Lifting Programs - what to choose
michellekicks
Posts: 3,624 Member
Towards the end of this summer, when my running races are all done, I would like to start lifting. I have pretty decent muscles from years of martial arts, but I'd like to get stronger (to do a Spartan sprint next spring and Tough Mudder next summer) and, eventually, sort of cut... my initial body fat goal is 20% to start. I just want to look fit.
What lifting program do you recommend and why?
Thanks!
What lifting program do you recommend and why?
Thanks!
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Replies
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P90X is perfect for that. You could also blend in Insanity to replace the P90X cardio to make a really solid hybrid. Either program works, really. Let me know if you have more questions
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if you wanyt a real lifting program.. ..
new rlues
starting strength
strong lifts0 -
if you wanyt a real lifting program.. ..
new rlues
starting strength
strong lifts
Are those, like, the choices?
I'm going to order the NROLW book I think... Just wanted to know if there were others I should check out.
I don't think P90X is going to be enough. I already do Insanity videos for cross training but really want to get stronger, not just better cardio. P90X would be better than Insanity, but not really enough. I definitely want to lift real barbells and stuff
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Check out the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. It is a great resource and has suggestions for various lifting programs. I followed the 12 week "Get your body back" routine and had good results.0
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I just started "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. (the bible of bodyweight exercises) I can't say much for the program yet as I'm only on week one. However, the reason I decided to go with it was because A) I don't have access to the gym for the summer and
The bootcamp/circuit training classes that I take are pretty much all bodyweight exercises which I enjoy and have had some great results with. I have lifted in the past, but for what ever reason I prefer the bodyweight stuff...you might too with a martial arts background.
The bootcamp classes classes plus running are what prepared me for Tough Mudder...and I was very happy with how I did.0 -
I'm doing NROL right now and it's been great. I have gained a great deal of strength and muscle. Once I'm done (I'm currently in phase 5 of 6) I think I'm going to look at doing the strong lifts program. NROL will have you doing a wide variety of exercises, I believe strong lifts has the basics (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc). I would like to get more squats and deadlifts in, great compound exercises that work many things at once.
Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions on NROL.0 -
I just started "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. (the bible of bodyweight exercises) I can't say much for the program yet as I'm only on week one. However, the reason I decided to go with it was because A) I don't have access to the gym for the summer and The bootcamp/circuit training classes that I take are pretty much all bodyweight exercises which I enjoy and have had some great results with. I have lifted in the past, but for what ever reason I prefer the bodyweight stuff...you might too with a martial arts background.
The bootcamp classes classes plus running are what prepared me for Tough Mudder...and I was very happy with how I did.
Thank you... I've been doing a similar class that uses some weights, medicine balls, steppers etc. to do compound movements at high intensity. That was my cross training with running from December through May. Then those classes ended for the summer. I started Insanity as my cross training instead. I will say the weights and the bodyweight exercises helped me gain speed with my running. I think now I'm more looking to be a little vain haha... want to see more muscle now... even at the expense of my mileage. I'll probably bring my running down to about 10-15 miles/week if that. Maybe 2-3 easy runs.
I'd like to see 3 real lifting days tho.0 -
I'm doing NROL right now and it's been great. I have gained a great deal of strength and muscle. Once I'm done (I'm currently in phase 5 of 6) I think I'm going to look at doing the strong lifts program. NROL will have you doing a wide variety of exercises, I believe strong lifts has the basics (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc). I would like to get more squats and deadlifts in, great compound exercises that work many things at once.
Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions on NROL.
So is Stronglifts more for advanced lifters?0 -
Check out the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. It is a great resource and has suggestions for various lifting programs. I followed the 12 week "Get your body back" routine and had good results.
