[shananigans]

Hello weight lifting experts! I need some help here with my lifting routine so I’m going to get pretty specific, please forgive the exhaustive details. I lift twice a week using the machines at my gym. The only exercise I use freeweights for is bicep curls. I do 3 sets of 12 for all exercises, with 10 to 30 seconds rest between sets depending on how much I feel I need. When I think it’s time to up the weight I drop the last set down to 8 reps and gradually increase till I’m doing all three sets at that weight for 12 reps. These are the exercises I’m currently doing, I hope the descriptions make sense:

1. Shoulder abduction

2. Upward Rotation of Scapulae - like a reverse pull up move where you push the weight up, works traps I think?

3. Hip Transverse Adduction

4. Hip Transverse Abduction

5. Knee Flexion - works hamstrings

6. Scapulae Adduction - seated rowing motion pulling weight towards body with elbows in

7. Lat pull downs - just like a pull up only I don’t have to lift my whole body weight, which is a good thing because I can’t

8. Shoulder Transverse Adduction – butterfly move, works pecs

9. Hip sled – squat-type move, works quads

10. Lumbar extension – works lower back and also glutes some

11. Ab crunches - on machine, not mat

12. Tricep extension

13. bicep curls w/freeweight dumbbells

So, my questions:

How do I know that I’m lifting heavy enough? I’ve heard that 60%-80% of your 1 rep max is ideal for weight loss, but what is the best way to determine your one rep max?

Is there any way to make this more efficient? This routine takes me about an hour. I guess 2 hours a week for weights isn’t too much, but if I can somehow get better or the same results in less time that’s what I’d like to do.

Am I doing myself a disservice by doing the machines and not freeweights? I use the machines because they are easy and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be hurting myself. I don’t have anyone to lift with or a trainer available to me on a regular basis and I don’t know squat about weight training really, so I have apprehensions at breaking out of my comfort zone.

Is doing the same exercises over and over a bad idea? I’m a creature of habit, so doing the same routine is actually what I prefer, but I wonder if it’s not the best for my body?

Why are some of my muscles developing strength so much faster than others? I’ve barely added any weight to my shoulder abductions in the months that I’ve been lifting and I push those to exhaustion each time. Yet my strength has seen almost no improvement in that area. The hamstrings and biceps have been a bit slow to develop as well. I’ve seen growth in both strength and some bulk in other areas like my back, quads, and triceps fairly quickly.

Sorry about the long post, I’m just looking for specific advice so I wanted to put all the pertinent info out there. The scale hasn’t moved but a pound or two in the last month and a half so I’m trying to re-asses all aspects of my exercise and eating. Thanks for your help!

[RobertW]

How do I know that I’m lifting heavy enough? I’ve heard that 60%-80% of your 1 rep max is ideal for weight loss, but what is the best way to determine your one rep max?

I would do progressively heavier singles until I failed to lock out a weight, and take the heaviest successful lift as my 1 rep max.

Or you could use a rep calculator to estimate your max. They work pretty well if you stay under 10 reps.

[northernbelle]

To critique your lifting program:
You are doing 36 sets in 1 hour; that's a lot of sets; it would take me over an hour and a half for that many. Because you are resting only 10-30 seconds in between sets, you shouldn't be lifting too heavy. Once you start lifting heavy, you should rest a full minute between sets. Which means cutting back on the number of exercises per session to keep it to an hour. Over 60-75 minutes, you get diminished returns.

You are doing a lot of isolation work. To really work the muscle groups, try compound moves (non-machines). Barbell or dumbell bench presses work mainly the pecs, but also work the biceps and triceps. Squats and lunges work the whole leg and hip area. Focus on those, and throw in isolation work for biceps, triceps, hams and quads every once in a while.

To find your 1RM, move the weight up a couple of notches on the machine and try to move it. If you can move it once, that's your 1 RM. It will be different for each muscle group. Abs and lower back should not be worked with weights to any great extent. They respond well to repetitions.

