Weights?

Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
To all those on the journey to become healthy, do you lift weights and/or circuit train?

If so, what kind of weights do you have? How heavy are they/how much do you lift?
07/30/2011
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Contributor: MaryExy MaryExy
My guy started curling 100lbs recently, that's the only specific weight I know. He also does bench presses and skull crushers. I personally just use the treadmill at home and then take the walking around campus as my main exercise at school (next semester I should be walking about 2 miles every day, closer to 3 on monday and tuesday). When I get better at not being winded, I may try the fitness center on campus. I'd like to see if I could keep up using some little weights in the dorm, walking around all the time won't do much for my arms.
07/31/2011
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by MaryExy
My guy started curling 100lbs recently, that's the only specific weight I know. He also does bench presses and skull crushers. I personally just use the treadmill at home and then take the walking around campus as my main exercise at school ... more
What weight do you think you'll start with?

Are you looking at any specific sets?

I have my eye on the Atlus Athletic 32-Pound set. I would love to get something adjustable, like the Jillian Michaels set or The Firm set, but klutz that I am I'm afraid they'd break or I'd fasten them wrong and they'd go flying at an unprotected body part at the worst possible moment.
07/31/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
A lot is going to depend n your current fitness level and what exercises you plan to do. As an example, my wife bought this set which looks similar to the Atlus set you linked. I would say she was in poor physical condition to start and even for her the 2 lb weight is probably too light. There are potential uses for a 2 lb weight, but probably not for a beginner starting out.
07/31/2011
Contributor: M121212 M121212
I don't to weight lifting but I'm interested in trying. I'd like to get my upper body stronger! Swimming has been helping with that so far.
07/31/2011
Contributor: MaryExy MaryExy
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
What weight do you think you'll start with?

Are you looking at any specific sets?

I have my eye on the Atlus Athletic 32-Pound set. I would love to get something adjustable, like the Jillian Michaels set or The Firm set, but klutz ... more
If the Jillian Michaels set is supposed to be pretty secure, I think that looks pretty nice and space-efficient. It has a good range of sizes. Something like the Atlus looks good, too. I'd be a bit worried about doing something like The Firm that has handles, my paranoia has my picturing it catching and hurting my fingers if I ever needed to drop it quickly (like if I suddenly had a cramp).
07/31/2011
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
A lot is going to depend n your current fitness level and what exercises you plan to do. As an example, my wife bought this set which looks similar to the Atlus set you linked. I would say she was in poor physical condition to start and even for ... more
I can comfortably do most exercises with a 5 lb weight, however for the exercises that target the back of the upper arms, i.e. where I need the most work, 5 lbs is too much for me. I like the Atlus set because the light pair is 3 lb: lighter than the 5 lb weight I have now, but heavier than the 2 lbs offered in the Tone set, which I believe you're right about: useless.


@ Miss Voluptuous:
I LOVE to swim. However I don't have pool access. I used to belong to a club, but I got tired of it being unavailable for large chunks of the day because various high school swim teams hosted their afternoon/evening programs there. You'd think they'd keep at least one lane free for the adult members, but no, heaven forbid an adult use the pool while the children! were present. Apparently all us adult swimmers are child molesters.

@ MaryExy:
Space-saving appeals to me, but I would be stressed out at the thought of the weight coming apart and landing on my foot or worse, my face. I think I've decided to get the individual pairs, and just put the ones I grow out of on craigslist.
07/31/2011
Contributor: cherryredhead88 cherryredhead88
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
To all those on the journey to become healthy, do you lift weights and/or circuit train?

If so, what kind of weights do you have? How heavy are they/how much do you lift?
Use your own body weight. In our class we use our body weight, a kettelbell and a towel.

You'd be surprised what some pushups and squats can do (10 mins a day). Kettel bells are my favorite and can be purchased at Walmart. They come in all different sizes and work better than dumb bells IMO.

Anyways, you can use a towel to do towel slams, iso pull downs, and tons of other moves that actually woop you into shape good! Google some exercises and check out how much you can really do with, well, yourself.
07/31/2011
Contributor: MaryExy MaryExy
I did like pilates exercises using an elastic band, I felt like those really worked. They also worked for legs, abs, and overall flexibility. Unless I memorize the exercises from the DVD, though, I don't think I'll be doing them (plus, I'm not entirely sure I'll have room in the dorm to comfortably do them.)
07/31/2011
Contributor: Sammi Sammi
I've been out of the weights for a bit, but I'm getting ready to get back into using them. I don't use terribly heavy ones - 20-25 lb dumbbells for curls and triceps (minimum about 15 lbs), around 50 lbs or so for bench press (I'm a bit of a press wimp) and 70 lbs or so for squats. I can do a lot more with my legs - I was up to about 250 pound leg presses, although I'll probably start up again around 180 or so. I follow the more weight/less reps, and I've had a lot of success with it in the past. Sometimes I'll change things up and do pyramid sets, and I also use machines on occasion.

The rule of thumb I go by with weights is that for a set of 10, the 9th and 10th rep should be difficult, but not impossible to finish. If I can do 10 reps with no problem, then the weight is too light. If I can't get to 10, then it's too heavy.
07/31/2011
Contributor: SilverIsis SilverIsis
a good starter set for free weights is 3,5,8 pounds for women. Basically though you want a weight that allows you to do the exercise properly with the movement becoming intense on the muscle that you are targeting on the last few reps. Since I am going for weight loss rather muscle building like Sammy, so my reps are higher, but the weight is less. I tend to start at 12, move to 15 when the exercise starts to get easier, and then increase the weight when 15 is too easy.

Also, never let anyone try to tell you that lifting weights will bulk you up. It is biologically impossible for a woman to get bulky muscles like a man without hormonal help.

Finally, If you are looking for videos to help you get started, I would search craigslist and ebay for the classic Firm videos and steps. Look for ones that talk about the short and tall boxes. I find the new stuff to be too gimmicky.
08/16/2011
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
A lot is going to depend n your current fitness level and what exercises you plan to do. As an example, my wife bought this set which looks similar to the Atlus set you linked. I would say she was in poor physical condition to start and even for ... more
Actually, I take it back. 2 lb weights are good for walking. I did a power-walk exercise video which has the victi-- I mean exercise devotee holding weights for 95% of the workout, and 5 lbs was far too much even though I now do that weight with ease for other exercise videos.

ETA: Wow, that's pretty freakin' awesome. I just realized that it was only two weeks ago I was having difficulty with 5 lbs weights, and now it's no problem. Cool.
08/20/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
Actually, I take it back. 2 lb weights are good for walking. I did a power-walk exercise video which has the victi-- I mean exercise devotee holding weights for 95% of the workout, and 5 lbs was far too much even though I now do that weight with ... more
That's fantastic! You should track your progress regularly so you can look back and appreciate how much you improve. Record what exercise, how many reps, and what weight.
08/20/2011
Contributor: sodapin sodapin
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
To all those on the journey to become healthy, do you lift weights and/or circuit train?

If so, what kind of weights do you have? How heavy are they/how much do you lift?
I just started lifting weights this year. They're only dumbbells and I'm starting out slow to allow for my tendons and joints to build up some strength along with my muscles so they're only 20lbs each.
07/18/2012