New to strength

fairweather2
fairweather2 Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

I've been an MFP lurker for as long as I can remember, so am finally getting to grips with proper eating habits and making a conscious effort to exercise to stay healthy. I'm at a point now where I'm happy with my weight (5'9'', around 130lbs) and am not looking to lose any more weight.

But like everyone who ignored very good advice and got to their goal through calorie deficit and cardio alone I'm not 100% happy with my body composition. So I FINALLY bit the bullet and bought a gym membership. Bear in mind though, I have barely ever set foot in a gym and am hardly strong enough to open stubborn jam jars, haha!

Basically my question is, where do I start to go about building strength and lowering bodyfat? What would a typical gym session look like? And should I be at maintenance or deficit calories? I want to turn up for my first session looking like I know what I'm doing!! ;)

Thanks in advance for all your infinite wisdom!! xxx

Replies

  • Snailman44
    Snailman44 Posts: 25
    Gaining strength while losing fat is tough but can be done. You have to eat roughly -20% of your daily TDEE(total daily energy expenditure) and have the same amount of grams of protein as your body weight. As for a great routine for a beginner do a full body 3x a week. Here is an example of one.

    A Simple beginner's Routine
    You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

    Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

    These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

    Squats
    Bench Presses
    Bent-Over Rows
    Overhead Barbell Presses
    Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
    Barbell Curls
    Calf Raises

    You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
    The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
    The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
    The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
    The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
    The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
    If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

    repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
    Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.
  • fairweather2
    fairweather2 Posts: 24 Member
    Gaining strength while losing fat is tough but can be done. You have to eat roughly -20% of your daily TDEE(total daily energy expenditure) and have the same amount of grams of protein as your body weight. As for a great routine for a beginner do a full body 3x a week. Here is an example of one.

    A Simple beginner's Routine
    You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

    Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.

    These are the seven exercises you will be starting with.

    Squats
    Bench Presses
    Bent-Over Rows
    Overhead Barbell Presses
    Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
    Barbell Curls
    Calf Raises

    You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
    The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
    The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
    The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
    The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
    The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.
    If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and

    repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.
    Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days.

    Thanks a lot! This looks really useful - I'm not in a rush so I'm fully prepared for it to take a while. Definitely planning on 3x a week and will use this as a starting block. Only other challenge will be making sure I get all the protein in! Hopefully it can be done though :)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    check out programs like strong lifts and strong curves (if you're female, i'm too lazy to check)
  • fairweather2
    fairweather2 Posts: 24 Member
    check out programs like strong lifts and strong curves (if you're female, i'm too lazy to check)

    Haha I am female, thanks, will check those out :-)
  • lauren_jb
    lauren_jb Posts: 26 Member
    I was in the same position as you. Pretty much zero strength. I bought a copy of the new rules of weightlifting for women. It has 6 months worth of training programs and info on diet, form, exercises. I also found it really funny.

    I'm on week 7 and have really enjoyed it - never managed to stick to a cardio program this long so I'm impressed! Showed the routine to some trainers at my gym and they said it was great and it's really helpful to know what you are going to do each session. I have not dieted AT ALL and have seen results, my waist is smaller and some of my friends have commented on it too. It's also really encouraging to see my strength improve.

    My only regret is buying it on kindle - should have been patient and got the hard copy!
  • fairweather2
    fairweather2 Posts: 24 Member
    Sorry for being so slow in replying but thanks a lot, have heard lots of good things about that so may well give it a look! Congrats on your success so far :)

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