Weight lifting questions!

christa_dee
christa_dee Posts: 37
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
So I am about 15 pounds into my weight loss journey (75 more to go!) and I don't want to just get skinny, I want to be toned and fit!
Only problem is I don't know much at all about lifting weights! Like is it okay to start while I still have so much weight to lose?
Where do you even start at?!

I do use the machines at the gym, but I really don't have any set plan or anything like that...any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Btw I'm 18...if it matters lol

Replies

  • harebearva
    harebearva Posts: 216 Member
    Beginners seem to get the best results from compound lifts. These are exercises that incorporate multiple body parts. You can try googleing Allpros beginner bodybuilding routine. It's 3 days a week and you can make it as intense as you like depending on the amount of weight you use. There are really alot of different workouts on the net, but compound lifts are a good method. Good luck!
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    I wrote this a while ago but most of my thoughts are the same:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/stroutman81/view/resistance-training-foundation-19725
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    I used the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises when I first started lifting. It helped me put together many full body workouts to get me started.

    http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Health-Big-Book-Exercises/dp/1605295493
  • bwallner1971
    bwallner1971 Posts: 41 Member
    Starting while you have weight to lose is the best time! Initially you may see some weight gain as muscle builds, but eventually the muscle will start feeding off your fat helping to accelerate your fat loss. According to my nutritionist there are 3 parts to a balanced lifestyle, Nutrition, Cardio and Strength...each is good by itself, but they all work best when put together.

    Good Luck.
  • catniss
    catniss Posts: 326 Member
    Congratulations on making all these positive changes to your life!! I learned to train with weights from my dad who was a stickler for form and learning how to lift properly has made all the difference in the world in terms of preventing injury and getting the best workout for the effort put it. My best advice would be to work with someone that knows what they're doing. Does your gym have a personal trainer? Even if there is an additional cost, it is worth it. You are going to be working out for the rest of your life--the best gift you can give yourself is a solid foundation.
    Caution--just because someone calls themselves a personal trainer (or whatever title) and charges you money, doesn't mean that they know what they are talking about or that they are effective teachers. Ask for references and talk to them about how they work with a client.
    There is a book called "New Rules of Weight Training for Women" that is solid and very educational. You can probably request it from a library to get an idea of the type of training you'll want.
    Good luck!!!
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    I'd sooner pick up Practical Programming than I would NROL.
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
    I'd sooner pick up Practical Programming than I would NROL.

    Why? I read your blog post and and the program you suggested is virtually identical to NROL4W, which happens to also be very comprehensive and reader friendly for a beginner.
  • Nicola0000
    Nicola0000 Posts: 531 Member
    Read NROL4W. Will really help
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    I'd sooner pick up Practical Programming than I would NROL.

    Why? I read your blog post and and the program you suggested is virtually identical to NROL4W, which happens to also be very comprehensive and reader friendly for a beginner.

    Better information regarding the conceptual side or programming. The magic isn't really in the exercises, sets, and reps. Rather, the heart of programming lies in the management of stress and how that relates to the experience level of the trainee.

    I think PP is the best book for laying those nuts and bolts out in layman's terms.

    I suppose I'm a bit biased too as I'm not a fan of the Cosgroves... especially seeing as how Alwyn ripped off one of my friend's work for one of his projects. I think NROL if decent for sure. Among the sea of junk that's out there on the shelves, it definitely shines. It's just that, out of the mainstream books, I'd read PP first.

    Heck there are books I'd recommend well ahead of both of the aforementioned depending on how detailed you wanted to get. Matt Perryman's Maximum Muscle is excellent, though last I checked, he took it off his website since he's writing the 2.0 version of it eventually. I could email it to anyone who's interested in the deeper side of things.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I'd sooner pick up Practical Programming than I would NROL.

    Why? I read your blog post and and the program you suggested is virtually identical to NROL4W, which happens to also be very comprehensive and reader friendly for a beginner.

    Better information regarding the conceptual side or programming. The magic isn't really in the exercises, sets, and reps. Rather, the heart of programming lies in the management of stress and how that relates to the experience level of the trainee.

    I think PP is the best book for laying those nuts and bolts out in layman's terms.

