People who use freeweights

angaustinbrody

angaustinbrody

New member
Hey,
I'm sure there are other free weighters out there. I am just starting out my journey and I'm sure there are many exercises I haven't tried yet. I'm actually kind of lost when it comes to what I should do, when I should do it, how many tiems I should do it. ;) Anyone else lift weights?
 
I lift weights very often. You are new to the weight room? Will be lifting at a gym?
 
Well that is fine. What do you have in terms of free weights at home?

Also, what are your goals?
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I have only just begun my collection of exercise stuff so I only have a set of 1 lb, 3 lb and 5 lb weights, 1 lb wrist weights and 1 lb ankle weights. I do have money to spend on new "stuff" though so that's not a big deal. I'm just not sure what I need other than heavier weights. I also have a fitness ball.

My goals:
increase exercise to 40 minutes - 1 hour 6 days per week.
be AT my goal weight of 135 by June 1st '07
feel strong
increase muscle mass but not look bulky
 
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angaustinbrody said:
I have only just begun my collection of exercise stuff so I only have a set of 1 lb, 3 lb and 5 lb weights, 1 lb wrist weights and 1 lb ankle weights. I do have money to spend on new "stuff" though so that's not a big deal. I'm just not sure what I need other than heavier weights. I also have a fitness ball.

My goals:
increase exercise to 40 minutes - 1 hour 6 days per week.
be AT my goal weight of 135 by June 1st '07
feel strong
increase muscle mass but not look bulky
Click to expand...

Ok, few things here.

First, something is better than nothing. That said though, 1-5lb weights are going to do very little for you. So heavier weights are a necessity and should be your primary focus on "what to buy next." I would recommend investing in a bench, barbell, and some weight plates if you have the money and room.

Secondly, how much weight do you need to lose, if you don't mind me asking? If it is any significant amount, nutrition is going to far outweigh your use of weights when it comes to your goals.

Thirdly, you can't build muscle when you are in a caloric deficit diet. Do you understand what I mean by that? So you you conflicting goals here. One is to reduce weight and the other is to increase muscle mass. So first order of business is aligning your goals so the don't work against each other.
 
Hey girl don’t feel bad about only having a few weights. I've been lifting 5 lbs weighs for a little over nine weeks now. Combined with a 30 min of cardio and eating healthy; I've been able to lose weight and tone up a lot. Or as my husband says "I’m not as jiggily":rolleyes:. I do cardio 5 to 6x a week. But I only lift weights for about 30 min 2 to 3x a week. I'll be honest, it isn’t easy finding time to workout when you're a mom!!! But I’m sure you're fully aware of that :)

stroutman81 has some really good advice as well! When you're able to spend some more money on weights, barbell's and weight plates are a good investment. But just to throw in a woman's perspective...the goal is to replace fat with muscle and tone not bulk. Does that sound right? In my experience, anything over 5-10 lbs makes me look bulky...which I hate! But everyone is different.

And as far as ideas for workout. It can be very simple. If you know how to do a regular leg squat you're half way there! Just add your ankle weights or free weights and do your squats! Crunches with weights adds resistance to really work your abs, lunges with ankle weights are good as well. If you're weights are small, add more reps. Try doing the "pyramid" system that a friend taught me. Do 2 "sets" of 8, then 2 "sets" of 4 so on and so on. You will feel it!!

Good luck!
 
LondonAvril said:
Hey girl don’t feel bad about only having a few weights. I've been lifting 5 lbs weighs for a little over nine weeks now. Combined with a 30 min of cardio and eating healthy; I've been able to lose weight and tone up a lot. Or as my husband says "I’m not as jiggily":rolleyes:. I do cardio 5 to 6x a week. But I only lift weights for about 30 min 2 to 3x a week. I'll be honest, it isn’t easy finding time to workout when you're a mom!!! But I’m sure you're fully aware of that :)

stroutman81 has some really good advice as well! When you're able to spend some more money on weights, barbell's and weight plates are a good investment. But just to throw in a woman's perspective...the goal is to replace fat with muscle and tone not bulk. Does that sound right? In my experience, anything over 5-10 lbs makes me look bulky...which I hate! But everyone is different.

And as far as ideas for workout. It can be very simple. If you know how to do a regular leg squat you're half way there! Just add your ankle weights or free weights and do your squats! Crunches with weights adds resistance to really work your abs, lunges with ankle weights are good as well. If you're weights are small, add more reps. Try doing the "pyramid" system that a friend taught me. Do 2 "sets" of 8, then 2 "sets" of 4 so on and so on. You will feel it!!

Good luck!
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Gee, I find myself repeating this same story over and over again around this forum. And honestly, I don't mind it. :) I hope people start catching on though. There is an overwhelming misconception around this board that you can "tone" with weights.

Guess what. You can't. It is a physiological impossibility.

Toning is a function of fat loss which is primarily a function of nutrition and energy expenditure.

Resistance training with weights is merely a means to increase muscle mass while bulking (me) or to maintain muscle mass while cutting (you).

Does that make sense?
 
