How much weight did you lift the first time?

CoderGal
CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So you've never touched weights before...and you decide it's time for a change. You go up to the bar...you're about to do a bench, how much weight did you lift your very first time? What about squat/deadlift/bent over rows/over head press/curls etc?

How much did you weigh at the time? (if you don't mind sharing)

Replies

  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    I started lifting in highschool, some 15 yrs ago. I have no clue where I started lift wise but I was <100 lbs then after a battle with diet pills. I do remember doing the sled on the leg press and thinking it was hard lol! Took me a few years, some guy friends and a BF to get me in the right mind. Now I squat over BW and press almost 300 if I am maxing out on them.
  • STurbs33
    STurbs33 Posts: 134 Member
    Hmm...

    My first bench press was actually in high school and I can't remember the exact number but I think it was around 60-75 lbs. I remember my max was 80-85 by the end of the semester, though.

    Squat - started with the bar, but in my next workout I did 95 lbs once.

    Deadlift - started at 75 lbs I think, but same as squats, when I tested my 1RM it was 130.

    Rows - 45 lb bar

    OHP - 45 lb bar again
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Standard answer is don't worry about it. Go as light as you need to figure out what the movement is like, whether that's empty bar or even empty handed. And especially don't get caught up in numbers other people are doing as they can easily be too high or too low.

    That answer was for all the newbies. You already knew that tho. But the answer for you is about the same. If I'm doing something completely new to me or hasn't been part or my regimen for a while, I'm going super light. Like crazy light. If it's something easy like single joint lift I may do a light set and add weight in that same set. But if it's a heavy compound or ballistic movement it's safety first. Empty hands, then empty bar, then almost nothing.

    Bonus tip, on those heavy compound lifts the first thing I learn or teach is how to bail. Where the weight goes, which way to drop it, how to signal for help, etc. Rarely comes to that but knowing it adds confidence to the lift.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    Standard answer is don't worry about it. Go as light as you need to figure out what the movement is like, whether that's empty bar or even empty handed. And especially don't get caught up in numbers other people are doing as they can easily be too high or too low.

    That answer was for all the newbies. You already knew that tho. But the answer for you is about the same. If I'm doing something completely new to me or hasn't been part or my regimen for a while, I'm going super light. Like crazy light. If it's something easy like single joint lift I may do a light set and add weight in that same set. But if it's a heavy compound or ballistic movement it's safety first. Empty hands, then empty bar, then almost nothing.

    Bonus tip, on those heavy compound lifts the first thing I learn or teach is how to bail. Where the weight goes, which way to drop it, how to signal for help, etc. Rarely comes to that but knowing it adds confidence to the lift.

    Smartest/best response for anyone new to lifting to read!
  • pineygirl
    pineygirl Posts: 322 Member
    I was on my high school's power lifting team. I was about 15 years old and weighed 103lbs when I started.

    I think the first time I sqatted I did sets of 8 with an olympic bar, which wasn't that difficult. Next time I did it I added 10lbs to each side. Then added more weight...at least once a week. I ended up winning 1st place for squatting 245lbs about a year later at a competition, but weighed 112lbs (had put on a lot of muscle).

    My bench press probably started the same way....with just the 45lb bar, which was also not that difficult. 1RM only ever got up to 135.

    My dead lift started out a little higher...probably around 85lbs.

    OHP was also just the bar to start out.

    Because of how I used to power lift I end up having to lift much heavier than I think I need to when I start lifting again after not doing it for a while.
  • etoiles_argentees
    etoiles_argentees Posts: 2,827 Member
    The 45 pound bar, over and over and over.
    My trainer lady was big on form.
  • SmileyFaceGuy
    SmileyFaceGuy Posts: 201
    In high school, my bench press started at 65 lbs (and ended at 120 lbs), I don't remember what my squat was, and I didn't do those other lifts. I started lifting again a couple weeks ago after about 7-8 years of inactivity and my bench press 5RM started at 120 lbs. I don't know my 1RM or even my 5RM for squats or dead lifts, for safety reasons.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    my very first time was a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

    so i'll just use the numbers from last year when i joined a new gym that had a decent weight room instead of the old gym i belonged to that was all machines and all i was doing was those nautilus and cybex style machines.


    bench : 10 pound DB
    OHP 3 pound DBs

    these were low mainly because of horrible shoulder injuries. by the way, it's easy to work around an injury on machines but pretty hard to do that with free weights.

