Gym routine

erica74

Hi all

I'm hoping you can offer me some advice on building up a good gym routine.

I am a beginner and am very interested in weight lifting and getting into heavy lifting. The barebells and machines etc are quite daunting. I don't know where to start.

Is there any good YouTube tutorials?
Or, is there anyone on this forum who has successfully started out as a beginner like myself and built themselves up to heavy lifting who would be happy to share their routine?

My background is that I have a number of problems with my physical health due to 2 crashes. However, I have been doing one on one reformer pilates (on the reformer machine) once a week, aqua aerobics once a week and swimming once a week for 12 months now and I feel that my body is a lot better than it was, although I am still dealing with pain etc. At this stage I would like to move on a bit with my fitness.

Over the past 3 years, I've lost around 25kg and am still actively losing weight. I lost that 25kg through diet alone. I'm 88kg now and would like to lose at least another 10kg.
My diet is good, very little sugar and processed foods. The main reason for this is because I have lymphedema in one leg and bursitis in the other knee and I find avoiding sugar and processed foods helps with fluid retention.
I drink about 3-4 litres of water a day, I love water, this also helps with my fluid retention.
I eat a big breakfast and a big dinner.
Breakfast is usually duck eggs (I'm allergic to hen's eggs) and bacon.
I eat green leafy vegetables with my dinner every evening.
I'm allergic to red meat so my dinner is usually fish or chicken.

I'm female, 31, 5ft 4.5", 88kg and I've no idea where to start so I'd love if you could help me out.

Thanks a mill.

Dtp1979

Well done on the weight loss so far. 4 stone is a lot to shift! You also seem to have a good handle on nutrition which is a massive help.
I don’t think there’s much point on anyone suggesting a program where you go deadlifting or squatting because you won’t know how to do the movements and with your history of injuries, it could cause further troubles.
If lifting heavy is your main goal, then powerlifting would probably suit you. If you can afford it, get into a powerlifting gym and have a good coach teach you the movements and do you a program that’ll suit you.

erica74

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Well done on the weight loss so far. 4 stone is a lot to shift! You also seem to have a good handle on nutrition which is a massive help.
I don’t think there’s much point on anyone suggesting a program where you go deadlifting or squatting because you won’t know how to do the movements and with your history of injuries, it could cause further troubles.
If lifting heavy is your main goal, then powerlifting would probably suit you. If you can afford it, get into a powerlifting gym and have a good coach teach you the movements and do you a program that’ll suit you.

Thanks for the reply.
I'm a member of the kingfisher gym in Waterford and have made an appointment with a trainer on Wednesday in order for them to put a plan together for me - what's the likelihood that a trainer there will be able to put together a decent lifting routine?

Dtp1979

erica74 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.
I'm a member of the kingfisher gym in Waterford and have made an appointment with a trainer on Wednesday in order for them to put a plan together for me - what's the likelihood that a trainer there will be able to put together a decent lifting routine?

Sorry I’ve no idea what kind of gym that is. If it’s your typical ‘globogym’ setup, from my experience only, trainers haven’t a clue and are usually straight in off a 6 week online PT course. Maybe someone on here would be able to recommend a good trainer from that area

DontThankMe

Hey OP

Congrats on the weight loss so far having lost a bit myself I know it's not easy to do and stay motivated throughout the process. In terms of getting into lifting it's kind of hard to suggest a solid beginners program because everyone has different abilities, strengths and weaknesses. But I would suggest starting with compound lifts so do squats one day, deadlift the other and bench press on another day you could also add in Military press on the bench press day too. Then add in isolation/accessory exercises in each of those days to compliment whatever compound liftsl you are doing. You might not be able to do some of those exercises with your injuries but that's fine there are usually loads of different exercises that work each muscle group so you should be able to find one that suits you. For the YouTube videos there is so much information out there that it can be overwhelming because everyone has a different point of view and they all might be right for what their goals are. I really like Jeff Nippard because his workout videos are usually science based but they can be very technical which might not be ideal for a beginner such as yourself.

erica74

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Sorry I’ve no idea what kind of gym that is. If it’s your typical ‘globogym’ setup, from my experience only, trainers haven’t a clue and are usually straight in off a 6 week online PT course. Maybe someone on here would be able to recommend a good trainer from that area

Yeah, it's just a regular gym, I suppose globogym would be correct. Thanks again for your input.

erica74

DontThankMe wrote: »

Hey OP

Congrats on the weight loss so far having lost a bit myself I know it's not easy to do and stay motivated throughout the process. In terms of getting into lifting it's kind of hard to suggest a solid beginners program because everyone has different abilities, strengths and weaknesses. But I would suggest starting with compound lifts so do squats one day, deadlift the other and bench press on another day you could also add in Military press on the bench press day too. Then add in isolation/accessory exercises in each of those days to compliment whatever compound liftsl you are doing. You might not be able to do some of those exercises with your injuries but that's fine there are usually loads of different exercises that work each muscle group so you should be able to find one that suits you. For the YouTube videos there is so much information out there that it can be overwhelming because everyone has a different point of view and they all might be right for what their goals are. I really like Jeff Nippard because his workout videos are usually science based but they can be very technical which might not be ideal for a beginner such as yourself.

Thanks for the reply. I'm having a look at Jeff's channel now. You're right, there is so much information around and it's quite off-putting because, I don't know what's what.

Dtp1979

erica74 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I'm having a look at Jeff's channel now. You're right, there is so much information around and it's quite off-putting because, I don't know what's what.

Hence the reason for a good teacher .
Personally I find Alan thrall, and Omar isuf and the starting strength channel very good.

BadBannana

If I was to buy one book to read about strength training as a beginner it would have been Greyskull LP, the most recent edition.

