Beginner- Where To Start?

I would like to take up lifting but don’t know where to start. I hate going to the gym, so I have a mini gym at home. The only weights I own are girly light ones in pastel colours (lol) and from what I’ve read, these are useless.

Could you recommend what I should buy please? Either stand alone weights, like dumbells, or would a machine be better?

Thanks.

Why do you hate the gym?

And what are your goals?

I hate all of the people watching. I’m self conscious.

I want to tone, build muscle and get a better shape, to look better and increase metabolism. I’m a 5’4" female, weighing 118 pounds, but I am very weak and very untoned.

If you hate the gym, and you want to buy your own equipment that’s fine, but make sure you have the space and money. I would start off with purchasing dumbbells and a bench, maybe a pull-up bar; barbells and plates will come in the future when you build enough muscle to go up.

First, start with the basic movements at body weight:

Squats
Toe touches
push-ups/reverse push-ups
burpees
Pull-up
Sprints

Then start doing basic movements with the weights:

Goblet squats
Standing presses
Flies
Bench
Deadlifts (if you have a barbell, it’ll be easier to do than with dumbbells).

OR, if you don’t have the space and money, get a gym membership and find out the quiet hours when next to no one is around.

I’m sure that Colucci and some others will chime in with better advice, but I’ll give it a crack as well. Much like Seachel suggested, you can get off to a very good start with just bodyweight exercises and dumbbells - I definitely recommend those over a machine.

If you’re willing to look around Craigslist, you can probably acquire a few more dumbbells for a good price, people are often selling old weights on there that they don’t use any more. I assume that your pastel dumbbells probably weigh somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds? If so, then I’d suggest buying a few slightly heavier ones, perhaps 15’s, 20’s, and 25’s if you can find them (the exact weights aren’t important, just give yourself a range of options between 5 and 25 pounds).

Rather than give a template, I’ll wait for the cavalry (Chris Colucci) to arrive and list a more structured program, but the exercises that Seachel listed above are useful, although I’d list them a little differently (just a personal preference in how I think about the groups of exercises).

Lower Body

  1. Squat Progression: Bodyweight Squats → Goblet Squats (holding one dumbbell in front of you at chest level) → Dumbbell Squats (holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides)

  2. Lunge Progression: Bodyweight Lunges - Goblet Lunges (holding one dumbbell in front of you at chest level) → Dumbbell Lunges
    (holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides). Note that lunges can be done both “forward” (starting with legs together, one steps forward) and “reverse” (starting with legs together, one steps backward), so this really gives multiple options.

  3. Deadlift Variations with dumbbells

Upper Body

  1. Shoulder Presses (standing or seated on bench)
  2. Shoulder Raises
  3. Bicep Curls
  4. Chest Flies (lying on floor or bench)

These are just a start…and I suggest looking for some videos to make sure you understand the form for these exercises, a picture is worth a thousand words :slight_smile:

I have two things to add.

  1. On self-consciousness at the gym.

I understand this type of anxiety, even though I am a male and we process these sort of feelings differently. I was a beginner once too, and a very fat and woefully out-of-shape one at that. As I spent more and more time at the gym I became less and less concerned with what others were thinking about the fat man learning his way around a barbell. As I spent even more time there and made real progress with my appearance and performance I also got to know the people I share my gym with a little bit. What I learned did not, in hindsight, surprise me all that much.

They were cheering me on the entire time.

  1. On building a home setup.

Craigslist is a great place to get used exercise equipment. Some of the best deals will be from people who don’t really know what they are selling, much less its true value. They may list it with vague or incorrect descriptions. Varying your search terms may help you dig up some real gems. Try using search terms and varying spellings like:

Weight
Weights
Dumbbell
Dumbbells
Dumbell
Dumbells
Exercise equipment
Fitness
Bench Press
Olympic
Hand weights
Free weights
Gym
Barbell

I think you get the idea.

Good luck to you, and never quit.

[quote]twojarslave wrote:
As I spent even more time there and made real progress with my appearance and performance I also got to know the people I share my gym with a little bit. What I learned did not, in hindsight, surprise me all that much.

