How Do I Start Weight Training? Explain it to Me Like I'm Five.

[mopo89]

I love all of these suggestions!

I have a question for those of you that have been weight training with success for a long time….

So, real quick, my situation. All of my younger years were spent in serious swimming…but with that comes a coach, to guide you, make up your workouts etc. And it is just a different kind of workout vs. weight training/ strength building…

Life circumstances led to excessive weight gain, could not get it off for literally anything, then the magic of GLP-1’s, I have lost 65lbs, but have been in a stall for quite some time (months & on the highest dose of Tirz), and I want to start building my strength back and get more toned.
I also think it could help break my stall… I only want to lose another 20-25lbs ish….but being strong matters to me more than the scale, especially my core, where it seems I have lost all strength!

BUT what keeps messing me up from getting going with any program is how incredibly sore I get after lifting from just 1 or 2 workouts !

All the things I read on strength training say not to lift again when you are still sore, cause your muscles are rebuilding, but if that soreness lasts 2, 3, or 4 days, what do you do? (I foam roll, use a massage gun, drink lots of water)

Do you just lift anyway and eventually you will stop getting so sore?

I know that being consistent is an absolute must for this to work…
So looking for some advice on how to get more consistent even when this happens..
Thank you!!

There are some peptides that are supposed to help with muscle soreness after a workout. I can’t remember which ones off the top of my head but you could try that.

When I start a lifting program, I start with low weights. Lower than I think. And every week or so I add on 1.25lbs until I get to a challenging weight that I might stick with for a bit. It gets your muscles used to lifting. You’ll still be sore, but less so. I also generally lift 3 times a week and a program might look like this:

Sunday - rest
Monday - upper body
Tuesday - lower body
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - rest
Friday - full body/core
Saturday - rest

Something like that at the start gives you days between lifting to recover. Also always remember to stretch. I stretch every day.

 

[keangkong]

Mark Rippetoe's starting strength DVD is a good systematic way of learning the main movements. He also has some videos on youtube, but the DVD is more detailed and has a variety of volunteers that he uses for demonstration. You can get the actual DVD or find it on the internet.

That requires you have access to some expensive equipment and a power cage. I wouldn't let a 5-year old do those exercises unsupervised. At age 55 with a moderate to severe spinal osteoarthritis and no experience doing a power clean, there is no way that I'd try doing one myself. When I spoke via Facebook to someone who co-authored a book with Mark Rippetoe, Andy Baker, Andy said he doesn't have his clientele (who are generally not teenagers) do power cleans.

 

[YoYoFat]

Oh hello, fellow middle aged woman checking in.

Same here. Caroline Girvan, CGX app and YouTube, is really great.

I also love Pilates but don’t have the commitment to get to classes, so I just do mat at home.

 

[hissita]

I love all of these suggestions!

I have a question for those of you that have been weight training with success for a long time….

So, real quick, my situation. All of my younger years were spent in serious swimming…but with that comes a coach, to guide you, make up your workouts etc. And it is just a different kind of workout vs. weight training/ strength building…

Life circumstances led to excessive weight gain, could not get it off for literally anything, then the magic of GLP-1’s, I have lost 65lbs, but have been in a stall for quite some time (months & on the highest dose of Tirz), and I want to start building my strength back and get more toned.
I also think it could help break my stall… I only want to lose another 20-25lbs ish….but being strong matters to me more than the scale, especially my core, where it seems I have lost all strength!

BUT what keeps messing me up from getting going with any program is how incredibly sore I get after lifting from just 1 or 2 workouts !

All the things I read on strength training say not to lift again when you are still sore, cause your muscles are rebuilding, but if that soreness lasts 2, 3, or 4 days, what do you do? (I foam roll, use a massage gun, drink lots of water)

Do you just lift anyway and eventually you will stop getting so sore?

I know that being consistent is an absolute must for this to work…
So looking for some advice on how to get more consistent even when this happens..
Thank you!!

I've been lifting for many years, with occasional longish breaks. The worst soreness of all is when you come back from a break after previously having been trained. You can just mess yourself up so bad when your muscles know the movement patterns, but they aren't used to the work.

I always deal with soreness by just lifting through it. Lifting usually makes me feel better if I'm sore; it helps to warm up the sore muscles and get some blood moving through them. It is good to take 48 hours between sessions to recover and get stronger, but you don't have to wait until you aren't sore anymore. You can go a bit lighter or do less volume if you want, but it isn't necessary.

