newbie

[panda]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I'd like to ask for your help. Today (with thanks to resolute for the invite ♥) I joined http://www.fitocracy.com and the prospect of getting gold stars earning points and leveling up was enough to inspire me to actually start a strength training routine.

I have never done strength training before. At some point I saw someone over at exercise_every_day recommend http://www.stumptuous.com/, so I wandered through their dork to diva section learning about proper form for various exercises, before picking a couple I felt comfortable doing with the equipment I have.

My equipment and the exercises I picked behind the cut:

I have:
-hand weights, 3.5 lbs each
-a yoga mat
-my body weight
-food cans, 2 liter bottles and other assorted things that could be used as improvised weights

what I do not have:
-any kind of bench

As for what I did- I've been told you should do reps of a lift until you can no longer maintain proper form, so that's what I tried to do, keep repeating the lift until I felt like my form was going to deteriorate.

I did:
-3 planks, held for 30 seconds each (which was really pushing my limits)

-dumbbell squats, 2 sets of 5 reps (this also pushed my limits, and despite stumptuous' directions, I still felt iffy on my form- if anyone has recommendations for a how to for the complete beginner, that would be great)

-standing dumbbell shoulder press, 2 sets of 10 reps (I could maybe have done more?)

-standing dumbbell bicep curl, 2 sets of 10 reps (maybe could have done more, maybe not)

What do you guys think? Any advice? Are there any other exercises I should be doing with the equipment I have? Thanks in advance!

Comments

[thalia]

I'm congenitally incapable of not giving advice. Take it or leave it.

On the squat front, I'd say (a) don't try to go too deep right away, and (b) make sure your body weight is on your whole foot, not just the toes. You might want to try putting most of your weight on your heels, as long as you don't go overboard and tip backwards.

In general:

- If it's practical, you might want to pick up 5-, 8- and 10-pound dumbbells over the next couple months.

- Other leg exercises that don't require (much) equipment are lunges, step-ups, bent-legged deadlifts and stiff-legged deadlifts. Step-ups do require some kind of step in the 10"-14" range. Don't worry about learning all of them right away, but they'll give you some variety.

- Upper body, adding something for the back would be good, but IMO that's the most challenging area to work without equipment. You can do one-arm lat rows as long as you have something to lean on. Or try double-arm rows sitting and leaning forward.

- You can do reasonable bench presses lying on your yoga mat. Or try pushups on your knees, or against the wall.

- Ramp up slowly. You're doing the right thing, starting with a couple exercises. If you try to do too much too fast you'll just get really sore.

- Stumptuous is a great resource. You're starting at a good place.

Have fun!

Adding to this

[rydra_wong]

Upper body, adding something for the back would be good, but IMO that's the most challenging area to work without equipment.

Yup. If you have a sturdy table, I'd suggest "horizontal pull-ups"/inverted rows.

Or there's this nifty unsupported row.

Or try pushups on your knees, or against the wall.

And check this out:

http://www.stumptuous.com/mistressing-the-pushup

All the things you're learning from planks about holding your torso stable will really help with inverted rows and push-ups.

Re: Adding to this

[panda]

thanks for the links!

[panda]

thank you for the advice! given how low my conditioning is right now, I think I will start veeeerry slowly.

\o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[rydra_wong]

Stumptuous is wonderful (if sometimes hard to navigate), and it sounds like you're starting out in a very sensible way. Do you have any specific goals, or is this an overall "get stronger" plan?

As thalia said, ramp up slowly, and don't try to do everything at once. Make sure you give your muscles time to recover after each strength workout; at a minimum, you don't want to work the same muscles on consecutive days.

Planks are wonderful. As you start to feel more comfortable with them, you can try doing side planks too.

Squats can be really hard (depending on your body proportions and flexibility), and really hard to learn to do correctly, but in my experience the effort pays huge dividends in the long-term. As well as being a great exercise, they teach you all sorts of useful things about body mechanics and how (for example) to protect your knees.

I'd say forget the weights and just do them with bodyweight for now, until you feel confident with the form. Bodyweight can be plenty, and you can reach your arms out in front of you to help balance, or put them behind your head to make it harder.

Have you found the other Stumptuous articles about squatting in this section? This one may be especially handy:

http://www.stumptuous.com/lurn-to-squat-good-e-zy

Bicep curls are an isolation exercise: they only work one specific muscle. So, they're useful if you want to strengthen your biceps, but won't do anything for the rest of your body. On the other hand, they're a simple and safe exercise for learning about sets and reps, and getting a sense of how it feels to get stronger. So, do them if you like them! But depending on your goals, you might want to ditch them later in favour of more whole-body exercises.

Apart from the things I've mentioned in my other comment, the one thing I'd suggest adding now would be a back exercise: maybe superman or bird-dog (both of which you can see in this video). Great for preventing back problems, and also great for teaching awareness and control of your lower back, which will pay off in squats and deadlifts and all sorts of other exercises.

Re: \o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[panda]

right now I don't think I know enough to yet have any idea what realistic goals would be, so my current goal is just 'be able to do more reps than I used to'

thank you for the welcome and the suggestions!

Re: \o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[rydra_wong]

right now I don't think I know enough to yet have any idea what realistic goals would be, so my current goal is just 'be able to do more reps than I used to'

That is an excellent goal! Though once your reps hit a certain point (usually around 12), with most weighted exercises, you may want to modify your goal to 'be able to do the exercise with more weight'.

To be honest, that's mostly as specific as my goals get in that respect, with the odd foray into 'be able to do this exercise that looks really cool' and 'be able to lift X amount of weight because it would make me feel really cool' *g*.

I was wondering more whether there were any secondary goals like 'fix my backache' or 'get stronger for such-and-such sport' to take into account.