They were cheering me on the entire time.
[/quote]

This is actually a great point.

I’ve made many friends over the years by chatting up random people at yoga studios, races, and gyms over the years. Those friends have been a variety of ages, sizes and shapes. Yes, the gym will have its share of judgmental pricks, but it will also have a lot of fun and friendly people that may be surprisingly like yourself.

It’s nice to get some equipment and do your own workouts at home - I still would encourage that - but twojar’s point about “people at the gym” is spot on. Most are friendlier than you think. And honestly, the ones that aren’t friendly are pretty much just going to leave you alone anyway.

[quote]Weight123 wrote:
The only weights I own are girly light ones in pastel colours (lol) and from what I’ve read, these are useless. [/quote]
They’re not totally useless. You can put all of them in one bag or backpack and then lift it. I’m not entirely kidding. But, yeah, it’s great that you haven’t been Tracy Andersonized into thinking that strength training is a bad thing. You’ll definitely benefit from hanging around this site.

Until you can upgrade your home gear or find a gym that works for you, a basic bodyweight plan would be a fine place to start. It’ll build a foundation of strength and get your muscles used to the training.

My go-to plan would be something like:

Bodyweight Squat 2x12-15
Push-Up 2x12-15 (on your toes, legs straight, hands up on a chair)
Bodyweight Alternating Lunge 2x12-15 per leg
Neutral-Grip Pull-Up 2x12-15 (a good pull-up bar is like $25. Keep your feet on a chair to assist.)
Plank 2x15-count (holding the top part of a full push-up, hands and toes on the ground)
Burpee 2x15 (also known as a squat thrust, lets you finish the session with a little cardio)

Three days a week with something like walking or intervals two other days would be a solid start. This is super-super basic, but it’s just meant as a part-introduction to training and partly to build the conditioning mentioned earlier. My sister did something very similar to this after having my nephew, and after a few weeks she transitioned to a more complete routine in the gym.

Also, of course, cleaning up your nutrition is critical for any kind of change. Getting enough quality protein, enough total calories to support your exercise, and figuring out carbs and healthy fats. What’s your daily diet like now?

[quote]Seachel_25 wrote:
get a gym membership and find out the quiet hours when next to no one is around.[/quote]
Just to touch back on this, it’s definitely an option to consider. Every gym will have busier times and quiet times, and the staff (or a friendly-looking gym member) should be able to let you know what’s what.

I’ve found, generally, around 5:00-7:00pm weekdays (the after-work crowd) and weekend afternoons tend to be the busiest. I might be lucky, but there are many times when I’ve trained on a weekday afternoon and there were literally three other people in the whole place.

[quote]ActivitiesGuy wrote:

[quote]twojarslave wrote:
As I spent even more time there and made real progress with my appearance and performance I also got to know the people I share my gym with a little bit. What I learned did not, in hindsight, surprise me all that much.

They were cheering me on the entire time.[/quote]
This is actually a great point.

I’ve made many friends over the years by chatting up random people at yoga studios, races, and gyms over the years. Those friends have been a variety of ages, sizes and shapes. Yes, the gym will have its share of judgmental pricks, but it will also have a lot of fun and friendly people that may be surprisingly like yourself.[/quote]
x2.

I haven’t taken my iPod to the gym in well-over a year because I realized I kept seeing the same people every single time I was there and started to feel like a knucklehead tuning them out. Seemed logical and reasonable to eventually walk up like, “I see you here all the time. Figured I’d say hey. I’m Chris.” So simple.

Weighty, I’m still mostly a beginner as well, but I just wanted to reply with some encouragement to move up to the all-metal dumbbells!

You may also find some value in looking at Coach Dan John’s strength standards (the women’s standards are way at the end!) to see how you can progress from basic bodyweight exercises to weighted stuff.

I work out at home as well and I definitely love having my equipment available when it fits my schedule, but as you move on from really basic stuff to heavier weights, it might be worth the investment to have a trainer show you how to properly squat, deadlift, etc. I learned the barbell lifts at a Crossfit gym with a good trainer and this has helped my confidence so much as I’ve progressed.

