Exercise weight & form questions?

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Registered: 08-29-2003
Exercise weight & form questions?
12
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 1:11pm

Hi, 'rats.... :-) I've decided to try the 4 week program in the January issue of Fitness. The 12 -week thing a bit ago kinda got lost in the dust (flour?) of the crazy baking job, and even thought the baking is over, I decided to try a shorter one for now. I started Saturday, but I have a few questions I hope y'all can help me with!

Regarding the strength workouts in general, The article suggests using heavier weights for weeks 1 & 3, lighter weights/higher reps for weeks 2 & 4... I figured since I am new to weight training, I would try 2 sets, 10 reps each of all the exercises, at 5#, for the "heavy" weeks, and 3 sets, 15 reps, using 3#, for the lighter weeks, to get my joints etc. used to the movement... Does this sound reasonable? So this morning (day 1 of a "heavy" week) I used the 5# for all of the exercises; by the end my arms were a little tired, but not exhausted - does this mean the weight is too low? OTOH, especially with the "Twist & Curl Press" where I had to move the weight overhead... it wasn't exactly a smooth motion.. is it more important to focus on keeping tight control of that than to use a heavier weight, right now? Other than that, all of the exercises seemed quite do-able.

Also, as is usual in magazines, the exercise descriptions are short! One of the exercises is a "Front Raise", and I find my shoulders shrugging up some when I do this (also with the "lateral raise"). The description doesn't specify, but should I be focussing on this *not* happening, ie keeping my shoulders pressed down, as I raise the weight?

Thank you! :-)

Amy

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Avatar for tkd_jo
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 3:02pm

I am not sure what exercises you are doing, but my first comment is that do not use the same weight for every one of them. With some exercises you are using a bigger muscle and should be able to lift more weight than with others. Like for instance, when doing back or chest exercises you would lift a heavier weight than when doing triceps, shoulders or biceps. At the end of each set, regardless of whether it is a light weight or heavy weight week, you should be barely able to finish that set. If you find that you could do more reps then you probably need to lift more weight.

Form is very important because you don't want to be jerking the weights or using your body to lift them. You also don't want to lift too quickly. By going slowly on the way up and down it makes you work harder. You don't want to be shrugging your shoulders when doing the front raises or the lateral raises. Five pounds is a lot to lift with these movements if you are just starting out and that could be a factor. It is a very focused movement and difficult to do correctly with heavy weight.

Good luck with the weights though. It can be addictive.

Jody

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Registered: 08-29-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 4:01pm

Hi, Jody!! Thanks for the advice! :-) These are the exercises listed for today's "Arms & Shoulders" workout:

Twist & Curl Press
Double-Arm Overhead Extension
Lateral Raise
Dumbbell Pull-back Curl
Triceps Kickback
Front Raise
Hammer Curl

For example, with the Twist & Curl Press... I could easily use a higher weight for the curl portion... but when I press the weight up over my head, it does not move in a nice smooth arc, but more of an oscillation around the arcline! *lol* So I didn't know if I should try to increase the weight or not. I could definitely use a heavier weight in the Pullback Curl (all those baking pans helped with something!) and probably also the Hammer Curl.

>>At the end of each set, regardless of whether it is a light weight or heavy weight week, you should be barely able to finish that set. If you find that you could do more reps then you probably need to lift more weight.<<

I will keep this in mind. I just wasn't sure since I hadn't done it before, if overall getting the form right was more important, or if perhaps lifting a weight heavy enough to tire me this much would be bad on my joints since I'm going from doing very little weight work - ie no weights, just kitchen work - to 3 times a week (one day: Arms & Shoulders, one day, Legs & Butt, and one day Chest, Back & Abs, with cardio days in between, is how the article has it split out).

In case it's useful:

The Legs & Butt exercises are (I haven't tried any of these yet) - Plie Squat with Side Kick (is this too advanced?), Sissy Squat, One-legged Bridge on a Bench, Single Leg Calf Raise, Prone Hip Extension, and Side Lunge.

The Chest, Back & Abs exercises are (ditto on the not trying yet) - Pull-over Press With a Twist, Side Jackknife, Dumbbell Flye, Narrow-grip Upright Row, Reverse Curl, Staggered Pushup (um, I can't do a regular pushup, so I'll start with the bent knee pushups!), One-Arm Dumbbell Row.

Hummm.... looking at this now... is this whole program too advanced for beginners?? I looked at the cardio, and the arm exercises, and they seemed do-able so I was all excited to start them... but now that I look at the leg & chest etc. exercises... might I be in over my head?




