Newbie to Strength Training?

healthyhappyconfidence
healthyhappyconfidence Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I regularly do cardio, but I am not knowledgeable enough about strength training to plan a workout.

What sort of exercises would be appropriate for a 5'2" 19-year old girl? And how often? The more specific the exercise (reps, equipment) the better.

(I am an active swimmer/occasional runner and I believe I could only bench press the bar last time I tried :ohwell: )

Replies

  • loriemn
    loriemn Posts: 292 Member
    Have you looked at bodybuilding.com? awesome site, lots of really good information.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Another good resource is New Rules of Lifting For Women. It's a book that talks about the lifts and such. Also look into Starting Strength or Strong Lifts, both books that help in setting up a good program.


    Ideally you want something that will give you full body workouts using compound moves. Bench press, dead lift, and squat are the "big three" compound moves that will engage multiple muscle throughout your body. Follow the programs, they're pretty good.

    You may also consider looking into a weight training class at a local community college. You'll get lots of instruction and access to the equipment (or, if you're already a college student, look there :wink:) These aren't body builder classes, just courses for the average person wanting to build strength and increase health.
  • WhoHa42
    WhoHa42 Posts: 1,270 Member
    Compound movements are your friend

    If you've never done any weight training I'd start with full body 3x a week and move on from there

    Not gonna write out a whole program but hit each muscle once with multi-joint movements (compound) if possible and try to hit 8-12 reps for about 3 sets.

    Squats, overhead press, deadlifts, lunges, romanian deadlifts, bench press, close-grip bench press, rows, and pull ups are all good compound movements.
  • Klax22
    Klax22 Posts: 2 Member
    I found the book, "Thinner, Leaner, Stronger" by Michael Matthews to be extremely helpful. He helps you set up a diet plan and gives you a whole year of weightlifting routines to follow. I've lost fat and gained muscle and definitely see changes in my body definition. I highly recommend it.
  • healthyhappyconfidence
    healthyhappyconfidence Posts: 6
    Thanks for the input!
  • ge105
    ge105 Posts: 268 Member
    Try stronglifts 5x5- its free and an easy place to start:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,313 Member
    I will also say that Stronglifts 5x5 is likely the best place to start. It will lay a solid foundation for future lifting. The number of lifts to learn the form of is small, so it is easy to learn them so you can focus on the form of the exercise since that is vitally important as bad form in lifting will lead to injuries.
  • kschlap
    kschlap Posts: 15
    I think that no matter what you do you should remember that strength training on any program isn't going to make you big and bulky. I know a lot of girls who get scared off of weight training programs because they believe this myth. You won't get bigger like guys do from lifting weights. Though you should definitely become more lean. Overall, I think that your first couple of weeks should be concentrated on doing very low weight lifts and building the full range of motion for each lift. Just getting used to the program and getting used to the motions. Then you can move on to a more challenging weight.

    I didn't want to post a full program because without a description of what you're trying to achieve it's very difficult to guess at what would be best for you.

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