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#1
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Weight Lifting Question
Hey everyone, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind giving a bit
of advice. I'm a 40 year old woman, and am losing weight now. I started at 258, and am now at 237. In addition to eating better and doing cardio I've been lifting for going on three months now, and seeing pretty good progress. I was very weak to start, especially in my arms, and still am, but getting better. Just so you have an idea, I start bench pressing 20 pounds, and am now up to 50. I do three sets of 15 reps, 3 times a week. I'm not sure I've been going about knowing when to up my lifting weights the right way. The way I have been doing it is that when I can get get through a set of 15 reps without having to rest in the middle of it, then it is time to add 10 more pounds. It seems to have been working so far, but I'm not sure that this is the right way. The last time I worked out I was able to get through some of my arm exercises without stopping, so it would be time to up the iron. However, my arms today (Wednesday) are still sore from my workout on Monday. The idea of doing 60 pounds on my arms is exciting to me, but I don't want to damage myself by going nuts. So, do I know when it is time to up the weights? -- Annie |
#2
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Annie Benson Lennaman wrote:
So, do I know when it is time to up the weights? You are making great progress so it seems to be working. There are a lot of different approaches to weights. The most important point is to eat lots of cabbage :-) Personally i would up the weight at 12 reps, but i don't think it's a big deal. I go for a little more strength though. A good book is Strong Women Stay Slim. |
#3
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If you can do 12 reps you need to add weights, but I wouldn't add ten pounds
with upper body for a women. Use 5 pounds until you can do 12 reps then add another 5 pounds. Just my thought. Roxan "Annie Benson Lennaman" wrote in message . .. Hey everyone, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind giving a bit of advice. I'm a 40 year old woman, and am losing weight now. I started at 258, and am now at 237. In addition to eating better and doing cardio I've been lifting for going on three months now, and seeing pretty good progress. I was very weak to start, especially in my arms, and still am, but getting better. Just so you have an idea, I start bench pressing 20 pounds, and am now up to 50. I do three sets of 15 reps, 3 times a week. I'm not sure I've been going about knowing when to up my lifting weights the right way. The way I have been doing it is that when I can get get through a set of 15 reps without having to rest in the middle of it, then it is time to add 10 more pounds. It seems to have been working so far, but I'm not sure that this is the right way. The last time I worked out I was able to get through some of my arm exercises without stopping, so it would be time to up the iron. However, my arms today (Wednesday) are still sore from my workout on Monday. The idea of doing 60 pounds on my arms is exciting to me, but I don't want to damage myself by going nuts. So, do I know when it is time to up the weights? -- Annie |
#4
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Annie Benson Lennaman wrote in message . .. Hey everyone, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind giving a bit of advice. I'm a 40 year old woman, and am losing weight now. I started at 258, and am now at 237. In addition to eating better and doing cardio I've been lifting for going on three months now, and seeing pretty good progress. I was very weak to start, especially in my arms, and still am, but getting better. Just so you have an idea, I start bench pressing 20 pounds, and am now up to 50. I do three sets of 15 reps, 3 times a week. Congratulations on your great progress in weight loss and strengh gains! I'm not sure I've been going about knowing when to up my lifting weights the right way. The way I have been doing it is that when I can get get through a set of 15 reps without having to rest in the middle of it, then it is time to add 10 more pounds. It seems to have been working so far, but I'm not sure that this is the right way. What you are doing now is the typical protocol if your goal is to gain muscle. There really isn't a "right" way to determine when to increase the amount of weight you use to perform a certain exercise; it depends on your goals. The last time I worked out I was able to get through some of my arm exercises without stopping, so it would be time to up the iron. However, my arms today (Wednesday) are still sore from my workout on Monday. I find that working out is one of the best ways to lessen muscle soreness. The idea of doing 60 pounds on my arms is exciting to me, but I don't want to damage myself by going nuts. If your goal is building muscle in your chest, shoulders, and the back of your upper arms, I would increase the weight you use on the bench press today. Is 10 pounds the minimum amount to increase the weight or could you add just 5 pounds? You might also consider doing a warm-up set of 15 reps with 20 pounds before your 2 working sets. This warm up set can get blood to the muscles and lessen the soreness remaining from Monday's workout. On your working sets you don't have to do 15 reps. For example, you might try to do 8 reps at 60 pounds this workout and gradually increase the number of reps in subsequent workouts. Matthew |
