Tough Teacher

[scottam2]

Hi Everyone!

   I'm Amber. I'm a teacher in Ohio and have recently begun my strength training lifestyle. I am open to as much advice, motivation and encouragement as possible. My workouts are generally structured like this:

 

- Agility ladders for a warm up

- Strength training - 4 lifts in a muscle group. normally 4 sets of 6-8 depending

- cardio circuit - 15-20 minutes of a circuit usually involving rowing, burpees, medicine ball throws, sprints, jump rope, box jumps

 

I do this 5-6 times per week. I've been going for about a month but I haven't seen many changes. Sometimes I struggle to push myself (I don't have anyone to workout with)

 

My diet could use some improvement but I'm just not pushing myself hard enough in that area either.

 

That is me for now. =)

 

 

[Rooks]

Welcome to NF!  There is plenty of information on all the various sections.  

 

If you want to stick with the strength training, I'd be curious to get a more in-depth look at your programs.  A lot of the Warriors (i.e. the guys and gals who focus on heavy weight training here) like using the Big Three lifts as starting blocks: squat, deadlift, and bench press.  Then you build off those as they are compounds lifts that tend to work more parts of the body at once.  

 

Anyway, like I said, welcome!  Look around and ask for advice is specific forums (or here) and I'm sure there will be plenty of helpful people.

[scottam2]

Because I work out alone, I'm afraid to try really heavy weights. My normal lifts and weights are as follows:

Squat - 4x8 with 65 pounds. I can do this pretty easily

Push Press - 4x8 with 45 pounds. I could do more but I can't jerk the bar up to starting position with anymore weight.

Deadlift - 4x8 with 65 pounds. By the fourth set, I am struggling.

Bench Press - 4x8 with 45 pounds. Pretty easy but again, I'm afraid to go heavier being alone.

Curls - 4x12 with 15 pounds.

Lunges - 3x20 with 45 pounds.

 

I'm open to thoughts and or suggestions. What I really need to do is find a workout buddy to keep me motivated. After my lifts, I do a cardio circuit.

[Rooks]

Does your gym have a power rack or a squat rack with adjustable safety bars?  If so, you could do the big lifts heavy without a partner.  I'd recommend doing a few practice runs of "dumping the weight" without your max.  

 

What your goal is will affect greatly what programs you should follow as well.  For example, if you actually want to do powerlifting and try and get bigger numbers, you'd probably want to start doing lower reps, heavier weights and fewer days (3 days a week is plenty).  

 

If your goal is just to "look good" then you can accomplish that any number of ways, but for me personally, I've seen the most results doing something very similiar to the above (I've see more results in 9 months of doing SuperLifts 5x5 then in 2 years of running routinely without strength training).  

 

And to be fair, you probably won't see much change in a month.  Especially if you were in decent shape when you started.  

[scottam2]

My goal is to feel comfortable in my own skin and to be able to do pull ups. I'm 5'7 and a "pudgy around the middle" 155. 

 

By what increments should I increase my weight on the bar? Are 5x5s a good play to start?

[Rooks]

The StrongLifts 5x5 is a good plan for beginners to strength training for 2 reasons (at least in my opinion).  

 

1)  It recommends you start light and get form down while you are moving up the weights

2)  It's simple.  There are 2 days that you simply alternate.  

 

The plan gets outlined quite heavily on the StrongLifts page (you actually increment the weight on every workout).  I'd read up on it, see if it's something that you'd want to give a shot.   Here's a link:

 

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

 

Also, if you don't feel comfortable signing up for the page, just PM me and I can send you the PDF and an Excel spreadsheet about 5x5. 

 

Finally, I'll state that I'd also recommend looking into other things.  One thing that I've firmly learned is that no one plan works for everyone and everyone should experiment themselves to find out what works for them.  

[csouter02]

Hi Amber! I completely agree with Rooks about the Strong Lifts 5 X 5 workout. 

 

It is the program I use and it has helped me tremendous amounts. I went from dead lifting 150 pounds in March to now dead lifting 225. Sunday I set a PR for myself and did 1 rep of a dead lift at 255 lbs. 

 

Trust me when I say it will start to become frigging addictive. I may be a guy, but I jumped right into strong man lifts without any kind of spotter or helper. I just started off with lighter weights and progressed little by little.

 

I use the JetFIT app to track all of my stats and make a workout program tailored for my goals. 

 

Also check out the book 5/3/1 which is an awesome program for beginners. Amazon should have it. 

 

Good luck!

[scottam2]

Awesome. Thank you!

[Morrigainz]

At 5'7" I would say you are hardly "pudgy". I'm 4" shorter and only 10# lighter

 

Definitely listen to Rooks. Lifting is awesome, and you can do it alone safely, as long as you know what you are doing. Kudos on getting started! I can't wait to see your progress.

 

Good luck on the pull-up...I am *still* chasing mine.

[Rooks]

Also, I'd just like to state that you should make sure you get your form down rock solid before moving up the weights.  I recommend this for pretty much everyone, but watch some online videos of how to squat, and deadlift, as well as maybe take videos of yourself and post them up on the Form Check forum.  

 

Form is so so important as you will prevent injury and you will be able to pull / lift more weight when the exercises are done right.