Beginner strength training

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Brianne333
Brianne333 Posts: 232 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone! New to the site and new to my fitness journey. This is the start of my third week working out and only my third day on MFP. I have a lot to lose (100+).

On cardio days I am doing my stationary bike and alternating with strength training days. The problem is, I'm not sure if I'm doing enough? I've never really done any strength training before and I'm not sure if I'm on the right track or not. Here's what I'm currently doing on my strength training days:

(all of these are 2 sets of 10 reps each and all exercises I found on the divine.ca exercise finder)
Leg Raise
Saddlebag Buster
The Small Dog
Double Shoulder Press (with 5lb weights)
Biceps curl (5 lb weights)
Tricep extensions (5 lb weights)

I am feeling the burn in my muscles when I'm working out for sure but not sure if I'm doing enough sets or if I should add different exercises - either to work out more targeted areas of my body or to do multiple types of exercises for each muscle group.

Any suggestions? :)

Replies

  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    Just starting too so would be interested to hear the answers :smile:
  • Scottjt
    Scottjt Posts: 32 Member
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    Depends on your goal.
    Stronglifts is good:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
    Leg raises and saddlebag busters aren't very effective strength exercises and I have no idea what The Small Dog is :D
    Triceps and biceps are small muscles so if you're looking for raw strength these exercises should only be a minor or supplementary part of your program.
    Shoulder press is a good exercise. For strength gains you will need to be doing sets in the 1-8 rep range. So that means using a weight heavy enough to make you fail after 1-8 reps (hopefully more than 5lbs).
    The basic exercises for strength are: Squat, chest press and back row. Hopefully the topic above will make this stuff clearer. Well done for starting a strength program and good luck.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    Do you have a plan to increase the weights? You might feel the burn at 5lb now but after a couple of workouts it'll be getting easier so you would need to increase to continue to benefit.

    You would likely see better results from doing a beginner whole body free weight programme.

    Good beginner programmes include:
    Stronglifts 5x5
    Starting Strength
    New Rules of Lifting

    Even if you decide not to follow these, it would be a good idea to read them (the latter two are books) to learn about good form. These workouts are based around compound lifts, which target multiple muscle groups at once. This in turn improves whole body strength.
  • evedroid
    evedroid Posts: 134 Member
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    id look into new rules of lifting for women, thats what i started with too.
    a basic full body lifting program that introduces both compound and accessory lifts, a perfect read and start for beginners.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w
  • Brianne333
    Brianne333 Posts: 232 Member
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    Thank you so much for all the helpful replies!! Looks like I have some reading to do, I'll check everything out and hopefully have a better idea of what I should be doing! :)

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