Weight lifting--how to start?

kristinL16

I see all of the posts about "heavy lifting" and have friends who post a bunch of stuff that I don't understand...:) I want to start lifting weights but don't know where to start. I need a simple routine and would prefer to use machines to start with since I am more familiar with them. I have 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30. Is that a good place to start or should I just jump in at the gym? Also, how long did it take to see results? Thanks!

vikingdude93

A good beginning resource is at http://www.stumptuous.com/category/starting, and http://www.stumptuous.com/basics-of-a-routine

cals83

30 day shred isn't really weight lifting but if you have never done any sort of strength training, I personally think it is a good place to start. It will give you a good base to work off of and show you proper form / alignment for a lot of what you would find in a heavy lifting routine.

blacknivory

You will see a large fan base here for New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLW) and it has its own group. Have a look at that. I am on stage 3 and really enjoying it. The book is incredibly encouraging and straightforward to use (if you are prepared to study it carefully and plan ahead by reading other posts and getting the workout sheets). I had never lifted weights before and have never been very strong but loving how my body is starting to feel. You will see other people lifting heavy weights but I just start everything with either body weight or light weights and work up gradually. I like the big emphasis on rest and recovery and diet as being the key ingredients for success.
The best lifting advice I find anywhere generally says to stay away from machines.

Gwyn1969

A good beginning resource is at http://www.stumptuous.com/category/starting, and http://www.stumptuous.com/basics-of-a-routine

^ this. Stumptous is a fantastic resource.

crisanderson27

You will see a large fan base here for New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLW) and it has its own group. Have a look at that. I am on stage 3 and really enjoying it. The book is incredibly encouraging and straightforward to use (if you are prepared to study it carefully and plan ahead by reading other posts and getting the workout sheets). I had never lifted weights before and have never been very strong but loving how my body is starting to feel. You will see other people lifting heavy weights but I just start everything with either body weight or light weights and work up gradually. I like the big emphasis on rest and recovery and diet as being the key ingredients for success.
The best lifting advice I find anywhere generally says to stay away from machines.

While I disagree with some of the information presented in the New Rules book, it's still the best beginner resource for women who want to reap the rewards of heavy lifting. It eliminates the intimidation most women feel by giving them a program and guide built just for them (even though most of it is exactly what a guy should be doing too). And misinformation or no...it's still going to be quite effective.

As for the rest/recovery/diet...those are the key ingredients for success in any program . The lifting sets you up for that success, but it's the other three that utilize that input and make something incredible of it!

pastryari

I started Stronglifts 5x5. I like it. It's simple and straight forward.

You lift 3x a week alternating between workout A and workout B. Each workout has 3 compound (full body) lifts. You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each.

Workout A - Squats, Bench Press, Rows.
Workout B - Squats, Overhead Press, Deadlift.

You can google the workout and see what it's all about. If you're unsure about form, talk to a trainer to familiarize yourself or look up youtube videos on proper form.

There's a thread here for form critique as well (you can browse the videos and/or post your own videos and get feedback: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911984-form-critique-thread-post-your-videos-here:


ETA: I had no previous weight lifting experience prior to starting the program.

hesn92

well jillian michaels isn't heavy lifting. I would just say go to the gym and start. I read a lot on the internet (on here and bodybuilding.com) before I started lifting weights at the gym. I think starting strength or stronglifts is a good place to start.

crisanderson27

I started Stronglifts 5x5. I like it. It's simple and straight forward.

You lift 3x a week alternating between workout A and workout B. Each workout has 3 compound (full body) lifts. You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each.

Workout A - Squats, Bench Press, Rows.
Workout B - Squats, Overhead Press, Deadlift.

You can google the workout and see what it's all about. If you're unsure about form, talk to a trainer to familiarize yourself or look up youtube videos on proper form.

There's a thread here for form critique as well (you can browse the videos and/or post your own videos and get feedback: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911984-form-critique-thread-post-your-videos-here:


ETA: I had no previous weight lifting experience prior to starting the program.

