Beginner body building

ImSoSquishy wrote: »

one thing no one ever seems to mention is "preventing energy leaks" when exercising. the idea is really just to turn yourself into an immovable object in order to properly control the weights, so you don't end up like some guys at my gym that just rocks their torso back and forth, and swinging around their body/limbs uncontrollably. basically you just tense up the muscles all over your body to activate them, but not to the point where you are trying to flex your muscles really hard. when in doubt, always start by activating your glutes, down to your quads, then slightly tucking your tailbone inwards and contract your core muscles slowly exhale the air out, when you push your arms down and forward you'll feel your lats. basically these are the kind of feels you want when exercising, the more muscles you can activate, the stronger you can become, within half a year i can guarantee you, that people will be staring at you and wondering how you're so stable, how you're not rocking back and forth or bouncing all over the place with each rep.

another thing no one ever seems to mention is the knee pads on the machines like lat pull downs, and smith machine high rows. most people thinks that it's just there to anchor them down, so they just sit all the way in until their pelvis is touching the pads. while anchoring you down part is partially true, its' real and main purpose is for you to push your heels up and driving your knees into the pads. you should still see about an inch or so of your knees in front of the pads though. while that is happening, it should also feel like you're squeezing your glutes and like you're trying to turn your femur joints on your hips to point up to the ceiling so that you push your butt back down into the seat. then you just arch your thoracic spine when holding the bar, using mainly the last 3 fingers on your hands around the area where the knuckles are to hold the bar. when you pull the bar down imagine you're trying to bend the bar. when starting, your palms are facing in front of you, as you pull down try to turn your palms to face behind you, the bar won't bend when you do the exercise at gym, so don't worry about that. some of these techniques can also be used for other exercises so feel free to play around with it. with some practice, i promise you will become amazing and people at your gym will be like "wtf, how is she doing that without rocking back and forth and yanking the weights down!???".

Cahgetsfit wrote: »

get someone to show you how to lift properly. once you have the basics down you can go solo. Advice up above re not rocking all over the place etc was good, but a lot of the times you have no idea if your form is good or not.

Anyway, enjoy, lifting is fun and the results are satisfying!

callmecarina wrote: »

I perused the weightlifting program thread, but I am not clear on whether any of those programs will work for weight loss while lifting. From the OP: "Since it's a very common question when it comes to bulking, I wanted to create a running list of programs that can provide a solid foundation for members, whether they are in the beginning stages of bulking, going back to a cut or looking to maintain their gains."

This seems to imply that one is already "fit," but maybe I'm just not understanding the terminology. Is there a relevant thread that someone can point me to that addresses beginning weightlifting while overweight?