Hello y’all. I am taking a break in the midst of my workout and thought to write this post. I recently increased the weight of the two dumbbells I’m using, so now both of them are 6kg.
I definitely notice the difference from 5kg each, and even though I can’t finish all of my workouts because of exhaustion, I don’t want to beat myself up too much over it. I’m getting stronger each time I workout, and eventually I’ll be able to finish them all fully.
Anyway, I’ve been strength training for a few weeks now and I notice a difference. Maybe it’s delusion or wishful thinking, but I like my body better now, I feel stronger and more energetic. I’ve been thinking about picking up boxing as well, and my dad just ordered one of those big boxing sacs that you punch (like you see frustrated husbands doing in shows), so that’s fun.
Y’all got any exercise stories to share or advice for beginners like myself? Any other women in here who strength train? Would be fun to hear from y’all, no matter who you are. (: Cheers!
Biggest advice I have is, NEVER feel bad about cutting exercise short if something feels off or too sore/tight. Not only does it generally help to keep motivation up when a “lazy” day isn’t a big negative on the track record, but staying healthy is unironically the best way to keep up an exercise regiment.
Getting laid up for a few weeks or getting hurt will have a WAY bigger impact than even skipping entire exercises on a day. It’s also really important not to rush back in to exercising too hard when recovering. Especially when you get older and older.
Also if you ever pause or stop for a while, go really easy when getting back in to it!! I’ve hurt myself several times, and it’s basically always been trying to rush back to where I was. (or simply pushing too hard on things that don’t even need a spotter). Let slow aches heal even if it makes a whole lazy week. Some athletes let minor injuries go for months and keep playing until one day the muscle/tendon/bone finally just gives, and now they have a major injury from something minor.
I utterly cooked my forearms and couldn’t work out for six months simply because I somehow managed to push them really hard without feeling it in the moment, once, during one day of exercising. Like my pain receptors were just turned off. No noises or creaks or pain or anything. The muscles did it, without slowing down much at all, but it was like those stories of big adrenaline rushes: They do something crazy like lift a car, and are literally disabled for months after. Felt like my elbows were being torn in half with minimal strain after for over six months. (could be some arthritic condition showing up, but interesting that it’d be right after straining the area a ton).
Also stretches! For similar reasons. More than being flexible, it helps prevent injuries.
Thanks for the advice! I agree, that you should definitely take it slow when reintroducing yourself to an exercise. I have a bad habit of rushing things and wanting to see change immediately, but this time around I make sure I stay patient until the results slowly start showing. It’s enough that I feel physically good to know that my exercise routines have at least some impact.
Congratulations! I want to point out that going from 5 to 6 kilograms is, in fact, a huge jump. That is 20% more than what you were doing before, which is literally huge. That is a big accomplishment – and also, you won’t have to jump by that much in the future.
This is an unfortunate paradox for people at the beginning of their workout careers: the smaller weights are harder to move up in, because each step up is actually a pretty large percentage increase.
going from 5 to 6 is 20% more going from 6 to 7 is 16.7% more going from 7 to 8 is 14% more and so on
So eventually the next weight will only be like 10% more than the previous weight, and that’s a much more reasonable amount to increase by. If each new dumbbell set feels way harder than before, just know that the next step up will be easier than the last one you just did.
I would like to start weight training at home and have no idea where to begin. Do you have a particular routine? Do you have any advice?
Keep in mind I’m also a beginner, so I’m sure there are people here with better advice than mine. But I would say, start out light with a weight you know you’ll be able to handle. Gradually work your way up to heavier weights, heavy enough to keep you sweaty but not so heavy that you can barely lift them at all.
I have made up a simple routine, where I do different exercises every second day to keep the variation. I start out with squats (both with and without a dumbbell), train my biceps and triceps, throw in reverse crunches in every session, and usually I end my routine with hip thrusts or goblet squats. I made this routine up on my own, aka I don’t pay for any subscription or something like that. Definitely research what exercises stimulate the body in the best way, but I can say with some certainty that squats never hurt.
Dumbbells and a bench/couch you can beat up go a loooong way. The “adjustable” dumbbell weights with the plates can be a big cost/space saver, too.
Otherwise, start slow and easy and slowly build up a routine you like. Learn new exercises when you can, and slowly flesh out your routine so it’s whole-body over the cycle.
Personally, I do pushers one day, pullers the next day, leg day, and core/cardio day, then repeat ad. infinitum. It’s mostly broken up so that only one “side” of a movement gets sore at a time. Makes going through the day to day stuff a lot easier when at least some muscles for any given normal motion aren’t sore! (although nothing makes a sore core less sucky to deal with!)
Also stretching is way easier/less painful when only one side is ornery if you overdid something.