One time after a break, I tried starting from REALLY light weights (the empty bar) and doing 3x10 every session, increasing weight VERY slowly (adding 10 lb each time) until I was near my previous working weights. That actually worked to get me back into it without ever making me really sore. I kind of like getting sore and I suffer from impatience, so I probably wouldn't do that process again, but it might work for you!

 

[hexagonal]

Starting Strength was a good program 20 years ago, back when the closest things to scientific research was whatever strength coaches put their athletes through and blog posts on bodybuilding.com - but we've gone a long, long, long way beyond that these days. It's what I got my start on when it came to lifting, and I had good success with it back in the day, but I wouldn't ever recommend it to anyone these days.

Starting Strength is primarily focused on strength training for athletes, and the strength training you do in support of playing some other sport is different than the goals most people on this forum, so even if it still was in line with the research today, it's not the best fit.

Most people are going to be interested in a more hypertrophy focused workout - that is, building actual muscle mass. That's what will help fill in loose skin and make you more 'toned', burn (a little) more calories, etc. With this you generally want to work with lighter weights, in the 5-30 rep range. The movements/lifts you choose to do depends more on your goals and the amount of time available to you, so it's hard to make generalized statements. There are some barbell movements that are covered in starting strength that are still great options for compound movements hitting large muscle groups all at once, such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc., but there's a lot of muscles that will see better results with more isolated lifts.

We've got a ton more understanding these days on the minimum effective dose when it comes to volume of lifts per week, plus more science showing that focusing on the lengthened portion of the movement, even for partial reps, being the most important for hypertrophy. Working close to failure is important, but actually reaching mechanical failure likely puts too much systemic fatigue on your body to be the most efficient manner. You're still likely to get there at times when pushing close to failure, and that's fine, but it's not something you should aim for.

As for being sore, it'll always be at it's worst when you're training a muscle for the first time (ever, or after a long time off). If it's just your muscles being sore, then you generally want to stick to the schedule and push through it. It gets better after a while. Getting enough sleep, enough protein, etc., is some of the biggest parts of recovery, so also make sure you're good on these fronts. If you're pushing yourself as hard as you should be for maximizing improvement, you're always going to be dealing with some soreness, but the debilitating several days of feeling like you can't move your legs/arms/etc. should go away as long as you are working out consistently.

if you are experiencing significant joint, etc. pain, and not just muscles - that's another story. Either within the lifts or during the recovery period, significant pain there is a warning sign. A little bit of discomfort is to be expected, and over time your tendons and ligaments and such will also strengthen as you exert more force on them, but if you're waking up the next day and it's joint limiting your mobility, it's a warning sign that you're using too much weight, there's an issue with your form, you're overexerting yourself, etc. - something is going wrong.


Re: Machines, they've gotten much much much more acceptance even from the powerlifting community over the years. I would caution that they're really not that much safer when it comes to injury risk. They mitigate some risks, do nothing for quite a few of them, and introduce new ones - if you get yourself pinned doing a bench press or similar on a smith machine where you can't rack the weight, you're in a much worse position than if you did with a barbell - you can't dump the weight off to the side with the machine.

 

[Binxy]

Get a 5 pound kettlebell off Amazon and check out beginner videos by Brittany at KettlebellSolo. This area is exactly what she specializes in.

 

[Binxy]

I love all of these suggestions!

I have a question for those of you that have been weight training with success for a long time….

So, real quick, my situation. All of my younger years were spent in serious swimming…but with that comes a coach, to guide you, make up your workouts etc. And it is just a different kind of workout vs. weight training/ strength building…

Life circumstances led to excessive weight gain, could not get it off for literally anything, then the magic of GLP-1’s, I have lost 65lbs, but have been in a stall for quite some time (months & on the highest dose of Tirz), and I want to start building my strength back and get more toned.
I also think it could help break my stall… I only want to lose another 20-25lbs ish….but being strong matters to me more than the scale, especially my core, where it seems I have lost all strength!

BUT what keeps messing me up from getting going with any program is how incredibly sore I get after lifting from just 1 or 2 workouts !

All the things I read on strength training say not to lift again when you are still sore, cause your muscles are rebuilding, but if that soreness lasts 2, 3, or 4 days, what do you do? (I foam roll, use a massage gun, drink lots of water)

Do you just lift anyway and eventually you will stop getting so sore?

