Weight Training Suggestions?

I would love some suggestions for routines for my weight training, I worked with a trainer for a while but it’s been about a year since then and I’m getting back into training on my own and sometimes the array of options is just really confusing.

I really, really hate using machines, and all I hear from trainers is that they’re not that great anyway. I like using dumbbells, and body bars and medicine balls, I’m kind of intimidated by barbells but I really should get over that.

I’ve been changing up my routine pretty erratically and constantly, just sort of feeling around for what works and what doesn’t, but I’d love to get something more consistent. I can train 3-4 days a week and I do cardio 6 days a week.

Here are some exercises I really enjoy so far:

Crunches, Oblique Crunches, Bicycle Kicks.
Arnold Press, Standing Triceps Flys, Biceps Curls.
Push-ups (the real kind, not the girl kind!), Planks on the ground and on a stability ball, Supermans.
Wall squats with and without the stability ball, hamstring curls with the ball, bridges.

I have trouble doing regular squats and lunges and a lot of sideways moves with a bent knee, they seem to give my knees a lot of trouble. Anything that puts a lot of stress on my knees or lower back tends to cause me some trouble.

I’m a 32-year old woman, about 60-70 pounds overweight. Weight-loss is obviously a goal for me, but I really like feeling stronger and working out with weights. Hit me with your best suggestions, Burners!

I woud say congratulations on the decision to works with weights. You have a big advantage over people who are about tot lose weight without lifting. You will keep a lot of the muscles you allready have right now. You see the fact that you carry around 60-70 pounds of extra weight also mean that you have the muscles to support that. (If you don’t believe it. Pick up a couple of 25 pound dumbells and start walking around with them.)
Basicly you should do full body workouts with an emphasis on the big muscles in you body. That would be the legs, the back en the chest musles.
So squats, lunges are great . DB Step Ups on a bench (are excellent to get you HR really up)
Pull exercises like Pulldowns or Rows (bent over rows with DB’s) for your back
Press exercises like DB press on a bench or Flys are great for the chest.
That should be the focus. You should give your ABs no more attention than any other musclegroup.

When you have the energy you could at some cardio after the weights. I say after because you need your energy for the weights and after the weights you would be in a fat burning mode right away.

wedzir: Better to do my cardio after weights? I’ve been doing it before.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Big girl push ups! That’s what I like to see!

This topic just came up with somebody else – don’t bother yourself with the tricep and bicep exercises. If you work your back, chest and shoulders, your arms will become strong and well defined.

I’m a little confused about how it is wall squats are okay but regular squats are not. Would you tell me what you mean by a “regular squat”? And how does it hurt? What about exercises that incorporate squats like burpees or get-ups? Have you tried them and how do they feel?

I sure don’t want to let you off the hook on squats. But, for right now, my advice is to do leg presses. Machines are a poor, poor substitute for the real thing. But, if you honestly can’t do the real thing…

Also, tell me more about this lower back issue. What does it feel like and how limiting is it? What exactly aggravates it?

Also, a resource for women in weightlifting that has been invaluable to me:
http://www.stumptuous.com/
Krista is funny, smart, clear and knowledgeable. Try reading that entire site. You’re gonna learn your butt off over there.

Hi Gwen,

I think the reason wall squats are okay is because my center of gravity is further back? I try to sit as far back as I can doing regular squats but I can’t get far enough back without falling over to prevent the pain in my knees. Looking up online, what I call a regular squat is I guess a “parallel squat?” Feet about shoulder width apart, toes forward, squat down putting your butt back, keeping your knees from going over your toes and avoiding leaning forward too much. The discomfort a dull ache that feels like it’s just behind the knee bone, usually starts after about 6-10 squats but it will get a lot more pronounced if I just push through it. What my old trainer called “sumo squats” with my feet planted wide and toes facing slightly out is fine on my knees, as are wall squats. Wall squats are definitely giving me a good quad exercise, I can feel it, aren’t they just as good as using a leg press machine?

The last thing I tried that really aggravated the back pain was a russian twist, anything where I’m keeping myself in a partially leaned back position for an extended period seems to aggravate it. It feels like a band of pain across the very lowest portion of my back, just above my hips. A trainer I used to work with mentioned that I am a little sway back, which I think may be a factor?

I’ll check out that site for sure! It’s surprisingly hard to find information that’s in between the “here are some adorable wee exercises you can do to get ready for bikini season” and “here is hardcore women’s body-building stuff.”

I think there a lot of good suggestions here but based on some of the issues you brought up a session or two with a trainer would be a good idea. A good trainer can design a program for you that you can do on your own but will account for your knee and back pain. They can make sure you’re doing the exercises correctly and safely before turning you loose on your own.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

ipasfictura,

Wall squats are okay but you are forced to stop at parallel. I want you to try some depth.

What you called a sumo squat sounds like perfect form to me. There is a large group of people, and I count myself among them, who consider the feet forward/stop at parallel squat to be truly bad form.

Distance between your feet should be whatever you find comfortable. My stance isn’t that wide but it’s outside my shoulders for sure. It doesn’t have to be shoulder width.

There is a lot of debate on this. Do your own research and make your own decisions. That being said, my personal suggestion to you is:

Squat low. Hamstrings on calves if you can get there. That is so money I can’t even begin to say how money it is. Start out holding onto something so you don’t fall over. The edge of a door frame should work. Or, you can try putting your arms or even holding a dumbbell out in front of you as a ballast.

