Introduction

NyeMye

Hi All,

I'm new to this whole "weight lifting to build strength thing." Prior to this I was one of the girls at the gym doing endless reps with a 5-8 lb. weight and hours of cardio on top of it.

I need all the support I can get. I'm going to be completing the program at a gym, and I'm a little intimidated to just grab a barbell and go. I've already completed round one, and tomorrow I'll be trying out round 2. I'll be completing those at my parents' home gym, but that's not something that I can do all the time. For those of you that started at a gym... did you just go for it? Did you have a partner to workout with?

Also, do any of you do cardio on the "off" days? I have two toddlers, so I do a lot of walking, but I was thinking of sticking with spinning as well.

Thanks for all of the help! I hope to see myself getting much stronger soon.

PS-- I would love if you would add me, so I can get some advice/ inspiration from all of you lifters out there.

katro111

Welcome! Congrats on making the switch over to heavy lifting! There are many of us here and will always offer support and help when you need it.

To answer some of your questions...
- For those of you that started at a gym... did you just go for it? Did you have a partner to workout with?

I just went for it. To heck with all the bros that clog up the weight room, I have things to lift and they need to get out of the way. lol. I also find it too distracting to do SL with a workout buddy so I much prefer to go it alone. Very soon, though, I will have my own power rack at home and will be switching to working out out in my basement.

- Also, do any of you do cardio on the "off" days? I have two toddlers, so I do a lot of walking, but I was thinking of sticking with spinning as well.

I do spinning class on occassion (more like monthly) as well as a short 30 min run once or twice a week on the days I don't lift. Otherwise I just do a lot of walking (6+ miles per day). For me personally, that's enough. Once your working weights get really heavy, you may want to re-assess how much cardio you're doing if it interferes with your recovery in between lifting sessions.

ETA: Friend request sent!

Llamapants86

Welcome to the group.

I can't answer your question about the gym (I am a total anxiety basket case in public so I work out at home). Go in, know what your doing (which you already to because you have started StrongLifts) and get 'er done seems to be the consensus on how to work it in the free weights section.

I do something on my non SL days. I try to run 5k once, one long run (7k) and then something else (sprints, long hike, etc). I was running more, but it started intervening with my recovery so I backed off. It is a little bit of a "find what works for you" kind of thing.

ketoandbarbell

Glad you found your way over here! This is a great group!

randomtai

I just went in the weight area and started working out... I never can understand why people make this a big deal *shrug* :ohwell:

Gen2703

Welcome!!

Regarding your questions, I do have a partner (sometimes 2!) that I workout with. We're relatively all new to this so we're learning as we go.

As for spinning you can keep at it for now and see how you feel!! Sometimes I run or do plyo workouts on my off days. Sometimes it's too much and I regret it But, you will find what works for you!

Friend request sent!

perseverance14

I do it in my home gym, and I just started doing it. I did have the opportunity to do it at a gym when I was out of town, I just walked in and did it.

Welcome!

kcmcd

Hi All,

I'm new to this whole "weight lifting to build strength thing." Prior to this I was one of the girls at the gym doing endless reps with a 5-8 lb. weight and hours of cardio on top of it.

I need all the support I can get. I'm going to be completing the program at a gym, and I'm a little intimidated to just grab a barbell and go. I've already completed round one, and tomorrow I'll be trying out round 2. I'll be completing those at my parents' home gym, but that's not something that I can do all the time. For those of you that started at a gym... did you just go for it? Did you have a partner to workout with?

Also, do any of you do cardio on the "off" days? I have two toddlers, so I do a lot of walking, but I was thinking of sticking with spinning as well.

Thanks for all of the help! I hope to see myself getting much stronger soon.

PS-- I would love if you would add me, so I can get some advice/ inspiration from all of you lifters out there.

I walked by the weight room for almost a year before I finally had my husband take me in last week. I know I SHOULDN'T be intimidated, but it was an area that was out of my comfort zone... so I was. I've gone by myself now and it wasn't a big deal. But I still felt like I was sneaking in. I was in there for a little while just messing around with some of the machines before I casually approached the bar. lol. I can't tell you what my problem is there. Just weird I suppose.

I've only done one day of SL (day two tomorrow!) but I'm still hoping to make it to my hour long cardio interval class every Friday. And maybe spin on Monday evenings too, depending on how sore I am. I really like both those classes... will have a hard time giving them up completely. But I will, if I'm too sore. SL is what I really want to do.

And I'm going to send you a friend request right now!

rps67

When I started almost 9 weeks ago, I took my 19 year old son with me to the weight room at our gym. While I like the gym we go to, the weight room is inhabited by a LOT of big, muscular guys so yeah, it's intimidating. With his company in the early days, I got pretty comfortable. I tend to go lift at night after the kids are in bed so my husband can take care of the baby. At 10 PM, the weight room is pretty empty so it's easy to get the equipment I need and I don't feel weird, like people are watching me. Now that I've been going there for a while, I feel comfortable going alone most of the time.

I run in addition to lifting, but not really for anything other than mental health. I started the c25k program last spring and fell in love with running, but then got pregnant and couldn't run due to complications. I re-started the program at 4 weeks post-partum and took it really slow, repeating some weeks as I felt necessary, and just now am finishing week 6 (even though baby is 15 weeks today!). I can't recommend this program enough if you're looking for something to do besides walking!

Good luck getting started!! I think you'll like surprising yourself with how strong you get very quickly!

LadyDeadlift

Welcome! Congrats on getting started!

I studied the program and videos a LOT before finally starting. I went to my gym, made an appointment with a trainer and then had her show me the exercises.

A lot of folks will share experiences where trainers didn't listen and tried to get them to do other stuff.

That occurred for me a little bit too -- when she started showing me the 'wrong stuff' (e.g. straight leg deadlift) I'd whip out my phone and say, "I don't think I described what I wanted correctly - here, LOOK. Show me how to do THIS and watch me do it to give me pointers on my form"

After that I was off the races. It's a little intimidating at first, but now I'm a 'regular' and I love being there!

Also - in my experience, the only thing the bros at the gym are really looking at is their biceps. Even though you may feel self concious - I think for the most part nobody's looking! heh.

kcmcd

Even though you may feel self concious - I think for the most part nobody's looking! heh.

Good advice for life, not just the weight room. lol

dixoncrew

I workout out at home so not sure what to tell you about the gym situation but good for you for starting to lift heavy! I'm a mom of toddlers + some I'll add you