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2003/09/15, 06:35 AM
Today is my first day of weignt training, and I am very bummed. I have never lifted weights before, so I am learning as I go, and need some advice. My profile printed out with Chest as my first day's workout, and I followed. I have been following the diet already, and actually only eat about 1900 calories a day. The diet alone has helped me lose 25 pounds in 1 and a half months.
My problem is this: I started with incline barbell benches, and was unable to lift much weight at all. I tried the weight that printed on the sheet, but NO WAY. I ended up doing my 12 rep set with just the bar, and a 10lb, and a 5lb on each side. I have no clue how much the bar weighs, but Im sure I did not lift 70 lbs. When it came to my 5 rep cycle, where the weight is to go up, I tried replacing the fives on either side with tens, and about killed myself. I moved back to the 5 lb weights and added a three to each. I got through all my reps, but my weight was VERY low. My dumbell inclines consisted of 12 reps with 15's, 6 reps with 15's, and 5/4 reps with 25's. This is not much weight for a male and a ton of people were laughing. I lifted every set defined by my profile, to TOTAL exhaustion, and am EXTREMELY sore, but shouldnt I lift more weight? I also wonder how to get past my shoulders locking with fatigue before I feel as if my chest has been fatigued properly. I did the exercises exactly as described in the site, but felt very much less fatigue in my pecs than my upper arm/shoulders. Thank you for your time, and I appreciate any help you can give to someone who has never held a barbell or dumbbell in their life.
Thanks
Firemarsh
(oh one last thing, how important is sleep? what amount should I aim for?)
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2003/09/15, 07:20 AM
Hiya and welcome!!
We have all been beginners so don't worry about using light weight what starting. It'll come slowly, just don't try to go up too fast or you'll just end hurting yourself.
Sleep is very important and you'll need somewhere between 7-9 hours each night.
Congrats with your fat loss, but maybe that's what making you tired as well. Don't give up and don't worry about the others, it's YOUR body. Stay strong and tell us how it goes!! (o;
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- Nina :o) Les Victoires éternelles sont celles du coeur.
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2003/09/15, 07:23 AM
Thank you for those kind words.. I am finally down to 169, and only have about 14-15 more to go there. But I notice you say that the fat loss might make me tired. How? (pardon my naivity)
Thanks again.
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2003/09/15, 10:28 AM
Ok are you using a olympic bar bell at a gym? If so the bar itself weighs in at 45lbs so if you have a 0 and a 5 on each side you had 75lbs on it! As for your shoulders and arms getting more tired than your pecs the answer is simple, you arms are doing the majority of the work. Only thing to do is keep trying to "feel" the pecs wroking as you progress you will find that some bodyparts are just naturally stronger than others. Also try to add some chest flyes onto your program they really target the pecs nicely and are a way to build up that area in terms of strenght and endurance. Overall mass and strength for chest stay with incline and flat bench presses. Good luck!
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Eat More, Drink More, and Lift Harder than you thought you could, welcome to Becoming!
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2003/09/15, 11:03 AM
Also remember technique counts for a lot. If you start with a weight you are comfortable with you will soon learn this and what you can safely lift will increase. If you start with a weight that is way too heavy you will never learn good form and just risk injury.
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2003/09/15, 01:13 PM
with the limited experience I have lifting I know exactly what you are looking for, or trying to feel when doing the chest exercises. One thing to check is where you are gripping the bar. with a wider grip you will use more chest and less arm than with a closer grip.
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2003/09/15, 03:18 PM
Congrats on beginning your training and shame on anyone laughing at you. That is just plain rude. It is also important if you are just starting out to have a spotter if you are unsure about your ability to finish your reps. If you are working out alone it might be better to use a smith machine. that way if you get stuck in the down position you can at least hang the bar on the closest peg. It is also easier to get the hang of presses when you are a biginner. If your gym has one try it. You can do both flat and incline on it. It is easy to get stuck, even with a spotter. I ended up banging myself in the chest with a 40# db a couple of weeks ago, ouch! It is better to start out with weights you can get comfortable with before trying to go heavy. Ego isn't really worth an injury, is it?
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/09/16, 03:43 AM
Thank everyone for the wonderful advice. I am EXTREMELY sore today after working the benches and I actually feel it in the chest as well, although not as much as I had hoped. 7707mutt: I am using an olympic bar, so that does help a little as far as my amount of weight. erirvine: Thank you for the advice. My bar has a Knurled section, which I believe is for grip. In the middle on both sides is a strip where I believe they left the knurl out to give lifters a landmark?(just speculation) but on the outside of that is where my grip is....raidercte: Thank you for adding to my post here, all of your help is appreciated. I am very glad to know Im not the only beginner here. I do know that I am not going to let my children put fitness off until this late in life as I have, so I suppose Ive learned from it.azredhead57: As far as the smith machine, IF I understand what it actually is, I believe we have one, (kind of slim pickings over here in the area Im in with the military...) but how would I do a bench press with it?
