is it okay to NOT feel sore after lifting?
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Are you lifting heavy? You should be lifting enough to where it is pretty hard to do more than 3 reps.
This is not only incorrect, but irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
People who are new to lifting should never be using weights anywhere near their 3RM.
I have no idea what a 3RM is and I could be using the wrong terminology which doesn't mean you have to say im irresponsible. I follow the program on bodybuilding.com and use free weights of 20lbs which is heavy for ME and I'm told to do 3 sets of 10-12 and by the last set I am struggling and definitely feel the burn. I see nothing irresponsible or dangerous about that...especially because I am alive and well and definitely seeing results. Thanks though
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Are you lifting heavy? You should be lifting enough to where it is pretty hard to do more than 3 reps.
This is not only incorrect, but irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
People who are new to lifting should never be using weights anywhere near their 3RM.
I have no idea what a 3RM is and I could be using the wrong terminology which doesn't mean you have to say im irresponsible. I follow the program on bodybuilding.com and use free weights of 20lbs which is heavy for ME and I'm told to do 3 sets of 10-12 and by the last set I am struggling and definitely feel the burn. I see nothing irresponsible or dangerous about that...especially because I am alive and well and definitely seeing results. Thanks though
3RM = Three rep max.
3 sets of 10-12 is a whole lot different than 3 reps.0 -
Are you lifting heavy? You should be lifting enough to where it is pretty hard to do more than 3 reps.
This is not only incorrect, but irresponsible and potentially dangerous.
People who are new to lifting should never be using weights anywhere near their 3RM.
I have no idea what a 3RM is and I could be using the wrong terminology which doesn't mean you have to say im irresponsible. I follow the program on bodybuilding.com and use free weights of 20lbs which is heavy for ME and I'm told to do 3 sets of 10-12 and by the last set I am struggling and definitely feel the burn. I see nothing irresponsible or dangerous about that...especially because I am alive and well and definitely seeing results. Thanks though
You mentioned that you should be lifting where it's hard to do more than 3-reps, that's near a 3-rep max (3RM). But you say you do sets of 10-12 reps?
I don't think that it's necessarily irresponsible because there are beginner programs that you have working in sets of 3 to 5 reps. Although not all exercises should be performed in such a manner.0 -
You could easily double the weight on the leg press. If you don't feel anything the next day go up 5 pounds in weight on all the other exercises. If that's too easy go up in weight again the next time and find out where your failure-point is.0
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I did 3 sets of 10 at 10lbs and then 2 sets of 10 at 25 on the chest press, 20 on leg press 3 of 10, and a few other much lighter ones of 5 or 10. I guess I feel like I should be sore after all that. I don't really know what weight is proper to do.
Where did you get that programming from? Why that weight?
A bit, on the chest press and leg extensions for sure. And definitely on the punches I did with ten pound freeweights.
I just asked a guy who worked there to help me set up a quick program, he didn't specify the amount of weight though.0 -
I did 3 sets of 10 at 10lbs and then 2 sets of 10 at 25 on the chest press, 20 on leg press 3 of 10, and a few other much lighter ones of 5 or 10. I guess I feel like I should be sore after all that. I don't really know what weight is proper to do.
Where did you get that programming from? Why that weight?
A bit, on the chest press and leg extensions for sure. And definitely on the punches I did with ten pound freeweights.
I just asked a guy who worked there to help me set up a quick program, he didn't specify the amount of weight though.
Unfortunately at the gyms even guys with "credentials" don't the difference between a bench press and a floor press. I'd recommend going and getting the "Starting Strength" book by Mark Rippletoe. He does a good job of explaining things and helps you setup a basic routine, great for beginners.0 -
I did 3 sets of 10 at 10lbs and then 2 sets of 10 at 25 on the chest press, 20 on leg press 3 of 10, and a few other much lighter ones of 5 or 10. I guess I feel like I should be sore after all that. I don't really know what weight is proper to do.
You should, at the very least, be working with your bodyweight on the leg press (to start). Bear in mind your legs are used to lifting your body weight. Thinking you can do 20 lbs to give them any sort of workout at all is a joke.0 -
I did 3 sets of 10 at 10lbs and then 2 sets of 10 at 25 on the chest press, 20 on leg press 3 of 10, and a few other much lighter ones of 5 or 10. I guess I feel like I should be sore after all that. I don't really know what weight is proper to do.
You should, at the very least, be working with your bodyweight on the leg press (to start). Bear in mind your legs are used to lifting your body weight. Thinking you can do 20 lbs to give them any sort of workout at all is a joke.
No need to get your panties in a bunch, that's why I asked.0 -
First of all, weight lifting is not hard. It's just confusing for many people.
These are your problems: You're doing full body workouts. You aren't going to failure. You're probably lifting too light. You're not doing enough sets. You may be resting too much.