#5
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"Annie Benson Lennaman" wrote in message . .. Hey everyone, I was wondering if you all wouldn't mind giving a bit of advice. I'm a 40 year old woman, and am losing weight now. I started at 258, and am now at 237. In addition to eating better and doing cardio I've been lifting for going on three months now, and seeing pretty good progress. I was very weak to start, especially in my arms, and still am, but getting better. Just so you have an idea, I start bench pressing 20 pounds, and am now up to 50. I do three sets of 15 reps, 3 times a week. I'm not sure I've been going about knowing when to up my lifting weights the right way. The way I have been doing it is that when I can get get through a set of 15 reps without having to rest in the middle of it, then it is time to add 10 more pounds. It seems to have been working so far, but I'm not sure that this is the right way. The last time I worked out I was able to get through some of my arm exercises without stopping, so it would be time to up the iron. However, my arms today (Wednesday) are still sore from my workout on Monday. The idea of doing 60 pounds on my arms is exciting to me, but I don't want to damage myself by going nuts. So, do I know when it is time to up the weights? It depends on your goals. First off, the person who recommended increases in 5 lb increments for upper body is right on the mark. 10 lbs is probably too much. Also, you are doing a lot of reps. You could try lifting more weight at less reps. In general your goal is to get the proper form and then depending on your mindset you want to work your sets at the highest weight lets you get through the set without breaking form. I've done 3 set workouts with 12/10/8 reps and an increase in each set. I've also done a lot of workouts with 3 sets of 10. Working on my bench press with a goal of powerlifting I did 5-6 sets, starting with a set of 10 to warm up, then 8-10 at a higher level, 6-8 at the next, 4-6 at the next, then 2-4 and maybe 1-3 at the maximum weight. Right now I'm rehabbing a rotator cuff and doing a lot of range-of-motion activities which are very light weights with sets of 15-20. You're going to get a lot of opinions on the matter because like dieting, there is no one true way. A good website for reference though is http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html -- the volleyballchick |
#6
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Hi Annie,
I have a lot of opinions about weight lifting :-). But you've already gotten lots of good advice here, so I don't really need to add anything. As people have said, there are lots of different approaches. And I think most of them work. The most important things -- whatever approach you select -- a a) Keep challenging your muscles. Whatever you pick for reps/sets with a particular exercise should be challenging at first -- maybe something you can't quite complete. When it is no longer so challenging, increase the weight. It's okay if you can't do as many reps at first -- that's what you should expect. b) Don't get hurt :-). Increase the weight in modest increments. If you are doing something where failure to complete a lift might result in an injury (e.g., bench press), get someone to spot for you or stop before you're sure it's the last rep you can do. If your form starts deteriorating, don't try for more reps. c) Get enough rest between sets so that you can give each one your best shot. (Some people are into a sort of speed-around-in-a-circuit weight lifting, in order to burn more calories or something. I think this is just muddying the water between strength training and cardio, so that you don't get the best of either.) Chris 262/130s/130s started dieting July 2002, maintaining since June 2004 |
#7
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It was great to get so many response so fast! You all gave me