I know that being consistent is an absolute must for this to work…
So looking for some advice on how to get more consistent even when this happens..
Thank you!!

You may be going with too heavy weights and too ambitious of a workout. Give yourself a month of very light weights and 10-15 min workouts 3 or so times a week. Consistency to build neuromuscular connections to begin with, not overstressing your muscles, that’s my suggestion.

 

[Kelso37]

You may be going with too heavy weights and too ambitious of a workout. Give yourself a month of very light weights and 10-15 min workouts 3 or so times a week. Consistency to build neuromuscular connections to begin with, not overstressing your muscles, that’s my suggestion.

I think you are right, I am going to heavy and need to focus more on the consistency and all the other wonderful tips everyone gave!
It is funny when you were an athlete for most of your life and you are trying to get back at it your brain & body just do not match up sometimes, I guess is the best way to explain my mind…….
i am going to try lower weight and just focus on consistency for the next month or so, hopefully that will get me going in the right direction!!

@hexagonal & @hissita & @mopo89 thank you so much for all the info!! Back to the drawing board!

 

[Dee X]

@dogmom, you and @Kelso37 should be workout buddies

 

[keangkong]

Mark Rippetoe's starting strength DVD is a good systematic way of learning the main movements. He also has some videos on youtube, but the DVD is more detailed and has a variety of volunteers that he uses for demonstration. You can get the actual DVD or find it on the internet.

Don't start with Mark Rippetoe's DVD. Contrary to what Rippetoe believes, I doubt anyone should start power cleans without in-person instruction. His exercises also require a power cage, something most people don't have sitting at home. (I actually do have one at home: I'm probably one of the weakest persons who has one at home and actually occasionally uses it. Don't blame my weakness on Mark Rippetoe: The exercises are great for building strength.)

 

[keangkong]

Everyone else has given great advice. I just wanted to add that if you have a Five Below store near you, they sell the resistance bands for $5. It's a set of 3, with a set of handles. Of course, they are entry-level quality....but you are looking for entry level. I have a set that I've been using for a month. I love them! Five Below also sells hand weights in several sizes and medicine balls. They are on the right side of the store, about midway back

For someone who hasn't done strength training before, resistance bands are great. Use the internet to figure out the good exercises. You will find folks who lift weights who criticize resistance bands, with some justification. But compared to doing no resistance training, resistance bands are great.

 

[jestintime]

My spouse and I bought a Tonal around six weeks ago. We both have no prior weight lifting experience, and are both currently doing 3-5 workouts a week. So far, very impressed with the machine, programs, and coaches. It's quite expensive, but if it gets us to build and stick to a habit, well worth it for us. I find all the metrics very motivating (I'm at 75,000lbs of total volume already, and have achieved a ~30% increase in my one-rep max for most movements), and like the automatic weight selections. It's very beginner friendly, but also supports enough 'digital weight' that it'll keep being able to challenge us for a long, long time.

 

[Kelso37]

My spouse and I bought a Tonal around six weeks ago. We both have no prior weight lifting experience, and are both currently doing 3-5 workouts a week. So far, very impressed with the machine, programs, and coaches. It's quite expensive, but if it gets us to build and stick to a habit, well worth it for us. I find all the metrics very motivating (I'm at 75,000lbs of total volume already, and have achieved a ~30% increase in my one-rep max for most movements), and like the automatic weight selections. It's very beginner friendly, but also supports enough 'digital weight' that it'll keep being able to challenge us for a long, long time.

Omg I would LOVE to get a Tonal, I think they are so cool!!
I think in order to convince my husband, I have to show some more consistency, which I am trying!
I keep hoping maybe their prices will go down a little, but I get it, super cool technology, and AI and all that jazz
would love to hear your updates down the line!!

 

[jestintime]

Omg I would LOVE to get a Tonal, I think they are so cool!!
I think in order to convince my husband, I have to show some more consistency, which I am trying!
I keep hoping maybe their prices will go down a little, but I get it, super cool technology, and AI and all that jazz
would love to hear your updates down the line!!

Heh, I hear ya! Mine was very skeptical, but it turns out he likes it even more than I do now...

I did end up using TrueMed to get a letter of medical necessity allowing me to use my HSA to purchase. Those pre-tax dollars definitely go a bit further!

