Starting weights: How to lift and how much to lift...

i used to use machines and got great results. you can switch back and forth any time, but switching back to free weights may require you drop your weight just a little as the stabilizer muscles may not get a workout using machines. still, i liked 'em.

i used to increase the weight for each set. as far as overall increases, increase the weight when you are able to. there's no real time involved as everyone's body, diet and approach is different.

you might consider making sure you have some chocolate daily so you don't have to white knuckle it, which leads to binges. and i eat double chocolate chunk quest bars (the new ones are milder, so i heat them and that brings out more chocolatey taste), sometimes with fat free, sugar free ice cream or a fudgecicle on top as a protein meal sometimes. that way, dinner IS desert, i get chocolate and protein, and that fits in my calorie goals.

so long as you're practicing proper technique, you can move up to the heavier weight as soon as you are able. During the beginning phases of a training program your body adapts relatively quickly, so you should see some quick improvements. To continue to improve you need to be challenging your body, so using the heaviest weight you can lift with correct form(!!!!!!) is the best way to do this.

As others have mentioned, exclusively using machines can be seen as an advantage or a disadvantage because they control the motion more. I also workout alone, and my strategy here is to do as much as I feel comfortable with using free weights or cable machines and use machines for things I'm not comfortable doing without a spotter or to help me bridge a gap when one weight is too easy but the next is too heavy (eg dumbbell chest press, the next weight up means I have to add 2.5kg to each arm and I can't but the current is too easy) and I don't want to drop it on my face.

Things like squats and lunges are great exercises, and the sort of thing that you could add to the end of your workout without weights (or the lightest you can find) just to focus on technique then look at adding them in with weights once your confident you've got that down.

As far as progressing with some but not others, part of this will be that some muscle groups are larger than others, and it will also depend on where the exercise falls in your routine. You might find if it's the first exercise you can lift more, but if it's the last you're struggling with the "normal" amount you'd lift. I've been rehabbing a shoulder injury since February, and while it's a lot more stable, I have made very, very limited progress with the amount of weight I can use for some of the exercises (rotator cuff, side raises, etc) but significant progress with others which use bigger muscles.

If the trainer has set out a program for you, you should be able to speak to them and ask them to check your form. If you're having a program review after X weeks you could also say you'd like to try using more free weights and ask them to make sure you can do the exercises correctly. As much as it might seem intimidating, I promise they aren't going to look at you and be like "wow what a moron, doesn't know how to squat". They want to make sure you're doing it right and doing it safely. They're more likely to look at the idiot who's doing it wrong but thinks he knows what he's doing and roll their eyes.

Anaris2014 wrote: »

BillMcKay1 wrote: »

Squats was actually one of the reasons I raised this. Due to a foot injury I've not been doing squats at all, but I hope to add them to the next stage of the program - and the question becomes free weights or machine. I'm a bit worried about form for squats (last thing I want is a back injury). Lunges are a love hate relationship - like the chest press I don't mind the actual exercise, but I always know it's going to hurt the next day

I also want him to develop a core program that doesn't include plank. I hate planking, I know I do it wrong, I know I use my back more than I should and no matter how much I try (with help from a number of trainers) I just don't get it right - too many bad habits that come back once I am not being supervised.

I'm a bit of a squat fanatic. Every weight training program I have had success with included squats and lots of them. Smith machines, which are the big squat machines are much more likely to injure you than free weights. It is IMO super important to use free weights on squats as there are so many muscle groups involved in the the motion, quads, hamstrings,calves, abs, glutes. It works your whole core. Doing it with a machine doing all the balancing of the weight and locking you into a set path hampers the unified development of all those muscles.

As long as your gym has a proper power rack with safety bars I highly recommend using free weights. Given your foot injury, once you feel you can start again start with an empty olympic bar. There are lots of great videos online that show the proper form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnV7vEi7Sz8

Do 5 sets of 5 reps. Focus on form more than weight. When you feel like you have your form down, add 5 lbs to the bar every time you hit the gym and do squats.

If the idea of using the olympic bar for your squats worries you, there are also kettlebell squats. Can be done with a kettlebell or even a normal dumbbell. I would recommend this over using the smith machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT6TuJlifto

To add on about squats: it's not a bad idea to stick with dumbbell/kettlebell squats for as long as you can before getting under an Oly bar. Get solid form and develop strength, particularly with your glutes and abs. The bar on your back puts pressure on your spine and can cause pelvic tilt, which in turn causes back pain. That can be averted by strengthening your weaker muscles first.

Every day is leg day!!! Even after I moved past SL 5x5 I continued to squat every gym session. [/quote]

That's a lot of leg days .... like 365 leg days a year