Weight lifting pointers - female

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Kaecklund
Kaecklund Posts: 191 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm a beginner to weight lifting. My goal is to get toned and shed excess body fat. I intend to eventually lift heavier (when I am no longer a poor student and can afford a gym membership). If anyone has experience in this area, I'd sure appreciate some pointers, or advice. Perhaps a better rounded workout routine....

Here is my planned routine:
Sunday - Cardio/Core
Monday - Upper or Lower
Tuesday - Cardio
Wednesday - Upper or Lower
Thursday - Cardio/Core
Friday - Upper or Lower
Saturday - Rest

I will alternate upper and lower. Example: Wk 1 - upper/lower/upper. Wk 2 - lower/upper/lower.

I have access to dumbbells, lat pull down machine, low row, bench and shoulder press and some terribly painful leg extension machine.

My current lower body exercises: Walking lunges, squats, and calf raises
Upper body (including back) exercises: Lat pull down, bicep curls, tricep extension, shoulder press, low row, and dead lift.
Core exercises will be crunches, reverse crunches, and oblique crunches.

Is this a well rounded, total body workout routine? Am I leaving out muscle groups?

Replies

  • almonds1
    almonds1 Posts: 642 Member
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    check bodybuilding.com they have a lot of info on this...


    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbinfo.php?page=femaletraining
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    I'm a beginner to weight lifting. My goal is to get toned and shed excess body fat. I intend to eventually lift heavier (when I am no longer a poor student and can afford a gym membership). If anyone has experience in this area, I'd sure appreciate some pointers, or advice. Perhaps a better rounded workout routine....

    Here is my planned routine:
    Sunday - Cardio/Core
    Monday - Upper or Lower
    Tuesday - Cardio
    Wednesday - Upper or Lower
    Thursday - Cardio/Core
    Friday - Upper or Lower
    Saturday - Rest

    I will alternate upper and lower. Example: Wk 1 - upper/lower/upper. Wk 2 - lower/upper/lower.

    I have access to dumbbells, lat pull down machine, low row, bench and shoulder press and some terribly painful leg extension machine.

    My current lower body exercises: Walking lunges, squats, and calf raises
    Upper body (including back) exercises: Lat pull down, bicep curls, tricep extension, shoulder press, low row, and dead lift.
    Core exercises will be crunches, reverse crunches, and oblique crunches.

    Is this a well rounded, total body workout routine? Am I leaving out muscle groups?
    Chest. And whatever you're doing LIFT SOME HEAVY *kitten* WEIGHTS. 3x8reps with as much weight as you can handle with good form.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Kaecklund
    Kaecklund Posts: 191 Member
    Options
    I'm a beginner to weight lifting. My goal is to get toned and shed excess body fat. I intend to eventually lift heavier (when I am no longer a poor student and can afford a gym membership). If anyone has experience in this area, I'd sure appreciate some pointers, or advice. Perhaps a better rounded workout routine....

    Here is my planned routine:
    Sunday - Cardio/Core
    Monday - Upper or Lower
    Tuesday - Cardio
    Wednesday - Upper or Lower
    Thursday - Cardio/Core
    Friday - Upper or Lower
    Saturday - Rest

    I will alternate upper and lower. Example: Wk 1 - upper/lower/upper. Wk 2 - lower/upper/lower.

    I have access to dumbbells, lat pull down machine, low row, bench and shoulder press and some terribly painful leg extension machine.

    My current lower body exercises: Walking lunges, squats, and calf raises
    Upper body (including back) exercises: Lat pull down, bicep curls, tricep extension, shoulder press, low row, and dead lift.
    Core exercises will be crunches, reverse crunches, and oblique crunches.

    Is this a well rounded, total body workout routine? Am I leaving out muscle groups?
    Chest. And whatever you're doing LIFT SOME HEAVY *kitten* WEIGHTS. 3x8reps with as much weight as you can handle with good form.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    So I should throw in some chest presses too... My routine seems very time consuming for the upper body, and quick for the lower body. Is this typical? Does my routine look adequate? Too much for a beginner?
  • clickmaster
    clickmaster Posts: 54 Member
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    check bodybuilding.com they have a lot of info on this...
    Bodybuilding.com is a terrible website full of bad information.