Is it normal to not be able to handle as much weight when doing dumbbell presses as when you do barbell ones? because I actually came nowhere near the same weight. AAANNNDDD, one last question, the order in which FT lists your excercises, should you follow that? I did Incline Barbell presses/Incline Dumb bell/Flat Dumbbell, switching the order of the Incline DB and Flat DB simply because there wasnt a bench available. Was this wrong? should I have waited so I could do it in order?
Thanks VERY much to EVERYONE
Roger Hilt
USAF
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2003/09/16, 02:08 PM
I think it is slightly easier to use a barbell only because of balance. My stronger arm will make up for my weaker one, but when doing db's usually one arm will give out before the other one. As far as weight goes, right now I can actually do a flat db press with 45#ers, but can only get 80# on the incline bb press. On the flat bb press I am about the same as db, around 90-95#.
With the smith machine, the bb is fixed on a sort of pulley system, it slides up and down on a pole with pegs every 10 or so inches so if you get stuck you can just roll the hook over the pegs. It works the same way, you would place your bench under the bar and line your body up like you would normally. I use it for shoulder presses and squats too. I've seen people do lunges with it also. It comes in handy when working alone, without a spotter.
Switching around your exercises, both the order done and the equipment used, is a good thing. It always keeps your muscles guessing. In a busy gym waiting on equipment to be free can waste a lot of your time so you were right to go on to something else and come back to it when it was free. We do it all the time.
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/09/17, 07:09 AM
As "azredhead57" said it's to do with balance. If you use DB then you need to use all the surrounding muscles to keep the weight going up taking a lot of power out of the direct lifting action. On the leg press machine I use I press 80kg more then I can safely do on free squat, because I do not need to do anything but lift with as much force as I can muster.
As for using the smith machine it has its uses, but be aware that it follows a straight line lift action, a natural bench press has a slight curve to it. Consequently relying on it will not help with technique, will work the muscles in a less natural manner and not exercise the surrounding supporting groups. In short it’s better a having a spotter if you can.
For some reason people get obsessed with bench press and often come up with ridiculous claims. These often come from using machines with pulley systems or only taking the weight part way down, then not lifting till there arms are extended. The exercise requires a full motion better to do it correctly with a lower weight incorrectly with a higher one, give it a few months and you will be the one laughing.
You said you were not going to let your children put fitness off as late in life as you have. From my personal experience finding something they enjoy is the key. I did virtually no exercise for years because I was put off all exercise by a teacher who was obsessed with half a dozen sports (all of which I was atrocious at). It was not until right before I left did another teacher actually give me the opportunity to try lots of different activities till I found something I liked. I’ve been lifting for years now because I enjoy it, were I not given that opportunity and judging by the huge appetite I’ve always had I would probably be in a sorry state now.
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2003/09/17, 03:48 PM
erirvine, not sure what you mean by 'straight line lift'. The machine at our gym is angled like an upside down V, so that it does go up at an angle. It does not however feel exactly like a freeweight bb lift. Does that mean that you would not be hitting the muscles at the exact same angles when comparing the two?
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/09/17, 04:09 PM
What I mean to say is most people’s natural bench action has a curve in the motion, particularly at the top end of the lift. Sort of an upside down j only less exaggerated, the first part of the lift is primarily the pecs the final part more the triceps. You may well be familiar with the sticking point midway up when you try a lift that’s too heavy just as the dominance of each group switches during the lift.
So as you say, when using the smith machine you will use different combination of muscles to create the lift. You will also not employ many of the surrounding muscles used on the free weight to stabilise the lift. I personally find it unpleasant on my wrists taking the same weights I would free bench. On the smith machine my wrists have to bend awkwardly to keep the bar straight.
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2003/09/17, 04:17 PM
Simply put a Barbell allows you to take a natural range of motion and the smith locks you into a linear path. Both have good and bad points to them. My advice is to try out both and see which suits you better.
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Eat More, Drink More, and Lift Harder than you thought you could, welcome to Becoming!
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2003/09/18, 06:41 AM
Thank you for the wonderful hints. I used a smith machine for my squats, and it worked out ok. I tested it by doing one set of benches, and I like the "free weight" feel better... I find that I have more energy during the day now that I started lifting, and I tire quickly at night... after doing legs though, I did have issues completing my AB workout the following day.. my legs were so fatigued still I couldnt do the seated leg raises. I did my crunches, and the broom thing for the obliques, so I think I can miss a time. Is there any way to prevent the soreness felt after a workout?
Thank you all so much
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2003/09/18, 03:58 PM
There are severl ideas throughout the boards, stretching, hot soaks, someone even said taking tums pre-workout, which I already do as I get heartburn when I workout. I like the soreness, it reminds me that I am making progress. Sadistic, I know.
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/09/19, 01:54 AM
I guess i'm sadistic too then, I find the soreness satisfying. Though after a break from training the first few times back always give a lot more pain then once I'm in a routine.
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2003/09/20, 10:15 AM
I used to lift weights in highschool. I hated PE and they had a course fr weight lifting. I was complaining at lunch about being sore from lifting & one of my friends told me I liked it anyway so shutup. I figured out he was right. I wish I had never quit. I lift half as much weight now. It is downright embarrassing.
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