Cardio, bodyweight circuits, lifting, advanced templates, accessory work, it's all in the book.

Never dogmatically follow the word of one person but that program took me very far as a novice and it really stresses the stuff that everyone skips (cardio and bodyweight stuff)

Elemonator

This is probably mentioned all the time but have you considered Stronglifts 5x5? It's a great beginner strength programme. It consists of 5 exercises (bench press, squat, deadlift, row and overhead press I think) and lays a really great foundation. Please seek coaching from a gym instructor before beginning it however.

erica74

Elemonator wrote: »

This is probably mentioned all the time but have you considered Stronglifts 5x5? It's a great beginner strength programme. It consists of 5 exercises (bench press, squat, deadlift, row and overhead press I think) and lays a really great foundation. Please seek coaching from a gym instructor before beginning it however.

Funnily enough, I've been googling all day and came across 5x5 about an hour ago and have been reading this https://stronglifts.com/5x5/.
I'm going to see what the staff member at the gym comes up with on Wednesday and see what they think of the 5x5 programme. Thanks for your input.

erica74

BadBannana wrote: »

If I was to buy one book to read about strength training as a beginner it would have been Greyskull LP, the most recent edition.

Cardio, bodyweight circuits, lifting, advanced templates, accessory work, it's all in the book.

Never dogmatically follow the word of one person but that program took me very far as a novice and it really stresses the stuff that everyone skips (cardio and bodyweight stuff)

Reading up on that as well now, thanks for your input.

Dtp1979

erica74 wrote: »

Funnily enough, I've been googling all day and came across 5x5 about an hour ago and have been reading this https://stronglifts.com/5x5/.
I'm going to see what the staff member at the gym comes up with on Wednesday and see what they think of the 5x5 programme. Thanks for your input.

If they suggest doing circuits on the machines then that’ll tell you all you need to know

erica74

Dtp1979 wrote: »

If they suggest doing circuits on the machines then that’ll tell you all you need to know

Okay:pac:
I'm really liking the look of the 5x5, there's an app and all to keep track of your progress.

I see with the lifting, many recommend a rest day in between lifting days so, if I was to lift Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, could I still continue with my pilates on Saturday and aqua aerobics on Monday or, is that doing too much?

Dtp1979

erica74 wrote: »

Okay:pac:
I'm really liking the look of the 5x5, there's an app and all to keep track of your progress.

I see with the lifting, many recommend a rest day in between lifting days so, if I was to lift Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, could I still continue with my pilates on Saturday and aqua aerobics on Monday or, is that doing too much?

Maybe don’t do anything for the first week or so because deadlifting and squatting will be hard on your body. They’re also moves that need to be performed correctly to avoid injury so make sure you feel comfortable doing them.

erica74

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Maybe don’t do anything for the first week or so because deadlifting and squatting will be hard on your body. They’re also moves that need to be performed correctly to avoid injury so make sure you feel comfortable doing them.

I've been reading up a lot on avoiding injury. I'm probably a bit more paranoid because I already have the few problems so I'm planning on being extra careful. Thanks again for your input.

Alf Veedersane

I wouldn't be getting hung up on what program tp do just yet. I'd spend some time just focussing on getting the lifts right.

I don't mean spend months trying to perfect but just take your time and ease into it.

As for some YouTube guidance, you could do a lot worse than Juggernaut Training Systems. They have some 5-video series on squat, bench and deadlift if you end up doing those, eg:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1rSl6Pd49Iml8C8ApbN2f-lj-3kayP7y

But a good trainer is the starting point. Doing 'the big 3' may not necessarily be right for you pr they may be down the line after a series of movement progressions but a good trainer will help you with that.

erica74

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I wouldn't be getting hung up on what program tp do just yet. I'd spend some time just focussing on getting the lifts right.

I don't mean spend months trying to perfect but just take your time and ease into it.

As for some YouTube guidance, you could do a lot worse than Juggernaut Training Systems. They have some 5-video series on squat, bench and deadlift if you end up doing those, eg:

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1rSl6Pd49Iml8C8ApbN2f-lj-3kayP7y

But a good trainer is the starting point. Doing 'the big 3' may not necessarily be right for you pr they may be down the line after a series of movement progressions but a good trainer will help you with that.

Thanks a mill, those videos are exactly what I'm after.
Some videos I've watched show you what's what but don't talk you through what you're supposed to be doing so it's difficult to figure it out properly, particularly with regard to form. Thanks for your input.

I was just reading some of the fitness logs and getting notions about me being there some day:cool:

Alf Veedersane

erica74 wrote: »

Thanks a mill, those videos are exactly what I'm after.
Some videos I've watched show you what's what but don't talk you through what you're supposed to be doing so it's difficult to figure it out properly, particularly with regard to form. Thanks for your input.

I was just reading some of the fitness logs and getting notions about me being there some day:cool:

What i like about the pillars of squat/bench/deadlift videos they do are they tell you what to do and why. Understanding why you do something is important because then you buy into the importance of doing it. That's why it's important to ask the trainer questions if you don't quite get something.

Good luck with it!

Dtp1979

erica74 wrote: »

I was just reading some of the fitness logs and getting notions about me being there some day:cool:

No time like the present .
It’d be great for you to look back a few years from now at how you started from scratch to where you are and how much stronger your future self would be.

erica74

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

What i like about the pillars of squat/bench/deadlift videos they do are they tell you what to do and why. Understanding why you do something is important because then you buy into the importance of doing it. That's why it's important to ask the trainer questions if you don't quite get something.

Good luck with it!

Yeah, I am enjoying reading about the "science" behind the moves and the techniques. Thanks again!