Here's some advice about lifting: Don't go into the gym and randomly pick exercises. You should try to know what you're doing, and it should be part of your split. Many people do the following 3 day split (Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, Legs). For example:
Monday: Chest & Triceps
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Back & Biceps
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Legs
As you can see, you're mixing legs (leg press) and chest (chest press). Most people don't mix legs with anything, because leg exercises generally don't hit other muscle groups that well (except for lower back and core). If you mix chest and triceps, you will likely still be hitting chest with any tricep exercise and vice versa. Especially if you're doing compound movements, which means you're hitting more than one muscle group (chest press hits chest and arms). As opposed to isolation movements where you only hit one muscle group (curls only hit arms).
Here are some things you are (or may) be doing wrong, and how you can correct them.
1. Poor Form: Lift the weight in a controlled fashion, at a medium pace. Focus on the muscles being used, and stick to proper form. If you can't get another rep, don't sacrifice form; simply put the weight down.
2. Lifting too Light / Not Going to Failure: The beginner advice is to stay in the 8-12 rep range. If you can do more than 12 reps in a set you should slightly increase the weight. Every time you can do more than 12, increase it again. Eventually you won't be able to do 12, which is a good weight for you. Stick with that until you can do more than 12 again. Also, you should always go to failure, or close to it (with upper body exercises). Don't do a preset number of reps and then stop, keep going until you can't do another rep with proper form (or almost can't). Of course, if you do more than 12 you need to increase the weight.
3. Too much rest. Generally you should rest 60 seconds between upper body sets. Don't rest more than that (as a rule of thumb).
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. A common 3 day split is Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Using this advice, you should do about 12-15 sets of 3-5 different exercises, and then you're done. So a gym session should only last ~20 minutes (25-45 seconds per set with 1 minute of rest in between).
It may seem a little overwhelming. Many people just want to go to the gym randomly, pick some random exercises and do an arbitrary number of sets with an arbitrary number of reps. That doesn't work. You don't need a personal trainer or anything (be your own trainer), but just do what I do, which is spend 10 minutes finding 4-5 exercises for each of your splits and write them down on a sticky note. Bring the note with you to the gym. Do those exercises, no big deal. Do the same workouts for a while (maybe 3 months), adjusting the weight as needed. Here's a great website for finding exercises categorized by muscle group: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Just a final note: With legs you should do a higher rep range and not necessarily go to failure (although still get close). Higher means about 15-25 reps per set. And as someone (not so nicely) mentioned before, you should definitely be lifting heavier on the leg press. But you'll figure that out in no time. Weight lifting is more confusing than it is difficult, just try not to underestimate yourself. Good luck in your endeavors.0 -
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.0 -
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.
1x/Wk/Bodypart is suboptimal for anyone who isn't chemically enhanced.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html0 -
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.
I'm strictly speaking about weight lifting here. If you're doing some kind of HIIT program that incorporates weights, that is different (of course you're going to do full body).
I'm not always the best at explaining things, but here is why you don't do full body workouts: If you hit legs for 25 minutes, you will be exhausted. Then you go to arms, and your arm workout suffers because you are exhausted. It is much better to split them up so that you are able to devote your full attention and energy to one workout at a time. Would you do a triathlon and then think you're going to get a good weight lifting session in afterwards? No.
Additionally, most people can only get in 1 workout a week for each specific muscle group. Then you have to rest several days to let that muscle group recover. Recovery is a huge part of weight lifting. By doing a full body workout, you're wasting your ONLY workout of the week for arms by doing it right after legs when your energy is really low.
There are some other problems too. The general bro-science advice is that if you're in the gym for too long (maybe more than 45 minutes) your body goes catabolic and starts burning muscle for fuel. I don't know whether that's really true or not, but if it is, you wouldn't want to spend an hour doing a full body workout.
So, the question is: Who can do full body workouts and get the same results as doing splits? People on steroids, basically.
It's not like full body workouts are a complete waste (unless you're really scared of going catabolic). But they are definitely not as good as doing a split. Of course, if your schedule only allows you to workout once a week, then full body makes sense. My advice would maybe be to do some full body exercises (like olympic lifts, kettlebells, etc...) instead of hitting one muscle group at a time. And also to try and interleave sets together. So like: Legs, Chest, Back, Legs, Chest, Back, etc... Instead of: Legs, Legs Legs, Chest, Chest, Chest, Back, Back, Back, etc...
However, you can do a 2 day split of upper body/lower body that will probably be a lot more effective, if you can do 2 workouts a week.0 -
Additionally, most people can only get in 1 workout a week for each specific muscle group. Then you have to rest several days to let that muscle group recover. Recovery is a huge part of weight lifting. By doing a full body workout, you're wasting your ONLY workout of the week for arms by doing it right after legs when your energy is really low.
This makes no sense. If you have time to go to the gym 3x/Week for a split, what makes you say that you wouldn't be able to go 3x/week for full body?There are some other problems too. The general bro-science advice is that if you're in the gym for too long (maybe more than 45 minutes) your body goes catabolic and starts burning muscle for fuel. I don't know whether that's really true or not, but if it is, you wouldn't want to spend an hour doing a full body workout.