I just bought this book myself and am happy to see that someone else on the site has experience with it! And I'm also glad to hear that you have had good results I have read the whole book and found it to be very educational.....a great start for a "newbie" to the heavy lifting concept! I'm hoping to get started on it by the end of August.....I just have to add more things to my home gym before I'm ready to go! 0 -
My two favorites are ChaLEAN Extreme - This one concentrates on lifting heavy weights slowly. You typically lift 8 to 12 times with a heavier weight very slowly. This was my primary strength workout for a year. Then in May of this year, I started Les Mills Pump. This one you use the barbell and do hundres of reps. It is such a fun program. You can get both from Beachbody.0
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I'm doing NROL right now and it's been great. I have gained a great deal of strength and muscle. Once I'm done (I'm currently in phase 5 of 6) I think I'm going to look at doing the strong lifts program. NROL will have you doing a wide variety of exercises, I believe strong lifts has the basics (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc). I would like to get more squats and deadlifts in, great compound exercises that work many things at once.
Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions on NROL.
So is Stronglifts more for advanced lifters?
stronglifts is a beginners program0 -
Bump. All awesome info, thanks guys x0
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Bump for info.0
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Obviously there are thousands of workouts out there but they are all essentialy variations of the same thing.
Squatting movements
Pulling movements
Pressing movements
For people starting out, the fine details of rep ranges, rest periods and exercise selection is really of secondary importance.
Stick to the basics, lifts with 100% effort and intensity, eat well and sleep well and you will be fine.
you really cant go wrong with stronglifts or NROLFW IMO.0 -
I do Stronglifts 5x5 and I'm only a beginner. I did read NROL4W but found the program really confusing, the SL routine is very easy to grasp and master, the whole point being to do 5 sets of 5 reps of very simple but extremely effective compound lifts with 2 alternating workouts, and then up your weights regularly.0
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I'm currently doing a home dumbbell workout, as I don't belong to a gym and am broke (!). It's similar to strong lifts in that it's very basic and does what it needs to do (compound lifts!!). Not to put down NROL4W, but I got to Stage 3 and ended up quitting it. All the different exercises became confusing and I just prefer a simple, basic, effective workout. Will probably do Strong lifts next.0
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I just started "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. (the bible of bodyweight exercises).
So at most you might need free weights?! I don't have bars or medicine ball, or kettlebells and really do want to invest for space reasons. I have adjustable weights that go up to 40lbs. If this is mostly body weight, then fantastic!!0 -
I'm doing NROL right now and it's been great. I have gained a great deal of strength and muscle. Once I'm done (I'm currently in phase 5 of 6) I think I'm going to look at doing the strong lifts program. NROL will have you doing a wide variety of exercises, I believe strong lifts has the basics (squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc). I would like to get more squats and deadlifts in, great compound exercises that work many things at once.
Best of luck, let me know if you have any questions on NROL.
So is Stronglifts more for advanced lifters?
stronglifts is a beginners program
That's interesting, because I'm approaching the end of the NROLFW (I'm on Stage 5 right now) and wondering what to do next. In the discussion pages for the mfp group, most people say they are heading for stronglifts 5x5 next, so I assumed it was a more advanced program. The NROLFW does get quite complex and time-consuming, and there are various moves that don't seem to be really necessary, so I was also looking forward to something more simple. Think I'll do it anyway, for that reason.
Don't get me wrong though, the NROLFW is good, and I would definitely recommend it if you can see yourself sticking to it for 5/6 months when some of the workouts are 90 minutes or even more if you do them exactly by the book (I cheat)!0 -
I have started ChaLean extreme-- did some of Jamie Eason's program for 2 weeks, and 2 weeks of NROLFW before that. I didn't like the book-only aspect of New Rules, and Jamie's program on bodybuilding.com had videos of how to do each exercise. Then I thought a structured program w/ DVDs might be something to follow through the summer. I may go back to some of the other programs, but ChaLean is meant to be done at home with dumb bells only, which I have. I don't have all the stuff for New Rules or Jamie Eason's workouts.
Love to hear other people's thoughts for at home work outs! I bought P90x also but am not starting it until after ChaLean.0 -
I'm in NROLFW, Stage 6 and I have really loved learning to lift and all of the various workouts. At times though I have wanted to get back to the basics, and I think that's where Stronglifts comes in. It's not necessarily for beginners, but it has fewer specific exercises than NROL. With Stronglifts, you just focus on those few core lifts, but just keep adding on the weight. With NROL, as soon as I felt like I was really starting to make progress with an exercise, I moved on to the next stage and started new ones.0
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I'm guessing you aren't completely new to lifting, but if you are or if you feel you get a better workout with a group of people, I'd suggest Les Mills BODYPUMP if it's offered at your gym. Great music, great routines, and I've burned 450-500 cals on average per 1 hour class (using a HRM).
