Greetings from rainy old England!

[Thatotherspectre]

Hi fellow people...uh, who use the internet? o_O

 

I just joined here after finally giving myself a kick up the bum to get motivated! I've been researching strength training and lifting for several months and have finally decided to take the plunge and begin. I'm 26, from the UK and as mad a a bucket. I enjoy video games, cosplay and harassing the elderly and indignant. :3

 

I've always wanted to do strength training, I used to constantly tell my friends that I would love to be able to afford the gym on my student wages, but the one near my uni was so expensive and I had no idea how to begin. T_T Instead I used to do laps around the park, until I broke my ankle in the dark. Oops

 

After that I was pretty unmotivated and a year of being jobless and suffering with depression has left me piling on pounds. At 5'7 and female, I'm about 154lbs at the moment and feel so unhealthy. I've started cleaning up my diet, making healthy choices and trying to cut down on my fat intake whilst still eating wholesome foods. I don't want to starve myself to get 'thin'. I want to lose weight, build muscle and kick ass!

 

I've been reading up on the blogs and have been incredibly inspired by Staci, and have been desperately trying to research just what would be best for me to do training wise. I have access to weights and a running machine, but I prefer weights to cardio, because cardio can set my asthma off quite badly, where as when I did my first strength workout, I was tired, but not to the point of my asthma flaring up. In fact I felt damn good! Even now that I am suffering from DOMS because I went overboard, it's not deterred me, it's made me even more determined! (I kind of went into over kill and did the beginner body weight work out Saturday night and then a 2 mile run the next night because I was messing with the 'run! Zombies' cardio app consequently, my body who is unused to this, has now protested.)

 

My only problem is I am a little confused as to what I should be doing. I'm taking this very seriously and really want to transform my body to make myself happier and to do all the things I want to do in life, but work out wise, I don't know what is best for me.

 

My current goal is to lose weight and gain/strengthen muscles. I don't know just how developed my muscles are under the layer of flab, so I don't want to assume I don't need to work on building them up/preserving or anything, but I have read on here that doing low reps with heavy weights is best for what I'm after as I want strong, dense muscle. (THAT CAN PUNCH THROUGH DOORS! >__> Ahem.)

 

I keep reading Strength Training 101 and it's making me hungry to try lifting, but I am just not sure if using the 'beginners body weight workout' is best for me? That is the first workout I did on Saturday before my failure of a run. I'm now letting my muscles recover with light exercise before trying strength training again (so hopefully Wednesday ) Essentially, the idea of dead lifts and power cleans makes me more excited than a kid in a candy shop. I REALLY want to get there. I've been told by a few male friends that I shouldn't dead lift and power clean until I am 'super huge' but I call bull on this and was wondering if a beginner could begin learning the form for this type of training? (obviously I know not to pile on loads of weights on my first try, I don't want to risk injury :3 )

 

So, that long intro thing going on, can anyone point me in the right direction or tell me if I'm going the right way about it following the beginners body weight workout?

I have started to clean up my eating and drinking, as I mentioned, as I know that it's all about eating clean and not crap, so I've started drinking water instead of juice and soda, having a home made fruit smoothie with a bit of protein powder in it for breakfast(thought this might have been a good idea after my upper thighs hurting so bad) rather than skipping it completely or grabbing crisps, and having healthy food instead of crap. Like today I had a peanut butter and banana sammich on wholewheat bread, instead of a bag of crisps for dinner which I'd normally go for. Is this a step in the right direction at all?

 

Also, on the subject of protein, my brother saw that I had purchased some protein powder and quickly told me "Don't use that unless you are weight lifting HARD CORE, you will clap on weight" I am assuming is not totally correct? Since muscles need protein yes? I'm not going overboard with it, I had less than half a scoop in a batch that has made 3 glasses of smoothie, but I figured a bit would not hurt. Can someone just put me straight on this? There's a lot of contradicting info out there!

 

Anyway, nice to meet you all!

[LDransfield]

Hi!

 

I have no answers to any of your questions as I just started on here too, but it's nice to see other UK people on here! ☺

I feel kind of similar to you (except I have never enjoyed running), and am really intrigued by strength training and lifting, but I have no idea where to start.  I've also been researching stuff for months, but am never super confident starting something like this on my own in case I do it wrong and end up hurting myself 

 

Anyways, nice to meet you!

