Newbie question!

[zulu]

Hi, everybody!

I'm about a month in to my latest exercise program. I've been going to Spa Lady for about a month and doing cardio and weight lifting on alternate days, usually four times a week total. I've been increasing my weights whenever I felt able to do two sets of twelve reps easily. All this work has been on machines, not free weights.

Spa Lady also offers a class called "Iron Reps" which seems to involve free weights and an aerobics-type class structure. I was thinking I'd try it out, but I'm wondering:

a) will I be likely to injure myself from not having experience with free weights?
b) is this kind of class useful if my main goal is strength training?
c) if it's useful and not dangerous, how will I know what weight to start with when I first take the class?

Thanks for any advice!

Comments

[lyorn]

If you are clumsy and stubborn, you can hurt yourself trying to keep up in a class, no matter what it is about. Try not too be too stubborn: Arrange a signal with your body that means "stop". (I'm speaking from experience here.)

Usually, free weights are pretty safe if you pay attention to them, and to form. Don't let the speed and rhythm of a class tempt you to pay less attention.

Start out light. What I've seen from a (maybe) similar class in the gym that I go to, they are doing enough reps that it would be exhausting doing those with a pencil. You can always go up.

Also, what rydra_wong says about low weights and endless reps. But I still think that a class, carefully taken, might give you some familiarity with free weights that can only be useful.

[rydra_wong]

If you are clumsy and stubborn, you can hurt yourself trying to keep up in a class, no matter what it is about.

This is a very good point. As a clumsy and stubborn person, I have managed to hurt myself doing yoga on my own on more than one occasion. I keep learning this the hard way.

[zulu]

Noted! That's why I wanted to be cautious before I started. So far so good!