Do you work out? Advice, please!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Let me start by saying that I’m not trying to get buff or compete. I am trying to build strength, especially in my weenie arms. We’ll be building a house in a year or so, and I need to be able to lift and hold and carry, pound nails, cut wood, and all that stuff. I’ve been going to the Y for almost a year, on and off, more off than on lately, but in the last month, I’ve been more dedicated. I try to go 3-4 times a week.

I start out with 25 minutes on the recumbent bike - I’ll be increasing this to 30 next week - at level 7 on the setting where the resistance increases and decreases throughout the workout. According to the display, I do about 6.3 miles averaging 15 MPH - I don’t know what my heartrate is because the monitors are broken.

I’ve divided my exercises into 3 groups, six machines per group - each done on a separate day. The leg routine is the easiest - I’ve got decent strength. Upper body is much more difficult - especially the presses. Forearm and torso work is OK.

When I got my intro walk-thru, the guy who was helping me said I should do 3 sets of 8 reps, adding weights as it got easier. I did that for a few months, then asked another staff member about increasing reps. She said 8 was too few and I should have been doing 12 all along, so I lowered the weights and did 12 reps of each. Then I quit for a few months (between my dad’s funeral and the holidays, I wasn’t in the mood to go)

So, last month I started back again, 12 reps at lower weights than I had been doing. Last week, I decided to ask yet another staffer what I should be doing. He said for strength building, I should do the pyramid technique. For example:[ul]12 reps @ 35#
10 reps @ 40#
8 reps @ 45#[/ul] and when the 8 reps get too easy, I need to increase all weights till I’m struggling to finish the 8. And that’s what I’ve been doing now.

So, what say ye? Did any of these people know what they were talking about? Should I be trying another method? Is there any hope for my weenie arms?

2

The pyramid technique sounds good. If you want to increase arm strength for practical purposes, I’d also recommend strengthening your hands. I was recently given a hand-grip and now have muscles in my hands that I literally never knew existed. It makes carrying the shopping home and other chores much easier, and also means that I can lift heavier weights. Don’t know if that would help you, but it did me.

Another hint is to do some light exercise on the days that you don’t go to the gym. Just do twenty press-ups or bicep curls with half your usual weight. This increases blood flow to the muscles, which aids in recovery.

Personally I find the presses incredibly hard, especially the chest press! With my thighs I can press twice my own weight, with the chest press it’s about a tenth of it!

3

If you want real world strength, you need to do full-body exercises with dumbbells. Machines hit one muscle group only, but do too much work for you, and in a real-world situation, the smaller stabilizer muscles are what matter. And real-world strength pretty much always involves multiple body parts moving together. The best full-body exercises are the squat and the deadlift, but if you’ve got existing back problems, you need to be careful. See a doctor, even if you aren’t particularly concerned.

Good form is absolutely essential. It can make the difference between a productive workout and a serious injury.

As far as arm presses go, stick to the bench press and the shoulder press. For pulls, stick to the bent-over dumbbell row and the wide-grip pulldown.

Hand strength is important, but I don’t worry too much about it specifically, just cause a lot of the other exercises I do develop my grip.

In your pyramid, I would aim for 12 reps on each set, but that’s a minor quibble.

Do not lift heavy every day! Your muscles need 48-72 hours to recover, or you won’t see progress. When I’m training for strength (this involves high weights and low reps), I do cardio one day, lift the next, and rest on the third.

Here’s a decent basic program. You’ll have to figure out the weights yourself.

Day 1: Squats, shoulder press, pulldown. Three sets of 8-12 reps of each.

Day 2: Deadlifts, bench press, row. Again, three sets of 8-12 reps of each.

Rest for about a minute between sets. This should take you about half an hour. Stretch before and after.

Do cardio (30 mins. max) on days you don’t lift. Leave one day a week for recovery. Alternate between days 1 and 2 so that you get each one three times every two weeks.

You do that, I guarantee you’ll be impressed with the progress you make.

Lastly, keep in mind that progress will be slow. The important part is to keep at it. You will see results, just not tomorrow. :wink:

4

Hi there FairyChatMom … I am probably going to sound like one of those trendy, bean sprout eating types…but honestly, I think Yoga has made me stronger. I feel like my whole body is longer, leaner, and I feel like I have muscles I never knew were there! Of course weights are probably best for building muscle mass…but actually, I don’t know - I think Yoga really works!

Ok…I’m going to go eat some bean sprouts now.

5

My husband works out with a reverse of the pyramid mentioned in the OP, and that was at the advice of the women that run the Y he goes to. I can’t really help, since I use a home gym and all my knowledge comes from reading and talking with people. I’m pretty strong, and I can curl a 20# barbell 1 set of 10 reps each arm (and my wide arm shoulder pulldowns are done at 50#), but I’m nowhere near as strong as a lot of other women. I still can’t do a single full body pushup.

6

Shana, I’ve actually thought about taking yoga for flexibility. Unfortunately, the only beginner classes at my Y are conducted when I’m at work, and I know better than to hop into an advanced class.

ultrafilter, I’ve been reluctant to have a go at free weights - I have visions of dropping them on myself or other people in there. But I hadn’t considered that they’re more like what I’ll be encountering when we build. I should probably add a few exercises with them.

I don’t exercise the same muscle groups two days in a row. At a minimum, there are 3 days between repeats, tho in reality, it’s more like 5-6. This seems to work well - I feel like I’m working hard, but I don’t think I’m overworking. I’m almost 50 - I know I’m not going to match the young 'uns. But I also know I can do more than I have been.

SciFiSam, I know what you mean about the presses. I think I can do 30-35# for chest press and overhead press, and I have jello arms when I’m done. How sad is that??

