In a new gym and struggling
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christch
Posts: 238 Member
I need some advice and probably some reassurance. I've just made the step up from a small woman's only gym with limited equipment to a fully equipped gym with lots of male lifters.
I've just completed my first week on my own there but it's been a struggle. I did have a trainer take me through some of the gear and teach me how to use the racks but she was also trying to introduce me to cable flys and doing the Snatch and Cleans, all of which I find way to complicated.
I have been working on the SL 5x5 prog substituting barbell work with db and was really looking forward to the step up to using the bar and rack. My squat seems to be OK - one of the guys showed me what I was doing wrong. But last night I made a stupid mistake and didn't set safeties high enough and ended up with the 32.5kg bar sitting on my chest and needed rescuing by another lifter. I didn't hurt myself except my pride. I finished my session.
Am I expecting to much of myself, will this get better, and do I add these extra lifts to my programme? At the moment I just feel like quitting and in the last 11 months of lifting when all I could do was barely deadlift the empty bar or bench 5kg db I've never felt this low.
I've just completed my first week on my own there but it's been a struggle. I did have a trainer take me through some of the gear and teach me how to use the racks but she was also trying to introduce me to cable flys and doing the Snatch and Cleans, all of which I find way to complicated.
I have been working on the SL 5x5 prog substituting barbell work with db and was really looking forward to the step up to using the bar and rack. My squat seems to be OK - one of the guys showed me what I was doing wrong. But last night I made a stupid mistake and didn't set safeties high enough and ended up with the 32.5kg bar sitting on my chest and needed rescuing by another lifter. I didn't hurt myself except my pride. I finished my session.
Am I expecting to much of myself, will this get better, and do I add these extra lifts to my programme? At the moment I just feel like quitting and in the last 11 months of lifting when all I could do was barely deadlift the empty bar or bench 5kg db I've never felt this low.
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Sure it will get better with practice. Everything does. You probably won't set the safeties too low again
Was this on bench? It wouldn't hurt to read up on ways to fail safely on all the lifts. Check out the roll of shame and about not clamping the plates on the bar so that you can dump them if needed. It can also be a good idea to fail on purpose for squats so that you know how to handle it.0 -
I wouldn't worry about extra lifts at this point in time. You can worry about that after you are more comfortable. That comfort will come surprisingly quickly. Do what feels right for you and just keep trying.
Also, people fail on lifts, it happens so you might want to try doing it on purpose just so that it doesn't seem so scary and it is at more manageable weights.0 -
it sounds like you're having a case of i-suck. i relate.Am I expecting to much of myself, will this get better
this will get better. and then some days or weeks it will feel worse again . . . and then it will get better again. and after 3 months or 6 or a year, you'll look back and you'll see so how hard some parts of it really were. and you'll be so proud of yourself because you kept on going. it won't be just the weight you've become able to lift that will make you feel that way.
are you asking too much of yourself . . . gmfnhn, how to answer. technically, i think you probably aren't. BUT on a different level, i think maybe you're forgetting to notice how much you are asking, even though it isn't too much. if that makes sense.
you ARE fine and you will be fine. it'll be fine.
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Thanks for that. I find it hard because I don't have anyone who can really relate to how I'm feeling and I'm training on my own. I just have to look at how far I've come since Feb to know I'm capable of it. It's going to be one small 1.25kg plate at a time.0
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Would you like me to make you feel better? When I started with the oly bar I wasn't even sure how to get it from the floor up to the pegs to do my squats. I too started out with db. You'll be fine and will get the hang of things quickly!0
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Thanks for that. I find it hard because I don't have anyone who can really relate to how I'm feeling and I'm training on my own.
yeah, i know. the starting part is the hardest, because the gap between you and all those guys who take lifting for granted is the widest. i go around trying to explain this to men because i really think they just don't get how completely anything related to lifting culture is NOT part of our upbringing as women. they always assume some basic level of knowlege/familiarity/comfort that just isn't there.
so i've told a lot of them: okay buddy, look, it's like this. supposing you really really wanted to learn how to knit. would you even know where to start? now picture yourself trying to learn how to do it, and imagine that you had to do all your learning in public. think about the kinds of environments and atmospheres that would take you into, and maybe sjaddup just a bit. because that's what it's like for most women who want to learn how to lift.0 -
Went in this morning and had a session while the weight room wasn't too busy. It was good. I practised failing on the bench and feel more confident about doing it. Worked on all my lifts and have decided to leave out cable fly and clean.
A really big THANK YOU to you all.0 -
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