Dazed and Confused

[sashi]

Hi fellow nerd fitness folk!

Back in August, I decided to get in shape since I had become "skinny fat." I quit smoking and started going to the gym. At first, I just hit the treadmill and some of the weight machines (my gym has some machines set up in a circuit away from the "regular" floor, so I did those). I'm sure I sucked. I loaded most on the tiniest weight. After a few weeks, I decided to take some of the classes offered. The two I do are called "body blaster," basically a step-cardio with weights tossed in on a circuit with ab work in the last 10-15 mins. Even though it's not particularly heavy lifting, I have seen measured improvement.

That said, I want to lift heavier. Here's the problem. I'm terrified. Even though I've read what seems like a million articles online, I don't know where I should begin. I have no doubt my questions have been asked and answered a hundred times, but I think I've reached the point of information overload. I know two things: I need to lift heavy and be better about my diet if I want to get to a nice tight bod (motivation -- I'm going to Dragon*Con as She-Ra this fall and I want to do it right!).

So, I've discovered this wonderful place (where I can admit that I want to dress up like She-Ra!).

So.... my question: how should I start? What should I start with? How do I know what weight to start with? (Just the bar?) I see all sorts of differing information on how many sets/reps and days/week to do this.

How do I get more protein in my diet without resorting to protein powder (because I hate it)? I try, but damn. I know I can't do paleo because I'm too much of a foodie, but I know I can do better.

Here's to hoping someone here can help a gal out!

[ETFnerd]

I'm a treadmil warrior so don't dis' my ride. Or do and suffer no consequences. Welcome and glad to have you here.

[bigm141414]

So.... my question: how should I start?

Slowly is preferred so that you can get used to the movements and form first, then add weight to it.

What should I start with?

Squats.

Dead lifts

Presses (Bench, overhead, dumb bell)

Pull ups

Push ups

These are the basics that are worth mastering before going on to other stuff. Push ups can either start with wall push ups and work to the floor or on the knees and work to up to the toes.

Pull ups can start with dumb bell rows or inverted body weight rows or assisted pull ups and negatives (jump to the top of a pull up, hang there, and slowly let your self down). There are sites like 10 Pull Ups or Hundred Push ups that have a good progression to follow.

How do I know what weight to start with? (Just the bar?)

Dpends on what your current level is. I would start by taking a day or two and running through some body weight squats to see what your form is like and then start adding weight until you feel your form is slipping. Same with dead lifts and presses. When something is too heavy then you have your current limit.

I see all sorts of differing information on how many sets/reps and days/week to do this.

For new lifters the two most common programs are Strong Lifts which is a 5 set 5 rep progression for various lifts, and Starting Strength, which is basically the same thing. Both have websites detailing the progressions and it is a good place to start since it is easy to remember.

How do I get more protein in my diet without resorting to protein powder (because I hate it)? I try, but damn. I know I can't do paleo because I'm too much of a foodie, but I know I can do better.

MOAR BACON! Seriously though how much protein are you getting now? It should be something like 0.7g-1g for every pound of lean body mass you have.

Here's to hoping someone here can help a gal out!

Oh don't worry about that. We're pretty good at helping each other out.

[wildross]

Welcome. To lift heavy, start light. The strong lift 5x5 program is popular and SIMPLE.. Five exercises, 5 sets of 5 reps each. When you can do 5x5, add 5 pounds. Start with either an empty bar, or light dumbbells and start... (Squats, deadlifts, press, bunch press, rows. Or Squats, pulls, and pushes)

I'll let others comment on the food, since I'm not very good at that.

[sashi]

Slowly is preferred so that you can get used to the movements and form first, then add weight to it.

Squats.

Dead lifts

Presses (Bench, overhead, dumb bell)

Pull ups

Push ups

That's what I was thinking -- I guess I'm also terrified of that part of the gym. I'll go over and use the dumbbells, but the squat cages and such are scary.

These are the basics that are worth mastering before going on to other stuff. Push ups can either start with wall push ups and work to the floor or on the knees and work to up to the toes.

I should have mentioned that I've just recently gotten myself doing pushups (and that was the technique I used). It took a few weeks, but I can do them (not a lot of them, but a set of 12 is better than the set of 0 I could do last month).