A well executed full squat will do so much more for you than give you a good quad workout. It’s basically gonna hit most of the muscles below your waist.

With squats, form is king and queen as well as a few dukes and duchesses. You mentioned working with trainers a lot in the past. If you feel you need a refresher, take Pam’s advice. If not, still make sure there’s a mirror around when you squat. Controlled the whole time. NO bouncing at the bottom.

Look into it. Think about it. Then try some depth. See how it feels.

Another thing you might want to look into is barefoot running. Running barefoot is completely different from running in running shoes. You run almost entirely on the balls of your feet. That really mitigates the impact and strain on your knees and lower back. Which is what I’m guessing, has you married to the elliptical machine. Another thing you might try is plyometrics. I’m sorry. I know I’m giving you unwanted advice. I just feel like you’ve got to be getting sick of that machine.

Gwen:

I’ll try the low squats, I’m interested to see how that goes. I chase my friend’s baby around a couple of days a week and end up having to squat low (hamstrings to calves) pretty frequently and it’s not uncomfortable to do so, so that makes sense. Generally though, in a natural squat (which is to say, the squat I do to pick up a squirmy kid, not the one I do at the gym) my knees do definitely come forward over my toes and that seems to be the great big nono of squats.

My gym has a big wall of mirrors and I try to be very attentive to form, so that’s always good. While I’m not working with a trainer currently, there are trainers at the gym who are available for quick questions like “is my form okay?” So I’ll get a pro-check on that.

I’ve heard about barefoot running, my old boss wears essentially nothing but Vibrams and swears by them. I admit to being totally intimidated by the idea though, and really worried about hurting myself. Which, given the fact that I essentially spent May-October barefoot when I was a kid, is probably a little insane. I absolutely hate jogging in shoes, I get foot cramps, it makes me knees, hips and back hurt, and it just feels uncomfortable.

The elliptical is pretty fun and comfortable for me, I like that I can work up a really good sweat without hurting my joints or back, and I like the motion of it. I hate treadmills with the fire of a thousand tiny, angry suns, and bikes tend to work my knees over at higher tension and not give me enough of a workout at a lower tension.

I’ve never heard of plyometrics, but I’ll google it and take a look. And please don’t worry about unasked for advice, it’s not like you’re telling me I HAVE TO do something, and I appreciate suggestions from anyone who (like you) seems to have done their homework. I checked out that website you posted and spent at least an hour and a half reading it today. It’s fantastic, and a much less annoying and cutesy tone than a lot of the woman-focused fitness stuff out there. Thanks!

@ipsafictura. Your old boss was a wise man :) I mean I own 3 pairs of Vibrams. You say when you were a kid you would run around barefoot. My guess is a large population of the world is running around barefooted. We were build to go around barefoot. All the patting and cushioning in modern running shoes make people run differently and that in itself is not perse better.
Working on an elleptical/crosstrainer is an excellent way to workout because you will work your whole body without the pounding on the joints.

If you’re not bored, there’s no need to change.

I like running because I can walk out my front door and do it. But, I live right by a gorgeous bay in the idyllic climate of San Diego. And property is so expensive here that I basically live in a shoe box. So I have a lot of incentive to exercise outside.

The knee thing is another debated topic. I observe the knee rule pretty religiously. There are people who say it’s bunk, though. There is a squat called a Hindu Squat that completely ignores it.

I know exactly what you mean about the cutesy tone. If I’m reading an article that refers to plant matter as ‘veggies,’ I’m out. I can’t read another word. That’s how sensitive I’ve become to that. Reading that stuff makes the palm of my hand hunger for the sting of having slapped somebody’s face. And I’m only slightly kidding about that.

Gwen: The main thing I’d like to change is that I max out at 30 mins on the elliptical because the pads of my feet and toes fall asleep and start getting genuinely painful at about 40 minutes. Some days it’s pretty annoying, other days not a big deal. Also the machines at my apartment gym are AWFUL so it would be nice to have a good workout I could do by stepping right out my front door too. The weather is less idyllic up here in Silicon Valley, but still pretty darn nice. (And obviously I can identify with the property expense thing, omg)

I did squats with an 18 pound body bar on my shoulders as per instructions from Stumptuous.com’s dork to diva instructions and it was a total revelation! It was 100 times more comfortable while simultaneously being a lot more challenging for my muscles. I found that the weight on my shoulders also helped me aware of keeping my back more straight, and (I think partially as a result) my knees didn’t come as far forward.

Oh god, “veggies.” See also: Buns, tummy, bikini-ready, any euphemism for your breasts but especially “the girls.”

ipsafictura -

Start with a few things:
Are you a beginner, intermediate or advance?
How often do you want to train?
What muscle groups do you want to do on what days?
What’s your goal (rehab, build muscle, strength, power)?
If your goal is:
rehab=12-20 reps, 1-2 sets
build muscle=8-12 reps, 2-3 sets
strength=6-8 reps, 2-5 sets
power=1-5 reps, 2-6 sets

This is very general, but will get you started

Will
www.mpptraining.com

@wpm4 building muscles is also possible if you do less than 8 reps.