[Tonyia]

Hey,

I have been lifting hand weights (I have some that I can add weight to up to 30 lbs) for about a month or so now. I started out with 5lb weights and it go to where that wasn't really doing any good anymore so I got the adjustable ones which works perfectly. I am currently doing 8lbs in each weight.

Every morning when I lift I do 3 sets of 12 for each exercise so it's basically like this.

3 sets of 12 bicep curls
3 sets of 12 chest presses
3 sets of 12 bent over rows
3 sets of 12 chest pullovers on exercise ball

and a few others I don't know the names of..I also do lunges with the weights.

What I want to know is am I going about this correctly? I do want to have muscle definition in my arms for sure but am I doing the correct exercises to achieve that? Am I doing enough of them? I can already see a difference there but I don't want to defeat myself.

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

[3fcuser1058250]

This seems to look like a full body workout and you should only be doing it every second day to give your muscles a rest... Do something different inbetween days... Are you doing some cardio? Walking, light jogging, hiking, swimming? They would all be good to do on your off of weights days...

[Tonyia]

I have been doing it everyday as well as my Elliptical for 30 minutes. I was doing my Elliptical for an hour and the weights but I was feeling very drained so I lowered my Elliptical time.

I thought I was supposed to lift everyday but I guess that is not the case?

[RobertW]

Originally Posted by Tonyia

I thought I was supposed to lift everyday but I guess that is not the case?

Not if you want to get stronger. The rest day is allowing your muscles to rebuild and supercompensate.

Manual laborers get strong enough to do their job, and no stronger because they are "lifting" every day. So, you will make some gains by training every day, but they will be limited to how much you can recover in 24h.

[crcossel]

Yep I would have a rest day. I have gained 4 lbs of muscle in less than 3 weeks alot because I had a rest day ( I believe). With a rest day you are then able to lift to"to failure", let your muscles recover and then do it again.

[sacha]

Originally Posted by Tonyia

I have been doing it everyday as well as my Elliptical for 30 minutes.

I thought I was supposed to lift everyday but I guess that is not the case?

Here are some basics of weight training

Large muscle groups first, small muscle groups last.

If these are your exercises, do them in this order:
Chest (large):
3 sets of 12 chest presses
3 sets of 12 chest pullovers on exercise ball

Back (large):
3 sets of 12 bent over rows

Legs (large):
Lunges

Bicep (small):
3 sets of 12 bicep curls

Although a little imbalanced (you didn't list the other exercises you do, so perhaps it is balanced), this is essentially a full body program. Full body programs are done every other day, at least, with a two day break (ie. Mon/Wed/Fri/... weekend off)

Since you are a beginner, there is no need to make it any more complicated than that.

A second issue is progressive loading. If you can do 3x12 with "X"lbs on a daily basis, you have been lifting too light. At 160lbs, I suspect you could probably chest press a decent 50-60lbs, being untrained. You are doing 16lbs. The body doesn't do work or adapt if it doesn't have to!

[ambpure]

I agree with Sacha on every part.

Once you get more experienced, you can do split routines, but since you're a beginner Sacha's tips are great.

If you really want to do things every day, you can feel free to do cardio sessions like on the elliptical machines on your days off from weight training (you can also do them on the same days in addition to your weight training or both by the way).