Focusing on low weight loads and high repetition movements, you'll burn fat, gain strength and quickly produce lean body muscle conditioning. Basically, you perform 70-100 repetitions per body part totaling up to 800 repetitions in a single workout.
I'm completely hooked. Not sure if it's considered a "lifting program," but it's certainly a total-body workout.0 -
give this a try..
http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/0 -
I would ask around, there is a team that trains at my gym hat just completed the mudder and are pushing for the next one this fall. They train outdoors,a lot of climbing and hiking. 4 out of 5 of them finished...and they are back to work training for fall.0
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I just started "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren. (the bible of bodyweight exercises).
So at most you might need free weights?! I don't have bars or medicine ball, or kettlebells and really do want to invest for space reasons. I have adjustable weights that go up to 40lbs. If this is mostly body weight, then fantastic!!
You don't even need free weights....Take push ups for example: When you start out as a beginner you might have your upper body elevated, on the counter or table to start. When you are proficient at those, it's down for traditional ones. When those become too easy you elevate your feet on a chair or whatever else works. No fancy anything required, just your own body weight.
You do have to get creative for some of it, I haven't figured out a good way to so the "pull me ups", but I have a pull up bar and that.0 -
Thanks all...
So, yeah, I've done enough classes with weights to know they're not what I'm looking for at this point. Definitely heavy lifting but definitely focusing on the basics. I'd like to stay away from 90 minute routines though?! Who has that kind of time? I do one or maybe 2 long workouts per week. The rest have to be under an hour.
I used gym machines and some free weights back in the day - like the mid-late 90's and it was the sorta 12-10-8 rep sets at increasing weight. Upper body one day; lower body the next.
I have a home gym with (*gasp* a smith machine I probably won't use as I read about it, but can I still use the plates on a normal bar?) a big laminate floor, a mirrored wall, the BowFlex adjustable dumbbells, a TV/DVD, some medicine balls, mats, small dumbbells, and a curl bar. What other equipment should I buy? Rubber for my floor no doubt lol...
Sounds like stronglifts might be the most straightforward program to get the basics. I probably won't bench press until I rehab my back and shoulders some... I have a very tight chest to where the nerves in my arms are pinched off and my hands go numb if I do too many pushups and other chest exercises. Need to strengthen my back - I was thinking lats and row, but then do these programs address the upper back?
Hmmm... sorry. Lifting NEWBIE. Please bear with my questions.0 -
depends on your goals at the moment, those goals might change and that's OK, too.
if you want to feel more pump in your muscles then go for programs that do more isolation moves and where you're lifting in the 12-15 rep range
if you're going for strength and muscle gains definitely looking into starting strength, strong lifts and new rules of lifting for women i personally prefer the first 2 but the latter has its merits as well.
with strong lifts you can use the weights plates and the oly bar. the beauty of strong lifts is that theres only 3 movements per exercise : squats, bench press and barbell rows one day and squats, overhead press and deadlifts the other day. i'd say go ahead and do the benches with strong lifts otherwise you will be setting yourself up for longer rehab : how else are you going to strengthen your chest unless you strengthen you strengthen your chest?0 -
Sounds like stronglifts might be the most straightforward program to get the basics. I probably won't bench press until I rehab my back and shoulders some... I have a very tight chest to where the nerves in my arms are pinched off and my hands go numb if I do too many pushups and other chest exercises. Need to strengthen my back - I was thinking lats and row, but then do these programs address the upper back?
That's not a bad option, although I think 5/3/1 is a better long-term option that you can build with. A lot of people say it's a more advanced method but it's really not and the author also encourages people to start light and work there way up. He teaches form in his book.0 -
There is a book called "New Rules of Lifting for Women" - I suggest you check it out.0
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