How to begin?
 

Hi all. I'd like to begin doing some weight lifting to help sculpt my arms at home. I go to the gym regularly for cardio, but I'm pretty intimidated by doing any weight training there. I'd like to begin at home until I get a little more confidence. What should I do?

What type of weights do you have access to?

I have 15 pound dumb bells (things I can do 10 reps max with) and just do bicep curls, tricep curls, chest flies (lying on my back) and deltoid lifts (arms out to the side.) I do it about 4-5 times a week. The key is to get weights heavy enough so you can only do about 10 reps before you can't do any more.

You can see my results on this thread.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...scle-pics.html

I was thinking about buying some weights - 5, 10, 15 - for home but I'm not sure if the normal neoprene barbells are good or if kettlebells are okay.

seagirl That sounds good; did you start with 15 or work your way up?

I was using 10 for a long time before this, but then realized they weren't doing much. It was when I switched to 15 that I really saw results. The key is to get a weight that is heavy enough so you are tired at 10 reps. So that might vary for people and will change over time as you get stronger.

I don't think kettlebell v. dumbbell makes a difference. I have 2 15lb barbells, and a 20lb kettlebell.

Pushups, lunges and squats are also good exercises you can do without weights. For pushups, you can do them on an incline if you can't do them on the floor. I wouldn't do 'on your knee' pushups though, incline pushups are a bit better than having to go on your knees. Squats and lunges can be done with no weight or weight added after you perfect your form.

I think kettlebells would definitely keep you from getting bored and there are lots of exercise DVDs out there especially geared towards women. The only problem with kettlebells is a lot of times the jump in poundage between them is too much. You want equipment that is scalable i.e. when you get stronger you can increase the weight to keep it challenging. With all this in mind in regards to value your best bet might be to get a set of dumbbells. If that's what you go for there's plenty of exercises you can do. In addition to what seagirl said, you can do floor presses, overhead presses, bent over rows, bent over rear delt raises, skull crushers (don't let the name scare you). A lot of these work more than just the arms but you get the picture. Don't go to "failure" but do keep it heavy.

Well kettlebells are meant to be used mostly for swings and similar exercises and have a slightly different philosophy than traditional weight training which is why the large jumps. The kettlebell DVDs out there range from bad/poor form (aka Jillian Michaels) to pretty good but pricey (stuff from DragonDoor/other RKC instructors). I have kettlebells up to 53 lbs but I've only swung the big guy a few times but I use kettlebells in my workouts. Generally dumbbells are cheaper and are good for beginners but resistance bands can also be good to use as well.

And in terms of weight training, you certainly can go to failure if you want, nothing wrong with that unless you are doing barbell bench presses :)

Unless you take steroids (and you shouldn't), then going to failure is almost always counter productive. In order to progress the idea is to do as much work as possible while as fresh as possible. You can get away with it with body weight exercises but almost always leave a couple reps "in the bag" when it comes to lifting weights. Remember the old adage, "train for success, not failure." Sounds overly simplified but it's true.

We will have to agree to disagree then. I don't think you need to go to failure but if you do on your last set then there is no harm in doing so.

Well said. Oh and about the barbell bench presses, I had to read that a few times before I got it. I've been there a few times.:D