Weights - I need help.

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  • odddrums
    odddrums Posts: 342 Member
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    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!
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
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    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.
  • Loftearmen
    Loftearmen Posts: 380
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    Bodybuilding.com has alot of great programs depending on what you want to do, you can search by your gender if you wanna burn fat or build muscle, you can even look for workouts based on certain body parts. Say you find a plan that you want to work differnt muscle groups differnt days, on bodybuilding.com you will find great examples of all of that. And just remember dont skip leg day :) Alot of people avoid it skip it dont do it whatever you want to call it, but rumor has it (not sure how true but heard from alot of people) that because you legs are the larger muscles in your body it helps release endorphines aminos (fancy science terms) that also assist in growing muscles in other places when you work those. Just something to think about. Hope that helps.

    Don't do this. They just list a bunch of bro workouts with too many isolation lifts. Do something basic and full body with progressive overload. Like some other people have mentioned, Stronglifts 5x5, Starting Strength or Madcow's 5x5. Stronglifts is good because there is a whole website dedicated to it.
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    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. :smile:
  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
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    I seriously suggest you read Starting Strength or Strong Lifts before taking some of the advice in this thread.


    ^^^THIS^^^^^
  • jdx301
    jdx301 Posts: 21 Member
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    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.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    Corey Everson's old vhs "Get Hard" is a good workout. I'm sure you can get it cheap or from the library.
  • sunnyinaz78
    sunnyinaz78 Posts: 39
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    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!
  • lina1131
    lina1131 Posts: 2,246 Member
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    Thank you all for taking the time to reply to this. I will be reading, researching, and implementing what I feel will best work for me!

    I will update. :heart:
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
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    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.
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Seriously, bypass the machines. They are not your friend. Look up compound moves. Go as heavy as you can. Start light though until you feel more confident, get your form right, google the exercise to check the form. New rules of lifting for women is a great beginner book. Nothing to daunting for someone new to lifting.

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