Weight Lifting??

donnaeve8

So I have been doing this whole fat loss thing for about 6 weeks now and have lost between 7 and 12 lbs (keep yo-yoing between the 2 weights- ugh). I cut my calories, have been doing cardio 3 x week, upped my calories, zig-zagged them. And the scale is hardly budging! Anyway, someone in an earlier post posted a link to a bodybuilding link and....wow! I am so confused!! There is a lot information there that is not only opposite of what I have believed but alot of info about weight training that I don't understand (WTH is a dead-lift???)
Can someone tell me if they use a program, what program and if it is good for beginners who don't know the difference between a shoulder press and barbell curl)??
Also is the book "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" beginner friendly??

Thanks in advance!!
~Donna

PS.. I want to be brave enough to attempt these weight exercises in the gym without all the muscle heads laughing at me

savvystephy

The New Rules of Lifting for Women is a FANTASTIC book! They describe everything really well, you'll find it quite easy to understand! Lifting is great for a woman to do.

Mads1997

Google for "dead lifts" there are lots of you tube videos that will show you the correct way to lift.

azimisp1

Just wanted to second The New Rules of Lifting for Women! It really is fantastic. It has a TON of great information and an exercise plan that is flexible enough to fit any fitness level. I highly recommend it

Edited to add: The book is detailed with careful instructions on your form, and also gives you a little information about what muscles you're working, so it is great for a beginner.

donnaeve8

Thanks for the responses! Is weight lifting/strength training a good idea for someone who has alot to lose (40+ lbs)? There was alot of talk about cutting (?) on that other site that did't make sense to me.

christinathompson1

yes! you need too have cardio + strength workouts. because weight lifting also helps burn fat. try pilates to help "shape" your body.

donnaeve8

Thanks Christina, but I don't think I have the balance nor the strength for pilates LOL! I have tried Yoga on my Wii fit and my "trainer" told me I was unbalanced and weak (i hate her).

kklindsey

start slow with the weight lifting. do you belong to a gym? if you do you could have a trainer there help you out. I do not recommend starting out with dead lifting. when i first started all i had was a barbell and some heavy weights and a few dumbbells. I like to stick to the basics most of the time. When I started I did not have a weight bench so in order to do squats i had to do a "clean and jerk" (not sure that is the right term) to get the barbell off the floor and onto my shoulders but i started out with just the bar. Weights are fabulous no matter how much you have to lose. You can start out with little hand weights and any magazine at walmart (Oxygen, Fitness, Self, many more) will have simple moves you can do with just hand weights from lunges to squats, to rows and on. I really got into it and now have a full gym with a Smith machine( basically a cage that holds the barbell so it won't fall onto your chest if you lift to heavy and drop it) a leg press, a bench, a full weight machine like you see in the gym with butterfly,lat bar, dip bar etc.

I lift 3 days a week and do a basic upper/lower body workout. I do leg press, squats, leg curls and calf raises for lower body and bench press, biceps curl, lying row and triceps extensions for upper body with a set of 10-20 crunches of different types between each upper and lower body exercise. I have done more intensive workouts where i lifted five days a week and alternated all upper body with all lower body. you can do cardio and weight lifting Mond/Wed/Friday there are tons of different ways to do it but start out wtih low weights, just the barbell for some and work your way up and make sure you understand what the lift is designed to do and the proper way to do it so you don't hurt yourself. I could talk forever about weightlifting

kklindsey

oh forgot, the cutting part is if you want to bodybuild. if you want to lose weight tone up and be healthy you are not looking for bodybuilding which is why i say i lift. Nothing against bodybuilding but that is an extreme lifestyle that is mainly for people who want to compete. cutting is after you eat a lot to bulk up(muscle needs food to grow) you find that you have added fat along with muscle, not what you want to do right? so then you go to the cutting phase where you have a very restrictive diet and a lot more lifting and lots of cardio to cut the fat show all the muscle you worked to build will show. again, i am not a bodybuilder so anyone feel free to correct me,i have thick skin. you can lift weights and not worry abotu any of that, it takes a tremendous amount of effort in the gym and manipulating your diet to ever get bodybuilder muscles so if you dont want to be big, dont worry about that and you dont have to worry about bulking, cutting, and all the rest you can just lift and reap the benefits. you will be smaller even at heavier weights, you will be firmer, you will feel fabulous in your own skin and you will be able to eat more and not gain(not tons more but a few hundred calories at least)

Opusarlo

Lifting is how I am losing my weight. I use an app called "Jefit". You may like it. It organizes everthing and tracks it for you as well. Without imcreasing lean muscle mass there really is no way to successfully lose any sizeable amount of weight and keep it off. That is truly not a point that can be argued. Steer clear of supplements at first and just drink lots of water. You will see a profound change in your physique for sure.

donnaeve8

Thank you for all of the great responses!:flowerforyou: