Gym help for 'newbie' - reps etc

bazfitness

I recently got a present of €50 worth of use of a gym (basically works out at about 20 free visits). I haven't used a gym in ages and only ever really dabbled with stuff before. I may continue in another gym when this runs out.

The gym instructor quickly went through some of the machines with me on my first day and he said to do 3 sets of 15 on each machine. From the little I know already and from what I've read on here those kind of reps are really only good for endurance and not strength. Endurance is great but strength is more important to me right now.

I've read on here 1-5 reps for strength
6-12 for hypertrophy (muscle gain)

So a couple of questions
1. Would something like 3 sets of 5 be more along the lines I'm looking for?
2. Would I be better off forgetting about using machines altogether and start using free weights - along the lines of starting strength?

Further information if you're inclined to read on:
edit: I live in Spain but I speak Spanish badly as have only been living there just over 2 months, so it's hard for me to ask for help from people at the gym as no one speaks English.
1. Not too concerned about losing or gaining weight (body fat is approximately 18%) so open to suggestions in regards to going on a surplus or deficit.
2. Not too concerned about image either. I want functional strength - not that I'd complain about looking more muscular
3. I will be doing cardio also. the plan is to alternate every second day between cardio and strength.

Any help would be great.

IronSmasher

If you are new and unconditioned, then he was doing his job correctly.

jimmmer

Get the info off the net for a good beginners routine that has proven results with free weights. Starting strength, Stronglifts 5x5 and All Pros SBR are all good for newbs and have tonnes of info online for free to get you going. Don't try to "create" your own routine - you'll at best get less than mediocre results, at worst programme exercises incorrectly and end up with recovery/injury issues!


Good luck!

crimsontech

Machines are just as good as free weights for building strength. They are just designed to give you a better chance of having good form and isolating the muscles you're trying to work properly. I typically use machines for that reason. I have a tendency to want to "hitch" or cheat to get my reps in but the machines make me more likely to keep proper form.

jimmmer

Machines are just as good as free weights for building strength. They are just designed to give you a better chance of having good form and isolating the muscles you're trying to work properly. I typically use machines for that reason. I have a tendency to want to "hitch" or cheat to get my reps in but the machines make me more likely to keep proper form.

Just means your stabilizers are weak. Free weight compounds for a few weeks with good form (ie lower the weight) will correct this problem and address your imbalances.....

tricksee

Machines are just as good as free weights for building strength.

Machines are inferior to free weights in every single way possible.

Warchortle

I honestly have never worried about reps because I circuit/super/drop sets so... I'm only doing 3 major exercise for 45+ minutes with another 20 minutes of 2-3 exercises as add-ons. I have no idea how many sets I'm doing in total, but probably close to15+
It's all about muscle stimulation... stay there as long as you need to. There have been studies as long as you stimulate the muscle it doesn't matter if you're using lower weight for higher reps or vice versa... just make sure you're fully contracting on the positive side of a motion and stretching on the negative... and frequency. 2-3x per muscle group a week is optimal for non-steroid enhanced muscle builders.

Warchortle

Machines are just as good as free weights for building strength.

Machines are inferior to free weights in every single way possible.

agreed... with the caveat of training around an injury.

mrdexter1

Watch what other "successful" gym users are doing and as for your language problems, been in same position and YOU can become fluent in 9 months...

As for machines and free weights, i use both and for a good reason - On the machines it is sometimes better for issolating a muscle and also has the advantage of being easier to pyramid train (stripping weights on or off with no rest between).
Pyramid training increases mass and strength rapidly as your set reps vary acording to the weight used and also guarantees you have worked your muscles to exhaustion and i get amused looks from women walking past when i m struggling to shift weights on my last reps out that they would use !!!

bazfitness

Thanks for the infos all.
@jimmmer I have Starting Strength, I purchased it a while back but ended up doing other stuff but will dig it out again.
@mrdexter1 - my Spanish has improved rapidly already. I lived in Portugal for 5 years, but as I was married then our social circle consisted largely of other English speaking ex-pats and tbh my Portuguese never got far beyond intermediate level, here it's a different story completely - I'm single and my newly acquired social circle are mostly Spanish and all of them are native Spanish speakers - and now I'm communicating in Spanish (if badly at times) all the time. Having no choice but to learn makes a world of difference! I'm sure I'll get talking to people in the gym after a while - though they don't tend to be places for much conversation anyway . Learning a language requires a lot of work - I don't know about being fluent but if I'm still here after 9 months though I think I'll have advanced a lot for sure.

IronSmasher

http://www.acsm.org/access-public-information/articles/2012/01/13/the-basics-of-starting-and-progressing-a-strength-training-program

bazfitness

thanks ironsmasher

rabblerabble

If you're fairly new to lifting, almost every program out there advises to start light with something you can lift fairly easily 10-15 times and concentrate on using proper form.

When you've got the form down, then move onto heavier weights and fewer reps.