Weights: What to do?

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Nishiix
Nishiix Posts: 283 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello everyone,

I am 5ft, 150 lbs and my heaviest was 190. After doing cardio for sometime I am finally wanting and needing to implement weights. I have no idea where to start or what to do. That being said I am in no way knowledgable in this type of work or know if what I am doing is correct. I had a friend help create this routine for me.

2 days a week (Usually Mondays and Thursdays) I do the following:

Bicep curl x4
Tricep curl x4
Shoulder press x4

Chest press x4
Reverse fly x4

Lateral raises x4
Lat pulldown x4

20 mins cardio post or pre weights.

Leg day occurs Sunday and Wednesdays as:

Deadlifts x3
Regular squats w/ weights x3
Lunges w/ weights x3

Leg press x3
Sumo squats w/ weights x3
Quad extension x3

Light cardio post or pre weights.

Tuesday alone I try to incorporate cardio, but need to incorporate core somewhere.

Fridays I have a jiujitsu class, leaving Friday and Saturday as a rest/easier days.

Others have told me this routine is not a good routine and that it should be changed or modified in a way where I work on different muscle groups upper body wise on different days and not all in one.

Does anyone have any idea how I can change these routines to work better or is the current routine I have okay?

Any other information regarding weights would be REALLY helpful. As I have said I am kind of lost and doing things without really knowing if any of this is right.

I'm just someone who wants to imporve their health and get stronger in the process.

Thanks in advance! :)

Replies

  • Okiludy
    Okiludy Posts: 558 Member
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    If you are new to lifting you don't need to do anything more than the main compound lifts. Squat, Bench, Overhead Press, Deadlift, and maybe Rows/Cleans will hit your whole body and get you stronger. I did Starting Strength. It's a 3 day a week program doing mainly 3x5 sets/reps of only 3 lifts. You increase your weights every session. Strong Lifts is also a decent program for novices and uses a 5x5 scheme. The difference in the 2 is mainly the extra 2 sets can be harder to recover from but many people have made as much progress as I did on SS.

    Once you have run out your linear progression on a good novice program is when I think it's time to add different movements or complicated split routines. Basically build a solid strength base first.
  • ecjim
    ecjim Posts: 1,001 Member
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    Okiludy wrote: »
    If you are new to lifting you don't need to do anything more than the main compound lifts. Squat, Bench, Overhead Press, Deadlift, and maybe Rows/Cleans will hit your whole body and get you stronger. I did Starting Strength. It's a 3 day a week program doing mainly 3x5 sets/reps of only 3 lifts. You increase your weights every session. Strong Lifts is also a decent program for novices and uses a 5x5 scheme. The difference in the 2 is mainly the extra 2 sets can be harder to recover from but many people have made as much progress as I did on SS.

    Once you have run out your linear progression on a good novice program is when I think it's time to add different movements or complicated split routines. Basically build a solid strength base first.

    Good advice -
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    1.What are your goals?
    2.follow everyone else’s advice. You have no need to be doing curls if you’re not looking to actually grow or maintain bicep size. It’s just a simple thing that people throw into routines.

    Compound movements are and always will be your best friends. Squat, deadlift, bench, OH press, pull ups, barbel rows. Are generally the building blocks of any good program.

    Start a legitimate beginners program. Follow the progression scheme. And FOLLOW IT, don’t add or remove things to your liking. Give the program a solid 3-6 months before you decide if it’s for you. Most people quick with in a couple of weeks and claim the program did nothing for them. It took years to get where you are now, it’ll take years to get somewhere else.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    And 18 sets on legs in one day for a beginner. That’s insane volume. More is not better. You’d be fine with squats and lunges to make progress. I’m sorry but I would not follow your friends “program” it has no progression, sets/reps scheme, and it starts upper body day with single joint movements and and doubles up on the smaller muscles.
  • RangeBoss
    RangeBoss Posts: 54 Member
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    First of all, good for you. It’s great that you’ve made such progress. I hope you feel good about what you’ve accomplished.

    Getting into weights is a bit of a different animal. Technique is critical to get the results you want, and to avoid injury. I’d encourage you to find a personal trainer in your gym that you feel comfortable with. Then share your goals. A good trainer will be able to help you develop a program that will get you where you want to be. In addition, they will teach you proper technique.

    Good luck and let us know how it goes.
  • edlanglais5
    edlanglais5 Posts: 172 Member
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    A full body workout is no big deal for a starter. I would change up the exercise from day to day though. As you progress, you may look in to a more advanced muscle group specific routine.

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