Sounds like you're doing great. Just wanted to say take it easy on the free weights. Learn how to squat and deadlift properly before going to heavy. The other guys have given you pretty good advice. If you're just looking to lose weight right now high rep light weight squats and deads will change you're body. Also you don't have to waste a lot of time on isolation exercises. I don't know how old you are or if you have any injuries but hang cleans are also a great way to lose weight. Do those a couple times a week and you'll see results. And keep doing the cardio you enjoy you'll be in shape before you know it. Good luck!
How do you find out how much weight to lift?
- Thread starter knapplc
- Start date
knapplc
Active member
I'm mid-40s with questionable knees & back, bad shoulders & (at the moment) a bum elbow. I'm taking it easy on the weights, building strength slowly, and working my way into more strenuous lifts. I have no timetable, I just want to be in better shape.
84HuskerLaw
New member
From my experience and study of the matter, I would suggest you start well below where you feel comfortable and slowly and gradually work your way up. I think it is always best to take the safe and not sorry approach. You don't want to tear something or get hurt and the have to quit for a long period. Spend a couple months at a minimum with a regular schedule of work outs. You may well feel like you are not doing enough but you need to let your body get used to the work outs, motions, etc and avoid problems. Increase the weight and add a few reps every couple weeks so that by the end of the third month, you are then getting the muscles tired and start to feel the bern! I also would suggest you add some walking/jogging, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, and a general all around routine. Think back to those high school sports or PE classes. Maybe consider joining a team or playing some basketball or tennis or swimming or other athletic or exercising endeavors. You want to be an all arounder in my view. It may be great to look like a gym rat but that takes years (not months certainly) but you want to be healthier and not injured. Just my thoughts from an old man who doesn't practice what he is preaching but would like to if he had the time and resources available. It is good to exercise at any age and losing weight is mostly a diet issue, not exercise, in my view.
Creighton Duke
Banned
This is great advice. While moving from machines to free weights seems like the logical progression, it can actually be a shift that is orders of magnitude different when it comes to difficulty.
Doing dumbbell curls isn't going to break the bank, but so many free weight exercises require a degree of balance/balancing the weight if not skill that makes them feel quite different from machine exercises (thankfully, in my opinion at least, sometimes they feel easier!) Try not to mimic the same weight loads with free weights that you have worked up to on machines until you feel as though you are developing the exercise-specific balance and coordination that many exercises require to be performed in a safe manner that also maximizes their respective benefits and utility.
EDIT: And please for the love of everything that is good...use bar clips with all barbell free weight exercises. I have been working out for years and will still get fatigued or lose my balance at times; without clips, the end result would be...bad. These will help you immensely as you work on form and balance and will also get you in a great gym habit.
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Mierin
Donor
The way I do it, which is literally just the way I do it because I find it motivating, not because I read about it somewhere (although I have done lots of reading on weight lifting) is this:
(Days 1, 2, 3 etc does not mean they're consecutive days. Just whatever days you do the same lift. Also, do whatever # of sets you decide on).
Day 1: Lift X pounds 8 times
Day 2: Add Y lbs to the lift. Lift X + Y lbs 4 times
Day 3: Lift X+Y 6 times
Day 4: Lift X+Y 8 times
Day 5: Add Y lbs to the lift. Lift X + 2Y lbs 4 times
Example (the weights might be weird since I'm not a dude)
Day 1: Bench 100lbs 8 times
Day 2: Bench 110 4 times
Day 3: Bench 110 6 times
Day 4: Bench 110 8 times
Day 5: Bench 120 4 times
and so on. If it's super easy then just jump it up faster at the start.
I have a couple reasons for doing it this way.
Reason 1 is: When I first started lifting it was hard for me to curl 10lbs. I didn't have a 12lb dumbbell at the time so moving up to 15lbs was like a giant mountain in front of me. This probably isn't as much of an issue for men but I feel like it still applies to some lifts. Maybe some tricep stuff? Anyway, I had to figure out a way to do it gradually. At one point, using this method, I could curl 30 which I think was decent for a female but I'm back down to 20 right now (I took a super long hiatus and am now back to lifting again).