For the record I agree completely with this lol. It's just that in my experience women completely ignore me (a man), when I suggest they do a workout that seems to be 'geared towards men'...even though the same exact lifting strategy will work for either gender. This is why I've taken to suggesting the New Rules book. It seems to give women a warm fuzzy feeling that the other programs don't, even though the others in my opinion are superior.

ProudArmyWifey8

Bodybuilding.com helped me a lot when I first started

Sawjer

Bodybuilding.com helped me a lot when I first started

Thats what I have used / am using.

Cait_Sidhe

I completed New Rules of Lifting for Women. If I was to start all over again, I'd skip it. I found it to be overcomplicated and confusing. And it doesn't give enough info on form. A lot of people like it though. And it did get me off the weight machines and using the free weights. Read the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. Look up videos on youtube about lifting form videos on youtube with Mark Rippetoe. I learned sooooo much and this was after I completed NROLFW. Download the free pdf Stronglifts 5 x 5. There's really only about 5 pages of useful info in there, but it's worth it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/788-women-strength-training
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/824-strength-training
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary (an excellent summary of the program if you can't get through Mehndi's shpeil)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/5469-stronglifts-5x5
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/12869-girls-who-lift-the-guys-who-spot-them-
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/119-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w-

Showcase_Brodown

Kudos for wanting to get started on weights. I believe you will find it rewarding.

In the last couple of months I have started to do strength training at the gym in an effort to add some weight to my toothpick stature. It was a little bit intimidating for me to get started because some of it was unfamiliar territory or I was over-conscious about how light I would have to start with some of the lifts. I used mostly machines when I was first starting out, but gradually transitioned to mostly free weights and focusing on compound movements. Machines aren't necessarily bad, but the overwhelming consensus seems to be that freeweights will probably give you better results.

I'd recommend "jumping into" the gym and familiarizing yourself with the freeweight area. I promise that the scariness of that will quickly go away. Start small if you have to. For instance, if you are doing squats, start with just the bar or do them with dumbbells if you need to. For chinups/pullups, a lot of gyms probably have a machine where you can offset your bodyweight. At mine, it's called the "Gravitron."

I think you will start seeing results very quickly if you are new to it. Just make sure to keep pushing yourself (add some more weight or try to get another repitition the next day you do that lift). I am still basically a newb at weights, but I'm getting stronger, noticing muscle definition/growth, and overall feeling different in a good way.

I've been reading up a lot on Martin Berkhan's blog, leangains. He has quite a bit of good information on weight training there, and is a huge advocate of squat, deadlift, chin-ups and bench press as the main compound lifts to focus on.

Have fun!

dbmata

I would also review starting strength. Homie knows his game.

Mads1997

I started Stronglifts 5x5. I like it. It's simple and straight forward.

You lift 3x a week alternating between workout A and workout B. Each workout has 3 compound (full body) lifts. You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each.

Workout A - Squats, Bench Press, Rows.
Workout B - Squats, Overhead Press, Deadlift.

You can google the workout and see what it's all about. If you're unsure about form, talk to a trainer to familiarize yourself or look up youtube videos on proper form.

There's a thread here for form critique as well (you can browse the videos and/or post your own videos and get feedback: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911984-form-critique-thread-post-your-videos-here:


ETA: I had no previous weight lifting experience prior to starting the program.

No lifting experience for me either and I started this program. I did read the NROL4W and well it just seemed to complicated for me. The strong lifts 5 x 5 is simple and easy to follow.

bacitracin

Get a weight. Lift it up. Set it down. Repeat. Add more mass next time.

j/k, Starting Strength is totally awesome.

ckmama

I started Stronglifts 5x5. I like it. It's simple and straight forward.

You lift 3x a week alternating between workout A and workout B. Each workout has 3 compound (full body) lifts. You do 5 sets of 5 reps for each.