Broscience. And any concerns about cortisol, etc are easily mediated by taking in some calories during your workout.So, the question is: Who can do full body workouts and get the same results as doing splits? People on steroids, basically.
You have this exactly backward. Prior to the steroid era, full body was the predominant method.
Bodypart splits didn't come along until the advent of drugs.0 -
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.
I'm strictly speaking about weight lifting here. If you're doing some kind of HIIT program that incorporates weights, that is different (of course you're going to do full body).
I'm not always the best at explaining things, but here is why you don't do full body workouts: If you hit legs for 25 minutes, you will be exhausted. Then you go to arms, and your arm workout suffers because you are exhausted. It is much better to split them up so that you are able to devote your full attention and energy to one workout at a time. Would you do a triathlon and then think you're going to get a good weight lifting session in afterwards? No.
Additionally, most people can only get in 1 workout a week for each specific muscle group. Then you have to rest several days to let that muscle group recover. Recovery is a huge part of weight lifting. By doing a full body workout, you're wasting your ONLY workout of the week for arms by doing it right after legs when your energy is really low.
There are some other problems too. The general bro-science advice is that if you're in the gym for too long (maybe more than 45 minutes) your body goes catabolic and starts burning muscle for fuel. I don't know whether that's really true or not, but if it is, you wouldn't want to spend an hour doing a full body workout.
So, the question is: Who can do full body workouts and get the same results as doing splits? People on steroids, basically.
You may get some arguement here from a lot of folks that do full body workouts as I am not sure you need to work legs for example for 25 minutes, especially if you are a beginner. Plus, if people are only able to go to the gym twice a week, then the rest days required for a full body workout would be less of an issue (assuming those two days were not back to back) and they would be able to train each body part twice in one week. However, from my personal schedule, the rest/recovery time is exactly the reason why I do a split workout (as I want to be able to back to back workouts if necessary).0 -
sometimes im sore the next day sometimes i suffer with DOMS for 2/3 days sometimes I dont hurt at all, if your seeing results and not hurting then brilliant is what i say!0
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These are your problems: You're doing full body workouts.
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. A common 3 day split is Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
There's nothing wrong with full body for a beginner, as long as you allow adequate rest between sessions.0 -
Additionally, most people can only get in 1 workout a week for each specific muscle group. Then you have to rest several days to let that muscle group recover. Recovery is a huge part of weight lifting. By doing a full body workout, you're wasting your ONLY workout of the week for arms by doing it right after legs when your energy is really low.
This makes no sense. If you have time to go to the gym 3x/Week for a split, what makes you say that you wouldn't be able to go 3x/week for full body?There are some other problems too. The general bro-science advice is that if you're in the gym for too long (maybe more than 45 minutes) your body goes catabolic and starts burning muscle for fuel. I don't know whether that's really true or not, but if it is, you wouldn't want to spend an hour doing a full body workout.
Broscience. And any concerns about cortisol, etc are easily mediated by taking in some calories during your workout.So, the question is: Who can do full body workouts and get the same results as doing splits? People on steroids, basically.
You have this exactly backward. Prior to the steroid era, full body was the predominant method.
Bodypart splits didn't come along until the advent of drugs.
Why can't you work out every body part 3 times a week? Because you wouldn't be getting in very good workouts and you wouldn't be allowing your muscles time to recover by hitting the same muscle groups every other day. We *are* talking beginners here, not professionals.
I'm a little confused by your second point. I think you mean mitigated? Sounds like you're fighting bro science with bro science.
Also, just because full body (may) have been used more often prior to the introduction of steroids in body building doesn't make it the better method and certainly doesn't mean that you need to be on steroids to get results with a 3 day split. You're drawing some wild conclusions from circumstantial evidence.0 -
4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.
1x/Wk/Bodypart is suboptimal for anyone who isn't chemically enhanced.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html
I do full body 3x week, as do others on Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5, and NROLFW.0 -
This is what I do, I just dont go to the gym w/o a plan. I write what body parts I want to workout(UE, LE, core). Writing out exericise w/ reps & weight you want to use really helps.0
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4. Doing Full Body Workouts: Beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts. Most people have splits of Chest & Triceps, Back & Biceps, and Legs. An example of a chest/triceps day is: (Bench Press (3 sets), Tricep pulldown (3 sets), Incline Bench Press (3 sets), Dips (3 sets)).
Taking out the rest of the post that is not relevent to my question.
Out of interest, why do you say that beginners (and most people) should not do full body workouts? I do a split workout for convenience with my schedule - but am not sure why that would be generally preferred over a full body workout.
1x/Wk/Bodypart is suboptimal for anyone who isn't chemically enhanced.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/training-frequency-for-mass-gains.html
That was my understanding also, which is why I was confused and asked for clarification. I only do splits for convenience.0
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