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:
"I see you here all the time. Figured I’d say hey. I’m Chris. "[/quote]

Wait, you didn’t follow that with…

“Now tell me EXACTLY what you ate yesterday.”

Joking aside, I sort of see things from the other side of the fence now too. People come and go all of the time.

A guy might show up, lift some weights, walk around with his arms flared out and chest puffed out, complain about his shoulder problems being the reason why he’s not benching 300, and then never be seen again.

A woman may come and randomly pick up weights and then do some treadmill work and then shuffle out to do whatever she does before her next appearance in two months. This is very common at my gym.

I really don’t concern myself with them at all. I don’t offer them help unless asked, I don’t say anything besides a polite “Hello” if eye contact is made. I do my thing and let them do theirs. They may think that I am thinking all sorts of things about them, but I’m not. They are just another person I don’t know getting their work in.

That said, I am not wishing that these new people would go away. I want to see people succeed and meet their goals. The world needs more happy and healthy people. I definitely notice when a new person shows up again, and they get a telepathic “attaboy” from me.

Once you notice that someone is really sticking with it everyone at my gym tends to warm up pretty fast. One older fellow that lifts during the same time I do looks like someone who would slash your face with a broken whiskey bottle and take your wallet just for his own amusement.

He is big, muscular and menacing-looking. He makes all kinds of noises when he lifts, and I was always a bit worried that his wires might touch and he’d beat me with one of the pins from the power rack.

It turns out he is one of the friendliest and most positive regulars there, not to mention knowing quite a bit about the iron game.

Long story short, assuming that others are judging you negatively is not always correct. You can find a lot of very positive people at a place like the gym.

[quote]twojarslave wrote:
I really don’t concern myself with them at all. I don’t offer them help unless asked, I don’t say anything besides a polite “Hello” if eye contact is made. I do my thing and let them do theirs. They may think that I am thinking all sorts of things about them, but I’m not. They are just another person I don’t know getting their work in.
[/quote]

BINGO. I think a lot of people naturally assume that someone in the gym ignoring them is thinking all kinds of mean and nasty things when really, they’re just someone else who happens to be at the gym. Using another passion of mine, the yoga studio: one of the most common objections that people raise when I suggest that they give it a try is “I’ll be really bad at it and everyone will laugh at me.” Newsflash: no one else in the yoga studio cares what you look like, because we’re all sweating our asses off and contorting ourselves into awkward positions, too. Even if we wanted to, we literally CAN’T look at you and laugh, because we’re busy!

The same generally applies at the gym: people are just there to work out, not to judge everyone else at the gym, although of course there are exceptions (and those people are generally assholes anywhere, not just at the gym). But if I look at you with a blank stare between sets, it doesn’t mean that I’m judging you, it probably means you happen to be standing in the space I’m looking at between sets. It might even mean that I’m watching your form and thinking that I could learn something, or that I’m impressed by the new girl/guy at the gym who’s obviously working hard.

I dont know if you live in the States, but, there is a franchise in the South called, “Play It Again Sports”. They sell used sporting equipment from almost every sport played in the States. Over the past several years, I have found a good selection of weights, boxing gear, and various other stuff for my basement gym. Everytime I am on leave, I check them out and they always have a fresh selection of gear.

You have received some really good advise, think hard about joining a gym. IMHO, One of the best reasons to join is, after you begin to feel relaxed around other people, you will start to notice their routines and pick up on who is actually training and how hard. This is a great psychological motivator.Your competitive relex will kick in and you will find yourself saying things like " I can work as hard as that person or Damn, I want to look like that", and that is a good thing.

Unless, you have been training for several years, its hard to have that mental push, training by yourself. A gym is just like a little community and like all communities, it has its share of dickheads, just ignore them and train hard. Good Luck.

Thank you for all of your replies. I think I’m going to have to be brave and face the gym. I don’t really understand the exercises that people have suggested and I think I could do myself some damage at home. I think it will be a good idea to get some proper instruction. Wish me luck!

Thank you. No, I don’t live in the states, but your advice has been useful. Thanks for taking the time to reply.