Workout A - Squats, Bench Press, Rows.
Workout B - Squats, Overhead Press, Deadlift.

You can google the workout and see what it's all about. If you're unsure about form, talk to a trainer to familiarize yourself or look up youtube videos on proper form.

There's a thread here for form critique as well (you can browse the videos and/or post your own videos and get feedback: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911984-form-critique-thread-post-your-videos-here:


ETA: I had no previous weight lifting experience prior to starting the program.

For the record I agree completely with this lol. It's just that in my experience women completely ignore me (a man), when I suggest they do a workout that seems to be 'geared towards men'...even though the same exact lifting strategy will work for either gender. This is why I've taken to suggesting the New Rules book. It seems to give women a warm fuzzy feeling that the other programs don't, even though the others in my opinion are superior.

I've also started Strong Lifts this weekend. Before that I did a workout from scooby i think is the name you can google it. His stuff for women is basic. But I follow the men's workout. I lift heavy.

mikejholmes

I started StrongLifts, and it was simple and easy. And I did start seeing results within 2-3 weeks. Stronglifts has the benefit of being freely and immediately accessible, so if you want to start now, that's where I'd start.

But I'd highly recommend picking up Starting Strength. I learned a bunch of things that I was doing wrong from reading that book.

jacque930

Bump for later

eastonna

Bump.

Reinventing_Me

bump

mikejholmes

Oh, and one of the things that you'll get from both Starting Strength and Stronglifts is a huge bias towards barbell training. Machines isolate individual muscles in ways that you'd never use in real life. That can lead to all sorts of problems (muscle imbalance, extra stress on joints, etc.). You are MUCH better off doing the compound lifts described in those programs. I trained for years on machines, and basically never saw much in the way of gains. Once I picked up a barbell, the world changed.

leholcomb

bump for later

snorry

For later

jalloggio

Well if your going to start off in the gym. Start off by training your muscles in endurance beginners should use 2 sets with 15-20 reps per muscle group.

You can either do a full body split or a push pull split

Example
(Full body split)
Monday upper body
Tuesday cardio
Wednesday lower body
Thursday rest
Friday full body
Saturday cardio
Sunday rest

Example
(Push pull split)
Monday push (chest, anterior deltoids, triceps)
Tuesday cardio
Wednesday pull (biceps back rear and medial deltoids)
Thursday rest
Friday legs
Saturday cardio
Sunday rest

I would suggest the push pull also when I do a push pull I do abs with my legs workout

leahartmann

StrongLifts! It´s easy, it´s free - except from the gym membership- and yes, you can learn about proper form on you-tube, reading Starting Strength and others. I´m new to lifting as well, started a month and a half ago. If you had told me three months ago, I would have laughed. Now I don´t know what I should do without it!

And yes, forget about the machines for all the reasons mentioned.

Lupercalia

I also vote in favour of lifting the barbells and dumbbells rather than the machines. Free weights are more effective in that your body is the machine, supporting and moving the weight through space itself. Not some machine. The machines isolate various body parts and you are not required to support the weight yourself, so by sticking to machines, you really miss out on a lot of great benefits you can only get from barbell and dumbbell work. I think you'll have better overall results lifting free weights as opposed to the machines, and will find that you gain a lot of other stuff besides just strength. Confidence, for instance. I love lifting!

Stronglifts 5 x 5, Starting Strength, and New Rules of Lifting for Women are all great places to start.

queencat3

bump for later

fishnbrah

if you havent lifted before. i would get a reccomendation for a trainer and have them get you started. and go to bodybuilding.com, they have a female section in the forums.

lauraellie10

Thanks x

Capt_Apollo

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/02/28/strength-training-101/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/03/05/101-equipment/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/03/18/strength-training-101-finding-the-right-gym/

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/2009/10/26/how-to-not-suck-at-working-out/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/2012/01/09/warm-up/

http://www.nerdfitness.com/2012/01/16/how-to-stretch/



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