Going to ask a million questions. Please don't judge me.
JonathonMars
Posts: 358 Member
Okay, last Friday I met with a trainer so he could show me some exercises and help me determine what weights I should be using for those exercises. He told me to start off by doing 3 sets of 10 on each exercise. He told me to come back to him in 6-8 weeks to reassess how things were going. I am doing MWF lifting, and that entire weekend I was the sorest I've ever been in my entire life--and he didn't even have me do full sets and reps! In fact, I couldn't even complete 1.5 sets on some exercises. He had told me after our meeting that I should take protein before my workout, and because of my soreness I decided to research some things on my own to help reduce that--now I try to make sure I'm hydrated, and take a post supplement and eat a banana afterwards.
So, Monday rolls around--second day of lifting! I have some horrible trouble with the shoulder press (I think today I found a way to fix it by adjusting the machine better), the lying tricep extension and that absolutely horrible preacher curl. Yesterday, I wasn't hardly sore at all! And I did many more reps!
Today I did even MORE reps, almost hitting 3 sets of 10 on all the exercises (except preacher curl, where I felt like I was reaching muscle failure prematurely). And...I don't feel sore hardly at all. At least one exercise (leg curl) I feel so comfortable with already that I think I might add weight. And just the other day they were SO hard! Just three workouts in!
So can protein before and a post supplement make that much difference in soreness? My fear is that I'm not pushing myself enough to get results, or my form is not conducive to good workouts.
And a HRM--is there any point at all to wear one during strength training, as far as calculating additional caloric needs?
So, Monday rolls around--second day of lifting! I have some horrible trouble with the shoulder press (I think today I found a way to fix it by adjusting the machine better), the lying tricep extension and that absolutely horrible preacher curl. Yesterday, I wasn't hardly sore at all! And I did many more reps!
Today I did even MORE reps, almost hitting 3 sets of 10 on all the exercises (except preacher curl, where I felt like I was reaching muscle failure prematurely). And...I don't feel sore hardly at all. At least one exercise (leg curl) I feel so comfortable with already that I think I might add weight. And just the other day they were SO hard! Just three workouts in!
So can protein before and a post supplement make that much difference in soreness? My fear is that I'm not pushing myself enough to get results, or my form is not conducive to good workouts.
And a HRM--is there any point at all to wear one during strength training, as far as calculating additional caloric needs?
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Replies
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Adequate protein (and a decent diet in general) will make a difference, but not that dramatic. Meal timing will definitely not affect you in such a dramatic way.
What you are experiencing is just your body adjusting to the routine and having the strain placed on it. The first couple of times you workout is hell for everyone. After 2-3 weeks you can get through most of the time with only minor soreness unless you really push yourself or change up elements of your workout routine.
Remember that you don't have to be ridiculously sore every day of your life to be making progress!
As for the HRM, I found it useful to wear one in the beginning to get an idea of what I was burning (and compare it to my cardio workouts etc), but I wouldn't say it was essential. I now just use the numbers in MFP, they are generally a little lower than I actually burn, but not too far off.0 -
I'd have a look at the program you're doing though, it does sound like a lot of isolation and machine exercises. I like to have the majority of exercises with the barbell or dumbbells. (for me it is at least 3/4 of my workout).0
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And a HRM--is there any point at all to wear one during strength training, as far as calculating additional caloric needs?
Totally invalid use of the HRM for it's calorie burn formula. Those are only for steady-state aerobic exercise with same HR for 3-5 min.
Lifting is anaerobic and far from steady state. If your HR is the same for 3-5 minutes your rests are too long.
And that is the real usefulness of possibly wearing one twice a week as you are starting out, like on Fri before you get 2 days off before next session, and Mon after that rest.
If you notice on Mon lifts after 2 days rest, the HR rockets up to say 160 when using the bigger muscles, maybe 150 the smaller ones, near the end of each set, you have good baseline.
Now on Friday lifts, if you find you can only get the HR up to 150 and 140 say, despite feeling like you are pressing just as hard, it means your muscle is just generally tired and you couldn't push as hard.
May need tad more rest.
Or if you notice the same thing starting to happen on Monday, then not a good sign.0 -
Just to add my 2c (which will not really be adding anything as it's pretty much been covered above)
- when you start lifting you can get mega sore - it gets better (usually)
- if you eat before a workout you don't really need to supplement, nothing wrong if you do, just generally not necessary. Even if you don't eat before, as in train fasted, it is not really necessary (depends on the individual) but *may* be beneficial from a recovery perspective
- are you using fixed machines? They can force you in an awkward range of motion and be detrimental. I would try to translate those lifts to dumbbell ones if possible.
- HRMs are not accurate for strength training (I would do as Rayman does and just use MFP numbers - they seem conservative)
- I also agree with Rayman in that you should look to do more compound lifts.0 -
Thanks for the advice. I am pretty sure that in a few weeks, I will be switching to more free weight exercises--I could be wrong, and if I am, I will probably choose to address wanting to integrate that with the trainer who has been helping me. I think that since I am SO awkward and SO un-athletic, it might be beneficial to use machines for a few weeks starting out.
And what do you mean about using MFP numbers? I am going to use the HRM for cardio, I guess--just didn't know if it would have much benefit being worn during lifting, and since it doesn't, how do I figure out how much to eat on lift days? Just from how I feel, I do think I may need to up calories on lift days.
As for soreness, trying not to think about how sore I am, and instead focus on how the reps and stuff feels. I'm surprised at how different the exercises feel on different days. Gonna try and stop trying to figure out what's going on before I have a large enough sample size of information. I literally have done this full routine...THREE TIMES. I'm just nervous, I guess.0 -
And what do you mean about using MFP numbers? I am going to use the HRM for cardio, I guess--just didn't know if it would have much benefit being worn during lifting, and since it doesn't, how do I figure out how much to eat on lift days? Just from how I feel, I do think I may need to up calories on lift days.
That was the comment about using MFP calorie burn estimates, for strength training in their database.
Seems small, because it indeed is.
On lift days you can also try to shove most of your day's calories to after the lifting, if it's later in day.0 -
As heybales noted - HRMs are not accurate for strength training. The numbers you find in the database for strength training are decent ones to use.0
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I'm having trouble locating number in the database for strength training. What do I input and where? Sorry...
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I'm having trouble locating number in the database for strength training. What do I input and where? Sorry...
Under cardio exercises, it's called "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)"0 -
I'm having trouble locating number in the database for strength training. What do I input and where? Sorry...
Under cardio exercises, it's called "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)"
Girl, thank you so much. You just blessed my life.0