Will update down the line

 

[Kelso37]

Heh, I hear ya! Mine was very skeptical, but it turns out he likes it even more than I do now...

I did end up using TrueMed to get a letter of medical necessity allowing me to use my HSA to purchase. Those pre-tax dollars definitely go a bit further!

Will update down the line

Ooo now that is a thought! I have fsa $$ left for this year, I wonder if I could use that or contribute to an HSA next year for it…now you got me thinking!
Im gunna look into it!!
I know what a LOMN, is but how did True med help with that? I am not familiar with them…thanks!!

 

[jestintime]

Ooo now that is a thought! I have fsa $$ left for this year, I wonder if I could use that or contribute to an HSA next year for it…now you got me thinking!
Im gunna look into it!!
I know what a LOMN, is but how did True med help with that? I am not familiar with them…thanks!!

I paid $30 for a medical provider to do a virtual evaluation and then they emailed me the LOMN.

Use HSA/FSA dollars to save 30% on exercise, supplements, health tech, and more!

Shop essentials with HSA/FSA funds! Get savings on qualified exercise equipment, supplements, and health tech, maximizing your pre-tax dollars with Truemed

www.truemed.com

 

[Bacchus]

BUT what keeps messing me up from getting going with any program is how incredibly sore I get after lifting from just 1 or 2 workouts !

All the things I read on strength training say not to lift again when you are still sore, cause your muscles are rebuilding, but if that soreness lasts 2, 3, or 4 days, what do you do? (I foam roll, use a massage gun, drink lots of water)

Give it a few months of frequent enough workouts and you won't get sore.

And, working out while sore is fine, unless its reeeeeeeeal bad - Just take it a bit easier

 

[mopo89]

One time, after not doing any strength training for months and months, I went straight into a hypertrophy program and decided to lift as heavy as I possibly could for leg day. I'm talking like.... 40lbs more than I should have been lifting. I managed to do it and finished the 30 minute workout. I then couldn't walk, legitimately, for 2 weeks. Like, I'm talking tears whenever I had to walk down a flight of stairs or go to the washroom. Ever since then, I go low and slow to reduce muscle soreness at the beginning.

 

[Kelso37]

I paid $30 for a medical provider to do a virtual evaluation and then they emailed me the LOMN.

Use HSA/FSA dollars to save 30% on exercise, supplements, health tech, and more!

Shop essentials with HSA/FSA funds! Get savings on qualified exercise equipment, supplements, and health tech, maximizing your pre-tax dollars with Truemed

www.truemed.com

Well omg ! I learned something totally new today! Thank you for sharing!!

Haha my hubby is gunna flip. He already thinks I have lost it with all my research haha
But he is super lucky and super tall and has never had to diet or anything to stay pretty thin.
He might not ever get it, and that is okay
He loves me no matter what, so it is hard to fault him for his great genetics
It is funny though because over the years I have always told him, we need to take whatever “works efficiently etc” in your metabolism & bottle it up as a med and give it to me!
And what do you know, GLP1’s ! We are in the future!
Now I must have my AI assisted trainer, form coach & magnetic weight Tonal machine!

 

[powerball]

Title is self explanatory. I'd like to start weight training. And for background, I'm late 40s woman, perimenopause, mid 150lbs, sedentary, have rheumatoid arthritis which affects my hand grip, joints and mobility sometimes.

Should I just buy dumbbells and start? Do you think I need a real life personal trainer to tell me the basics? Do you think I need a gym?

Are there any good youtube videos to watch or online guides of exercises to do?

Since you already have joint and mobility issues I wonder if weightlifting is not the best option.

If you have a pool nearby swimming might be just the ticket. It's a fantastic full-body workout while not being nearly so hard on your joints and should also help a bit with your overall mobility. Plus you won't be all hot and sweaty when getting out of the pool.

Honestly, I think it's one of the most underrated forms of exercise.

I'm not saying don't lift but consider maybe starting with swimming to improve your overall fitness before you jump into strength training.

One other thing to note, weights and gym memberships are expensive. I paid over 600 bucks for my adjustable dumbells and another couple hundred for my bench. A gym is going to run 30-70ish a month in most cases. I pay 190 a year for access to the facility where I swim or if I just pay each day I think it's like 6 bucks a day so swimming can also be a more cost-effective way to work out as well.