Any advice on weight training?

JessiD123

I'm going to start lifting weights today. I've decided to add it to my cardio routine after some serious research about proper exercise techniques for women.

I've lifted weights before, but I wasn't consistant with it and eventually gave it up, so I'm a little out of practice. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only lady on this site who's lifting weights for weight loss and I hope that I get some answers or advice for this question.

How should I go about this for optimal weight loss? How much weight should I lift?

Thanks for the advice!

ninerbuff

Weight training is usually is for:

Gaining muscle (calorie surplus)
Retaining muscle (calorie deficit)
Getting stronger (either)

ALWAYS nail down the form and be consistent. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

chloeealicee

'First of all, men and women can do the same workouts perfectly fine (if you are worried about getting bulky, read the next question). If you want results from lifting, you should be lifting heavy (=challenging).

Using the machines at the gym can be good enough, especially for beginners, but in the long run you should strive towards learning free-weight, mainly compound movements (deadlifts, squats etc). Remember to learn the correct form before you start adding too much weight. If you need inspiration or instructions for exercises, see above.


For a beginner, it’s best to do a full body workout every time (one exercise for each body part), or a split between lower and upper body.

Rep ranges:

1-5 reps for strength (1-10sets)
8-12 reps for hypertrophy (building muscle) (3-4 sets)
15+ reps for endurance and low-mid intensity cardio (8-12 reps builds endurance just as well)
Use weights you find challenging, while still being able to perform the exercise with proper form.

Remember rest days are as important as workout days, especially when you are starting out, because you will get very sore at first.

Being sore after a workout doesn’t necessarily mean it was a good workout - No pain no gain is a lie.

If you want to gain muscle, you also need to be eating right; adequate protein intake + good fats, carbs for energy, and a calorie surplus.

Bonus tip: Don’t go for workouts in the typical magazines for women only. They are not effective (in 9 out of 10 cases) - you have to challenge yourself.'

information courtesy of a blog post from http://fitanne.tumblr.com/post/90257024486/for-my-faq-how-do-i-start-lifting-first-of-all

This helped me a lot.

Capt_Apollo

here are some articles that you should read to help steer you in the right direction.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/

lift weights http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/02/28/strength-training-101/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/03/03/strength-training-101-how-to-squat-properly/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/01/14/strength-training-101-where-do-i-start/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/02/06/strength-training-101-how-much-weight-should-i-be-lifting/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/03/05/101-equipment/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/09/11/7-strength-training-myths-every-woman-should-know/

Cait_G

Would love some advice too

MzzFaith

Thanks. I needed that.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I'd recommend following a program, at least in the beginning. Choose something that's full body and has you going to the gym about 3 times per week. I like Starting Strength, and Stronglifts is similar but is free (you download it). I just find Stronglifts to have less useful info and a lot more used car salesman vibe. But the programs themselves are very similar.

Whatever program you choose should have a basis in compound lifts-- squats, deadlift, bench, military press, and rows are the big ones.

cwolfman13

Any advice on weight training?

Yes...do an actual program or follow a properly programmed template. It takes a great deal of knowledge to program an effective lifting routine. Trying to program your own routine is, at minimum, going to result in you mostly wasting a lot of your time with minimal results. Beyond that, I can pretty much guarantee muscular imbalances and likely injury due to crummy programming.

There's actually a lot that goes into a proper lifting program...it's not like deciding one day that you want to start going for a walk or something. You need proper programming for proper results.

The good Captain posted some great links.

icrushit

Form. Don't bother doing a single rep without proper form.

Low reps for strength/ muscle, higher reps for toning.

Focus on the big exercises that work multiple muscle groups, ie squats/ bench press/ deadlifts/ etc. The smaller single muscle exercises are really only for bodybuilders tweaking their bodies, and the vast majority of people would be better off ignoring them altogether, as the bigger exercises will also work the smaller ones around it, offer the most bang for your buck, and will also ensure you do not develop muscle imbalances like you could by focussing all your efforts on bicep curls without the adequate frame for them (ie shoulders & chest).

Oh and don't worry about how much you should lift, thats easy - as much as you can *with* proper form. Start easy, get your form right, and build up the weight then as you can handle it.

Capt_Apollo

Low reps for strength/ muscle, higher reps for toning.

yes and no.

low reps pushing your max weight for hypertrophy and strength

higher reps at about 50% of your max for muscular endurance.

icrushit

Low reps for strength/ muscle, higher reps for toning.

yes and no.

low reps pushing your max weight for hypertrophy and strength

higher reps at about 50% of your max for muscular endurance.

Ah, good to know, I knew I was probably being a little too simplistic with the above