First time lifting at the gym - cycle 6
pandorakick
Posts: 901 Member
This morning I did D1W1 of Cycle 6 and for the first time at the gym instead of at home. This meant I was finally able to use barbells for the various exercises instead of only dumbbells. It was so much fun! And I totally kicked *kitten* :bigsmile:
When I went to the weight lifting area of this gym, (which is btw humongous, could easily do a ball game in that area) there were 3 kinda burly looking guys gossiping. Got a few surprised looks from them :laugh:
Had to adjust most of the weights I was planning to use, because there either were no dumbbells available in uneven amounts of kg or the fractionals of the barbells didn't go small enough. Anyway, did squats and SLDL with a barbell for the first time, squats at 30 kg and SLDL at 50 kg. Both PR's, I'm especially tickled pink considering that I'm 53,8 kg myself, so I'm almost at 1x BW for the SLDL!
My stats for this cycle are (in total weight per exercise):
Cycle 1 -> present (Cycle 6)
Squats: 23 kg -> 30 kg
Bench Press: 13 kg -> 22 kg
Bent-Over Rows: 17 kg -> 25 kg
Overhead Shoulder Press: 12 kg -> 16 kg
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts: 30 kg -> 50 kg (= 0.92 x BW)
Curls: 13 kg -> 15 kg
Guess doing the routine in the gym changes it up enough to keep the routine interesting enough for at least this cycle
When I went to the weight lifting area of this gym, (which is btw humongous, could easily do a ball game in that area) there were 3 kinda burly looking guys gossiping. Got a few surprised looks from them :laugh:
Had to adjust most of the weights I was planning to use, because there either were no dumbbells available in uneven amounts of kg or the fractionals of the barbells didn't go small enough. Anyway, did squats and SLDL with a barbell for the first time, squats at 30 kg and SLDL at 50 kg. Both PR's, I'm especially tickled pink considering that I'm 53,8 kg myself, so I'm almost at 1x BW for the SLDL!
My stats for this cycle are (in total weight per exercise):
Cycle 1 -> present (Cycle 6)
Squats: 23 kg -> 30 kg
Bench Press: 13 kg -> 22 kg
Bent-Over Rows: 17 kg -> 25 kg
Overhead Shoulder Press: 12 kg -> 16 kg
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts: 30 kg -> 50 kg (= 0.92 x BW)
Curls: 13 kg -> 15 kg
Guess doing the routine in the gym changes it up enough to keep the routine interesting enough for at least this cycle
0
Replies
-
I much prefer bb's. I can't lift my bb for everything so I do use db's some and my curling bar, which I also prefer over db's. I'm glad you found a good gym and had a great experience there!!0
-
Virtual high five for kickin' *kitten* at the gym! I know you were a bit leary about the transition but yay for getting it done and even hitting a PR to boot
0 -
Congrats. Sounds like a good start for the cycle. 0
-
Thank you, it was! :happy:
I'm really sore today in the chest and shoulders though, I'll see how it goes tomorrow :glasses:0 -
Congratulations on kicking *kitten* and hitting PR's! That is great that you had a positive experience. Love the idea of the burly guys giving you a look :laugh:0
-
Thank you, it was! :happy:
I'm really sore today in the chest and shoulders though, I'll see how it goes tomorrow :glasses:
Tomorrow's W5D1 for me. I may need someone to scrape me off the floor at some point. ;-)0 -
Will keep my fingers crossed for you!0
-
Sounds like a totally kick-*kitten* workout!!! :bigsmile: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker:
I'm hoping to try out a gym and bar sometime this fall...and now you've REALLY got me wanting to get in there (yes, I'm jealous
)
Congrats on the PRs and almost-bw lift!!!!0 -
Thank you!
Went again this morning and got "the nod" from the guys there. Guess all is good :laugh:0 -
Thank you!
Went again this morning and got "the nod" from the guys there. Guess all is good :laugh:
You're in!!!:drinker:0 -
I just joined a gym. I'm not sure how I let the salesman talk me into it...I went there to get my son a membership. It's nicer than the Y and he has friends that workout there. He's enjoying that! Anyway, I let the salesman talk me into getting myself one too. I hope I get my money's worth out of it. I think I will be too intimidated to hit the weights there.0
-
Went again this morning and got "the nod" from the guys there. Guess all is good :laugh:
Love it! :bigsmile:0 -
I now have my first week worth of workouts at the gym under my belt and I must day that it was better then I anticipated. Key was probably that I go in a very early time slot: between 6 and 7 AM. At this time the gym is almost empty and I didn't feel self conscious about trying to find everything and doing my thing because I was almost alone. So my advise would be to try and go in at a low-traffic moment just to get comfortable in the new surroundings. After that, just own it!I just joined a gym. I'm not sure how I let the salesman talk me into it...I went there to get my son a membership. It's nicer than the Y and he has friends that workout there. He's enjoying that! Anyway, I let the salesman talk me into getting myself one too. I hope I get my money's worth out of it. I think I will be too intimidated to hit the weights there.0 -
I now have my first week worth of workouts at the gym under my belt and I must day that it was better then I anticipated. Key was probably that I go in a very early time slot: between 6 and 7 AM. At this time the gym is almost empty and I didn't feel self conscious about trying to find everything and doing my thing because I was almost alone. So my advise would be to try and go in at a low-traffic moment just to get comfortable in the new surroundings. After that, just own it!I just joined a gym. I'm not sure how I let the salesman talk me into it...I went there to get my son a membership. It's nicer than the Y and he has friends that workout there. He's enjoying that! Anyway, I let the salesman talk me into getting myself one too. I hope I get my money's worth out of it. I think I will be too intimidated to hit the weights there.