    back squats : 45 pounds
    front squats: 9# body bar
    OH squat: PVC pipe
    deadlifts: 55 pounds (bar+ bumpers)
    row : 45 pounds
    cleans: 9 pound body bar
    snatches : 9 pound body bar
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
    I started everything with the empty Oly bar, so 45 lbs.
  • 2Bgoddess
    2Bgoddess Posts: 1,096 Member
    Start real low and add until it is a real challenge for ya. Different for everyone, and also depends how many reps you plan on doing! I have weak girly arms (but I am working on it) and it depends if I am doing just 6 reps at a heavy weight, or doing 30-40 reps in a power class set to music. i.e., bicep curls, 6 of 'em, i can do 55 pounds right now. 30 reps, more like 15-20 pounds.

    Be careful, and if possible have someone check your form now and again to help make sure you stay undamaged!
  • Loftearmen
    Loftearmen Posts: 380
    I walked into my first day of football practice, I was 14 years old, probably around 5'6" 200lbs and a little chunky. Coach wanted us all to max out squat/bench/deadlift and I lifted 295/165/275 which I thought was pretty good but then some of the other kids made me look like a beeotch so I quit smiling pretty fast lol.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Standard answer is don't worry about it. Go as light as you need to figure out what the movement is like, whether that's empty bar or even empty handed. And especially don't get caught up in numbers other people are doing as they can easily be too high or too low.

    That answer was for all the newbies. You already knew that tho. But the answer for you is about the same. If I'm doing something completely new to me or hasn't been part or my regimen for a while, I'm going super light. Like crazy light. If it's something easy like single joint lift I may do a light set and add weight in that same set. But if it's a heavy compound or ballistic movement it's safety first. Empty hands, then empty bar, then almost nothing.

    Bonus tip, on those heavy compound lifts the first thing I learn or teach is how to bail. Where the weight goes, which way to drop it, how to signal for help, etc. Rarely comes to that but knowing it adds confidence to the lift.
    Thank you DavPul. Don't worry, I'm not going to heff some weight around just because I think I should lift more. When I started Spartacus I was the only person with 5lbs the first day but I wanted to get the moves right because nothing sucks more then being set back by your own stupidity injuries and I was the second person to get to 20lbs with it (minus the curls we added, can't do 20lb dumbbell curls the way I want lol). I'm a dancer, I'd much rather technique then what it looks like on paper. I'm going to drag a friend of mine to the gym with me eventually to do stronglifts and I'll imagine she'll progress much quicker then me (she has more muscle mass). I try to keep all those things in mind. I'm just more curious how pathetically weak I am lol.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    these were low mainly because of horrible shoulder injuries. by the way, it's easy to work around an injury on machines but pretty hard to do that with free weights.
    Oh I hear you. I was in a motorcycle accident that left me with a fairly bad back. That's the reason I wanted to start lifting. Machines are definitely the way to go if balancing the weight causes jerking around which can cause the injury to get worse.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    I walked into my first day of football practice, I was 14 years old, probably around 5'6" 200lbs and a little chunky. Coach wanted us all to max out squat/bench/deadlift and I lifted 295/165/275 which I thought was pretty good but then some of the other kids made me look like a beeotch so I quit smiling pretty fast lol.
    lol if it counts that sounds amazing to me!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    No such thing as being pathetically weak. There is only what you can lift this session vs what you plan to lift next session. Weak never enters into it.

    I quit a gym years ago because I kept getting stuck under a bar that only had two 25s on it. I was embarrassed because I thought I was weak and frustrated that I wasn't as strong as I thought I'd be. Total punk move by me.

    When I got my mind right i accepted that this is where I was but not where I'm ending up is when the gains started coming. I stopped comparing myself to anyone else and concentrated on the numbers in my notebook.

    Took me a while to get to that mental space tho. I'm writing this in the hopes that it saves you and anyone else that reads it some time.
  • mapnerd2005
    mapnerd2005 Posts: 363
    my first bench press was in middle school - I maxed at 90 lbs. Now I bench 125-150, squat body weight, and >500 on leg press, but I worked with a trainer for six months to get to that. I think when I started with my trainer my 5 rep max on bench was 105, don't remember what the press was.
  • supermodelchic
    supermodelchic Posts: 550 Member
    I was 17 and could only do a 15lb bar , at 134 lbs or so, continued powerlifting by the age of 19 , I could bench 175, deadlife 250 and squat 200, could straight barbell bicep curle with 100lbs on the bar all sorts of fun stuff, but I trained with hardcore powerlifters of the 80's , I was a very lucky girl, I worked out hard and ate very good at that time, we did not have protein shakes ect then plain old fashioned food.. Now that I am older , i do not leift heavy anymore no need, goodluck
  • triathlete5301
    triathlete5301 Posts: 182 Member
    Standard answer is don't worry about it. Go as light as you need to figure out what the movement is like, whether that's empty bar or even empty handed. And especially don't get caught up in numbers other people are doing as they can easily be too high or too low.