And as a woman, lifting heavy weights will not make you bulky. Women do not have the hormonal capacity to do this. Hell most men you see in the gym are not muscular either.
 
tonymcclellan said:
And as a woman, lifting heavy weights will not make you bulky. Women do not have the hormonal capacity to do this. Hell most men you see in the gym are not muscular either.
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I've heard that before. A woman lacks the ability to get real bulky without the aid of something (supplements, etc)
 
angaustinbrody said:
I've heard that before. A woman lacks the ability to get real bulky without the aid of something (supplements, etc)
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Most do not have the hormonal capacity to get huge. Don't be fooled though, females can do some crazy things with their physiques too. But you are not going to get "bulky" in the gym as simply as people around here make it out to be. And you DEFINITELY will not get bulky being in a caloric deficit.
 
stroutman81 said:
Ok, few things here.

First, something is better than nothing. That said though, 1-5lb weights are going to do very little for you. So heavier weights are a necessity and should be your primary focus on "what to buy next." I would recommend investing in a bench, barbell, and some weight plates if you have the money and room.

Secondly, how much weight do you need to lose, if you don't mind me asking? If it is any significant amount, nutrition is going to far outweigh your use of weights when it comes to your goals.

Thirdly, you can't build muscle when you are in a caloric deficit diet. Do you understand what I mean by that? So you you conflicting goals here. One is to reduce weight and the other is to increase muscle mass. So first order of business is aligning your goals so the don't work against each other.
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I am 173.8 now, down from 179 when I started. Inches are quite a bit different though (about 8 inches total).

I understand what you mean. When trying to gain muscle, calories need to be higher than they would when trying to lose weight. I totally see how my goals are conflicting. Thanks for pointing that out. I would really like to reduce weight first then because I don't want to be fat and muscular. I want to be thinner and muscular.

I don't have TOO much room but I'm sure I can invest in a barbell and weight plates. The weight plates are just the circular thin plates that go onto the barbell right?

So should I still be lifting weights if I am trying to lose weight or should I focus on the weight loss first?

As for nutrition, I believe I am doing fairly well with it. I can give you a usual daily menu:
Breakfast: I have a shake every morning. (1/2 container tofu, 1 cup skim milk, 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp ground flax seeds)
Snack: fruit
Lunch: chicken vegetable soup, slice whole wheat bread, 1 oz cheese
Snack: raw vegetables
Dinner: chicken breast, 2 different vegetables, maybe a bit of cottage cheese
Snack: fruit
 
angaustinbrody said:
I've heard that before. A woman lacks the ability to get real bulky without the aid of something (supplements, etc)
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Right, TONS of food and testosterone. It's a HUGE misconception in the fitness world that women will get bulky if they lift heavy weight. The truth is that achieving a "toned" look will take an approach consisting of heavy weight training (to hold on to as much lean muscle that you currently have) mixed in with a caloric deficit (usually about 500 calories less that your maintenance calories) and cardio to promote fat loss (as stroutman stated above).
 
By looking at my daily menu, and with no personal experience, I would say I have the nutritional defecit to bulk up. Right? Not enough whole grains and proteins?
 
FWIW I don't want to be one of those women who would make a club bouncer run away when he sees her. :eek: I just want to be a toned slim sexy mama ;)
 
ANother question since I'm on a roll. When i first started with my little itty bitty weights I thought I was doing good because when I got to the 30th rep, I would feel "the burn". I was so proud, but then I realized it's probably just lactic acid buildup, not the GOOD burn. When lifting weights one should be doing reps of 10 and be struggling by the 8th or 9th rep right, with "the burn"?. So I really wasn't doing anything to my muscles.
 
You still want to lift weights while dieting. It gives your reason to want to hold onto the muscle that you currently have. When in a caloric deficit, you will always lose, both fat and muscle.

Through resistance training, though, you can help shift the weight loss curve to a more fat heavily loss than anything else.

Also, when dieting, protein requirements increase. I did not look at your diet thoroughly yet, but I would imagine you are lacking in protein, yes.

Do you have any idea how many calories you are consuming?
 
angaustinbrody said:
ANother question since I'm on a roll. When i first started with my little itty bitty weights I thought I was doing good because when I got to the 30th rep, I would feel "the burn". I was so proud, but then I realized it's probably just lactic acid buildup, not the GOOD burn. When lifting weights one should be doing reps of 10 and be struggling by the 8th or 9th rep right, with "the burn"?. So I really wasn't doing anything to my muscles.
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Again, something is better than nothing. Many people do high rep weight training following the misconception that there is some magical toning effects with high rep resistance training. This is not the case.

A multitude of rep ranges are good, they all serve a purpose. For me, and people I help, some exercises will fall into the 3-6 rep range, some into the 6-8, and others into the 12-15. They all serve their own purpose and rep ranges are just one portion of periodization that you can play with.

When in a caloric deficit though, as you probably are, high rep weight training is useless in my opinion. The heavier the better when dieting. You are not trying to induce (hypertrophy) growth, you are simply trying to ward off (atrophy) breakdown.
 
angaustinbrody said:
I plugged it into fit day and it's roughly 1500 calories.
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Lower than I would suggest. Will it lead to weight loss, certainly if you stick with it consistently. That said, I would imagine, barring no metabolic damage you may have caused in the past, that you would lose too much muscle at such a strict deficit.

Your maintenance is probably right around 2500-2600 calories. I would start with a rough 500 calorie deficit from these numbers.
 
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