A lot of that depends on you, your goals and your available equipment… someone interested in strength training with barbells / powerlifting might gravitate towards 5/3/1. Strong curves is a program directed towards ladies and uses dumbbells, bands, etc. Check out the boostcamp app, it has a lot of free programs to choose from, with workout tracking and explanations of each lift
It’s generally agreed that following an established program is definitely better than almost any DIY solution. You don’t want to be spinning your wheels, you want to be getting the best bang for your buck and making progress
Congrats on the progress, keep it up! I started lifting weights for the first time during Covid and since then I’ve turned into that annoying person who won’t stop talking about the benefits to anyone who will listen. Before long people will start to notice, and you’ll be asked to lift and carry heavy crap
Before long people will start to notice, and you’ll be asked to lift and carry heavy crap
I hope so! Nothing would be more validating honestly. Sometimes when I go grocery shopping with my parents they’ll ask me “is the grocery bag too heavy? You want help?”, like, I’m the one practising with 12kg in my hands haha. I get why they ask though, they mean well.
Picking up heavy crap is our hobby now so its nice to be asked :D
Me ✋ I’ve been lifting for a year now, so idk how qualified I am to offer advice, but I’ll say don’t lift in running shoes, the barbell is easier to lift than it may seem, and consistency is king. Oh, and make sure you sleep and eat enough. I have noticeable biceps and my forearms no longer fit into my fav shirt… but nobody notices my arm gains because of my boobs lol
I‘m a guy but i started doing pullups some weeks ago. At first i was able to do one clean and then an ugly one and now am able to do 5-6 clean ones and one ungly one. Pretty cool how fast you are able to progress. I noticed it improved my posture as well, which i like :)
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Thanks! You know, sometimes I feel a bit demotivated seeing when people are able to lift 80+kg, I don’t know how they do it haha. Maybe I’ll get there someday, though I doubt I’ll be able to lift two 40kg dumbbells lmao.
How long have you been strength training? Have you learned some stuff over the course that you probably should’ve known at the beginning?
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Keep it up! My wife’s been power lifting for years and she’s still improving just through consistency (also there are things you can do once you hit plateaus but you’re quite a bit away from that for now).
Related - are there any active lifting communities on Lemmy? I think I signed up to a couple a while back but haven’t seen a single post. Looking at these comments, it looks like we have a number of people interested in the topic.
If you want free training programs: liftvault.com
Me! I did it for years while in my twenties, then stopped because of injury, bad form and other circumnstances. Now I’ve picked it up again but through a personal trainer. My goal is long term mobility and independence, not so much muscle growing so I strength train 3 times a week, pilates or barré 2 times a week and yoga daily to stretch and help my mental health. I love being able to do pushups and other exercises that challenge me and feeling stronger and stronger everyday. Good for you for listening to your body and what it needs, no need to risk injury to kick ass IMO.
Honestly I yearn for the day I’m able to do a pushup! Do you know of any exercises that can help me reach that goal? I don’t know how effective “half pushups” are (when you balance on your knees instead of your toes).
I’m glad you prioritise your mental health as well. I don’t know about you, but personally I can feel bad sometimes for not progressing as fast as I want to. With time, I learn to take things slow and appreciate slow but genuine results.
Wall pushups helped me a ton at the beginning so I could learn proper hand/arm placement, then that evolved to knee pushups like the ones you describe, then full pushups and now yoga ball pushups so my body and my mind keep getting challenges because I get bored very easy and lose interest at an alarmig rate. Slow is your friend! At least it is for me. Rushing a workout or setting unrealistic goals are killjoys that I don’t need at this point.
I recently started my health improvement journey too. First swimming, then a mixed strength training swimming program.
I think the key is anything you can sustainably do long-term has the biggest life improving dividends.
and even though I can’t finish all of my workouts because of exhaustion
You are completing your workouts, if you’re putting your body to the point where you’ve reached exhaustion, or technical form failure, you have created the right stimulus for your body to improve and adapt. That’s a success
You didn’t mention anything about your diet, I just hope you’re taking enough protein, so that you’re maintaining and enabling your body improvements.
I found having an exercise buddy has been a great help in staying consistent
I remember talking to a (now ex)friend years ago about exercising together because I only really dared go to the gym if I wasn’t alone. Honestly, at this point I don’t think a gym is necessary for me, and sharing my progress/hearing how others are doing on the fediverse is kind of like having an exercise buddy anyway.
Thanks for your kind words. (:
I’m a dude so maybe this doesn’t hold up for you but when I first started I’d get discouraged from putting in tons of hard work for weeks and even a month or two and not see significant progress in the mirror. But would have people complimenting me after about a month.
You’ll feel your gains long before you notice in the mirror. And other people will notice your gains long before you’ll see them. So don’t let that discourage you! I didn’t see progress I wanted for many months. (But I also had terrible nutrition which didn’t help)
Thank you for this I actually needed to hear it! :))
