Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on

* Pullups
* Bench press
* Squats


Don't waste time on other stuff until you've built up enough strength so that you can do at least 8-10 pullups unassisted, can bench press nearly your body weigh, and can squat your body weight (barbell).

They're the best, because they're compound movements. Once you have a solid base of strength you can move on to isolating more specific groups.

This is terrible advice. That represents years of training and a very high level motivation level for most women. You do not need to be at that level to benefit from strength training. That's like saying, don't bother with rowing or an elliptical for cardio, you need to be running sub-5 hour marathons before you think about anything else. And you didn't even say anything about how to actually get there.

OP, you will get the health and aesthetic and functional benefits of strength training from using machines. That something is a compound movement does not make it "the best" for everyone's set of goals. If you want to get started on powerlifting, that is always an option.

Also, for a woman, bench pressing a weight that is close to your squat isn't all that realistic. Women tend tohave more of a differencce in their lower and upper body strangth than men do. I squat more than 1.5x my body weight but only bench <75% of my weight.

Progressive overload.

I see so many people do the hard work of showing up, but they stick to the 10 or 15lb dumbbells forever.

Lets say you're doing a 3x8 of dumbbell chest press with the 15lb DBs to start.

After a few weeks, use 20lb DBs on that first set. If you get all 8 reps, keep it for the second set. Within a few weeks, you should be able to do all 3 sets with the heavier weight.

Refuel with some protein and watch the muscle grow!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on

* Pullups
* Bench press
* Squats


Don't waste time on other stuff until you've built up enough strength so that you can do at least 8-10 pullups unassisted, can bench press nearly your body weigh, and can squat your body weight (barbell).

They're the best, because they're compound movements. Once you have a solid base of strength you can move on to isolating more specific groups.

This is terrible advice. That represents years of training and a very high level motivation level for most women. You do not need to be at that level to benefit from strength training. That's like saying, don't bother with rowing or an elliptical for cardio, you need to be running sub-5 hour marathons before you think about anything else. And you didn't even say anything about how to actually get there.

OP, you will get the health and aesthetic and functional benefits of strength training from using machines. That something is a compound movement does not make it "the best" for everyone's set of goals. If you want to get started on powerlifting, that is always an option.

I agree. Pullups and bench press require good upper body strength and they can be pretty demoralizing for a beginner. When I got started, I did a lot of work just with dumbbells before I moved on to barbell work (squat, bench, deadlift). There are plenty of youtube videos about how to work with dumbbells.

Dumbbells are good, too! You can do a great program with really anything - your own bodyweight, machines, dumbbells, kettlebells, or barbells. It's all good, just depends on what you have access to and your interests.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Focus on

* Pullups
* Bench press
* Squats


Don't waste time on other stuff until you've built up enough strength so that you can do at least 8-10 pullups unassisted, can bench press nearly your body weigh, and can squat your body weight (barbell).

They're the best, because they're compound movements. Once you have a solid base of strength you can move on to isolating more specific groups.

This is terrible advice. That represents years of training and a very high level motivation level for most women. You do not need to be at that level to benefit from strength training. That's like saying, don't bother with rowing or an elliptical for cardio, you need to be running sub-5 hour marathons before you think about anything else. And you didn't even say anything about how to actually get there.

OP, you will get the health and aesthetic and functional benefits of strength training from using machines. That something is a compound movement does not make it "the best" for everyone's set of goals. If you want to get started on powerlifting, that is always an option.

I agree. Pullups and bench press require good upper body strength and they can be pretty demoralizing for a beginner. When I got started, I did a lot of work just with dumbbells before I moved on to barbell work (squat, bench, deadlift). There are plenty of youtube videos about how to work with dumbbells.

Start small - peloton has a got intro program. If your not already using it, you can get 30 days free

Anonymous wrote:Focus on

* Pullups
* Bench press
* Squats


Don't waste time on other stuff until you've built up enough strength so that you can do at least 8-10 pullups unassisted, can bench press nearly your body weigh, and can squat your body weight (barbell).

They're the best, because they're compound movements. Once you have a solid base of strength you can move on to isolating more specific groups.

This is terrible advice. That represents years of training and a very high level motivation level for most women. You do not need to be at that level to benefit from strength training. That's like saying, don't bother with rowing or an elliptical for cardio, you need to be running sub-5 hour marathons before you think about anything else. And you didn't even say anything about how to actually get there.

OP, you will get the health and aesthetic and functional benefits of strength training from using machines. That something is a compound movement does not make it "the best" for everyone's set of goals. If you want to get started on powerlifting, that is always an option.

Focus on

* Pullups
* Bench press
* Squats


Don't waste time on other stuff until you've built up enough strength so that you can do at least 8-10 pullups unassisted, can bench press nearly your body weigh, and can squat your body weight (barbell).

They're the best, because they're compound movements. Once you have a solid base of strength you can move on to isolating more specific groups.

Can you get someone to show you how to use them - is there a trainer? Yes, youtube videos are good, but it may be helpful to have someone show you how to adjust them for your size and suggest starting weights. (I suggest writing this down.) They'll suggest a program like, x times a week (2 is totally fine), probably 2 sets of 8-12 or 10-15 reps, go up to the next weight when you do the high end of those reps. But any program which has you lifting consistently, with progressively higher weights, in a rep range that makes sense (so, like, not 40 reps of something), which doesn't injure you, and which you do consistently is a good program, and you'll get stronger on it.

I'm a powerlifter but I started with machine weights and the things that free weights have over machine weights are not particularly relevant to most peoples' interests or goals -- maybe they will be to yours at some point, but if so you can always change.

Pick up heavy thing.

Put down heavy thing.

Repeat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and I would go at least 3x a week. 2x a week isn’t high enough frequency. You can start a full body routine then move into body part specific splits later.

Don't be discouraged; 2x a week will make a difference, especially if you are starting from zero. In fact, 2x is more than 2/3 as good as 3x a week. And 1x a week is more than 1/2 as good as 2x a week. The key is that you should be working hard. Start gently to learn the movements, but after a few weeks, you should get to the point where the last repetition feels quite hard, like you couldn't really do more than 1 or 2 more.

Seriously. I never did more than 2x/week, and I was happy with results. You may want to do more or less, but do what you can!!!

Anonymous wrote:Oh and I would go at least 3x a week. 2x a week isn’t high enough frequency. You can start a full body routine then move into body part specific splits later.

Don't be discouraged; 2x a week will make a difference, especially if you are starting from zero. In fact, 2x is more than 2/3 as good as 3x a week. And 1x a week is more than 1/2 as good as 2x a week. The key is that you should be working hard. Start gently to learn the movements, but after a few weeks, you should get to the point where the last repetition feels quite hard, like you couldn't really do more than 1 or 2 more.

Oh and I would go at least 3x a week. 2x a week isn’t high enough frequency. You can start a full body routine then move into body part specific splits later.

Google or buy the new rules of lifting for women. It’s great to help you start .

I would hop on youtube while at the gym. Popsugar has a great library of videos. Here's one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjzdyBWx9AI

I now have access to company gym with nice machines but I am unsure how to get started with lifting. I would like to tone my arms and to gain muscle in my legs (also run and do yoga). Any suggestions for reasonable 20 min routine to get started? Will 2x week of this make an appreciable difference?