    I suppose I'm a bit biased too as I'm not a fan of the Cosgroves... especially seeing as how Alwyn ripped off one of my friend's work for one of his projects. I think NROL if decent for sure. Among the sea of junk that's out there on the shelves, it definitely shines. It's just that, out of the mainstream books, I'd read PP first.

    Heck there are books I'd recommend well ahead of both of the aforementioned depending on how detailed you wanted to get. Matt Perryman's Maximum Muscle is excellent, though last I checked, he took it off his website since he's writing the 2.0 version of it eventually. I could email it to anyone who's interested in the deeper side of things.

    You can send it to me! :-)
  • powerbomb
    powerbomb Posts: 12
    The best advice you will ever get here on MFP: Dont listen to MFP people on how to use weights. Get with a trainer in your area, take a class, something from someone where you can verify their certification and know that what they give you applies to your situation, not the general masses. You have no clue who you are talking to here. So you made the right first step asking for help, now just ask in the right place.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    The best advice you will ever get here on MFP: Dont listen to MFP people on how to use weights. Get with a trainer in your area, take a class, something from someone where you can verify their certification and know that what they give you applies to your situation, not the general masses. You have no clue who you are talking to here. So you made the right first step asking for help, now just ask in the right place.

    There are quite a bit of knowledgeable people here on MFP. Why not ask them, too? :huh:

    I'm getting results without ever paying for a personal trainer. Part of the beauty of this website and others like it is that you can feed off others' experiences, learn from them, and save your money by not getting a trainer. :drinker:
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    The best advice you will ever get here on MFP: Dont listen to MFP people on how to use weights. Get with a trainer in your area, take a class, something from someone where you can verify their certification and know that what they give you applies to your situation, not the general masses. You have no clue who you are talking to here. So you made the right first step asking for help, now just ask in the right place.

    Meh, can't say that I completely agree with that. I've trained people on this very forum and they can vouch for the quality of advice they were given. Yes, you never know who you're really dealing with.... but that goes for any forum and really, for that matter, any gym. You can do extensive interviewing before hiring a trainer and hopefully weed out the really bad ones... and there are many for sure.

    But there are plenty of people on this very forum who've been helped in the resistance training department... not only by me, but other members who are knowledgeable and willing to learn the pertinent information about the person asking the questions in order to give them individualized advice.

    Definitely not as good as seeing a quality trainer in person... but good luck finding one in most areas of this country.

    Heck, I trained a woman (who belongs to this forum) a few months back. She lives in LA. Flew out to PA to train with me. Flew home and for the last 2 months, she's been looking for a single trainer who she can trust. In a place as happening as LA, you think she wouldn't have a problem. It's a sad state of affairs, I tell ya.

    That said, I think your cautionary stance is justifiable given the poor state of affairs in the fitness profession.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    I'd sooner pick up Practical Programming than I would NROL.

    Why? I read your blog post and and the program you suggested is virtually identical to NROL4W, which happens to also be very comprehensive and reader friendly for a beginner.

    Better information regarding the conceptual side or programming. The magic isn't really in the exercises, sets, and reps. Rather, the heart of programming lies in the management of stress and how that relates to the experience level of the trainee.

    I think PP is the best book for laying those nuts and bolts out in layman's terms.

    I suppose I'm a bit biased too as I'm not a fan of the Cosgroves... especially seeing as how Alwyn ripped off one of my friend's work for one of his projects. I think NROL if decent for sure. Among the sea of junk that's out there on the shelves, it definitely shines. It's just that, out of the mainstream books, I'd read PP first.

    Heck there are books I'd recommend well ahead of both of the aforementioned depending on how detailed you wanted to get. Matt Perryman's Maximum Muscle is excellent, though last I checked, he took it off his website since he's writing the 2.0 version of it eventually. I could email it to anyone who's interested in the deeper side of things.

    You can send it to me! :-)

    Send me your email addy.
  • teelynn35
    teelynn35 Posts: 239 Member
    The best advice you will ever get here on MFP: Dont listen to MFP people on how to use weights. Get with a trainer in your area, take a class, something from someone where you can verify their certification and know that what they give you applies to your situation, not the general masses. You have no clue who you are talking to here. So you made the right first step asking for help, now just ask in the right place.