Reason 2 is I rarely ever got to a point where I could not go heavier or for more reps (one or the other) using this method. Every time I lifted I could do at least one more rep than last time, or increase the weight. This was very motivating to me. I didn't want to do less weight than the time before. I felt like that would have bothered me a lot.
This goes against any plan that says to lift to failure though.
Also, I've read lots of articles saying you don't have to do things like dumbbell curls, as fb30 said. I do them anyhow just to make the workout last longer.
(Days 1, 2, 3 etc does not mean they're consecutive days. Just whatever days you do the same lift. Also, do whatever # of sets you decide on).
Day 1: Lift X pounds 8 times
Day 2: Add Y lbs to the lift. Lift X + Y lbs 4 times
Day 3: Lift X+Y 6 times
Day 4: Lift X+Y 8 times
Day 5: Add Y lbs to the lift. Lift X + 2Y lbs 4 times
Example (the weights might be weird since I'm not a dude)
Day 1: Bench 100lbs 8 times
Day 2: Bench 110 4 times
Day 3: Bench 110 6 times
Day 4: Bench 110 8 times
Day 5: Bench 120 4 times
and so on. If it's super easy then just jump it up faster at the start.
I have a couple reasons for doing it this way.
Reason 1 is: When I first started lifting it was hard for me to curl 10lbs. I didn't have a 12lb dumbbell at the time so moving up to 15lbs was like a giant mountain in front of me. This probably isn't as much of an issue for men but I feel like it still applies to some lifts. Maybe some tricep stuff? Anyway, I had to figure out a way to do it gradually. At one point, using this method, I could curl 30 which I think was decent for a female but I'm back down to 20 right now (I took a super long hiatus and am now back to lifting again).
Reason 2 is I rarely ever got to a point where I could not go heavier or for more reps (one or the other) using this method. Every time I lifted I could do at least one more rep than last time, or increase the weight. This was very motivating to me. I didn't want to do less weight than the time before. I felt like that would have bothered me a lot.
This goes against any plan that says to lift to failure though.
Also, I've read lots of articles saying you don't have to do things like dumbbell curls, as fb30 said. I do them anyhow just to make the workout last longer.
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HUSKER 37
New member
Thanks for starting this thread knapplc.
I visited a gym I used to belong to just to see if they still had the one forward crunch machine I used to rehab my lower back about a decade ago...I was having back problems again for the last month (walking, deep breathing. sneezing without fainting...etc). Despite the new ownership that the members have been complaining about online, they still have it..and now that the swelling has gone down, I'm thinking of starting up again.
I do remember how hard it is not to fall on bad habits and lift to bulk up...Seems every time I start lifting, I'm trying to undo the bulk my high school coaches tried to have me put on...My Teenage son also seems to want me to show him how to lift but he has his mom's small frame..
My ''good'' shoulder has been popping? lately and feeling arthritic so I'm guessing I might need to start really slow...but...last time I tried doing 50 reps of half my max, I would end up speeding up too much and ripping muscle tissue..
Will Moiraine's formula work for making my son and I stronger and maybe less bulky?
I visited a gym I used to belong to just to see if they still had the one forward crunch machine I used to rehab my lower back about a decade ago...I was having back problems again for the last month (walking, deep breathing. sneezing without fainting...etc). Despite the new ownership that the members have been complaining about online, they still have it..and now that the swelling has gone down, I'm thinking of starting up again.
I do remember how hard it is not to fall on bad habits and lift to bulk up...Seems every time I start lifting, I'm trying to undo the bulk my high school coaches tried to have me put on...My Teenage son also seems to want me to show him how to lift but he has his mom's small frame..
My ''good'' shoulder has been popping? lately and feeling arthritic so I'm guessing I might need to start really slow...but...last time I tried doing 50 reps of half my max, I would end up speeding up too much and ripping muscle tissue..
Will Moiraine's formula work for making my son and I stronger and maybe less bulky?
Bornhusker
Banned
bingo, which is exactly what I did.. hadn't lifted in years and started back up, but jumped the gun on how much weight I started with.... pop in my shoulder, torn a rotator cuff. This was about a year ago. I think I am able to start back up, but it will be very, very slow. I am just doing push ups to start with, or if on the bench just doing the barbell by itself.
EDIT: I use to have the huskers workout (from the 80's), but can't find it any more. Would love to do it again, but without trying to lift as much as I did back in the day.
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