot_Lewis

Stick to the 5 reps and increase the weight as the program states. At this early point in the program, the most important thing for you is to practice your form and get it down pat while the weights are still on the lighter side.