Help a beginner with a weight lifting routine
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Anonymous
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Hi thanks in advance! I have lost a little over 20 pounds in the last six months. In july I started jogging and really doing a lot of cardio and I got a peloton in October that has spiced that up and helped keep me going.
I have felt like I wanted to do some strength training but gym is out now so figured I was kind of out of luck. I dis have 1lb, 3lb, 5lb dumbells that I would use during the peloton classes that included arms but this weekend I scored a barbell with about 70 pounds in discs (10lb/5lb/3lb circles) FOR FREE. So excited! Also a set of 11 pound dumbells. Weird weight but hey, free! I'd like to put together a routine to do 2-3 times a week after a shorter peloton session but I really don't have much experience with this. The internet search results were a little overwhelming so hoped to get some advice from DCUM. Looking for something super concrete like, 15 deadlifts at 60 pounds, 30 reps of bicep curls, I'll stop throwing things out lest I kind of embarrass myself. Thanks in advance. I am mid 30s female, 185 pounds, if that matters. |
Anonymous
| Peloton has great strength classes. You can choose length and level. I suggest Jess Simms— she is great! |
Anonymous
They seem to have no classes with barbells though, which is now like, the thing I have haha |
Anonymous
| Weights first then Cardio. Focus on compound movements that work more than one body part: squats, deadlifts, chest press, overhead press. You'll have to experiment with the weight to find where you are. |
Anonymous
If you want to use the barbell, look up BodyPump classes or any of the Les Mills. You can find free ones on YouTube or subscribe. |
Anonymous
| I love Erin Stern's workouts. She has a ton of free ones on youtube. |
Anonymous
I should add some people here will think she looks too manly but you won't look like that doing her workouts anyway: ) |
Anonymous
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Weightlifting lady person here!
Do you have a rack for the barbell or are you going to have to be lifting it from the floor? |
Anonymous
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I lift every day, it's a nice little 45 minute break to my day. I usually catch up on the news while I do it. I focus not so much on intensity, more on steady consistency with challenging, but not exhausting work. My muscles rarely "tremble" the way they do during a Solidcore workout, but that's ok with me. I feel strong regardless.
I do 4 exercises a day: 1 chest exercise, 1 arms or back exercise, 1 abs or obliques exercise, and 1 leg exercise. I start by walking on the treadmill 5 minutes to warm up. For each of the 4 exercises, I do 3 sets of 10 reps. So for example, today's workout was: 1) Chest press with 15lb weights - 10 reps, rest, 10 reps, rest, 10 reps. 2) Side arm lifts (aka lateral raises) with 8 lb weights - 10 reps, rest, 10 reps, rest, 10 reps. 3) Passing a big ball between my hands and feet - 10 reps, rest, 10 reps, rest, 10 reps. 4) Side-lying leg lifts (aka "Jane Fondas") - 10 reps, rest, 10 reps, rest, 10 reps. My main equipment: Yoga mat Weights: - Barbells: 5lb, 8lb, 10lb, 12lb, 15lb, and 20lb - Leg weights: 2.5 lb and 5 lb - Yoga blocks: great for balancing exercises Big ball Stretchy band (for back pulls) Basic weight lifting bench My main tip - the first week should be about starting to form the habit of doing it, not focusing on exerting yourself too much. Start lighter than you think you should be, and build slowly up from there. So for example, if you haven't been doing bicep curls at all, start with 5 lbs first week. Then 8 lbs the next week. Then 10 lbs the following week. You'll eventually plateau out at a weight that feels good for you. The important thing is to build the habit of doing it, the more impressive weights and the "gains" (change in your body) will come eventually! |
Anonymous
| Just a suggestion if you are going to do deadlifts. Get really good at squats. Learn to pull yourself down, go deep and power up through your heels and do them with your face at the wall so you keep your chest upright. That will help you on your form with deadlifts. You’re not going very heavy but bad form on deadlifts can really do a number on your back. |
Anonymous
I have nothing but the barbell itself so everything from the floor! |
Anonymous
I am actually very good at squats. I do a lot of yoga (I know utkatasana is not exactly a squat but it has helped make me better at squats) and had been doing bodyweight strength training classes that focused a lot on squats. So I have a lot of basic form without weights down. Or at least I think I do! |
Anonymous
| Check out Madeline moves on Instagram. Great, free 30 min workouts. She also has an app ($20/mo) where she has videos for each workout |
Anonymous
Unfortunately that excludes back squats, at least the heavy ones, but you could still do front squats and thrusters as long as you are able to safely get the bar into the front rack position. That would cover the quads. Then you could also do deadlifts and hip thrusts for hamstrings and glutes. For the upper body you could to do overhead presses/push presses, floor presses (if someone can help you in position) and BB rows. An example routine could be three supersets: 1. front squats/BB rows 2. deadlifts/overhead presses 3. hip thrusts/bicep curls. That would cover most of the muscles. Supersetting like this would allow you more time to recover before you hit the same muscle group again. You could also do an upper/lower body split though if you prefer. I would target 3 sets of 10-12 reps (with the last one or two being quite challenging), so not too heavy until you get comfortable with the form for all exercises. Your goal should be to increase weight or number of reps every workout. If you are a total beginner your weights might be sufficient for a few months, but on things like deadlifts they should become too easy pretty quickly and you should be looking into obtaining more weight plates. And having a rack for that barbell would make a huge difference if you have the space and means to get it. |
Anonymous
Agree with PP about what this rules in/out. If you are also the utkatasana poster--it will help but not as much as you think. A correct barbell squat puts your butt on your ankles. A better yoga analogue is malasana. Do you need elevation under your heels or can you get all the way down? Here is the single best collection of materials on starting: https://stumptuous.com/category/starting skip the first 2-3 posts and save them for later; the ones you want are what you need and don't, basics of a routine, worshipping at the altar of the goddess of form. She also has series of posts with pics illustrating dos and do nots for form; they are all titled "From Dork to Diva": https://stumptuous.com/category/training/page/4 If you are going to add any one piece of equipment I would either get a squat rack or a pull-up bar, depending on what kind of space you have available. (My rack has the pull-up bar integrated into it, so it's a twofer. But a bar installed in a doorway or w/ev will also go a long way. Get giant elastic bands to counterweight yourself with in training the pull-ups/chin-ups. |