Weights - I need help.

I would love to see the answers you get! Sadly, I cannot offer any real advice.

Honestly start a basic lifting program look up some youtubes you can add me if you want to ask more questions.

Start with squats, deadlifts, lunges, shoulder press, incline db press, db rows, dips and pushups for bw

look up: starting strength, stronglifts, new rules of lifting for women.

I recommend a session with a trainer to get the proper forms and some starting weights/reps.

Enjoy!!

Does your gym offer any type of fitness program? Someone to show you how to use the machines.

I started light weight, 3 sets of 10. One day arm machines, the next legs.

Or you could do a mile cardio, a circuit on the weight machines, another mile cardio, then a circuit on the weight machines, etc... until you get all your sets in. This will keep your heart rate high the whole time.

Funnily enough I just started heavy lifting today (have been doing circuit/strength training at home mostly) with free weights and DVDs. I found this site and am following the plan: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/womans_lean_sexy_bible.htm I did my first upper arm workout today with 30 pound barbells to start. I will try higher weights tomorrow and hopefully build up to lifting heavy! Good luck!

I seriously suggest you read Starting Strength or Strong Lifts before taking some of the advice in this thread.

If you've never used free weights or the weight machines before you should schedule at last one session with a personal trainer. He/she can show you how to do the exercises properly (without hurting yourself and while getting the most out of the exercises). He/she can also help you establish a baseline of how much weight you should be lifting. Obviously, as you get better you can increase the weight.

Absent that I suggesting finding someone at your gym who looks fit and like she knows what she's doing, then follow her around and do what she does. But a personal trainer is the better option.

I don't know where to start, how many pounds to lift, what the hell to lift, or any of that good stuff? Anyone want to give me advice?

As for how many pounds, that's going to probably take you a bit of trial and error. It will also vary based on how you feel that day (under the weather, hungry, etc) and what specific exercise you are doing (you can likely "lift" more when your legs are involved than you can with just your arms, etc).

As for how much to lift, find what you like. Some people prefer 2 sets of 8 reps per set and they lift as heavy as they can. Others might do 3 sets of 15 reps each and so they lift a little lighter but they do more reps. So, average 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps per set.

In general though, try to control the movement from beginning to end, so that you don't swing the weights haphazardly or pull a muscle. And listen to your body. If you are on rep 3 of set 1 and your muscles burn and you are shaking like a leaf, you'll never finish your set properly so that's a sign to back off to a lighter weight. Likewise, if you are on rep 8 of set 2 and you feel like you could keep at this all day with no problem, that's a sign your weight is too light and you need a heavier one.

I tended to aim for that "I could maybe do half a set more, but definitely not a full set" feeling when I stopped. I aimed for 3 sets of 12 reps each, but sometimes didn't make it all the way and sometimes would keep going, depending on how I felt. I also sometimes increased or decreased the weight by 5 lbs from set to set if I felt I needed it.

Keep a journal so you remember what you did and so that you can increase your attempts as you improve.

As for what to lift, you can get a preference from some trial and error as well. I preferred machines because they have easy to follow picture directions, don't require a spotter, and I could change weight quickly by moving a pin (if it was too light or too heavy) but you will have to adjust the machine to fit your frame size before you use it and some machines don't adjust as well as others. Other people swear by free weights (plates and bars, or dumbbells or kettle bells) because they use more muscles to "stabilize" the movement and have a greater freedom of movement.

With machines, the rule of thumb my dad told me was to try to gently tap or almost tap the weights to the stack (on a pulley system) when ending each rep. That way you don't slam the things and make an annoying racket that the entire gym can hear. I think this is the machine equal to "don't drop the free weights." That and "remember to breathe."

For anything more detailed, I'd say touch bases with a trainer at your gym (some have a free intro) , watch some Youtube videos, or get a book/website that you like on the topic.

I was a cardio-gym-rat for 25+ years. But, have completely switched my modus operandi!

Try New Rules of LIfting for Women - it's a great place to start! And, there are LOTS of "groups" here at mfp...."women strength training", as well as "NROL4W" come to mind.

I'd suggest starting with machines and do big muscle groups like overhead pull, rowing, leg extension, bench press, overhead press, basically anything that looks like it's using a lot of back and shoulder and arm, or leg and butt and calf muscles. If your gym has machines with pictures/stickers on them use those, some have instructions next to them and will even show you which muscles are used.

Try some amount of weight, not very much, and see how many you can do before you get tired. If you can do more than 12, add a bit more weight [like one more plate] take a rest and do another set. if you can't do 8 reps, try a little less. Bringing a notebook to keep track helps. For strength you want to be tired and have a lot of difficulty on the 7th and 8th reps, for endurance you want to be tired around 12 or 15, maybe even 20 for larger muscles. I'd go for endurance first to get to know how the machines and exercises work, then move to strength.

Make sure you're doing a long and full range of motion and not doing so much weight that you have to really jerk your body, you want smooth and controlled movements to target specific muscles and avoid injury. Full range of motion means extend all the way out, hold for 1 second, then retract all the way in. Doing short movements will work less muscle and give you a weaker workout.

Looking into some workouts will help, everything mentioned already like stronglifts and new rules is great. If you're just starting out I'd recommend to try machines first, they help keep things safe and make for a good starting ground. Then in a few weeks when you've gone up in weight and feel more confident, start watching people doing freeweight exercises and move to those.

Good Luck!

No. Just no.

I seriously suggest you read Starting Strength or Strong Lifts before taking some of the advice in this thread.

^^ THIS

Keep in mind that if you're a complete beginner, just about any program out there will give you some muscle and strength and you will see results, because just about any strength program is better than none at all (provided you play it smart and don't overdo it and hurt yourself).

I've done machines and dumbbells and isolation exercises years ago and nothing ever stuck. Now I'm educating myself and today was Starting Strength Day 1 for me. Find a program that's comprehensive, progressive and that takes you beyond 30 or 90 days or whatever and gives you something to do and keeps it challenging long-term. Start as light as you need to, learn proper form and work your way up. It's what I'm doing. Right now my squats and dead lifts are sad, sad, sad but that's okay cause I can only get better and stronger from here.

Starting Strength is a quality program for beginners. It really breaks down the compound lifts for you to get started.

But yes, there are also basic workout programs on bodybuilding.com and they are all not "bro lifts". There are many plans for women and for every imaginable goal out there.

Ask a trainer at the gym, they love to help! You don't want to be counterproductive and injure yourself. I personally have started with a trainer and it seems to have been the best investment that I have made! I ask lots of questions and absorb everything like a sponge they love that! Good luck! Nothing sexier than a girl lifting weight!

I'd suggest tooling around on Scooby's site for a bit:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/

He's got a fantastic assortment of information there, all for free.