    This^
  • LoveLiveLift
    LoveLiveLift Posts: 459 Member
    Heck there are books I'd recommend well ahead of both of the aforementioned depending on how detailed you wanted to get. Matt Perryman's Maximum Muscle is excellent, though last I checked, he took it off his website since he's writing the 2.0 version of it eventually. I could email it to anyone who's interested in the deeper side of things.

    Could you send it to me??

    OP: I'm currently using NROL4W, but if you google Stronglifts 5x5 or just look at Stroutman's blog it's similar to that. No use paying for the book. Just make sure that you either get a trainer to teach you proper form or you educate yourself about proper form.
  • thefuzz1290
    thefuzz1290 Posts: 777 Member
    Most personal trainers will get you in the gym and count for you as you knock out 15 reps or more of low weight exercises. That will not work. If you're going to try to hire someone, hire a professional strength coach for a few sessions and have him teach you how to squat, deadlift, bench press, and shoulder press....that's all you need.

    And do listen to people on here, but verify the information given through your own research from other websites. Just becasue someone is "certified" doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.
  • powerbomb
    powerbomb Posts: 12
    My point was this in my post above: you have no immediate way to verify if the info someone here gives you is correct. The poster was a gym noob and gym noobs will benefit from hands on, not the potentiality of 5 different people saying 5 different things----how is she to know who is right, or at least "best option"? i can put A.C.E. certified trainer behind my name here and claim 20 years of experience--and spew out wrong stuff. All i was saying is:be smart and err on the side of caution until you know. Thats all.
  • zafferFL
    zafferFL Posts: 402
    My point was this in my post above: you have no immediate way to verify if the info someone here gives you is correct. The poster was a gym noob and gym noobs will benefit from hands on, not the potentiality of 5 different people saying 5 different things----how is she to know who is right, or at least "best option"? i can put A.C.E. certified trainer behind my name here and claim 20 years of experience--and spew out wrong stuff. All i was saying is:be smart and err on the side of caution until you know. Thats all.

    you're right, and this is evidenced by the 90% of the people in the gym with bad form, nothing beats hands on.
    Just today there were two bros doing 250lbs squats, good old 6 inch drop and back up again. They probably learned to squat by watching another bro who watched another bro who....

    not that I don't recommend either, I'm as guilty....
  • thefuzz1290
    thefuzz1290 Posts: 777 Member
    My point was this in my post above: you have no immediate way to verify if the info someone here gives you is correct. The poster was a gym noob and gym noobs will benefit from hands on, not the potentiality of 5 different people saying 5 different things----how is she to know who is right, or at least "best option"? i can put A.C.E. certified trainer behind my name here and claim 20 years of experience--and spew out wrong stuff. All i was saying is:be smart and err on the side of caution until you know. Thats all.

    Oh, no one knows the best option, especially since everybody's body is different. However, the way most people have had success is through heavy resistence training. When you go through the history of body building, one thing has remained constant...lift heavy stuff. Since competitive body building began in the 1930s, practically every champion has used heavy squats and deadlifts to build their physique.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    My point was this in my post above: you have no immediate way to verify if the info someone here gives you is correct. The poster was a gym noob and gym noobs will benefit from hands on, not the potentiality of 5 different people saying 5 different things----how is she to know who is right, or at least "best option"? i can put A.C.E. certified trainer behind my name here and claim 20 years of experience--and spew out wrong stuff. All i was saying is:be smart and err on the side of caution until you know. Thats all.

    I understood what your point was. My point was, I wish it were that simple. Head to a gym and find some good hands on instruction, right? I do consulting for big, privately owned gyms where I educate their training staffs on program design, exercise cuing, assessments, etc. Honestly, of these "certified trainers" I'd say about 10% would be worth hiring. No joke. The vast majority wouldn't know proper exercise form for a specific client if it smacked upside the head... let alone the proper management of stress/fatigue, injury prevention, exercise progression/regression, etc.

    Of course this is limited to my own experience and sample size... but the sample size is much larger than most people are going to have experience with.

    Unfortunately it's to the point where the consumer really needs to do their homework regardless of whether they're receiving their fitness advice virtually or in-person.

    I wrote an article on how to select a personal trainer a while back.

    http://body-improvements.com/articles/industry-articles/how-to-select-a-personal-trainer/

    Sounds like you (and a few others in this thread) have experience with the personal training industry... maybe you can add a few points.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories