dumbbell exercises at gym

[KimA-GA 535]

little victory for me. made it to the gym to do 15 mins of strength training with dumbbells. going to try to go at least 2-3 times a week, hopefully increasing time and intensity.

anyone have tips, tricks or routines for basic strength training?

[LilaNicole20 244]

My advice is to just keep it up. Keep pushing yourself to pick up the weights, get to the gym, stay active, etc. The effects will start to snowball and so will your motivation and determination to keep training your body. The intensity of your workouts will increase naturally as you focus your concentration and efforts towards utilizing your muscles correctly (really feel them contracting and releasing) and ensuring proper body mechanics and alignment (to prevent injury). 
Stretch often. Don’t go too heavy. Don’t quit!

[KimA-GA 535]

15 minutes ago, LilaNicole20 said:

My advice is to just keep it up. Keep pushing yourself to pick up the weights, get to the gym, stay active, etc. The effects will start to snowball and so will your motivation and determination to keep training your body. The intensity of your workouts will increase naturally as you focus your concentration and efforts towards utilizing your muscles correctly (really feel them contracting and releasing) and ensuring proper body mechanics and alignment (to prevent injury).
Stretch often. Don’t go too heavy. Don’t quit!

that sounds perfect! thank you

[SpartanMaker 664]

Good on you! Way too many people (women especially), don't do any sort of resistance training at all. That's a shame since it's one of the best things you can do to keep your metabolism revved up as you lose weight.

Before recommending anything in particular, it might help to know if you have any particular goals in mind? In other words, what do you hope to accomplish with your dumbbell routine?

[KimA-GA 535]

21 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

Good on you! Way too many people (women especially), don't do any sort of resistance training at all. That's a shame since it's one of the best things you can do to keep your metabolism revved up as you lose weight.

Before recommending anything in particular, it might help to know if you have any particular goals in mind? In other words, what do you hope to accomplish with your dumbbell routine?

building strength and stamina while working on overall health is my goal. heard it helps a little with loose skin after surgery so wanted to start. I like working with weights waaay more than any cardio..

[SpartanMaker 664]

1 minute ago, KimA-GA said:

building strength and stamina while working on overall health is my goal. heard it helps a little with loose skin after surgery so wanted to start. I like working with weights waaay more than any cardio..

Great goals. I'm actually a big fan of bodyweight exercises and bands, but if that's not for you and you want to start with dumbbells, that's great too. Here's the thing, as a beginner, there is no wrong routine for you. Whatever you do will be beneficial.

As far as what exercises to do, you can google stuff and find some great ideas there. Some of what you'll find is great, and some is not so good. To sort out the good from the bad, start by making sure it's from a reputable source. Next, look for routines that focus on these three things:

1. Make sure they are working your you upper body, your lower body, and your core.
2. Make sure there are both pushing exercises and pulling exercises for your upper body. For example, a chest press, matched with a bent over row. By making sure they have both, it gives you a better overall workout, helps prevent muscle imbalance, which in turn helps prevent injuries. If you see a routine that does not have both, that's a big red flag.
3. Make sure they explain how to do the exercise and what correct form looks like. Most people that hurt themselves doing strength training, do so from bad form.

Now that said, let's talk a bit about sets and reps. A set is when you do all the exercises for that session one time. Many routines have you do more than one set. Three is the most common, but depending on the goal, it could be one to five or even more. A rep is the number of times you do a single exercise before you move to the next exercise.

The challenge here is that the ideal way to build muscle strength vs. muscle stamina are a bit different. Typically for strength, you want a really heavy weight and you'll do ~6 reps for 3-5 sets. If you're able to do all the sets at 6 reps, then the weight is too light and you should progress to a higher weight next time. For muscle endurance, you'd ideally use a much lighter weight and do maybe 3-4 sets at 15-20 reps. The same applies here as well, though. If you can do them all, it's time to up the weight, do more reps (maybe up to 25), or add another set. You should feel like you did real work when you are done.

There is a sort of compromise that you could take as well (and honestly, this is what most people do), that doesn't strictly focus on strength or endurance per se, but is good for both. That would be to do roughly 3 sets at 6-12 reps. Once again, if you can do an exercise at 12 reps for three sets, it's time to up the weight.

Keep in mind also here that what works for a while may stop working at some point. Every now and again, you need to change up the routine you are using and try a completely different program. I'd say probably every 12-18 week at most, move to something else. It could be dropping the dumbbells and moving to bodyweight, bands, kettlebells, barbells, or just varying the routine. For example, instead of 3 days a week, maybe you move to 4 days a week and separate out upper body from lower body work (2 days of each).

This type of variation is key to long term success.

Enough for now, but I hope this helps. Also, sorry for the novel, but I'm passionate about strength training and guess I got carried away!

[LilaNicole20 244]

Body weight is the way to go. I like anything that pushes or pulls - and all the isolating and non isolating weight machines. No cardio for me. I get my heart rate up with push-ups and just being bouncy in my movements overall. My joints can’t handle the shake. I have Ehlers Danlos. 

[Queen ApisM 425]

I highly recommend getting a couple of sessions with a trainer if you can afford it (I know it isn't cheap). But, they can help ensure that you are doing a good mix of exercises that balance across muscle groups and can help ensure you learn proper form, both are important to prevent injury.

I like a mix of bodyweight exercises and dumbells, and a trainer can help with those. Don't forget flexibility and balance - those are also very important for overall body health and a good trainer should include those in their sessions. I've been working with a trainer for years and highly recommend it, even if only for a couple of sessions.

Even at my heaviest, I found the trainers quite lovely and willing to work with any limitations I had... and if you get a crappy one, you can move on to a new one.

[Caress 2]

Are you doing it by yourself, following people from YT, or have a trainer?? Im asking because I follow a couple of people on YT that i love and would share with you.

[DanielJefferson 0]

My suggestion is to start with bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, etc.) or light dumbbell exercises (bicep curls, tricep extensions, etc.) for 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps. Buy the best boxing gloves and do some light boxing. As you get stronger and more comfortable with the movements, you can increase the number of sets and reps, use heavier weights, and add in more complex exercises. Also, make sure to take rest days in between sessions to allow your muscles to recover and rebuild. Good luck!

Edited April 4 by DanielJefferson

[Mychelle D 7]

This is my routine at the gym (with a trainer):

Monday:

Warm Up - 5 min walk, leg swings, arm pulls with a resistance band, knee raises, butt kicks

Arm Day - (30 minutes or so)

Chest Press - determine weight - 3 sets of 10

Tricep Kickbacks - 3 sets of 10

bicep curls - 3 sets of 10

side lateral raises - 3 sets of 10

Bent over row - 3 sets of 10

push ups - 3 sets of 10

Wednesday:

Warm Up - 5 min walk, leg swings, arm pulls with a resistance band, knee raises, butt kicks

Leg Day- (30 minutes or so)

Squats with weights - 3 sets of 10

Step ups with weights - 3 sets of 10

Leg Press - determine weight - 3 sets of 10

Kettlebell swings - 3 sets of 10

Lunges - 3 sets of 10

I then do cardio 3-4 days a week.