NROLFW / lifting heavy - help me on equipment please

emmamc252

ok, so i am totally new to the ideology of heavy lifting, I have previously been a "barbie" weights girl. I REALLY want to give it a go and hubby is into his fitness too (beachbody mad) so we are clearing out the garage to make a bit of a home gym, (not tonnes of space but hey its what we got! I know a gym is preferable but we have 2 very young kids and the time it takes to drive to the gym etc etc is just not feesable for us, paticually as we would have to take it in turns to go whilst the other watches the kids/ sits and waits for 1 or other to wake up. so we have to do what we can at home, i think thats why the beachbody stuff works well for DH but I just can't get into them like he can, just get a bit bored of jumping up and down!
My plan is to do mild cardio (maybe a bike or a run) a couple of days a week and then do the lifting. I want to shape up rather than lose weight so after reading the book I feel pretty confident that this is a good move for me. wether i will talk DH into it rather than his jumping up and down is another matter but hey ho!
Anyway, I've been looking on ebay, looking on the new equipment sites (just to try and understaqnd what I need) and quite frankly i'm lost. I will be buying second hand (I think unless the cheap argos stuff will do me..) but i just don't really know what I'm looking for so any advice would be much appreciated.

1, so i know i need a weight bench, I am assuming i need one with the bit behind it that holds the barbell, we won't have the room for a squat rack and quite frankly that seems a bit overkill. is there anything else it needs to have? I just can't see the difference between the ones on argod for £50 and the ones for like £300?

2. weights, vinyl, metal, god knows! olympic bars, normal bars i'm lost. most of the "new" sets i've seen only have 50kg of weight, is this enough? i've read loads sof posts saying its not, can i buy just the weights to add on to it or is that the prob with cheap ones? HOW MUCH WEIGHT do i realistically need? I saw this one...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1525144.htm
so thats 50kg but hubby said it will be filled with water? WHAT? i am so confused!
or there is this one that comes with 35kg and a bench...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1573206.htm
but then i would have to buy extra weight, where do i get extra weight from? will it fit on the bar?

3. Hubby says i can use his dumbells and just modify. but they don't go up to the kind of weights people talk about on here for squats etc and i want to do it properly i i'm going to do it.

sorry if all this sounds stupid to the veterans amongst you but I have had lots of people say you need to "lift heavy" and now i'm trying to it seems like a huge and vast area to try and "jump" into.

all help much appreciated.

katro111

If it were me, I'd look for a power rack. You can bench, squat, do pretty much anything in it. Heck, you can even get plans online the build one yourself out of wood. Then you'd only need a bench, a bar, and some plates. You can also check newspapers (or classifieds, or craigslist etc) for used weights/equipment.

emmamc252

i've been chacking out newspapers but i don't know how much weight i need and really if there is any difference in the cheap ones or the expensive ones? particually with the benches?

Elsie_Brownraisin

Gumtree and freecycle are good places to get equipment. My local freecycle is a yahoo group, so I had to join yahoo, but I see plenty of sporty things on there and have had small weights and even an old manual ellipitcal thing when I started out. Sometimes it's best to post a 'wanted' ad on Freecycle, because some people don't put their wares on there and wait until someone specifically requests something they have. Ebay too? You'd have to go and pick up though, obviously. Car boots can be good too.

A simple squat rack may be a good idea? I've just changed gyms because my old one didn't have one. I'm not super confident and am only on stage 2 of NR and I wouldn't want to do barbell squats or presses on my own without the rack. I have terrible balance!

Also, don't entirely discount the barbie weights. Some of the exercises in the programme that I have done so far, such as dumbell rows on one foot or a particular type of snatch (can't remember the name, sorry) I can only do with a max of 3kg at the moment. You'll see in the book the model using smaller weights for different exercises.

I don't know which type of weights to buy, but small increments between each is helpful; the leap from 5kg to 10kg, for example, is huge. Applies to weights for the barbell and the dumbells. The programme starts with dumbells for squats, if that is helpful to you.

