[janeseymore09092]

Alright, My gym is up and I have been started using it. I could probably use some advice though. Here's what I have been doing.

Day 1
Bench Press 2 sets of 24 reps @ 90 pounds.
Shoulder Press 2 sets 15 reps @ 60.
Tricep Push Downs 2 sets 30 reps @ 40 pounds.
Shrugs 2 sets 20 reps @ 170 pounds
Reverse Curl 2 sets 16 reps @ 40 pounds - I did this instead of Abdominal Crunch :P

Day 2 Off

Day 3
Squat 2 sets of 10 reps @ my weight :P
Leg Extensions 2 sets of 30 reps @ 70 pounds
Lat Pull Down 2 sets of 30 reps @ 70 pounds
Cable Row 2 sets of 30 reps @ 90 pounds
Curls 2 sets of 20 reps @ 30 pounds

Day 4 off

Repeat.

I've Completed 3 days of weight Training, and quickly realized I couldn't do it everyday, so as you can see I am taking a day off inbetween.

So far the only muscle groups that have been the sore are my triceps and my thighs. My thighs infact are killer sore, from the squats, so much so I had to skip my walk this morning in hopes that it gets into shape for tomorrow night where I do it all over again.

I'm concerned about the rest of me that does not bother me in the slightest. Should I be bench pressing more, I can do about 240 about 6 times. If I can do 2 reps of 30 of a particular wieght, should I increase the Weight till I'm failing say at 2 reps of 15 or so? I want to feel the burn... Shouldn't I feel the burn?

I should say that I am failing at those numbers shown above, I was shooting for 2 sets of 30 reps on all them.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. So let's here it.

[truportodfa]

I would keep the same wieght, but add more reps..and remember to go slow in, slow out

[forebirdo]

I would if I could, but that was as far as I could go, I really had to push myself to the breaking point to hit 30 reps on a few of the exercises. So I definately couldn't do more reps unless I dropped the weight down... Do you mean I should do more sets?

[GoodLover]

Jonathan,

It really depends on what you want to accomplish. For building muscle you want to low numbers of reps and high weights. For endurance you want to do the opposite. I have a book at home on Weight Lifting that I really like. I will look up the name for you. What I like about it is that it breaks down each body area and give you a bunch of exercises to do for each area using free weights, dumbells and machines. It has great pictures and at the end of the chapter it shows pictures of various body building "celebrities" and tells you what exercises and reps they do to get their look. It has a variety of celebs and includes men and woman. It really is quite helpful as a resource. If you are interested I can get the name for you. I bought it Barnes and Noble for around $20 if I remember correctly.

[lasadeykar]

Yea, I have been researching a number of different books. I probably would have bought one already, but I already have spent way to much money this month. What the heck though, Next time I'm in town I'll stop at Chapters, um but wait I need shoes too.

I kinda already understand that you do few reps with lots of weight for Overall strength building, and Lighter weights but lots of reps for endurance and weight loss. That's why I am doing 2 sets of 30's or trying. But What's stumping me is How Come I feel perfectly fine. Except my thighs. Even last night I worked the upper body, and my triceps don't even bother me in the slightest anymore. I thought, I should at least feel some sort of discomfort, other wise I must not be working them hard enough?

So what I'm trying to say, is if your exercising properly to try to loose fat and gain muscle Stamina or endurance, should I not feel discomfort and if not what should I be doing.

I'm a total newbie I guess.

[hs6KnlcW]

Feeling discomfort doesn't mean a good work out.

Try using a diary to note what u push / lift and then add a low % each week even 1 rep etc.

I haven't trained for years on weights and just use a resistance band at the moment for my arms (legs are getting enough) and do abs / glutes at aerobics. I never had proper training either but am sure you can do this yourself!

It's quite addictive if you track urself.

Not much use on the advice am I !

Keep up the great work and do it gradual, u'll get used to the weights and slowly build.

Watch ur breathing.. in on the 'effort' out on the release, and be slow.. as said before, not a quick 'let go'.

[casinobonusese]

Thanks Purple Hugs,

I was breathing out on the effort and in on the release. I am tracking myself.... I can't wait to see the numbers move up. (patience jon).

[mralabama]

To do it correctly you are really supposed to do the exercise to "failure". I know for myself, when I was actively lifting doing machines, I did 2 sets of 15 reps. Once I could do all of the reps in both sets maintaining proper form and timing (i.e. using a slow count like 1-2-3 then hold and back down - something I still have problems with some times ) twice, I moved to the next weight level. You don't have to feel much if any discomfort and probably won't unless you are really straining. It might be that for some of those exercises you are right at the borderline of moving to the next weight level. I noticed that only when I moved to a new weight level where I couldn't do all of my reps did I notice discomfort. Otherwise I just felt muscle fatigue after the workout.

[gundos]

Soreness isn't an indication that the exercise is working. By next week, you probably won't feel soreness in you legs any more. I only really get sore when I work a new muscle, or when adding weight.

Other than that, I don't have much input These heavy weights are out of my realm.