Edited 12/12/2005 4:02 pm ET by coelura
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Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 4:09pm

I agree w/ what Jody said.






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Registered: 08-29-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 4:26pm

>> I agree w/ what Jody said. Form is so important so if you feel yourself jerking, go to a lower weight. You can always start with the higher one, do as many as you can with good form, and then drop to finish off the set. By the end of the set, you should not be able to do even one more rep in good form so if you're only feeling a little tired, go up with the weight or increase the reps.<<

Ok, then, next time I do arms I will use a heavier weight at first. What should I do in the case of the Twist & Curl Press, though? Should I just do a bicep curl with the heavier weight, and as a separate exercise, overhead press a lighter one?

>>Aim for a certain number but it's not set in stone. If you can do one or two more, go for it. That's where you'll build more muscle (it's ripping the muscle fibers and repair that cause bulk).<<

Muscle is what I want, both strength & endurance.

>> Your shoulders should stay down when you're doing the lateral raise or front raise. It's really common to see people shrug up. If you can't do it w/out the shoulders going up or going w/ momentum, the weight is too heavy.<<

That's what I thought. When I'm in the fitness center I see guys all the time shrugging, but it seemed to me that that worked the back & chest muscles that shrug your shoulder, rather than the muscles *in* your shoulder!

>> You might want to run it by a personal trainer, like Kel or Judy (at Kathy Smith) but I don't see the point in changing from heavy weights one week to light weights another. If you stay with one routine for a few weeks, your body will make the most changes. And, taking a week off from heavy lifting means your body will go back, instead of moving forward.<<

Will do. (Hopefully Kel sees this next time she longs on, and I will repost over at KS). My thinking (with no training yet, so I could be way wrong! *lol*) was that the heavy weeks helped with strength and the lighter/more rep weeks helped with endurance. Endurance is really important to me, especially since I want to get back into rock climbing.

>>If you want to see exercises and pictures, have you been to www.exrx.net? It's excellent for visuals and tells you everything you need to know.<<

Oooh, I'm gonna get lost in there! Thanks!! :-) I see they have some weight training plans.. although they're not in the familiar "do this x times" format, I'll be pondering all afternoon! *lol*

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 4:46pm

One of my problems with moves like the twist and curl press (it sounds like you're doing a bicep curl into a military press?) is if one muscle group is stronger than the other, it gets a lot of work but the other is not getting enough.






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 5:00pm

"When I'm in the fitness center I see guys all the time shrugging, "


And, most important, don't watch the guys lifting for form!!!






iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 5:08pm
I should clarify that when I say do heavy strength training and endurance at the same time, I mean the same week (not instaneously!).





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Registered: 03-15-2004
Mon, 12-12-2005 - 10:29pm

I agree with Jean and Jody... Truthfully, I think these programs make things a lot more complicated than they truly need to be. I am also not a fan of switching the weight week to week and I can't imagine when it would ever be useful to be able to do lots and lots of reps of any exericse. You'll gain your endurance for climbing by... climbing. :)

Of course, I am probably biased in that I don't train the way most women (and magazines geared toward women) do - the ladies here being an exception. I believe in higher volume/lower rep training, but that's just me. :)

You said you want to gain muscle and doing a higher volume/lower rep program will do it. I've been training that way since mid October and I started off leg pressing 290 and I'm now at 380.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Tue, 12-13-2005 - 7:05am
I think the thing with the magazines is that they have to come up with something new and different every month and something that's not in other magazines and something that catches people's eyes.





Avatar for tkd_jo
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Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 12-13-2005 - 9:01am

Without seeing the pictures, it is hard to comment on these exercises. It seems that they are trying to combine different body parts in one exercise. I am not really a fan of that method. I think that you should concentrate on one body part and really work it. So instead of doing a bicep curl and a military press together, I would do them separately so that I work each as hard as possible. I can lift 15 pounds with a bicep curl but I would have a hard time doing as many reps with that weight on the military press portion of that exercise. Therefore, it seems like I am not working my muscle the best way by combining them.

I always tell people that when they are starting out that they should stick to the basics and work on those first. This will get you used to lifting weights and help you to figure out how much you can lift with the different exercises. By changing weights between heavy and light I think you are going to hurt your strength gain. I think if you are doing more than 12 reps then the weight is too low, but that is just the way I lift. I also wouldn't start doing weights and leave out legs, butt, chest, back and abs. If you are not doing anything else to work these muscles, then you should incorporate exercises for these muscles as well.

Often when I read these magazines, I only do so to figure out a better way to work a muscle. I never follow their programs by the letter. They are often too complicated and time consuming and you don't need to spend a lot of time lifting in order to see results.

Jody

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