    Don't use bodybuilding.com. It's a scam-site for the purposes of selling supplements and is full of bad information. Check out this list of over 60 dangerous supplement products sold with bogus advertising claims which scam-site bodybuilding.com was forced to recall and take off the market --> http://www.usrecallnews.com/2009/11/bodybuilding-com-supplements-recalled-may-contain-steroids.html . More here --> http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm188957.htm?nav=rss

    The website was started by a teenager who bought a resold supplements at a profit about 10 years ago. He recently sold the site for about $100 million. The story is on the website. It's a repository of all sorts of good and bad information which is the worst kind of website to use. The reason is simple. People who go to a website to learn don't know what is correct and what is not. Therefor, when they read some total junk information which agrees with the conventional wisdom such as you must consume 2 grams of protein per pound of body fat to build muscle, they will be inclined to regard the site as authoritative when it's not. And, the consequence of that is the perpetuation of myths and misconceptions.

    If there's a good bodybuilding website on the internet, I have yet to find it. The best is Scooby but he's not always on top of the latest science.


    Good luck and good health!!

    ♠
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    obviously that other poster is a spammer or troll.

    but really..bodybuilding.com is an excellent website if you want to seriously get into lifting. there are tons of professional fitness athletes and bodybuilders on the site and forums. but of course like anything on the web do your own research, as like on this site, there are tons of bro science spreaders on their forums. the female forum i have found actually has less of the nonsense and more fact.

    bodybuilding.com is also a good source for exercises..it has a list of thousands and videos to show you how to properly do each.

    there are also tons of different ways to lift. some do a whole body, some a split. some swear by not working out the same muscle more than once a week (i personally do, i find it builds my muscles faster). etc etc. in the end, it all comes down to how YOUR body responds. i've spend lots of time in trial and error periods to find what optimally works for me.
  • clickmaster
    clickmaster Posts: 54 Member
    Options
    obviously that other poster is a spammer or troll.
    If the above comment is in reference to me and my comments about bodybuilding.com, check out what this link -->
    http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm188957.htm?nav=rss and tell me how a spammer or troll could make up a story about a website which was forced by the FDA to recall over 65 supplements because they contained illegal drugs.

    You know not of what you speak.


    Good luck and good health!!

    ♠
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    Options
    lol

    so...a company who puts out bad supplements doesnt get blamed..just the retailer? sure buddy...

    its the same as recalling anything sold through a store..be it bad spinach sold at a certain store, or the brand BSN being sold at GNC or bodybuilding.com. doesnt mean the retailer is bad..they sell the stuff, its not up to them to test every thing they sell..thats the thing about supplements and vitamins etc..they arent regulated. so sure, they can put anything in them and claim it does anything. its up to the consumer to judge.

    plus..if you know anything about anything.
    for example

    jack3d has an ingredient that acts very similar to addicting amphetamine. its called 1,3-Dimethylamylamine HCL. it is actually illegal and banned in several countries. so if someone has ill effects from this does bodybuilding.com get sued or should the makers of Jack3d (usp labs) get sued?

    maybe you have some personal grudge against them, and are just really reaching with this. and it sounds like you no not of what you speak.

    oh yes..ps..those supplements that were recalled are also sold at other retailers online. supplementwarehouse.com, healthsuperstore.com etc etc

    and also...they sell THOUSANDS of supplements. a few get recalled and all of a sudden they are evil. right buddy. and they do more than just sell supplements..they have a large database of exercises, tons of info from professional bodybuilders and fitness models, athletes, plus great forums.
  • spartacus69
    spartacus69 Posts: 235
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    My current lower body exercises: Walking lunges, squats, and calf raises
    Upper body (including back) exercises: Lat pull down, bicep curls, tricep extension, shoulder press, low row, and dead lift.
    Core exercises will be crunches, reverse crunches, and oblique crunches.

    Is this a well rounded, total body workout routine? Am I leaving out muscle groups?

    Good plan, sticking with the basics. I agree with Niner; add chest press to your upper routine. Drop the isolation exercises on the smallest muscle groups - biceps and triceps. You will work both of those with the compound exercises - chest press and shoulder press both hit your triceps; rows and lat pulldowns both incorporate your biceps. Later on you can split this routine further and add those back (e.g., a back and biceps day, a chest and triceps day,) but with your program you don't need them, and if anything you'll overwork them.
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
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    tell me how a spammer or troll could make up a story about a website which was forced by the FDA to recall over 65 supplements because they contained illegal drugs.


