Newbie Strength Training HELP (What's your routine like?)

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funkyspunky872
funkyspunky872 Posts: 866 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm new to strength training, not to weight loss and exercise in general. For the past two years, I've been mainly doing cardio. Often my cardio is an exercise video and it may or may not include arm "toning" or "firming" with very light weights. I want to get into lifting heavier, but all I have is 8-pound dumbbells. I think I'll start there and work my way up. I've picked up a wide variety of strength training moves over the past 2 years. I know what exercises work the different muscle groups, but I don't know what EXACTLY I should be doing, if that makes sense. (Usually I have a trainer on tv telling what to do, how many reps, etc.!!) Do I just start with a warmup, stand in my living room, and go at it? I tried that yesterday and it seemed so random. "Oh I haven't worked my triceps yet, let me do those." "It's been 10 minutes since I did biceps, let me do them again and add squats" Does anybody have a list of exercises, reps, sets that I can use? I've looked all over on the Internet and I just don't know how to get started!! So frustrating. I don't feel like I'm really working out when I stand there doing 15 bicep curls (even though it's hard), and I wonder if that's the way strength training is supposed to be like.

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  • funkyspunky872
    funkyspunky872 Posts: 866 Member
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    Bump?
  • staciva
    staciva Posts: 21 Member
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    Strength training can be fun and there are tons of ways to go about it. You can do upper body one day, lower the next, or front/back or a mixture. It's just not recommended to do the same thing everyday. I personally used to do upper/lower on alternating days. (of course that was many years ago!) now I do full body every other day.

    As for what to work: deltoids, biceps, triceps, chest, back, abs, quads, hammies and calves (etc.) I will actually go top to bottom or sometime do delts, quads, triceps, hammies, biceps, calves, chest, back then abs. Alternating upper and lower can add some cardio to the whole workout.

    Maybe start with three sets of 10-12 reps. The last rep or two should be pretty tough - if it isn't you need to increase your weight. Concentrate on good form and don't rush the rep. For example: bicep curls: do a count of 2 up and a count of 4 down. This engages the muscle in different ways but be sure to do full range of motion. Take a good 30- 45 sec rest between sets but not too long! Make sure to stretch well afterward and drink your water! Good luck!
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
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    The basics

    Food Stuff for strength training:
    Yes, eat back the exercise calories. Your body uses them for recovery. Depleted/weak muscles can't work.
    Up your protein intake. Ballpark 1 gram of protein for each pound you want to weigh. You can set your macro nutrients to something like 35%protein, 35% carbs, 30% fats to get you there. Tweak as needed.

    Exercise stuff:
    Great resources to read up on are "Starting Strength", "New Rules of Lifting for Women", and "Strong Lifts 5X5". Any of these 3 will quickly having you using more weight than 8 lbs dumbbells.
    Focus on compound moves to start with and do full body 3 times a week since you are new to this.
    You should not do extensive cardio lift days. Anything more than a light warmup is counterproductive to your lifting session.
    Track your progress to see your gains/improvements over time.

    Example workout for your current setup:

    Burpees 3x15 (great for a warmup)
    Bulgarian split squats (use as heavy a dumbbell as you can hold for this) 3x(8 to 12)
    Stiff leg deadlifts (use as heavy a dumbbell as you can hold for this) 3x(8 to 12)
    Inverted Rows 3x(however many you can do)
    Pushups 3x10 to start with
    dumbbell military press or dumbbell arnold press 3x10

    That should get you started until you can get to the gym.
  • kimberliiw
    kimberliiw Posts: 242 Member
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    Good info, thanks.

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