    That answer was for all the newbies. You already knew that tho. But the answer for you is about the same. If I'm doing something completely new to me or hasn't been part or my regimen for a while, I'm going super light. Like crazy light. If it's something easy like single joint lift I may do a light set and add weight in that same set. But if it's a heavy compound or ballistic movement it's safety first. Empty hands, then empty bar, then almost nothing.

    Bonus tip, on those heavy compound lifts the first thing I learn or teach is how to bail. Where the weight goes, which way to drop it, how to signal for help, etc. Rarely comes to that but knowing it adds confidence to the lift.

    Smartest/best response for anyone new to lifting to read!

    I 100% agree with this. I hadn't lifted in years (knew how to lift) but I had to re-introduce myself to lifting again. Finally- getting my form right and knowing what to do, I was able to raise weights until I felt a good burn. BUT you should probably find a buddy who can help you assess your form and the weights you are using, at least in the beginning. its always easier to think you have good form than to know it.
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    I could bench about 150, squat about 225 and deadlift about 200 the first time I ever picked up a weight (13). I was also 180 lbs already.

    I'd spent the entire summer playing baseball and dragging a John boat over up, over, and back across the Mississippi River levee in north LA while I would fish from a paddle boat every day we didn't have a game. Later in the summer I started making 2 trips (so 2 coming and doing) and would carry a trolling motor and 12v battery as well.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
    Sometime in October, I dida "fitness test" with Matt to find our 1RM on stuff.

    We used a smith for squats so that doesn't count.

    But I could barely bench the bar.
    Then I did NROLFW Stage 1 before SL5x5, I made it through the first session of bench with the bar.

    I think my first DL was 55lbs since just the bar was too awkward lol.

    And when I started with SL & the OHP, I started with like 2 15lb dumbbells.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    No such thing as being pathetically weak. There is only what you can lift this session vs what you plan to lift next session. Weak never enters into it.

    I quit a gym years ago because I kept getting stuck under a bar that only had two 25s on it. I was embarrassed because I thought I was weak and frustrated that I wasn't as strong as I thought I'd be. Total punk move by me.

    When I got my mind right i accepted that this is where I was but not where I'm ending up is when the gains started coming. I stopped comparing myself to anyone else and concentrated on the numbers in my notebook.

    Took me a while to get to that mental space tho. I'm writing this in the hopes that it saves you and anyone else that reads it some time.
    I'm terrible at quitting things. everything I pick up drags on and on forever lol. I'm the weakling at the gym and I know it. And I grin ear to ear over it, because I'm there, yes I get some looks, but I know I'm improving. I just pretend they're looking at my bum and it's not because my pushups are sad :tongue: But I still know that currently, I'm a weakling. Even more so then the heavier noobs (which I suspect has something to do with muscle mass, really wish I didn't wait till the end to pick up weights, now look where I am). And I write that in hopes that it saves others as well :flowerforyou:
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    I was 17 and could only do a 15lb bar , at 134 lbs or so, continued powerlifting by the age of 19 , I could bench 175, deadlife 250 and squat 200, could straight barbell bicep curle with 100lbs on the bar all sorts of fun stuff, but I trained with hardcore powerlifters of the 80's , I was a very lucky girl, I worked out hard and ate very good at that time, we did not have protein shakes ect then plain old fashioned food.. Now that I am older , i do not leift heavy anymore no need, goodluck

    I love this! Thanks so much for your reply! But why don't you think there is a need to lift anymore?
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    Based on the lifts you mention, it sounds like you are looking at the Strong Lifts 5x5 program? I know the idea with that program is to start low to learn the move, and gradually move up. As others have already stated, start with the bar, or no weight at all.

    Because of my messed up back, I did a bunch of squats with just body weight to get the move down before I added weight. I've never had a problem with my back. Safety first.

Categories