Help RE: weight training
jlmed
Posts: 226 Member
I am looking for some guidance here. I have started lifting weights just last week but I am really quite random. I just look around and pick something and do it. It has only been 3 days and it has been all upper body so far. I know that I should be doing lower body as well. I do run 3 times a week (as well as some other fitness classes). I know about the NROLFW but have not read the book yet. I am doing a bunch of cardio as well so I don't know if that program is right for me at this moment ( I read that you should not be doing cardio with this program??). Is there somewhere I can find a good program to follow for beginners. I just need some structure - do these exercises on these days type of thing. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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It may depend on your goals. NROLFW is a great beginner lifting program and lays out a great program for you. You can do cardio with it, but you may find yourself not having enough recovery time. If you want to do the program, you may need to cut back on running or your other classes. Or you may only be able to do the lifting 2 days/week.
Also, the newest edition Supercharged is updated from NROLFW. I also really, really loved the Abs version.0 -
StrongLifts is also a great, simple program for beginners
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What are your goals? Strength/definition/fat loss?0
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Why not just read the book? It is perfect for beginners and it will answer your questions.0
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What are your goals?
^ context0 -
What are your goals?
^ context
Main fitness goals are fat/weight loss and gain strength. I run 3x a week and will continue to do so. I also do some fitness classes and a couple yoga classes. I can scale down the fitness classes in favor for a lifting program.
I don't have the NROL4W book right now and was hoping to be pointed in a direction where I can find a good starting program online for now.0 -
What are your goals?
^ context
Main fitness goals are fat/weight loss and gain strength. I run 3x a week and will continue to do so. I also do some fitness classes and a couple yoga classes. I can scale down the fitness classes in favor for a lifting program.
I don't have the NROL4W book right now and was hoping to be pointed in a direction where I can find a good starting program online for now.
So for strength gains I would recommend something like Stronglifts. The group here is a really good resource.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
However, I would use this to help with form:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki
although the group I linked above also has links to videos showing form.
It's a 3 day full body routine. Add a few days of cardio (no more than an hour at a time), preferably a mix of steady state and HIIT/intervals - or classes are fine too.0 -
Great. I just joined the group and will read through the posts. Thanks.0
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I just realized that I gave you the wrong page on the Starting Strength page:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Lifts
This is the one for form on the lifts.0 -
What are your goals?
^ context
Main fitness goals are fat/weight loss and gain strength. I run 3x a week and will continue to do so. I also do some fitness classes and a couple yoga classes. I can scale down the fitness classes in favor for a lifting program.
I don't have the NROL4W book right now and was hoping to be pointed in a direction where I can find a good starting program online for now.
So for strength gains I would recommend something like Stronglifts. The group here is a really good resource.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
However, I would use this to help with form:
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wiki
although the group I linked above also has links to videos showing form.
It's a 3 day full body routine. Add a few days of cardio (no more than an hour at a time), preferably a mix of steady state and HIIT/intervals - or classes are fine too.
I love this recommendation - I run 3 times a week, I take at least one spin class a week and I'm doing Strong Lifts and it's working well. It's nice to have a program that you can do in 30-45 minutes, 3 times a week and that gives you awesome results (thank you compound lifting!!).0 -
Depending on how much you're running on your 3 runs a week there may* come a time when you will want/need to alter the amount of squatting done in the Stronglifts Program. I started Stronglifts last March and was also running 3 days a week. A sort run on Tuesday (30 minutes), short run or 400m intervals on Thursday, and a long run on Sunday (that got longer each week). When I got up to doing 10 intervals and my long runs got over 7 or so miles and the weight got heavier on my squats my legs started to stay perpetually exhausted. At this time I was eating at roughly maintenance also. I ended up cutting squats back to 3x5 and then finally to just two days a week instead of three and that helped a lot.
*I may just be wimpy and you may not have this problem at all but it's something to keep in mind if your performance starts to suffer on your lifts and/or running.0 -
Depending on how much you're running on your 3 runs a week there may* come a time when you will want/need to alter the amount of squatting done in the Stronglifts Program. I started Stronglifts last March and was also running 3 days a week. A sort run on Tuesday (30 minutes), short run or 400m intervals on Thursday, and a long run on Sunday (that got longer each week). When I got up to doing 10 intervals and my long runs got over 7 or so miles and the weight got heavier on my squats my legs started to stay perpetually exhausted. At this time I was eating at roughly maintenance also. I ended up cutting squats back to 3x5 and then finally to just two days a week instead of three and that helped a lot.
*I may just be wimpy and you may not have this problem at all but it's something to keep in mind if your performance starts to suffer on your lifts and/or running.
