Best way to start lifting for someone terrible at it

*preface* I ain't no expert or even intermediate lifter.

However, I've noticed that so much depends on what you want to do.

Just dumb bells?

Just bar bell?

A hybrid?

Do you like the versatility of resistance bands?

Are you injured or do you have a preference for machines?

And that's just equipment.

Then you get into programs. Starting Strength, Stronglifts, Crossfit, Anything sold by Beachbody or someone like that company, etc, etc.

Do you work out at home? Workout at a gym? (it matters, cause plenty of places that call themselves a gym, wont even allow deadlifts. Pfft, that's not a gym, that's a health care club, or fitness center, or YM or YWCA or something. Gym = deadlifts, IMHO!)

It's a personal goal of mine to be able to lift heavy one day. I started strength training recently with a personal trainer and am working on both body weight exercises and lighter weights/higher reps with the intention of graduating to heavier weights/lower reps and so on.

As of now, I have embarrassingly little upper body strength and muscle mass and even struggle with the lighter weights. I don't want to push myself to the point of injury, but I do want to be able to work my way into heavy lifting.

Any suggestions from some seasoned lifters? I've heard about New Rules of Lifting for Women, 5x5, etc, but it's hard to figure out where to start and which program is best for a complete beginner.

You have to start somewhere. I've been working with a trainer on weights for 6 months, and I am still only bicep curling 10-15lbs. The heaviest dumbbell I use is the 30lb one, and that is for bent over rows. For any type of chest press, I need a spotter for anything over 20lbs.

It's a personal goal of mine to be able to lift heavy one day. I started strength training recently with a personal trainer and am working on both body weight exercises and lighter weights/higher reps with the intention of graduating to heavier weights/lower reps and so on.

As of now, I have embarrassingly little upper body strength and muscle mass and even struggle with the lighter weights. I don't want to push myself to the point of injury, but I do want to be able to work my way into heavy lifting.

Any suggestions from some seasoned lifters? I've heard about New Rules of Lifting for Women, 5x5, etc, but it's hard to figure out where to start and which program is best for a complete beginner.

You are asking a very general question, so I can only give a very generalized response . . .

My first comment is that increasing strength is no different from losing weight, in that there are no shortcuts, so increase your proportion of protein, keep your diet otherwise clean, work out a lot, get lots of sleep, and be generally sensible. A few specific comments:

* I think a trainer is definitely a good idea in the beginning; I should have done it . . .

* WRT lifting safety, many weightlifters are not as much of d***s as they might look like (especially WRT women), so don't be afraid to ask people to spot you when you are lifting heavy. Also, getting accustomed to failing (i.e., dropping bars) can be useful . . . Otherwise, just know your limits, and if you are going for 1-2RM's, be careful!

* As a beginner, what your "routine" is is probably not as important as consistency, so 3 sets x 10 reps/set would probably be fine.

* I have always found that when I really wanted to get strong in the past, the "largest" exercises (i.e., those that exercise as much of the body as possible) worked best for me. For the upper body, this would be something like bench press/rows and deadlifts. For lower body, deadlifts and squats. Then I would use everything else to shore up any weaknesses.

Good luck!

It's very possible you're expecting "heavy" to be a lot more weight than it really is. If you can lift two 10-pound dumbbells over your head 5 times, you're not a weak beginner at all. And if 5-pound dumbbells are a struggle, that's a bit low, but it is not crazy weak.

You should be focusing on form at this point anyway. Practice with lower weights, higher reps, perfect form. Getting your form right will do more to improve your strength than anything else, so you'll get better pretty fast.

It's very possible you're expecting "heavy" to be a lot more weight than it really is. If you can lift two 10-pound dumbbells over your head 5 times, you're not a weak beginner at all. And if 5-pound dumbbells are a struggle, that's a bit low, but it is not crazy weak.

Agreed. I see a lot of people at the gym, struggling with way too much weight when doing side raises, all the while not realizing that a lot of the stabilizers in the shoulder are _really_ small, and can't tolerate too much load.

You should be focusing on form at this point anyway. Practice with lower weights, higher reps, perfect form. Getting your form right will do more to improve your strength than anything else, so you'll get better pretty fast.

Good form will also definitely reduce your chance for lifting injuries over time.

Grab Stronglifts 5x5. It's free. It has you start with just the bar and you add weight in 5lb increments over time (between workouts). Simple and effective beginner's program. Get the spreadsheet from their site and it will give you the exact weights and reps you should be using for each exercise and for each workout (for about 12 weeks if I remember). Pick up Starting Strength (the book) if you don't know how to perform these moves correctly (not sure if you've already learned them with your trainer). It's got about 100 pages just dedicated to the squat alone.

It's very possible you're expecting "heavy" to be a lot more weight than it really is. If you can lift two 10-pound dumbbells over your head 5 times, you're not a weak beginner at all. And if 5-pound dumbbells are a struggle, that's a bit low, but it is not crazy weak.

You should be focusing on form at this point anyway. Practice with lower weights, higher reps, perfect form. Getting your form right will do more to improve your strength than anything else, so you'll get better pretty fast.

2 - 10 lbs weights means she is about 50% lower that what one would expect someone who has never weight trained to lift. So thats substantially weak...

http://www.strstd.com/

These are 1rm though....


Regardless OP stick with what you're doing. Get your form right, keep working at it.


Lifting "heavy" is a relative term. If whatever your lifting is "heavy" for you, you're lifting heavy.


I wouldn't just jump straight into a strictly strength building exercise unless your goal is strictly strength > physique. If its not, give it time and strength will develop.

Strength =/= Size

As you are now... A total beginner.... I would use your trainer for as much knowledge and experience as they have to offer.

It's a personal goal of mine to be able to lift heavy one day. I started strength training recently with a personal trainer and am working on both body weight exercises and lighter weights/higher reps with the intention of graduating to heavier weights/lower reps and so on.

Lighter weight/higher reps is something I was doing for years, without any results. I learned the hard way, wasting a lot of time in the process, that if you want to lift heavy, you have to ...lift heavy. Right now I could probably curls 2lb dumbbells ab infinitum, but that wouldn't increase either my strength or size. Push for the weight, not rep number.

You sound like me 18 months ago. I could only do body weight squats and I was "deadlifting" 10 lb DBs. Today at the gym I did 15 reps of 105lbs. Even better, At low reps I can DL my body weight. Back then I could barely hang on a bar let alone to multiple chin ups like now. I've used various New Rules programs starting with lifting for women, but there are a lot of great programs out there. YOU WILL PROGRESS. Take it easy, take it slow, focus on form. IT WILL COME. Do 15 reps for a couple workouts, then 12, then 10 and so on. building muscle and building strength takes hard work and time. Some days I can't believe how far I've come in a year and a half. ALso, Make sure you're eating enough. Building muscle takes calories and lots of protein. If you are doing more than a very small deficit, you will hurt how much progress you make. Most people recommend eating at a surplus, but many women are uncomfortable with that, especially when the see the Scale moving up instead of down.

In my opinion, there's no such thing as being terrible at lifting. Only being untrained. Start with a weight that isn't too heavy, but is still a challenge, and add more when it's no longer a challenge.

Any of the programs you listed are good for beginners. You might need to adjust your starting amounts, that's all.

I started lifting by taking a class at my gym that deals with lifting light weights. They helped me with my form and got me started with strength training. Good luck!