Re: \o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[panda]

again, sorry for the really late reply. Nope, no sport or injury specific goals. My back is tight right now, but I think that's more because I haven't been doing yoga. A good dose of daily yoga practice ought to loosen me up again.

When do you move up to more weight? I can do Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press and Dumbbell Squats in sets of 12 reps with my current weights (3.5 lbs), but that's pushing me to almost failure. Is it okay to move up to a heavier weight if I'll only be able to do like 5 or so reps with it to start?

Re: \o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[rydra_wong]

When do you move up to more weight?

It depends on the exercise and your goals.

As a very rough rule of thumb, if you're maxing out at 1-5 reps, that's training pure power and neural adaptation. If you're in the 15-20 range, you're training pure endurance (which can sometimes be a good thing, for example if you're rehabbing/prehabbing stabilizing muscles, like the ones in the rotator cuff, or your back, or if you want to perfect your form on a tricky exercise).

8-12 reps is usually suggested as a good default range to aim for with most things, where you'll definitely get strength improvements and some muscle growth (depending on how easily your body builds muscle).

I can do Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press and Dumbbell Squats in sets of 12 reps with my current weights (3.5 lbs), but that's pushing me to almost failure.

Yeah, I'd suggest that if you're failing at 12, it's probably time to try raising the weight.

Is it okay to move up to a heavier weight if I'll only be able to do like 5 or so reps with it to start?

If you don't have an intermediate weight (where you could, say, get 8 reps before failing), one option is "drop sets", which I resort to quite a lot. So, you do a set with your heavier weight, even if you only get 5 reps. Then you drop to the lighter weight, and do two more sets of 12. So you're hitting both ranges.

Re: \o/ Welcome newbie! *g*

[panda]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful ♥

one more question (I won't call it a 'final' question because it seems I have an endless supply of them XD) I just found a set of dumbbells in the basement, that used to be my grandparents, that I didn't realize that we had. They're the adjustable kind. Right now they have 2.5 lb plates on them, for a total of 5 lbs per dumbbell. But I weighed them, and total, including the bar and everything, they're 8 lbs. This feels like a stupid question but, when I use them, this means they count as 8 lb weights, right?

(I also found my little sister's old 5 lb weights in the basement. I am on a roll today with surprise free new equipment just when I need it *g*)

Oh oh, I thought of another question! (Me, the font of endless questions X3) if I should be aiming for 8-12 reps, how many sets should I be aiming for?

Also any advice for "I pushed myself really hard yesterday and today my quads are killing me"?

Yay surprise free equipment!

[rydra_wong]

This feels like a stupid question but, when I use them, this means they count as 8 lb weights, right?

Yep, you always count the bar (especially with barbells, where the bar can weigh a lot all by itself).

Me, the font of endless questions X3

As you may have noticed, I love questions like this because I can geek out about an enthusiasm of mine. And I'm sure I'm not the only one in the comm who feels that way. So ask away!

if I should be aiming for 8-12 reps, how many sets should I be aiming for?

Again, rule of thumb, but 3. There's been some to-ing and fro-ing in the research about whether one set might be just as effective, but IIRC it was coming down on the side of "3 is better, though you can still get significant improvements from one set".

Also any advice for "I pushed myself really hard yesterday and today my quads are killing me"?

Hot bath with Epsom salts in, a warming massage oil/salve/rub (Lush and Neal's Yard do good ones), and avoiding stairs. *g*

[resolute]

I started out squats by doing them in a doorway in my house. I could hold onto the doorjamb for balance and to help me get back up (because I COULD NOT do even one when I started.) That helped a lot.

I still do plank on my stairs. I can't do a prone one, yet. But stairs means you can gradually work your way lower, over time as you get stronger.

I also use doorways for lat pulls. I grab the doorjamb and lean back, then walk my feet forward until I am inclined as far as I can be safely, without either hands or feet slipping. It's NOT perfect, but it's something.

Also, shovelglove is ridiculous fun weight and flexibility exercise. *Be careful*, though, of your back in the twisting moves. http://www.shovelglove.com/

[panda]

thanks for the suggestions!

(and thanks again for the invite!)

[daedala]

Everyone else has good advice, so repeating it seems silly (though definitely ditch the biceps curls in favor of incline pushups).

Re: benches -- do you have a coffee table, ottoman, etc? Sometimes those work. (I mention it because I was annoyed at myself for having had a coffee table the exact right height for months but never using it as a bench.)

Stumptuous has an All dumbbells workout that's pretty good.

If you are thinking you will stay working out at home, and have the up-front cash, it is cheaper in the long run to buy good adjustable dumbbells (at least up to 45lb each, not the 25lb kind), and you won't end up limiting yourself too horribly. This is what I did, and I'm still grateful to my years-ago self for it. I didn't have a car, so I carted them back by taxi, then took like four trips up the stairs to my apartment to get them there. It was funny, but so worth it. If you don't have the up-front cash, it's not that big a deal. Craigslist and second-hand fitness stores are good places to get inexpensive dumbbells.

[panda]

I don't have a usable coffee-table etc, no. the one we have in the house is an antique which would just not work.

thanks for the suggestion. I don't have the up-front cash, but I will def keep the adjustable dumbells in mind.

[rydra_wong]

Possibly of interest -- we had a fun thread a while back on stuff you can do with no money:

http://lifting-heavy-things.dreamwidth.org/10287.html

[panda]

sorry for the late reply, this is great, thanks for the link!

[mongrelheart]

Hi & welcome! I don't have too much to add since everybody above has such great advice. I'm glad you found Stumptuous, it's an awesome source of info, and inspiration :) Congrats on starting strength training!

[panda]

thank you! :)