[iiilizium]

Ok,, well, this is just my opinion but as a rule, if you can do more than 15 reps, with a particular weight,, at 3 sets,, then you are toning and building endurance anyways. I've never seen a reason to go over 15 reps per set.. if you're doing this, then you either need to add weight or sets, as your muscles aren't working to exhaustion. Leave the extra reps to ab work.. instead of upper/lower body.

If you want to sculpt,, you should pyramid up and down the scale.. 15 reps @ 90lbs.. 12@ 80lb,... 10@70lbs.. and then back up again.. (ex of your first one).. this will sculpt the muscles you have.. (you can actually speed set this, without breaks.. or even add a superset) This procedure helps to work until muscle fatigue, with raising and lowering weights and reps, it tricks the muscles into thinking they can keep working.. maximum benefits in the shortest amount of time..

To build.. It's high weight, with low reps,, and still 3 sets.. *typically*.. and you would need to take about a 60second break between each set to let your muscles get some oxygen back in them.

[Vitoethiche]

Thanks for the Info guys and gals.

I have been doing a ton of research on this the last few days... And I have come to the conclusion that I should definately be doing alot less reps, and working with alot more weight.

I'll probably will be looking at doing 3 sets of 4 to 7 reps.. with enough weight that I can do 4 but will fail miserably at 7 or 8. with a 2 - 3 minute break between sets. I will definately need warm up sets.

As far as a schedule, I'll either be training just one or 2 muscle group per day at most. Never training the same muscle group with in a 6 day period or so. Thats the plan anyway.

For instance...

Day 1, Mostly chest, Secondary Abs
Brench Press 3 sets of 4-7 reps (Failure is wanted before 8 reps on all)
Incline Bench Press 3 sets of 4-7 reps
I could throw in some Decline Bench presses sometimes for kicks.

Day 2 Mostly legs, Secondary Abs
Squats 3 sets of 4-7 reps
Leg Curls 3 sets of 4-7 reps

Day 3 Mostly Shoulders, Secondary back
Lat Pull downs 3 sets of 4-7 reps
Shoulder Shrugs 3 sets of 4-7 reps
Probably should do some Overhead shoulder presses here as well.

Day 4 Forearms and biceps
Curls 3 sets of 4-7 reps
Reverse Curls 3 sets of 4-7 reps

Day 5 Mostly back, secondary grip (its hard tugging on 150 pounds or more)
Seated Cable Rows 3 sets pf 4-7 reps
Other back related one i can't think of at the moment. 3 sets of 4-7 reps

Day 6 Triceps
Tricep Pushdowns 3 sets of 4-7 reps
Reversed Tricep Pushdowns 3 sets of 4-7 reps (need dumbells)

Day 7
Mostly rest, although I'll have to run out and bye dumbells so maybe i can do some wrist curls, not to mention flys.

Hmmm I just put this schedule together now, and I think I really like the look of it. A schedule similar to this will allow my muscle groups to heal and rebuild stronger before I beat them again the following week.

I can do all of these exercises, on my gym at home plus alot more... So I can always take things out and add things in.

I found out that almost all the exercises you do when your a beginner will train your abs... So at this point, doing crunchs is out of the question.. I'll add dedicated ab exercises later when I'm quite a bit slimmer.

I got alot of the information I'm using from a very interesting weight training program I found online. It's 165 pages, I haven't read it all nor do I think I'm going to but the most interesting stuff is in the first 30 pages anyway. The guy makes alot of sence but, I'm certainly not following it to a "T" either.

Here is the PDF http://www.freedomfly.net/Documents/MAX-OT.pdf

Now I'm all excited to start.

I'll be lifting some serious weights now, I realize some of you might be thinking I'm going a little over board. I might be, but I want to see results. From everything that I read, muscle soreness is an important part of developing more muscle and I certainly haven't felt that except for my thighs (big time). So I'll just try it out and let you know how it works.

feel free to comment.

[R1king]

Nah, I think your new program looks great, especially for building muscle.

[rJohutozsfds]

I find that when I prepare a schedule like that, I tend to stick to it. Sometimes, the only reason I get up early is because it's on the schedule.

Another goofy thing I do is to chart the schedule for a few weeks in advance. When I do the workout, I color that day's box one color. If I miss it, I make it a different color. That way, a missed workout stands out like a sore thumb.

[ATTILAGLIC]

Thanks for the confidence boost Mjollnir10 and Patty.

I've been meaning to take a Calander home for a week now, just for the same sort of reason you mentioned Patty. I'll have to write it on my hand i guess. ;D

[Breilopmil]

Your purpose in lifting is very important. If your goal is to tone your muscles, perform high reps (12 or more) per set. Your muscles will not grow very much if at all, but they will become more efficient and defined (depending on the muscle, you may have to be prettly slim to see this definition). If your goal is to grow muscle (muscle looks good and burns calories), you need to lift heavier weights fewer times.