    You'd think a retailer would be once bitten twice shy and take it bit more care with what they sold next time round - 65 supplements seems like too many for honest mistakes.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    So I should throw in some chest presses too... My routine seems very time consuming for the upper body, and quick for the lower body. Is this typical? Does my routine look adequate? Too much for a beginner?
    Not uncommon. Think about it: upper body has back, chest, shoulders and arms. Legs have upper and lower legs. I usually have clients train legs and shoulders or arms together to break it up a bit more.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
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    Ok now that all the thread hijacking is over, check out New Rules of Lifting for Women (there's a group on here) or the Starting Strength program by Mark Rippletoe. Both are excellent beginner programs that utilise compound lifts resulting in better results with less time in the gym.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    It's really not possible for anyone to evaluate your training program with no knowledge of your specific goals. I've been training for a long time in a whole lot of gyms and what I have observed are people who want something, don't know how to get it, and then just look for easy answers to their training issues. They usually end up quitting the gym dissatisfied with the absence of success given the considerable effort they put forth. The fact is building your body is an extremely complex matter and there is no simple way to do it. Your body has no choice but to follow your brain so you MUST feed your brain a steady supply of good information and that's education. Unfortunately most trainers are just min wage earners waiting for a real job to come along and websites are almost all trying to sell some canned one-size-fits-all junk like p90x, Insanity, JM's silly shreds, etc. Here's what I recommend...you're not going to like it.

    1. Watch all of Scooby's 180+ videos here --> http://www.youtube.com/user/scooby1961#g/u . (Scooby is a little too "old school" and is not up with the latest science so he's not 100% correct. He promotes some myths such as 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day which is just wrong. He promotes the use of some supplemnts against the NIH warnings and recommends caffeine which without sufficient cautions, etc. However, he's the best I've been able to find...and I looked at every website I've seen mentioned in this forum in the past year.)

    2. Next, read everything here so you can learn a little anatomy and kinesiology as well as how to perform exercise in good form --> http://www.exrx.net/

    3. Finally, buy this book and study it (you can skip over the heavy science stuff) --> http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=18

    Do the best you can while taking advantage of your resources and educating yourself. You'll need to learn the basics of anatomy, kinesiology, physiology, nutrition, strength training, etc. Here are some training tips.

    • Create a list of achievable and realistic goals.
    • Plan your workouts to achieve those goals.
    • Do one set per exercise.
    • Do 2-3 different exercises per muscle group per workout.
    • Do each muscle group no more than once per week.
    • Time each exercise with a stop watch (don't count reps).
    • Keep a diary of each exercise you perform, the resistance, and the time the muscle is under load (set duration in seconds).
    • Keep the set duration between 45-90 seconds by increasing the resistance as you become stronger.
    • Slowly (over a period of months to prevent next day soreness) increase intensity and work toward maximum muscle burn and total muscle failure in each exercise.
    • If you need to conserve time and/or energy, split your system 2-4 ways. For example, upper body/lower body/core or push/pull/legs/core,,,etc doing each split on a different day.
    • Do your aerobics (cardio), sports, cycling, hiking, etc on off days when you're not training anaerobically.
    • Try to keep your rests to about 2 minutes between sets.
    • Never take supplements without a doctor's recommendation
    • Don't engage in socializing or wasting time while training. Keep your focus.
    • Use good form to prevent injury and ensure workout to workout consistency. Watch this video to see good form --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVhhbC51_3k&feature=related

    I wish it was easy but being all you can be never is, is it?


    Good luck and good health!!

    ♠
    While I agree with much that you posted, I doubt that many people who are just getting in shape or just want to involve fitness and exercise in their life are going to engage in purchasing or devoting extra time to learn kineosiology, body mechanics, human physiology, etc. Unless they are taking on actual goals of building muscle or gaining weight, this site has a mix of good people (a lot of them like me don't believe in broscience) that give pretty solid advice on exercise and weight loss which the majority of people on here are trying to achieve.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Kaecklund
    Kaecklund Posts: 191 Member
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    Thanks for the pointers - guess I'll just have to try my routine and see. Maybe I'll work legs and core since the leg workout alone is not as time consuming as my upper body workout. My time is precious since I'm a working student.

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