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questions on strength training

emcdonie
emcdonie Posts: 190 Member
edited January 6 in Fitness and Exercise
I am a near total novice on this topic. We have a small workout room over at the rental office of our apartments. I am going to start using it more so I can use the weights and weight machines. I feel like I am at the point that I want to start strength training and not just doing cardio.

However, I feel like a first class dork. I hardly know what I am doing or how to use the stuff. There is no one there to help or ask generally. Mostly I can figure out the basic premise of things...But how can I learn good form to avoid injury and such?

How do I know how best to change the settings and placements on the machines. i.e. I tried the leg press thing, and I wasn't sure how high. Do I extend out to lock knees, or not? Stuff like that.

I am not even sure of how much weight is on them. There are numbers on the left, and numbers on the right. I suppose one of them is the weight. LOL Oh goodness...I do feel like a goofball.

I can't afford a personal trainer, not really. So I am on my own with the internet. I wondered if anyone knew of really good site (hopefully with pictures) to help someone like me.

Replies

  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    I strongly advise getting a book or two and/or a dvd on strength training so you can get some proper, sound advice on how to do it properly.

    On here, you'll get a million different answers.
  • _stephanie0
    _stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
    try this program:

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html

    there are videos demonstrating all the different lifts :)

    if you dont want to follow a program just go to bodybuilding.com and they have videos of most all movements and how to perform them correctly
  • puffin902_wechanged
    puffin902_wechanged Posts: 9
    Also check out www.sparkpeople.com. They have a lot of reference resources including videos on workouts.

    Georgia
  • emcdonie
    emcdonie Posts: 190 Member
    Thanks for the links and ideas. I am working through them now. That program is interesting since a lot of it is laid out for me. Less guessing about what to do on what day. Some things I will be unable to do yet possibly, but off hand looking at day one I think I can do a lot of them.

    Videos are especially helpful to give me the right idea of proper form. The idea of a book or two is good too. I will check the library. Thanks again.
  • V15FLHXS
    V15FLHXS Posts: 8 Member
    You can also checkout YouTube(or any internet videos). They're free and you'll quickly have all the info needed - also checkout and try body weight exercises too (there will be days that you're going to want to mix it up a little). Remember to change your workouts to different exercises every few weeks so you don't get bored and your body will like it too :)
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