Pull ups can start with dumb bell rows or inverted body weight rows or assisted pull ups and negatives (jump to the top of a pull up, hang there, and slowly let your self down). There are sites like 10 Pull Ups or Hundred Push ups that have a good progression to follow.

Thanks for the tip on the way to get to do a pullup. I tried to do one (unassisted) in the gym yesterday and failed miserably (and I think some dude was laughing at my pitiful attempts). One of my new goals is to do be able to do one.

Dpends on what your current level is. I would start by taking a day or two and running through some body weight squats to see what your form is like and then start adding weight until you feel your form is slipping. Same with dead lifts and presses. When something is too heavy then you have your current limit.

How do you know when your form is starting to go wonky? Is it best to try to get someone to watch who knows what they're doing?

MOAR BACON! Seriously though how much protein are you getting now? It should be something like 0.7g-1g for every pound of lean body mass you have.

Funny you should say that. Pork is the one meat I cannot eat (it used to make me sick, but I haven't had any even by accident in about 12 or 13 years). I've been wanting to try it again, but it's one more thing I'm terrified of.

I've been tracking my food on myfitnesspal, and I really vary my protein intake a lot. This last week, I averaged 68g/day. The same time last month, I averaged 80g/day over the course of the week. /shrug. I do eat one of the Met-Rx Protein bars (there are two that I like) right after my workouts.

FWIW:

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 126.5

BF: (not sure about accuracy, but an online calculator hit it at 26.3%)

Waist: 28"

Hips: 38"

The thing is... I crave meat (which I know is my body telling me it wants more), but meat is, let's face it, more prep-intensive than that tupperware of cookies I baked over the weekend.

[bigm141414]

I should have mentioned that I've just recently gotten myself doing pushups (and that was the technique I used). It took a few weeks, but I can do them (not a lot of them, but a set of 12 is better than the set of 0 I could do last month).

Excellent!

How do you know when your form is starting to go wonky? Is it best to try to get someone to watch who knows what they're doing?

A few ways. One is to video tape your self and compare what you are doing to online videos or diagrams or if you are brave we can double check it here at NF. The other way is to listen to your body. If you start to tweak something you'll know and it will hurt. For dead lifts a good indication that it's too heavy is you can't lift the bar off the ground Or if you have a buddy who knows what he is doing they can check it out for you, as you said.

[Guest guest4729]

Although I'm new as well and I can't really help - I'm in your situation right now as well!

There's so much information out there that it's a complete overload of my brain and I'm still trying to process it all. It's like "Well I should do this this this and this but...I don't know how to do any of that."

Free weights and barbells at the gym terrify me as does anything that is used mostly by the guys at my college gym. It's very overwhelming considering that you see all the guys using the weights and machines while all the girls use the cardio things like treadmills and such. I don't want to be some cardio bunny because I effing hate it, so using free weights, barbells and body weight exercises is where I'm currently leaning. Thankfully I have a few friends who lift and one said he'd teach me when we both have free time! Yay!

[ebm1224]

i'd be hesitant to believe you're 26.3% body fat if you're 126lbs at 5ft6. i'm 5ft4ish and 153 lbs and 27.5% bf...just not sure our bf would be that close given the wide weight difference. you mentioned you go to a gym...perhaps you should ask if they can do a body fat test...perhaps get a more accurate idea of where you're starting from. not that it really matters overall but there's no sense getting worked up that you have to drop x amount of fat when you don't have that much to lose. does that make sense?

[wildross]

Don't worry if you think someone is laughing at you, or even if they are. Why would you let someone you don't know control what you do? If they are fit, ask them for help or advice. If they aren't ignore them. Or just ignore them.

[sashi]

i'd be hesitant to believe you're 26.3% body fat if you're 126lbs at 5ft6. i'm 5ft4ish and 153 lbs and 27.5% bf...just not sure our bf would be that close given the wide weight difference. you mentioned you go to a gym...perhaps you should ask if they can do a body fat test...perhaps get a more accurate idea of where you're starting from. not that it really matters overall but there's no sense getting worked up that you have to drop x amount of fat when you don't have that much to lose. does that make sense?

That's why I said I wasn't sure about the accuracy of the online tools. My gym does have fitness assessments, but they charge extra for it. I'm going in for a physical next week, so I'll ask my doctor if they can do one there.

