Weight Lifting in General - More to Come

Thanks!

Thanks for posting, exactly what i was looking for

bump

I was waiting for you to post this. Helps me a lot. Thaaaaaaaaaanks. :flowerforyou:

Trying to get in for toning and weight loss, but I dont know what half of those things you mentioned are and how much weight should I use? ( I injured my back shoulders a couple months ago doing a lift class with the wrong weight)..

Any weight lifting for dummies you can provide?

The number of reps is your guide to intensity (i.e. how heavy the weights should be). The purpose of each set is to work the muscles until they can no longer perform the lift with perfect form. If the intensity guideline is "15 reps" then you should set the weight so that you can complete 15 reps with perfect form. If you struggle to do 10 reps, the weight is too heavy; if you can do 17 or more reps with perfect/good form, the weight is too light.

When in doubt, use lighter weights--you can always increase them the next workout.

Now, if you are just starting out, you have more "leeway". That's because the muscles will start to adapt and grow stronger with as little as 40% of your maximum.

I tell my clients who are just starting, that their initial goal is to feel the target muscles working and some fatigue by the time they reach 12-15 reps. In the beginning, you do NOT have to work to failure to improve. Take 2-8 workouts (really, however many you need) to work on form and get over any initial stiffness/soreness. When you start to feel more coordinated, then start to focus the intensity and your efforts on getting to the weight that results in "failure" within the prescribed number of reps.

Then, once you can complete the target number of reps with perfect form, that is the signal to increase the weight.

Remember: the goal is of each set is to reach "failure" within the prescribed number of repetitions. Just completing the reps without reaching "failure", or doing more than the prescribed number of reps will not allow you to make continuous progress. You need to keep increasing the weight.

Ok call me the smart one... LOL What machines do I need? I have a total gym. A bike,ellipitcal,& treadmill. I also have 5lb weights. No clue how to use them.... Help! What do I do? Where do I start ? I really don't know what to do on the total gym. Thanks.

Trying to get in for toning and weight loss, but I dont know what half of those things you mentioned are and how much weight should I use? ( I injured my back shoulders a couple months ago doing a lift class with the wrong weight)..

Any weight lifting for dummies you can provide?

Azdak took the words right out of my mouth. Follow the guidelines he stated. He and I are definitely in sync on this.

Sorry--didn't mean to bigfoot your topic.....:embarassed:

For those trying to lose weight and gain tone:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday:

(In this order) - and after moderate 30 minutes of cardio. All sets 1 set 15 reps except where noted and a 3 second count between motions
Chest press 1 set of 15 (3 second count up and down)
Incline Chest press
Decline Chest press
Shoulder press
Cable row (keep angle of pulley toward your navel with back straight and do not use momentum)
leg extensions
hamstring curls
inner abductors
outer abductors
calf press
lower back presses
bicep curls (machine) 2 sets
triceps extension (machine) 2 sets

I don't want to sound like a critic or a know-it-all, but this is just a horribly inefficient and likely ineffective workout and I'd hate to see a bunch of people here start doing it and not ever get any results. I mean no offense to the OP or anyone else, but the Cooper Institute really needs to do some research if this is the kind of stuff they're teaching. It's really a disservice to the people who might follow a routine like this simply because they haven't been taught better. I say this in the nicest way I know how on a message board, but it's really just not good. Better than nothing, of course, but not good.

Consider this:

1) You don't really need to hit your chest in three different directions in one workout. You certainly CAN do that, but it isn't necessary.

2) You put a whole lot of emphasis on the chest but almost none on the back (only one back exercise). This is a common problem as people tend to want to work on the mirror muscles, but the back shouldn't be overlooked. It contains some of the largest and most powerful muscles in the human body (second only to the glutes/hamstrings/quads). Don't neglect them.

3) The leg portion of your workout is 100% isolation movements. That's an extremely ineffective way to train. A person would be far better served by throwing all those exercises out the window and replacing them with various forms of squats and lunges. Our bodies don't work in isolation, so it makes no sense to train them that way.

4) Lower Back Presses - I don't know for sure what this is, but if it's what I think it is then it's a shoulder injury waiting to happen.

5) Curls and Tricep Extensions - Waste of time for most people. These muscles get plenty of work with the various push and pull compound exercises that you can do. Does it hurt to do them? No. Does it help? Not really, but it does take up precious time that you could be using to do exercises that WILL make a difference for you.

I like that you promote a full body workout three days a week for fat loss, but in my opinion the workout you listed there is terribly inefficient. You could get a better workout with just 6 compound exercises. I would suggest something like the following in lieu of the workout above for a beginner's fat loss workout:

Superset 1:
Squats
Cable Seated Row

Superset 2:
Side or Dynamic Lunges
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Superset 3:
Upright Row / Overhead Press Combo
Swiss Ball Crunches

Do 2-3 sets of 15 wth 60 seconds rest between sets, alternating exercises within the superset until you've completed all the sets. Then move on to the next superset. Follow it up with 30 minutes or so of your favorite cardio. Use enough weight for each exercise that the last 2-3 reps are very challenging but not so much weight that you cannot finish the set. Try to increase the weight a little bit each time you do the workout. You'll get a better workout this way with less than half the exercises and probably twice the results.

Again, I mean no offense to the OP or anyone else. I just hate to see people doing workouts like this when they could do so much more with less.

what can i do instead of the cable row? i would love to do it but don't have access to that machine until i switch gyms lol