[Karl UK]

Wow - today must be the day for UK rebels!

 

Cheers

 

Karl

[Basement Cat]

Welcome Specter!

 

Those people who told you not to lift until you get huge are idiots. I'm no expert myself, but if lifting is what you want to do, do it! You just need to start with a heavy (for you) weight, and build from there. Even if it's just 20 lbs, so what? Everybody starts somewhere! Check out the Powerlifting and Weightlifting forum for more info: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/forum/85-powerlifting-and-weightlifting/

 

As for the protein powder, it's not absolutely necessary, but if you want to use it, go ahead! Just be careful that you don't use one that contains sugar (some do). I use it as a substitute for breakfast myself. Much faster than cooking.

 

Good luck with your goals and keep us posted!

[Timmy M]

christ alive, not more of us! 

 

yeah you gotta be like... fucking HUGE maaaaaan

 

also if it's just plain whey powder there's little weight to be gained, it's purely recovery, supplements aren't magic, they're supplementary you could live off weight gain shakes and lose weight, diet is key, supplements help

 

you're goal of punching through walls reminds me of a powerlifter called Paul Carter who i follow a bit 'looking like you could run through brick walls and having the goods to go with it IS in fact the goal here.'

 

good look with it all, FYI get form nailed down with your lifting, don't be one of those types we talk about in the 'Overheard in the Gym' thread

[Devlin]

Hey new uk guy here(Sunny sunderland)

Deadlifts/squats/bench/ohp are perfect for beginners, depending on how many days you have free you can certainly work on getting strong, just look to form before trying to lift as much as possibly. OHP and deadlifts are the best two that build overall strength. Also stuff like one arm rows and dips are ideal.

[Devlin]

Also protien powder wont make you get big. Since your a women it'd require insane amounts of training to get really really massive so dont worry about it .

[SuNoYo]

Good grief, it's all the UK people this week; must be the weather.

Those look like great goals, are you going to be doing your first six week challenge or go straight to the powerlifting etc. subforums?

[mevre]

hurrah! always love to meet other ladies who want to kick all the ass. 
pretty much all the advice you're getting so far is dead-on. the "right" workout to do is the one that gets you excited and constantly pushing yourself to do better. find people from the warrior's guild and pick their brains - they are all about the heavy things. [i will echo some advice from above though, and say again that form is crucial.]
as far as diet goes - yes, you are going in the right direction. even just cutting out juice and soda is huge. keep reading and learning what's healthy and what's not, and make the changes that are right for you when you can. also, Timmy alluded to this, but be sure to check ingredients on the things you're buying. some products have amazing amounts of sugar snuck into them. anyway, continue making the changes at your own pace. some people can do huge all-in-one-go changes, most need to take small steps for the changes to stick. whatever works for you. i will say this though: vegetables. eat a lot of them. cutting down on the carbs will also help you drop weight.
welcome to the rebellion, Spectre! we're glad to have you with us. 

[Thatotherspectre]

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate the warm welcomes

 

SuNoYo, I think I might go into the weight lifting right away, but I will definitely look into the challenges :3

 

Looking at labels is a yes, I have started to look at them on lots of things and cut out things that have stupid amounts in. Like flavored water for example. o_O

 

I am currently learning about form and trying to make sure I get form down properly, at the moment i'm mainly having problems with squats and lunges, as I cannot go down very far. I keep it in my mind when doing squats that the weight needs to be off my toes, not leaning into them with my knees, but since I cannot get down too far I'm unsure how great my form is D: I've been going off making sure I can see the tips of my toes to know my knees aren't over them?

[Wondertje]

I've been going off making sure I can see the tips of my toes to know my knees aren't over them?

 

I've personally found that starting with body-weight squats (nothing but your body, no stick or anything), and then moving my hands forward so I hold them out in front of me when I'm at the bottom position, really helps me. I'm aware that a lot of people say you shouldn't move your arms whilst squatting, but up until now I just can't hold my balance if I don't move my hands forward, but people tell me I have good form, so I assume it's correct and that I just need to get stronger before I can balance it without using my arms/hands.

 

Good luck