Deadly, I’ve never been able to do a real pushup. Or a pullup. Or a chinup. Like I said - weenie arms.

7

FairyChatMom, one thing about working out is that if you don’t have a lot of strength or musclemass to start with, you tend to see some significant improvement fairly quickly. This will encourage you to keep going. I like to think of this as “the beginner’s effect.” Being female, you’re not likely to develop a lot of muscle mass, but you should see strength improvements fairly soon.

You should also think about the time of day that you work out, because that can have a big impact on how consistant you are. Mornings before going into work is best for a lot of people. That way you avoid the typical problem of planning a lunchtime or evening workout, but having to skip it because you’re too busy.

8

FCM you might like to check out that Body for Life book. There is a weight-lifting part to it.

Although I have been going to the gym for 5 years now, I have seen more results in the last 8 weeks from being on the Body for Life program. It’s similar to the pyramid mentioned previously.

Example: Bicep Curl

12 reps @ 8 lbs
10 reps @ 10 lbs
8 reps @ 12 lbs
6 reps @ 15 lbs
12 reps @ 12 lbs

then 12 reps @ 25-lb body bar

Good luck !

9

Only almost 50? That’s not as old as you think. Most of the weightlifters I have contact with online are over 50, and many of them started only recently.

You do have to decide what works for you, and if you’re happy with the results you’re getting. BFL seems to work for a lot of people, although it’s not my thing.

10

Deadly, my brother used to offer me MONEY to do ONE full-body pushup . . . and I never got the cash.

Since I started working out recently, I added “girl” pushups to my routine: whenever I think about it, I drop and do 10 (should see the looks I get from my coworkers), with the idea of getting in 50-70 per day that way.

NOW I can do exactly ONE full-body pushup. It’s pathetic, I know, but it makes me horribly proud. :wink:

11

Ok, I’m going to hijack the thread and ditto what Shana said - I take medicine for arrhythmia so cardio is supposedly a no-no, and weight training just isn’t my thing.

And so, being the self-conscious creature I am, I bought a yoga+pilates video. I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with it so I’ve enrolled in a yoga class here at school for the fall. I feel wonderful after a workout, like I actually have more energy than before, and I’ve developed some muscle tone that I didn’t have before in just a few months.

This may not be what you have in mind to get in shape, but I think it would definitely be beneficial if you supplemented your program with some yoga!

12

Now this is good stuff, and I’d second all of it (so why am I bothering to post, eh?), especially the good form bit. My only weights-related injury was caused by poor form when deadlifting, so - care needed! Wear a support belt.

Or replace / augment pulldown with pull-ups (chins), a great exercise. You might even move to weighted chins if ambitious. Or one arm chins if some sort of genetic freak.

To the above, I’d consider adding power cleans, probably to ‘day 1’. (Well, I’d probably split the session into pull vs pushing exercises, but that’s something else entirely).

Another cardio option is to run / bike to the weights session. Purists might argue, but I find this works very well and is an efficient way of grouping different workouts.

So there you go (of course, I may be a 300lb doughnut chomping lardbucket, so feel free to ignore everything above).

13

Chins are probably better once you’ve built some strength, but pulldowns are a good starting exercise.
**

Power cleans are another one of those exercises that I wouldn’t recommend to a beginner.

14

Fair comment.

Hmm, IMHO they are less of an injury magnet than deadlifts or even squats, probably because the amount of weight moved in a clean tends to be somewhat less. However I’d agree that cleans are one of the more technical bits of iron shiftage.

YMMV and all that jazz.

15

When I was working out, I did all the pumping iron stuff, but it was to long ago for me to remember any details that would be helpful.

What I do think I can contribute that I haven’t seen mentioned was while I was working out 3x/wk, I was also swimming 1 mile 5x/wk. If your Y has a pool, I found the swimming provided an excellent way to total body conditioning and really helped with building my upper body strength.

16

FairyChatMom , I have actually never been to a Yoga class in my life (although I would love to!). I basically started out with beginner video tapes and then moved on to more advanced tapes. There is a position in Yoga called “The Downward Dog” that is absolutely perfect for “weenie arms”! As lovelyluka stated, maybe you could supplement your weight training program with some Yoga tapes…Good luck!:slight_smile:

17

cadolphin, our Y does have an outdoor pool and it opens tomorrow, I think, but I’m most definitely not a swimmer. I can save myself if I fall off the boat (which I’ve done) but I have no technique, and frankly, I don’t like being in the water unless it’s a hot tub. :smiley:

hmmm, Yoga tapes… there’s a thought. Thanks, Shana!

18

Yoga’s not bad, especially for flexibility and balance, which are pretty important as you head towards your golden years.

Do stick with the weights, though. In addition to keeping you strong, they’ll also help keep your bone density high, which is a pretty huge big deal.

19

Oh, I intend to stick with the weight training. I get satisfaction every time I can add weights, especially when I see the sweet young things who lift less than I do. Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s not a competition and I have no idea what their goals are, but I’ll take my perverse satisfactions where I can get them! :smiley:

20

Oh, me too, I live outlifting the men :smiley: I do prefer the free wegiths, though; you can see when you’re not lifting them properly, and you can correct yourself, thus using your muscles more effectively. With the weight machines it’s too easy to get into bad habits.

I haven’t been to the gym for four months, though. First I had a back injury, and then my bicycle was stolen, taking away my only way of getting to the gym. However my back’s fine now and my new bike is arriving on Monday, so I’m looking forward to getting back to the weights again! All the information on pyramid training in this thread is useful for reminding me what to do when I start back again. Thanks for starting it FCM!