Female Free Weight Newbie

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melissaschleier
melissaschleier Posts: 27 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all, I'm wanting to get started lifting free weights. But, I'm new to the whole thing and I get nervous going to the gym and potentially making a fool/hurting myself. Any suggestions? I'm not wanting to body build, I just want to add it to tone and shape my body.

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  • Ashley083
    Ashley083 Posts: 15 Member
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    Personally, I love fitnessblender.com. They have many strength training videos, (all free) and they take time to demonstrate and walk you through proper form. You will need dumbells; it is good to lift as heavy as you can, still with good form. Whether you return to the gym, or not, you will have a better sense of what you are doing.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    Ashley083 wrote: »
    You will need dumbells; it is good to lift as heavy as you can, still with good form.

    pointless to lift as heavy as you can for someone that has no clue on what he / she is doing - you want to start with basic weights and basic lifts and ensure you build good form before starting to lift heavy.

    OP - youtube / several sites to guide you. Yes you will make a fool of yourself but you are learning and as long as you are consistent you will get over the embarrassment rather quick.
    Worst comes to worst there is the option for PT but considering there are a lot of buffoons out there with a 3 days certification - I would be cautious on who you choose.
  • gradchica27
    gradchica27 Posts: 777 Member
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    Find a good progressive program and follow it. I completed New Rules of Lifting for Women and loved it. I was a total newbie and it was a great intro to lifting and I got great results. Just started New Rules of Lifting Supercharged, but the mix and match template would have confused me 5 months ago--I liked just opening NROLFW and doing what it said.
  • cglouie
    cglouie Posts: 33 Member
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    Do you have the option of purchasing a few personal training sessions so they can show you proper form? Or, binge watch youtube videos. For technique tips, I like Omar Isuf and Alan Thrall.
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
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    Firstly to be afraid to lift heavy weights and get strong. To really get big youve gotta jave hogh volume and eat a big calorie surplus (typically).

    Find a structured program that uses compound lifts (bench, deadlift, squats). And follow that program. One of the most common ones is stronglifts. Ive never done it but ive looked into it and to me its a great beginner program. It uses 5 compound lifts that are rotated so thats less lifts to learn. Or there are numerious other programs to do including body weight programs.

    Find an established program tho, compound lifts are best, and youtube is a great resource on hoe to lift with proper form.
  • Kdp2015
    Kdp2015 Posts: 519 Member
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    I was scared too but now you can't drag me away - I love free weights so much it's honestly a lot of fun. I pushed myself to start it for the sake of a better body (inside and out) but now it's fun driven and a definite highlight of the week!
  • llmg970
    llmg970 Posts: 257 Member
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    I started lifting by having someone that works at the gym show me some basics then I have used the body space app and body builder.com to track my lifts and find more programs. That site has videos to help you do them right.
    Don't be afraid to go to the gym. I was once and now it's been 2 years and I hate when I miss too many days in a row
  • shagerty777
    shagerty777 Posts: 185 Member
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    Here is a program designed specifically for beginners, http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843 And you can go to http://startingstrength.com/ for some great form videos. Good luck on your journey!
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
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    melissaschleier wrote: »
    Hey all, I'm wanting to get started lifting free weights. But, I'm new to the whole thing and I get nervous going to the gym and potentially making a fool/hurting myself. Any suggestions? I'm not wanting to body build, I just want to add it to tone and shape my body.

    Starting light and using some type of progressive program is going to help you the most. Most good beginners programs have a set progress system to help you figure out your working weight.

    There's a lot of resources out there on HOW to actually lift properly. There's probably hundreds of youtube videos on every lift out there. The other advantage of progressive programs is it's much easier to get your form down, when the weight is light. If you're doing it wrong when it's light, you're almost certain to be doing it wrong when it gets heavy.

    Lastly you can always get someone to "form check" you. It could be somebody at the gym, or having someone take a video of you doing some particular lift (and then posting it somewhere for a critique).

    Interestingly there's a lot of "little" things that have a huge impact on your lifts.
  • melissaschleier
    melissaschleier Posts: 27 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the insight! You've given me a lot of great places to start looking!

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