^^this is a good point. As you did not put entering in any event or improving your running as a goal I assumed that your running was not a focus, however, if it is, you will probably need to adapt/modify somethings.0 -
That was actually why I ended up switching from Stronglifts to 5/3/1. When I started training for a half-marathon squating one day a week was plenty.0
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Depending on how much you're running on your 3 runs a week there may* come a time when you will want/need to alter the amount of squatting done in the Stronglifts Program. I started Stronglifts last March and was also running 3 days a week. A sort run on Tuesday (30 minutes), short run or 400m intervals on Thursday, and a long run on Sunday (that got longer each week). When I got up to doing 10 intervals and my long runs got over 7 or so miles and the weight got heavier on my squats my legs started to stay perpetually exhausted. At this time I was eating at roughly maintenance also. I ended up cutting squats back to 3x5 and then finally to just two days a week instead of three and that helped a lot.
*I may just be wimpy and you may not have this problem at all but it's something to keep in mind if your performance starts to suffer on your lifts and/or running.
^^this is a good point. As you did not put entering in any event or improving your running as a goal I assumed that your running was not a focus, however, if it is, you will probably need to adapt/modify somethings.
It is a good point.
As a casual runner (most runs are 4 miles or less, and I don't plan on training for a half marathon anytime soon), I find that I can balance my running with my strength training. In fact, I'm in a good position where my strength training is improving my running.
I recently contemplated doing a half marathon, but my biggest reason for not doing it was that I knew I'd have to significantly scale back my strength training and I wasn't prepared to do that (I heart weights more than running).
So, to echo sjohnny and Sara, your choice of program will be dependant on your goals - both for running and strength training.0 -
To be honest I know how great squats are but I was concerned my legs would be exhausted.
Sara, sorry. I am entered in a 5K in March and plan to do a few more races with goals to complete the 10K training clinic.0 -
There is a good chance that if you are just starting Stronglifts now it will actually help your 5K performance in March. You should be getting some early fast strength gains that will probably help your speed. I knocked a good amount of time off my 5K in the first 6 weeks or so of doing Stronglifts. It wasn't until the weights got heavier that I started having trouble with recovery. After making the changes I talked about earlier everything was going great on strength and running.
ETA: I put a lot of "good chance" and "probably" and "may" because I'm going solely by my experience and "we're all different" so I don't want to say what "will" happen on your journey.0 -
my only thought would be to build a program around squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, chin ups/pull ups....0
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Another simple, effective lifting program with progression/intensity cycling built into it:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=41958430 -
Another simple, effective lifting program with progression/intensity cycling built into it:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843
I thought about that one but as the OP mentioned strength was her goal I think StrongLifts would be a better choice. I do like that one for people that are leaning to more hyper range results.0 -
To be honest I know how great squats are but I was concerned my legs would be exhausted.
Sara, sorry. I am entered in a 5K in March and plan to do a few more races with goals to complete the 10K training clinic.
No worries.
I agree with sjohnny in that you should be fine at first without having to modify or adapt the program due to your running goals, but may have to tweak when it gets heavier.
As the weight startes to get a lot more challenging, you should play it by ear but you could either drop a squat session and/or make one of the squats more of a 'form' practice and just go with lighter weigh and a bit of a higher rep range but keeping it a good ways off going to failure. It will be about prioritizing and being as efficient as possible with scheduling around two differing goals.0 -
Weight/fat loss is my ultimate goal.0
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It is a good point.
As a casual runner (most runs are 4 miles or less, and I don't plan on training for a half marathon anytime soon), I find that I can balance my running with my strength training. In fact, I'm in a good position where my strength training is improving my running.
I recently contemplated doing a half marathon, but my biggest reason for not doing it was that I knew I'd have to significantly scale back my strength training and I wasn't prepared to do that (I heart weights more than running).
So, to echo sjohnny and Sara, your choice of program will be dependant on your goals - both for running and strength training.
And just to provide my own example, I'm doing NROLW 3 days a week and running 4 to 5 and have been just fine. I'm not willing to cut back on either my running or my strength at this point. But also not training for a specific race, so like the poster above I do mostly easy runs and nothing more than 6 miles. Haven't done hills since I started lifting, and only do intervals once every two weeks or so. Haven't found squats to interfere with my running yet, been lifting almost 2 months now. Also found the strength training seems to help my running.0 -
Weight/fat loss is my ultimate goal.
Weight loss will come from your diet. A good lifting program will ensure as much of it as possible is fat loss, as long as you make sure you fuel your running sessions appropriately.0 -
Thanks so much everyone for all your input and the runners for sharing your experience doing both. I am totally new to weight lifting but am happy to hear that it will help with my running. Looking forward to starting the structured program 0
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