starting off on weights!

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paulsmisses
paulsmisses Posts: 178
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey i have just started strength training as part of my day (2nd day in) i currently have no muscle!lol! hubby bought me a weight bench, so starting off at 6kg weights for arm exercises and 7.5kg weights for leg curls etc. how long should i maintain this weight, want to make sure i am increasing the weights to push myself a bit more but dont want to hurt myself either. i have never done weights in my life, never thought i would, but weigh loss alone isnt going to sort my body out so it was suggested i strength train along with my cardio.

any idea what to do guys?

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  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
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    What are you goals? Do you want to get strong?
  • theodus
    theodus Posts: 13 Member
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    Start off on light weights that are comfortable until you've learned proper form and technique. I can't stress this enough. Once you have technique down, it's usually a question of how many reps you can do before the muscle tires out. If you've done 8-10 reps, and you're just barely able to do the last rep, you've probably found a good weight. But once again, form and technique first to prevent injury.
  • Thor2020
    Thor2020 Posts: 41 Member
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    This is just from my experience, but I've been weightlifting a long time.

    If you can do 10 reps of x amount of weight....then it's safe to say you can increase your weight for your next workout.
    In your case, I would never do a weight that I couldn't do at least 3 reps.

    Also, concentrate on nice fluid motion....no herky jerky stuff....no momentum building motion.....it would either hurt you in the long run or cheat you in strength gains.

    Don't over train.....muscles need time to rebuild.....I lift heavy weight and only workout on the bench press once a week. Back when I didn't know any better, I'd try every other day with very little improvement. Once I started the once a week thing....I've been very successful ever since.
  • paulsmisses
    paulsmisses Posts: 178
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    i want to tone my body up and gain muscle on my arms, but only that are noticeable when i try to make them noticeable if that makes sense? def not into the female body builder look but want to have a decent amount of muscle! i find my arms getting shaky towards the end of reps, i am currently doing four sets of five, which i know is laughable to experienced people but i have no muscle at all to work with just now!
  • paulsmisses
    paulsmisses Posts: 178
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    This is just from my experience, but I've been weightlifting a long time.

    If you can do 10 reps of x amount of weight....then it's safe to say you can increase your weight for your next workout.
    In your case, I would never do a weight that I couldn't do at least 3 reps.

    Also, concentrate on nice fluid motion....no herky jerky stuff....no momentum building motion.....it would either hurt you in the long run or cheat you in strength gains.

    Don't over train.....muscles need time to rebuild.....I lift heavy weight and only workout on the bench press once a week. Back when I didn't know any better, I'd try every other day with very little improvement. Once I started the once a week thing....I've been very successful ever since.
    ]

    sounds great! advise. i have shoulder impingement and tendonopathy in both shoulders, hoping if my arms and shoulders are stronger it will help with that x
  • karensoxfan
    karensoxfan Posts: 902 Member
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    I've never lifted weights before either, but I highly recommend the book New Rules of Lifting for Women -- by Lou Schuler & Alwyn Cosgrove (http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess/dp/1583333398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343159420&sr=1-1&keywords=new+rules+of+lifting+for+women). It walks you through every move, with pictures, and gives you a comprehensive workout plan to follow to gain strength & muscle, while dispelling the myth that women will get "bulky" if they lift heavy weights. There's a group for it here too, if you're interested in checking it out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w

    *Edited to add link to the book itself.
  • chrisb75
    chrisb75 Posts: 395 Member
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    i want to tone my body up and gain muscle on my arms, but only that are noticeable when i try to make them noticeable if that makes sense? def not into the female body builder look but want to have a decent amount of muscle! i find my arms getting shaky towards the end of reps, i am currently doing four sets of five, which i know is laughable to experienced people but i have no muscle at all to work with just now!
    Unless you are packing on the calories in a surplus, eating 2x LBM in protien, and taking steroids, you are not going to look like a female body builder. If you are still eating a caloric deficit you definitely will not be adding mass. I would recommend either New Rules of Lifting, Starting Strength, or StrongLifts 5x5. All of those programs start you off light, work on form, use whole body exercises, and are beginning programs.

    I have been doing StrongLifts for about 8 wks. I went from squatting an empty bar (45lbs) to squatting 165lbs today with no sign of slowing down. If 45 is too much, start with 20lbs bars and work your way up.

    If you are worried about "bulking" read this:
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • paulsmisses
    paulsmisses Posts: 178
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    I've never lifted weights before either, but I highly recommend the book New Rules of Lifting for Women -- by Lou Schuler & Alwyn Cosgrove (http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Women-Goddess/dp/1583333398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343159420&sr=1-1&keywords=new+rules+of+lifting+for+women). It walks you through every move, with pictures, and gives you a comprehensive workout plan to follow to gain strength & muscle, while dispelling the myth that women will get "bulky" if they lift heavy weights. There's a group for it here too, if you're interested in checking it out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w

    *Edited to add link to the book itself.

    thansk il check that out, i heard (from a good mfp friend) you need to be eating 3000 cals a day to get bulky if you are a woman and i have no intention of doing that. shall check this book out for sure! hubby puts me to shame with his 30kg weights, but then he is a lot bigger than me!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    Get correct form down first (you don't want to injure yourself) then go as heavy as you want for the number of reps you want. (females don't get bulky and it has nothing to do with calories. We need testosterone to get large muscles and we don't make enough of it). You, as a female, would have to take steroids and HGH to get big muscles.

    Even if you take a specific weight and can only do one rep to failure you are doing what you need to do to that muscle. (Strength gains are made during recovery. When you lift, you are breaking them down.)

    Example: Say I take 15lb dumbbells and it takes 20 reps to get me to failure. I could also take a 50lb dumbbell, get only 1 rep to failure and I'm getting the same benefit (only less time involved)

    Failure is the inability to maintain proper form for another rep.

    For me, though, failure means that I can't lift the arm I just did that 1 rep on for a few seconds.

    We all have toned muscles. You just need to burn off the layer of fat covering them (that's the hard part. Fat is very, very important to a woman's body and it won't let go of it easily. Think about it. Men can get down to 5% body fat with no ill effects. Women drop below 18% and our reproductive systems slow down

    Whatever works best for you.

    Here's an interesting article on how many calories muscle really burns:

    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-many-calories-does-muscle-really-burn-and-why-its-not-about-calories-anyway/#axzz21ZZeCTCW
  • paulsmisses
    paulsmisses Posts: 178
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    thanks hpsnicker1 x

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