lyorn: (Default)
lyorn ([personal profile] lyorn) wrote in [community profile] lifting_heavy_things 2012-02-28 12:29 am (UTC)

Hi, and welcome!

My tips would be:
- Find two days a week where you go to the gym. Plan it as a fixed appointment.
- Do everything exercise with minimum weight or bodyweight first time, really pay attention to the movement and the muscles involve.
- Then, every time (not just from workout to workout but from set to set) use more weight until it becomes a challenge.
- Pay attention to the position of your spine.
- When in doubt, keep to the plan.
- When it hurts in a bad way, don't keep to the plan. There are always other ways to do it.
- You can be more stubborn than iron and win, but only as long as you pay attention to it. Never go at it in a state of mind where your focus is somewhere else. (You are doing yoga, so you probaly do not need that tip... I did.)
- Everyone in the gym whose opinion might be relevant to you has other things to do than judge people who are dedicated and working hard.
- Everyone was a newbie once.

I am doing NRoLfW, which I'm fine with execpt for some of the abs exercises -- my back does not like spine-bending stuff. I had consiered Stumptous "Less thinking more doing", but a more detailed program works better for me.

Despite having been at that gym for years, when I started the program I was terrified that the gym's trainers would yell at me for touching the free weights and doing stuff without being told to. (I had gym teachers yell at me a lot in school.) None ever did. Nor did they when I started schlepping stuff around which I needed for the less common exercises. Neither did any of the guys. Or the gals.

Then I was scared that people would laugh about me attempting the balance exercises (which start in stage 2) and look very silly doing them. I had a small speech prepared. I never needed it.

And finally, having good upper body strength is fun. I feel like Pippi Longstocking when I haul cat litter up the stairs to my flat ;-)



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