I'm Gonna Do It!!

EmilyEmpowered

Alright, I have been reading about lifting heavy for A WHOLE YEAR NOW! Yes, I have added strength training and circuit training, but I know the results I want will only be achieved by lifting heavy, and I actually have been eager to start but SOOOO ridiculously nervous to actually go and start. Monday and Wednesday I went and checked out that area of the gym and did some of the machines surrounding the free weights area. The same few guys were there both times, so I decided TOMORROW I AM GOING OVER THERE and starting my Stronglifts. I am so nervous but excited. I know once I get past the initial visit to the other side I will be fine.

Any advice or suggestions for my first time? I have no idea what weights I could lift, but I am going to start with the bar as suggested. I am going to do workout A tomorrow. I have an app on my phone to track everything, have practiced form without the weights, feel pretty confident that I know each lift but just gotta figure out what bar to use cause I have no clue!! :blushing:

All in all I just would really appreciate anyone who can give me advice and also what to expect once I start, as far as progress and how quickly my body will start to change. I am currently 5'4", 145 pounds, and 29.6% body fat. Will my body fat reduce quickly?

OK, thanks everyone, sorry for rambling, I tend to be long winded! :blushing:

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

You will love it!

Definitely start with the bar and progress as per the program providing your form is good. Many of us ladies have had difficult progressing on the upper body lifts at 5lb/workout so fractional weights have become our best friends! Some of us have proper ones, I use contractor size rolls of masking tape (I have a home gym :laugh: ) and another one of use uses 1lb wrist weights.

As for what to expect, it's entirely possible you will see a scale gain in the first bit....don't panic! It's completely normal and expected. As for fat loss....really depends on how much you are eating/at what deficit. You will probably find you start to get hungrier doing this program, so it can be tough to find a good balance between deficit but eating enough to continue to progress. Also make sure you are getting enough protein!

Hope this helps :happy:

DaniH826

Start with the empty bar and focus on form, form, form over weight progression.

Actually for overhead presses I started with dumbbells because 45 lbs was too heavy for me when I started; but I worked my way up to the bar within a week or two on those. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do, especially if you're weaksauce like I was.

You can expect to add 5 lbs pretty quickly to deadlifts and squats either every workout or every week for a good while, but probably not to overhead presses and bench presses. That's where fractionals are going to be your best friend, or just hanging out at a certain weight for a while until you're able to go up another 5 lbs.

My weight loss has pretty much stalled since I started lifting. I'm only praying my newly built muscle is somehow eating the fat ... cause neither scale nor tape are budging, yet somehow I manage to lift heavier every week. I do try get in around 100g protein every day. Drinking water has been my downfall lately though, and I think it's making my body hang on to every drop for dear life.

I love lifting, and I hope you will too! It's pretty amazing.

auddii

Agreed with everything said so far. Watch out, the progress and strength gains are addictive!

Fittreelol

Agreed with everything said so far. Watch out, the progress and strength gains are addictive!

This!

And welcome!