Questions on restarting weight training

Hello everyone,

I first started using MFP about 7 years back, and had great success. I lost a lot of weight and built up some muscle using a mix of cardio and weight training. Sadly, after life intervened I gained back the weight. But now I'm back to trying to get myself into shape again.

In the past I was doing a lot of jogging, zumba and other cardio, and did maintain some weight training to help get some muscle mass. My current job has a small gym, and I was planning on doing some lifting after work. However, I have forgotten most of what I did and to be honest I was never sure if I was doing it right or not.

What's a good starting amount of reps/weights?

How long should I be lifting?

What kind of muscle rotation should I do? Legs every other day? arms another?

As I said, I had good results in the past, but it was highly guess work.

Replies

  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    Choose a beginners program that appeals to you.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

    Most will have frequency/rest days/progression/sets...all of that programmed in. It's the best way to go in my opinion.
  • JeremyMo88
    JeremyMo88 Posts: 18 Member
    Thank you!
  • todds404
    todds404 Posts: 16 Member
    JeremyMo88 wrote: »
    Hello everyone,

    I first started using MFP about 7 years back, and had great success. I lost a lot of weight and built up some muscle using a mix of cardio and weight training. Sadly, after life intervened I gained back the weight. But now I'm back to trying to get myself into shape again.

    In the past I was doing a lot of jogging, zumba and other cardio, and did maintain some weight training to help get some muscle mass. My current job has a small gym, and I was planning on doing some lifting after work. However, I have forgotten most of what I did and to be honest I was never sure if I was doing it right or not.

    What's a good starting amount of reps/weights?

    How long should I be lifting?

    What kind of muscle rotation should I do? Legs every other day? arms another?

    As I said, I had good results in the past, but it was highly guess work.

    First of all, congrats for deciding to get back into it. In most cases, if you're a beginner you should just PICK an existing weight lifting program and stick to it for a few months.

    One of the most popular ones is Starting Strength, but if you're looking for something with more of a bodybuilding flair, you can check out PHAT (lots more volume however).