Completed first routine. Need some direction.

Mr.Blue

Okay so I recently bought a barbell/dumbbell set (w/weights) and did first exercise with them this morning. I don't have a proper lifting bench yet so I had to limit the routine to the dumbbells.

So before getting to the weights this morning I had breakfast (large bowl of porridge) and walked the dog (30-40mins)

I have a dumbbell exercise program (incl. with set) which I used for direction.

I tried out the dumbbells with 7.5kg of weights on them and they actually seemed quite manageable but someone recommended that I start lighter so I used 5kg.

I did about 12-15 reps (as directed in program) of the exercises (didn't do all).

-Chest Press
-Bent over row
-Lateral Raise (difficult to reach more than 8 reps with this one)
-Static lunges
-Hammer curls (12 reps with relative ease, could do more)

I repeated all the exercises once more over. (I assume it's best to start with short sessions when beginning?) I did a few more separate sets of the Hammer curls though.

Had a banana afterwards.. (if you want me to outline my meals let me know)

First of all, should I be using more weight for at least some of the above exercises? The hammer curls I found very manageable and could manage more weight for them I think. Could probably cope fine with more weight for the others as well apart from the lateral raise which I could not reach 10 reps with (unusual exercise for me I found).

I assume I should be adding more exercises in as well? If so could you lay some out for me. And just some general advice/direction would be much appreciated as well. Thanks.

Gumbo

fair play for getting started.

im sure alot of the experienced guys will have a good read through your post and make some great suggestions, as i can only offer one -

dont worry about starting with too light of a weight.
for your next session, increase the weight slightly on all exercises that you can complete the full set on and see how you get on.

if you complete the full set then increase it slightly again for the next session.
if you cant complete the full set then leave the weight alone and at the next session try beat the last session and so on.

i hope that helps and im not waffleing out of me, but if its utter crap then please tell me to shut up

Mr.Blue

kceire,

Any amount of advice is valuable to me. Thanks for suggestions.

Also I assume one session a day (4 days a week) is okay? I'm planning on leaving a days break in between.

Gumbo

Mr.Blue wrote: »

kceire,

Any amount of advice is valuable to me. Thanks for suggestions.

Also I assume one session a day (4 days a week) is okay? I'm planning on leaving a days break in between.

i think the days rest is just as important as the days working out, but one of the more experienced users will fill you in on that one. ie. if your routine needs a day rest or if you can still lift certain exercises everyday.

personally at the moment im training Tues, Thurs and Sat with 2 days rest before starting it over again on the following Tues, although i play an hour of football on the Monday evening with my mates.

that will have to change fairly soon as my football league season is starting back next month :mad:

Mr.Blue

Sorry for the bump but I'm hoping for more advice/suggestions as I really need to be sure I'm doing the most effective routine. I'm really in the dark here and need some direction.

I'll add my stats, if that helps.. 5'9 1/4'' 11 st (little over)

Thanks.

Colm_OReilly

Really you should be going for heavier weights where you can. Not all exercises should be attempted with the same weight.

www.simplefit.org
www.exrx.net
www.crossfit.com/cf-info/exercises.html

that should start you off.

Best thing you can do is get in touch with a trainer and set up a consultation with them.