Go at your own pace, it's whatever is difficult for you. I have fairly strong legs, but zero balance, bad co-ordination and not great arms. Don't worry about what other people are doing, some of them have done this programme before, or another one type. Some will have been very fit and stong before they started. Measure against yourself, you'll see that the weights you end the stage with will often be quite a bit greater than the ones you started with, which is all the progress you need.

richardheath

ok, so i am totally new to the ideology of heavy lifting, I have previously been a "barbie" weights girl. I REALLY want to give it a go and hubby is into his fitness too (beachbody mad) so we are clearing out the garage to make a bit of a home gym, (not tonnes of space but hey its what we got! I know a gym is preferable but we have 2 very young kids and the time it takes to drive to the gym etc etc is just not feesable for us, paticually as we would have to take it in turns to go whilst the other watches the kids/ sits and waits for 1 or other to wake up. so we have to do what we can at home, i think thats why the beachbody stuff works well for DH but I just can't get into them like he can, just get a bit bored of jumping up and down!
My plan is to do mild cardio (maybe a bike or a run) a couple of days a week and then do the lifting. I want to shape up rather than lose weight so after reading the book I feel pretty confident that this is a good move for me. wether i will talk DH into it rather than his jumping up and down is another matter but hey ho!
Anyway, I've been looking on ebay, looking on the new equipment sites (just to try and understaqnd what I need) and quite frankly i'm lost. I will be buying second hand (I think unless the cheap argos stuff will do me..) but i just don't really know what I'm looking for so any advice would be much appreciated.

1, so i know i need a weight bench, I am assuming i need one with the bit behind it that holds the barbell, we won't have the room for a squat rack and quite frankly that seems a bit overkill. is there anything else it needs to have? I just can't see the difference between the ones on argod for £50 and the ones for like £300?

2. weights, vinyl, metal, god knows! olympic bars, normal bars i'm lost. most of the "new" sets i've seen only have 50kg of weight, is this enough? i've read loads sof posts saying its not, can i buy just the weights to add on to it or is that the prob with cheap ones? HOW MUCH WEIGHT do i realistically need? I saw this one...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1525144.htm
so thats 50kg but hubby said it will be filled with water? WHAT? i am so confused!
or there is this one that comes with 35kg and a bench...
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1573206.htm
but then i would have to buy extra weight, where do i get extra weight from? will it fit on the bar?

3. Hubby says i can use his dumbells and just modify. but they don't go up to the kind of weights people talk about on here for squats etc and i want to do it properly i i'm going to do it.

sorry if all this sounds stupid to the veterans amongst you but I have had lots of people say you need to "lift heavy" and now i'm trying to it seems like a huge and vast area to try and "jump" into.

all help much appreciated.

If you are going to do a program like NROLFW, then you need a barbell, a bench and some sort of rack to hold the bar in position.

A "standard" bar has a 1" end, and can only hold a certain amount of weight (usually like 2-300 lbs max). The bar itself is something like 18 or 20 lbs. If you are serious about lifting, then there will come a time when you want to put more weight on the bar than it can hold. It won't take you long to be squatting your bodyweight, and deadlifts can be 2 or 3 times your bodyweight.

An Olympic bar, with 2" ends, is basically bigger, heavier (45 lb) and stronger and so it can hold more weight. The standard may get you started, but you may need to upgrade within a year or so, especially if your husband gets into lifting too. 35 kg seems way too light, even 50 kg does. Personally, I'd recommend Olympic if you can, with 300 lb of weights (~150 kg).

Vinyl/metal etc will depend on what you get. Vinyl will generally be for the standard bar and might be safer on your floor. Metal are more common for an Olympic bar, although you can get "bumper plates" (rubber coated metal) too. But these will be more expensive.

A bench is needed, but it doesn't have to be fancy. Mine adjusts to various inclines, but I have never adjusted it - I just leave it flat for bench press. If you plan on doing incline bench, flyes etc, then look for one that adjusts, otherwise flat is fine.

