Feeling a little bit silly - weights

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  • bellydancer124
    bellydancer124 Posts: 248
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    When I first started lifting, I referred to my arms as "tyrannosaurus arms." :laugh: They were so weak.

    Trust me, things will improve! You'll find your arms getting stronger and you're able to lift heavier. :smile:
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
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    Although I agree not to look at other people to compare yourself and say "Oh, I suck compared to them"
    DO look at them, get an idea of their form (hopefully it's correct!) and tell yourself you will do that one day. I used to not be able to do more than one pushup, and I can do about 25 of the real not-girl pushups.
    It's actually exciting to see other people doing things bc if they can, you can too, just not today.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Don't look at other people - keep track of what you do and you will be amazed at YOUR progress....

    That is good advice. I try, but I get curious to see what they're doing to see if it's something I could incorporate to get better. I need to learn to not compare.

    That's fine that you do that but you have to remember that every one is different. It doesn't matter how much you're lifting right now it only matters that you are lifting. My shoulders are very weak and sometimes I feel that small pang of embarrassment when I have to reach for the 15lbs to do lateral raises when every other weight exercise I do is very heavy. Just keep doing what you're doing and you will improve, as long as you continue to up your weight.

    ETA: Chances are good that no one in the gym is looking at you and snickering over the amount of weight you're lifting. :wink:
  • RegalSeagull
    RegalSeagull Posts: 37
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    I think most reasonable adults are going to know that everyone starts somewhere. Don't worry about it :)
  • Jennifer_Lynn_1982
    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 Posts: 567 Member
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    Best advice I had was that you shouldn't do more than 10-12 reps and those last 2-3 reps should be really hard, if they're not, then increase your weights and do as many as you can until you can reach 10-12 reps. Repeat. When I say it should be hard to lift the last few, it should be hard....not kind of hard. Do push ups as well so you can see how much your upper body strength is increasing....Good luck! Weightlifting is an excellent way to improve the shape of your body so stick with it 3 days per week if you can :)
  • theologynerd
    theologynerd Posts: 264 Member
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    If you're curling 30lbs., that's really impressive as a beginner. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm not even going to write down what I curl! ETA: It's a lot less than 30.
  • csheltra26
    csheltra26 Posts: 272 Member
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    I would recommend doing 10 reps max to build muscle. 3 sets is a good number.
    Once 3 sets of 10 reps starts to get easier I will increase the weight on the last set. Then when I move to all sets lifting the same weight I generally start at 6-8 reps. You want to lift heavy to build muscle and I find that's working for me.

    Good luck!
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
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    Thanks everyone, this has made me feel a lot less silly and there are a lot of really good tips in here!! I really appreciate it!

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