In order to grow muscle you must do 2 things, give the muscle fuel (protein) and stimulate the muscle to grow (lift). The heavier you lift the harder you work the muscle, and the more you encourage it to grow. Initially you should aim to lift between 8 and 12 reps per set. (Not that you stop after 8 or 12, that you physically can't do any more than that without rest). Do one warmup set at about 1/3 your normal weight, and then 3 "work" sets with 1-2 minutes of rest between. Anything more than about 12 or 15 reps at the most, and your muscle is not being stimulated to grow, it is more like aerobic conditioning. So when you surpass 12 reps on any set, raise the weight the next workout. As you get more advanced, you will lift heavier and cut down the reps to 6-8, and maybe even down to 4-6. A little variety is good – so one workout you could lift a bit lighter for 8-12 reps, and then next a little heavier at 6-8 reps.

Form is very important in doing weight lifting, especially with free weights, so make sure you get good instruction to avoid injury. Doing an exercise properly is more important than lifting heavier weights; so don't feel you have to lift extremely heavy. A person using good form with a lighter weight will quickly progress to heavier weights. A person using poor form with too heavy a weight, will not progress at all and risks injury. Lifting quickly with the proper weight and form actually causes "fast twitch" muscles to develop (a whole different discussion) and is good, but don't just "drop" the weight back to the starting position. Lower slowly and deliberately. And don't forget to breathe!

Good luck, Jonathan!

[Kokomoxcv]

Thanks Brian you seem pretty knowledgable.

I read something of fast twitch muscles... I think I have a high percentage of them beause i can make my muscles bounce and twitch like vinni bobarino(Spelling :P). Then again does that have anything to do with it?

And what do you think of my new schedule?

[avaicavum]

Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work quickly and produce explosive power, but tire quickly. Think sprinter. Slow twitch muscle fibers are the ones that work long and hard. Think marathoner.

I am a bit worried about having you try exercises for 4-7 reps. If you've been doing very high reps previously, you will get great results with 8-12 reps. Save the lower rep work until you have your technique perfected and have made considerable strength gains. You will not get good results if you don't do the exercises with good form - and good form is much harder to develop with heavy weight. Injury is the worst thing for weight lifting!

I do not have the luxury of working out every day - wish I did. I think I'd try for 3 sets of each body part. You may also need more rest, but you will have to try and see.

Lifting weights actually breaks down the muscle fibers and causes them to regrow bigger and stronger. So muscle growth actually occurs while you are resting, not while you are working. If you don't give your muscles adequate time to recover, you will get weaker and you will be fatigued - this is called overtraining. If you start seeing this happen - take a week off and then adjust your schedule for more rest. The harder you work and the more muscle you break down, the more rest you need between workouts. Initially I could work out every other day with no problem. Now I need 4-5 days rest between exercises on the same body parts. I am just beginning to experiement with lifting on Atkins. Carbs are recommended after a workout to speed muscle recovery. It could be that you need more rest while lo-carbing than normal.

Soreness is quite common when you first start weight lifting. As your muscles get used to the exercise, it will quickly subside. After a hard workout, you may be a bit sore, but nothing like the morning after your first hard workout! It is rare that I experience anything I'd called being sore. Don't make soreness your guage of a good workout.

When people are first starting to work out, I recommend they lift very light weight for 12-15 reps (not to failure). Focus on form and control. After 2 workouts, raise the weight so you are doing 12-15 reps and starting to get tired towards the end, still not to failure. After 2 workouts, raise the weight again and go to failure. Adjust the weight to try to get near 12 reps. A perfect setup is 12 reps the first set, 10 reps the second, and 8 reps the third. Focus should always be on perfect form. This will keep soreness from hitting so hard at the beginning, and allow good form to be developed while using lighter weight.

I like to read the following forum on WebMD. Rich Weil posts lots of excellent information on fitness and weight lifting that I think you might enjoy. Problem is people ask the same questions over and over so it gets boring after a while.

http://boards.health.msn.com/topic.asp?topic_id=64

Good luck to you Jonathan. Please post your results and experiences with lifting.
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[newshep]

Wow, Brian, are you a trainer?

[Frinzer]

No, but a good friend is one and he's helped me a lot. I work out religously and have done lots of reading and experimenting with different splits and exercises. I like to help people and have helped a number of beginners / advanced beginners at my gym. I'm going to write up my story to post on the progress board to explain how I got into lifting in conjunction with weight loss.

[giftplas]

Sounds like great Advice Brian.

Alright I'll adjust to 3 sets of 8-12.

This is what I did last night.

Curls.

Warm up 1 set of 20 @ 30 pounds
Warm up 1 set of 10 @ 50 pounds
Actual 3 sets of 4-7 @ 60 pounds, But I was only able to do 5, 5 and 4 reps.

Reverse Curls.

Warm up 1 set of 20 @ 20 pounds
Warm up 1 set of 10 @ 30 pounds
Actual 3 sets of 4-7 @ 40 pounds, again only was able to to do 5, 5, and 4
---my wrist broke on the fifth attempt here.

So I guess next time, I'll stop at 50 pounds and 30 or 35 pounds and do more reps.

Appreciate the great advice.