Free weights versus machines: machines are good for beginners; however, they are not as versatile as free weights. When you work a machine, your dominant side does most of the work; with dumbbells, both sides have to work independently. Barbells teach balance. To get into free weights, start with lower weights, and don't move up until your form is perfected. I am a big fan of free weights over machines.

Same exercises all the time: over time, your body adapts to the demands and progress slows right down. You should be changing your exercises every 4-6 weeks. Do something different for the same muscle groups. You should also take a week off every three months, just to let your body recover. When you go back, you will find you can do more.

It is normal to progress in one area faster than another. In females, the biceps progress slowly; hamstrings are notoriously underdeveloped and take a lot of time. I wouldn't worry about the shoulder work; the shoulder is the most fragile joint in the body and injures easily; so stick to lower weights for shoulder work. Actually, if you do chest presses (dumbbells or barbells) and the antagonist upper back exercises (lat pulldowns, seated rows and bent over barbell rows), you are giving the shoulders a good workout by default.

Scale weight: apart from the eating side of things, it is quite possible that your body has adapted to your routine and has reached its happy state of no progress. There are different variations of exercise routines, rep ranges and number of sets. Try pyramid sets; split workouts. Focus on strength one week, size the next, and endurance the next. Each focus works the muscles at different intensity levels and gives them new challenges.

Hope this helps...

[shananigans]

Thanks for the critique Belle! I think I'll see if I can schedule some time with a trainer at the gym to learn how to use the freeweight stations properly. To be honest I’ve been a bit scared of that side of the gym as it seems to only be used by big burly guys, guess I’ll just have to get over that. I guess I already knew that going on with the same routine wasn’t really what I should be doing, but I just didn’t know what to do otherwise. And forgive my ignorance, but what are pyramid sets and split workouts?

[Airegrrrl]

Hi shananigans!

Two great sites absolutely brimming with answers to the kinds of questions you are asking are:

http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php
http://www.exrx.net/

We are all delighted to answer questions, of course, but these sites are invaluable.

Happy reading!

[northernbelle]

Don't be afraid of the guys; they are just trying to improve themselves like you are. Both sites given by Airegrrrl are excellent. exrx.net is my bible.

Sets:
Straight set- you do 1-XX # of sets of the same exercise before going on to the next one

Compound set- you do 1-XX # of sets of two exercises targetting the same muscle, back to back; example chest press, then butterfly

Pyramid set- you do XX # of sets, decreasing the reps but increasing the weight on the way up, then the opposite on the way down; you only have to do half the pyramid if you want. example- triceps extension- 12 reps at 5 lbs, then 10 reps at 6 lbs, then 8 reps at 8 lbs, then 6 reps at 10 lbs. Reverse on the way down.

There are many others in various combinations. All exercises should start with a low weight for a warmup.

A split routine is when you split your body into parts and focus on a few exercises for each part each day. example- Monday do chest, upper back, biceps and triceps; Wednesday do abs and lower back; Friday do legs and shoulders. There are also many combinations. A 2 day split would be upper then lower. I personally like to take shoulders away from chest and upper back day, as shoulders are my weakest joint. Also you should not do lower back on the same day as legs, as the lower back gets a hefty workout from the leg exercises.

A circuit routine is also good. You go from station to station with little rest in between, using cardio, then a push/pull combination, then an ab/core exercise, then back to cardio. Usually the circuit is 6-9 stations. You have to keep the weight lower, since you don't give yourself a lot of time at each station (2-4 minutes).

Happy researching...

[shananigans]

Thanks for the links and tips everyone! I've been working some pyramid sets and experimenting with dumbbells and the weight bench this week and split down to 3 lifting sessions of 30 to 45 min. I can’t believe how much more challenging the free weights are, it’s keeping me on my toes for sure. Glad I finally tried something different. I’m going to start adding some calisthenics like squats, lunges and pushups to my workout too.