Anyone willing to help me with my exercise plan?

NotJustADieter

Two major helps needed- wanting to know if this is training everything, and wanting to how often to up weights.

I have a spin class set 3x a week, on MWF. That's not movable, it's a class at my university. Thankfully, though, it is great cardio as well as some lower-body exercise.

I'm thinking I can do strength training Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. I'm at 15lbs for dumbbells right now, and do one armed rows, shrugs, bicep curls, standing dumbbell shoulder presses, and dumbbell bench presses. I also squat, though only the bar right now. I do 5x5 of each of those, then I do medicine ball situps, and then I do all of the above again in reverse.

So, how often do I up my weights? And am I training everything I ought to be? Are there any extraneous exercises I'm doing that I can drop to streamline my fitness plan?

meshashesha2012

look into beginner strength programs like starting strength, strong lifts, strong curves, new rules of lifting. the first 2 are free programs on the interwebz. the last 2 are books both of which have pretty good info.

with those programs you'll be ditching the accessory work like biceps shrugs and abs and will be working more compound lifts : deadlifts, squats, bench press, overhead press, etc.

with those programs you'll be adding weight every workout as you learn the form you'll also consistently be moving up the weight. depending on your beginning strength, your calorie deficit then it might take 4-8 months before it becomes harder to increase the weight and keep good form. after that there are many things that you but o'd say for now just focus on getting on a solid strength training plan, and learning the form

RHachicho

There is one simple sentence that should tell you when to up your weights. And that is.

The last rep of a set should be a struggle to get through but not so much of a struggle that you lose your form.

Basically if you are completing every set without too much trouble its time to up the weights. Also different muscle groups can handle different weights. If you feel you can add more weight on your shrugs but not on your shoulder press ... do so. Restricting yourself to one weight for your whole body will only stall the progress of the stronger muscle groups.

I usually up weights like this. I start on 8 reps of a weight. Increasing by 2 reps twice up to 12 reps. Once 12 reps becomes easy I up the weight and go back down to 8 reps. And repeat the cycle. This is for the more minor moves like shrugs bicep curls machine work and the like. Though I really don't do much machine work anymore.

For big compound lifts like squats rows and deadlifts. I start with a 5x5 on the weight. Then move on to a 4x6. Then a 3x8. Once the 3x8 is comfortable I do a 5x8. Once I can manage that. I up the weight.