using weights

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Shrinknflubberooskiesape
Shrinknflubberooskiesape Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm fairly new to using weights and i have never logged them into MFP. I don't know what #of sets and Repetitions/sets mean. Can someone explain it to me? Please.

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  • edwardrz
    edwardrz Posts: 7
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    This is web site has good info for weight lifters http://scoobysworkshop.com.
  • corgarian
    corgarian Posts: 366 Member
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    personally I hate MFP for logging my weights but thats me.

    First off, do you want to tone or build muscle? When I first started weight training a few years back I just wanted to tone. an easy way to think about that is 'Low weight, High rep.' So for an example you may only curl 10lb dumbbells, but you will do like 4 sets of 15-20 reps. That tones.
    Right now I'm building so I do 'High weight, Low reps' where I may curl 15-20lb dumbbells at 3 sets of 10 reps.

    I suggest doing your research first. There are soooooo many fitness blogs that give great instruction into the world of lifting. Also make sure you are safe, ask someone to help teach you form.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    personally I hate MFP for logging my weights but thats me.

    First off, do you want to tone or build muscle? When I first started weight training a few years back I just wanted to tone. an easy way to think about that is 'Low weight, High rep.' So for an example you may only curl 10lb dumbbells, but you will do like 4 sets of 15-20 reps. That tones.
    Right now I'm building so I do 'High weight, Low reps' where I may curl 15-20lb dumbbells at 3 sets of 10 reps.

    I suggest doing your research first. There are soooooo many fitness blogs that give great instruction into the world of lifting. Also make sure you are safe, ask someone to help teach you form.

    What??!
  • Shrinknflubberooskiesape
    Shrinknflubberooskiesape Posts: 4 Member
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    Right now I am concentrating on cardio to lose weight but really wanting to throw in some 5lb weight work to help tone at the same time. Just didn't know how to log it in. I hate that it doesn't log calories. I do mine after my cardio, so I'm sure I'm burning more. I hope anyway. ☺
  • Shrinknflubberooskiesape
    Shrinknflubberooskiesape Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you. ☺
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,871 Member
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    You will get better results going somewhere like Walmart to try different weights. Take home the one (or pair) that you can't curl more than five times. That's the weight that will challenge you and help you become stronger. Move up when you can do more than 12-15 reps at that weight.

    ETA: Don't worry too much about logging the lifting. Your body will log everything perfectly. :wink:
  • Jollybeard
    Jollybeard Posts: 38 Member
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    I agree with the general sentiment here that logging resistance/weight training in MFP is a pain in the neck. Instead, I use a separate trackers (Jefit) which is much better suited to the task.

    As to the strategy that you take, I would suggest reading around a bit on the differences between "toning" and "bulking" -- I'm not recommending that you go through cyclical phases of bulking and cutting and toning, but you will see references to those terms. To me they seem a little old school and a bit dubious. Bulking is when you increase calories (sometimes indiscriminately, sometimes with targets in proteins and carbs) to add (i.e., bulk) muscle. In the process, the assumption is that you also gain fat in addition to muscle mass. So then you "cut" or decrease calorie load in order to remove fat and reveal the muscle (I guess). Toning is what I've understood to be maintaining a weight that keeps the muscle mass you have.

    To a previous poster's comment about numerous, high-rep sets for toning and fewer, low-rep sets for bulking, I think that it generally right. Lower the weight too much and you will have to do more reps, I suppose, but the general principle seems sound. Isn't that the whole idea behind the Les Mills "body pump" classes?

    My approach has been to choose workouts based on muscle sets. Mondays are Chest/Triceps. Wednesdays are Biceps/Back. Thursdays are Legs and Abs. Fridays are Shoulders. I then do about 10 different exercises, 3 sets each, between 8-12 repetitions. I start out with the highest weight I can manage with proper form for 8 repetitions. I keep doing the exercise at that weight until I can do three sets of 12 repetitions. Then I move up the weight and go back to 8 repetitions, building up until I can do 3 sets of 12 repetitions and then I move up the weight.

    So far, this approach has been working well for me. I'm seeing the results I want.

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