Don't worry if you think someone is laughing at you, or even if they are. Why would you let someone you don't know control what you do? If they are fit, ask them for help or advice. If they aren't ignore them. Or just ignore them.

You're totally right, and yet..... I will work on being less self-conscious in the gym.

[ETFnerd]

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<<< She has no problems prancing around the gym...you shouldn't either... :-)

[AngelaTheGeek]

Don't worry if you think someone is laughing at you, or even if they are. Why would you let someone you don't know control what you do? If they are fit, ask them for help or advice. If they aren't ignore them. Or just ignore them.

Agreed. Try to get out of the big box gyms too... If you haven't already, you might consider seeking out a crossfit or similar style gym. Most include the lifting you are seeking, and EVERYONE at a crossfit gym will help you.

I just started Olympic lifting (snatch, clean and jerk) and LOVE it. I think you should try those too. It's a great way to learn form and balance.

Good luck!!!

[sashi]

Agreed. Try to get out of the big box gyms too... If you haven't already, you might consider seeking out a crossfit or similar style gym. Most include the lifting you are seeking, and EVERYONE at a crossfit gym will help you.

I just started Olympic lifting (snatch, clean and jerk) and LOVE it. I think you should try those too. It's a great way to learn form and balance.

Good luck!!!

I'm not in a big box gym -- it's a local joint with two locations. It's kind of smallish and pretty no frills. I'm also pretty sure that my fear is only in my head. Everyone I've bothered to talk to there is pretty nice.

[Damzie]

I felt like a total dumba$$ my first time in the big girl weight room. And then again when I tried to do overhead press with the barbell and could only get it over my head twice. But I'm pretty sure everyone is worried about their own workout and whether or not they themselves are looking like idiots, and thus not paying much attention to me. And anyway, we'll be the ones laughing when we can do a bunch of pull ups and push ups! Go for it!

[Pat G]

Welcome welcome.

As a previously skinnyfat guy. I can only agree with whats been said up above, Body weight and bar weight are good places to start for the compound exercises that will make the treadmill warriors envious (no offence ETF).

[ETFnerd]

None taken Mr. G

[winterbymorning]

That's why I said I wasn't sure about the accuracy of the online tools. My gym does have fitness assessments, but they charge extra for it. I'm going in for a physical next week, so I'll ask my doctor if they can do one there.

The bodyfat scales at most gyms (that use bioelectrical impedance or whatever) are pretty inaccurate, and the results depend heavily on your hydration level, from what I've read. (I had to read about it because when I asked the trainer how the scale worked, she said, "Iunno, it's a really complex, like, machine.")

Hopefully your doctor can use skinfold measurements to calculate your BF%. I'm still trying to find a place in town that'll do hydrostatic weighing XD

[ebm1224]

i haven't done any research into this but i keep hearing that these body fat measuring thingies are inaccurate. but how inaccurate are we talking? several %? or are they usually within 1%? the latter i figure is ok the former not so much. i guess i could get off my figurative ass and go ask google this question but google doesn't give as many snarky and awesome comments as folks around here do.

[sashi]

i haven't done any research into this but i keep hearing that these body fat measuring thingies are inaccurate. but how inaccurate are we talking? several %? or are they usually within 1%? the latter i figure is ok the former not so much. i guess i could get off my figurative ass and go ask google this question but google doesn't give as many snarky and awesome comments as folks around here do.

From what I've read, most of the things you can do at home can be quite inaccurate, but the inaccuracy varies.

Speaking of hydration levels, how do you get yourself to hydrate more? (In the general.) I try and try and try, and on a good day, I'll get in 7 glasses, but I have to really try. Sometimes I think I'm a desert animal, since I can go most of the day (after coffee) without drinking very much at all.

Also, also, thank you all so much for your encouraging support.

[scott82962]

I suck at golf. I don't mind golfing and seeing as I have a lot of friends who golf I occasionally find myself golfing. What I've learned is that no one cares that I suck because 1) I keep moving, even if that means picking up my ball to keep pace. 2) I don't talk when others are getting ready to swing. 3) I putt when it's my turn.

I think weight rooms are the same way. No one really cares how strong you are, if you're familiar or appear to be new. Just 1) keep moving. If you've got the squat rack you should be squatting and limiting time between sets. 2) put the weights back on the rack when you're done.

btw - welcome! You've found a great site and you've the information above is all excellent. (I love 5 x 5's)