Some sort of rack is required. You need the bar at around chest height for squats, overhead presses etc and above your head for the bench press. Having a power rack is the best option, with safeties built in. But you can probably get away with something less, at least at first. You want it free standing, so you can get the bench out of the way and get under the bar. The one you linked to would work for the bench press, but not so well for squats. Something like this would be the minimum: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9063024.htm (along with a bench). Just make sure it is rated for the amount of weight you think you'll need.



Something like this would be better http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bodymax-CF415-Squat-Spotter-Catchers/dp/B000WU26HI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1400084059&sr=8-3&keywords=squat+rack



It wouldn't take up much more room than the Argos one you linked to.

A power rack would be nice, and is overall more versatile (but more expensive and possibly too big):




Buying used is definitely the way to go if possible. I got a good set up through Craigslist. It doesn't have to be pretty - just functional!

emmamc252

THANKS FOR THAT REPLY, IT WAS HELPFUL. I HAVE STRONG LEGS (OR AT LEAST I THINK I DO) BUT I HAVE A WEAK WRIST THAT I BROKE AND HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME AND "GIRLY" ARMS THAT ARE NOT STRONG! THEY HOPEFULLY WILL BE WHEN i GET INTO THIS! mY CORE MUSCLES ARE ALSO VERY WEAK AFTER A VERY BAD BIRTH WITH MY FIRST DAUGHTER (NOW 2) AND A C SECTION WITH MY LITTLE BOY WHO IS JUST ABOUT TO TURN 1. IF I'M HONEST ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS i WANT TO DO THIS IS TO TRY AND SORT OUT SOME OF THE PROBLEMS MY DAUGHTERS BIRTH HAS LEFT ME WITH, THEY AREN'T PLEASANT AND I JUST THINK IF I CAN GET THE MUSCLES BACK INTO A BIT OF SHAPE THE PROBLEMS MAY AT LEAST EASE.

No_Finish_Line

1. we won't have the room for a squat rack and quite frankly that seems a bit overkill.

3. Hubby says i can use his dumbells and just modify. but they don't go up to the kind of weights people talk about on here for squats etc and i want to do it properly i i'm going to do it.

if you want to squat big weight like that then you will need the squat rack.

a better way to say that is; if you want to be in the heavy lifting rep range for barbell squats, then you will need a rack.

Heavy lifting means you reach a point where you can not do another rep with good form early in the exercise, at say 3-5 reps.

there are exercises that you can do that will constitute heavy lifting with just dumbells, or even no weight at all (body weight)

No_Finish_Line

i'd also recommend that you get an olympic bar.

if you want to get hubby interested (or even if you don't), at some point the other kind probably wont cut it.

If you had to cheap out on something, i'd go cheap on the weight/bar and spend decent money on the bench/rack

emmamc252

thanks so much for this, i really appreciate it! I have a much better understanding of what I need and think I will get what i NEED but modify with for now and stalk ebay for the more expensive items along the way!
I am under no illusions that this will be a quick journey so I can do what I can for now and keep looking for some bargains!
I don't think a full power rack would fit in the space i have. x

Leadfoot_Lewis

You can lift heavy without a Squat Rack or Power Rack. Obviously they're the preference because of the safety they offer. That said, I'm strapped for room so I have Squat Stands that I use. I move a decent amount of weight and they work just fine. The key is to know HOW to get out of a lift if you have to.

If money is not an option, I would get a good Olympic Barbell and some Bumpers. Bumpers are nice because regardless of the weight, they're all the standard diameter, which is great for having proper elevation from the ground for lifts like Rows & Deadlifts. Plus if you ever decide to learn the Olympic Lifts, you're all setup to do so. Check out Rogue- they have quality stuff and A+++ customer service.

No_Finish_Line

buy a rack from rogue and your entire order ships for free.

i'll get stuff from them in less then 3 days from click, with no extra shipping fee

No_Finish_Line

it will probably be awhile before your squatting a weight that your husband couldn't clean and put on your shoulders anyway.

not the safest way but not crazy either