something to think on. I guess I should have mentioned that I am using a home gym, the http://www.precor.com/hpr_str_zum.php to be exact (though I don't have the leg/hip attachment thingy shown). The weights this thing use are 10 pounds, so going up 5 pounds isn't in my means right now. But I have started wondering if I can by some sort of 5 pound weight and attach it to the lifting stack somehow, or maybe find a 5 pound magnet? Hmmm. I need to look into this, because going up 10 pounds on the arms is very hard for me. I tried Matthew's suggestion of warming up my first set at a lower weight, and it seems to have helped with the pain I usually feel. I understand that in lifting I am creating tears in muscles which get repaired over the next day, so some pain does seem enivetable. That's ok with me, the results seem to be worth it. But warming up does make good sense, and I might do this everytime I lift now. I will still gain strength by using one of my sets this way? I guess I'm a little fuzzy on what my goals are. I want to lose weight. I want to gain muscle and be stronger. I know that these two are at odds with one another. Basically I started lifting with the hopes that this would help me retain my muscle mass as much as possible as I diet. But this whole business of being able to lift more, and seeing these funny hard lumps start to form in my forearms is pretty, well, freaking awesome. I suspect that sooner or later my gains in lifting strength will peter out, and I'll just be working to preserve what I have gained (which isn't that bad of a thing; at least now I can open a pickle jar without help). Thanks very much for the advice given. I know very little about fitness (obviously). I have gone to several web sites, including Krista Smashes, and learned more than I did before. Even so, I know that there many people who know alot more than I do, and I am very grateful that they (you!) take the time to answer my questions. -- Annie |
#8
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Annie Benson Lennaman wrote in message . .. It was great to get so many response so fast! You all gave me something to think on. I guess I should have mentioned that I am using a home gym, the http://www.precor.com/hpr_str_zum.php to be exact (though I don't have the leg/hip attachment thingy shown). Out of curiosity, do you have the leg press attachment? The weights this thing use are 10 pounds, so going up 5 pounds isn't in my means right now. But I have started wondering if I can by some sort of 5 pound weight and attach it to the lifting stack somehow, or maybe find a 5 pound magnet? Hmmm. I need to look into this, because going up 10 pounds on the arms is very hard for me. The HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training) folks talk about this a bit. One article on the topic is he http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ridgely4.htm. I tried Matthew's suggestion of warming up my first set at a lower weight, and it seems to have helped with the pain I usually feel. I understand that in lifting I am creating tears in muscles which get repaired over the next day, so some pain does seem enivetable. That's ok with me, the results seem to be worth it. But warming up does make good sense, and I might do this everytime I lift now. I will still gain strength by using one of my sets this way? The warm-up set is in addition to your working sets so you should be able to make the same gains as you did when you were not using a warm-up set(s). I've seen some antecdotal evidence that a warm-up may help you lift more on your working sets, so they might even improve your gains. I guess I'm a little fuzzy on what my goals are. I want to lose weight. I want to gain muscle and be stronger. I know that these two are at odds with one another. In the long run, the goal gaining muscle is at odds with the goal of losing weight. But that is not necessarily the case for the goal of getting stronger. Building bigger muscles is only one way of getting stronger. Typical routines to make the muscle you already have even stronger are using very heavy weights for low reps and very long rest periods. Matthew |
#9
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Thanks again, Matthew! I went to the link you provided, and they
suggested adding chains to a stack to adjust the increment. Chains? Brilliant! I headed off to the local hardware store today and asked for 5 pounds of chain. I got a funny look, of course, since chains are typically sold by the length, but they were happy to oblige me. I wrapped the chain around the top weight of my stack, attached the clip that was sold conviently next to the chain, and voila! I have a way to increment by only five pounds now. Yay! -- Annie AGE EverQuest Live FAQ: http://www.icynic.com/~don/EQ/age.faq.htm Mirrored at: http://webpages.charter.net/lenny13/age.faq.htm http://www.derfy.net/agefaq.html |
#10
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"Annie Benson Lennaman" wrote in message . .. Thanks again, Matthew! I went to the link you provided, and they suggested adding chains to a stack to adjust the increment. Chains? Brilliant! I headed off to the local hardware store today and asked for 5 pounds of chain. I got a funny look, of course, since chains are typically sold by the length, but they were happy to oblige me. I wrapped the chain around the top weight of my stack, attached the clip that was sold conviently next to the chain, and voila! I have a way to increment by only five pounds now. Yay! Very neat idea. One of the power lifters in my gym uses chains in quite a few ways - really big heavy ones. The way he does it, the weight increases as he presses up the bar. All in all, ingenuity wins out in the end. -- the volleyballchick |
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