I leave for work between 6:15-6:30, I wouldn't have time to get ready if I went before work, even though they open at 5:00...this girl needs some time to make herself presentable...I couldn't just shower and go. :blushing: I guess I could go around 7ish and see if it's busy... I know it's not when I pass the gym on my way home, around 4-4:30 but I'm also starving then.0 -
I must admit that I don't even shower before leaving for the gym :blushing: It's more of a get up get out kind of thing. Mind, for all other occasions I wouldn't get caught outside without everything being nice, clean and lipstick on. :ohwell:0
-
I now have my first week worth of workouts at the gym under my belt and I must day that it was better then I anticipated. Key was probably that I go in a very early time slot: between 6 and 7 AM. At this time the gym is almost empty and I didn't feel self conscious about trying to find everything and doing my thing because I was almost alone. So my advise would be to try and go in at a low-traffic moment just to get comfortable in the new surroundings. After that, just own it!
I think this is true, I go MWF at 5:30 am, I'm there when the doors open and I basically have the place to myself. I agree wholeheartedly with "owning it"...doing this program definitely builds your confidence. This morning I went in and loaded the bar for squats and started my warmup and this big, meathead walks in and tries to use the rack for whatever. He didn't ask me if I was using it or anything. When I realized what he was doing before I knew it I heard myself saying, "hey that's my bar!" :laugh: The look on his face was priceless as I think he really didn't know I was there until I said something. Then he was all like how many more sets do you have? And I told him I had four sets to and he could work in as long as he left the bar like he found it. He grunted in agreement or cursed me under his breath but I didn't care I got my workout in :laugh:
Before I started this routine I never would've been in the gym that early in the first place and if I was and that guy walked in and started using the squat rack without asking I would've gone home or used machines but now like you said I own my workout and I don't let some rude meathead ruin it no matter how buff he is :laugh:0 -
I must admit that I don't even shower before leaving for the gym :blushing: It's more of a get up get out kind of thing. Mind, for all other occasions I wouldn't get caught outside without everything being nice, clean and lipstick on. :ohwell:
Oh, I wouldn't shower before going to the gym either. I don't care what I look like there. But they open at 5, the routine takes me about 40 minutes, which would take me to at least 5:40 and I would need to hit the road by 6:30 at the latest but it takes me a good hour to get ready. I have a 45 minute commute so leaving even just a few minutes later is risky...the highways I have to take are very congested during rush hour. I'm not a morning person anyway. Even over the summer when I was off work, I preferred doing it later in the day with lots of fuel.0 -
I now have my first week worth of workouts at the gym under my belt and I must day that it was better then I anticipated. Key was probably that I go in a very early time slot: between 6 and 7 AM. At this time the gym is almost empty and I didn't feel self conscious about trying to find everything and doing my thing because I was almost alone. So my advise would be to try and go in at a low-traffic moment just to get comfortable in the new surroundings. After that, just own it!
I think this is true, I go MWF at 5:30 am, I'm there when the doors open and I basically have the place to myself. I agree wholeheartedly with "owning it"...doing this program definitely builds your confidence. This morning I went in and loaded the bar for squats and started my warmup and this big, meathead walks in and tries to use the rack for whatever. He didn't ask me if I was using it or anything. When I realized what he was doing before I knew it I heard myself saying, "hey that's my bar!" :laugh: The look on his face was priceless as I think he really didn't know I was there until I said something. Then he was all like how many more sets do you have? And I told him I had four sets to and he could work in as long as he left the bar like he found it. He grunted in agreement or cursed me under his breath but I didn't care I got my workout in :laugh:
Before I started this routine I never would've been in the gym that early in the first place and if I was and that guy walked in and started using the squat rack without asking I would've gone home or used machines but now like you said I own my workout and I don't let some rude meathead ruin it no matter how buff he is :laugh:
That's really cool! I wouldn't have the nerve to say anything. It happened to me at the Y once and I had my phone and towel there and some dude took it anyway. That may have been my last workout there...I have the stuff at home to do it now. I really don't need the gym for lifting unless i wanted to do their machines...they have tons! i think i would like to work my calves there since i dont do the calf raises. I would be more prone to do cardio there but their earliest class starts at 5:30 so I would have to go at night. I assume their night classes are busy.0 -
That's really cool! I wouldn't have the nerve to say anything.
Trust me, before I started this I wouldn't have said anything either but perhaps all this heavy lifting has given me a bit of testosterone boost and I won't allow anyone or anything to mess up my workout. I surprised myself saying anything and even after the "confrontation" my heart was beating a bit faster and I wished this had happened on my heavy day so he could see 60 pounds wasn't my max squat....70 lbs is :laugh:0
