A lot of us are currently doing the "New rules of lifting for women" which is an awesome book with an awesome program.
When I first started lifting many many years ago, I did have a personal trainer but then I gave up lifting for a while. Then when I started again later on, I didn't but I basically read online about splits and different weight lifting regimines. We have some stickys in this forum that you might find useful.
I generally like to lift 4-5 days per week but the NRLW has a 3 day per week program.
Thanks, Nelie!
So you recommend getting a good book and sticking to it? I've read probably all articles at stumptuous.com and I'm now starting to read crossfit.com. I want to read as much as possible there and then have a look at a bunch of videos and pictures of exercises (I still have to look up most of them when I read their names, haha). So I'm definitely following links the links I find here.
Now making myself WO regularly... that's the hardest part.
It's funny that "the hardest part" is different for all of us. I happily would workout 7 days a week for hours if I didn't know that it was counterproductive and that I'd literally fall apart in about 3 weeks
But food has been more than occasionally a struggle since I hit my goal weight.
lala, for me the motivation to workout comes from a variety of places. Initially vanity...I hit my goal weight but it sure wasn't my goal body! Now, I know it keeps me sane and I LIKE having a strong, tight body. I like my clothes. I feel better when I workout and lift heavy. Not many women my age look or feel like I do. OK, Meg does I know that continuing to do this will keep me looking younger and moving longer and better than my contemporaries as I age. Those motivations may be too far in the future for you, but looking good and being able to wear great clothes because you have a great body rather than just a thin one should be a motivation at this point And if you feel stressed, slinging some iron is great way to relieve stress!
I would certainly work out more - and earlier in the day - if I didn't have this pesky need to earn $$.
But to answer your original question, lala, I taught myself to use free weights from reading books and looking at stuff on the web. I've never gotten more than a canned workout using machines when I joined a gym. You only need to make a commitment to get there and start... At least for me, once I've started in on my workout, I have no problem finishing the whole thing. It's a little harder with cardio for me. I'll take WL over cardio any day.
Haha, I'm not even thinking about the food yet. I want to get into this slowly so I don't start feeling too "overloaded".
And oh gosh, I want a body I can be proud of for so many reasons, but I have a hard time believing that I can achieve it, so I'm trying to focus on "just" gaining strength instead. Does that make sense or am I too weird?
I'm thinking about drawing some posters or something and hanging them on my walls so I have to see them every day - maybe that will give me the kick in the butt I need?
WaterRat, great point. If I'm at the gym, I will work out. Getting there is the tricky part for me.
I've found that packing my gym bag the night before helps. I almost forgot that. (I haven't been there for ~2 weeks because of school stress and then an annoying cold.)
Maybe a list of "how to trick myself into not being lazy" would help.
It's good to know that there are others who started without personal trainers and are doing well. I was afraid that having a PT, at least at the beginning, was "the way to go" (if there is such a thing), because I just can't afford one at the moment.
Also, I HATE those YWTLs. What is up with that exercise?? I had to do them with 5lb dumbbells and I can't say that I completed each rep perfectly. How do you do those with new clients, Mel/Meg? Thank god my gym doesn't have the pink weights or I'd have been completely humiliated. Ego crushers indeed.
I've seen Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson talking about prone trap raises, which is basically just the Y in YWTLs and they said they start most people off with no weight at all, just with their hands with thumbs up.
Remember (and I have to remind myself all the time too) you need to leave your ego at the door when you enter the gym. It leads to trying to lift too much weight with too bad of a form. It's usually worse with us guys than you girls. Anyway, why are you going to feel humiliated? The only people who are going to look at you doing those with 5lb dumbells and look down on you are people without a clue and they are probably to busy doing barbell curls in the squat rack with too much weight and a bent back to notice you. Everybody that has a clue is too busy focusing on their own workouts to notice, but if they do, they KNOW 5lbs is nothing to be ashamed of, and they probably see you doing an uncommon and productive exercise like YWTLs and if any thought crosses their minds, it is probably "This girl knows a little something about training."
Those who forget to leave their ego at the gym door go home hurt And pick up a humility towel on your way in!
Baf- 5 pounds is nothing to sneeze at! I have a coordinations challenged client- we laugh about it all the time- and to help her get the motions I did it along with her facing her. With 7 pound dumbbells and I wasn't exactly looking forward to doing more! Any ONE of those exercises, I can do with a 15 pound db- but as a huge, compound superset, it's just plain HARD.
Shucks Depalma. I'm really only kidding. I felt frustrated by the 5lb, but not humiliated at all. I maintain the right to exaggerate when it seems that exaggeration is appropriate.
Rabbit reporting in after a few days of crazy work related absence!
Lala - I also started out on my own, just followed a book & did what it said. Like you, my biggest obstacle is to actually get started. I solved this by getting some dumbells, and putting a gym mat and a cheap mirror next to my bed. When I get up on lifting days, I start before I an conscious enough to think of excuses; I lift before I shower. And that works for me. It turns out to be much easier and less timeconsuming to just do it than to try to figure out how to fit it into my day.
Lifeguard - don't beat yourself up for your lack of motivation! You're pregnant!! All those hormones sloshing around in your body make you focus more on stuff that is biologically preparing you for getting a child, also some part of the internal you is getting a major overhaul to accomodate that baby in the next months. With all that restructuring around, it is not strange that you are tired and unmotivated to sport; your body has other priorities at the moment.
Thanks also everyone for the input on lowering the BF. My BF is way too high for my taste, 34 % on the tanita scale and I do not like what I see in the mirror. So I am freaking out a bit because since i do NRWL my weight is actually going UP!!! I have GAINED 5 pounds!!!!But fortunately my clothes still fit, my pants actually are the tiniest bit looser, so I hope I am gaining muscle and the weight will go down again in a couple of weeks like lifeguard says.
I am secretly thrilled because I never imagined I could get muscle, and I now do NRWL with a 20 + kg barbel and 8 - 10 kg dumbells!! Also I tried the HIIT thing in the gym last night, and I found out that I can actually keep up 9 kms per hour (6 mph) for 2 minutes in running intervals! This kind of points out to me that while i do not hink of myself as a sports person, I actually am getting better and better at this, and i am excited to see where this all leads. if I keep going, I might become a meg or a mel or a waterrat in the coming years...I'll be older but in great shape! I like the idea of becoming a tough old lady.
I'm off to go to the hospital with DD. She has a checkup with her cardiologist They closed a hole in her heart 8 years ago, but she is still checked every couple of years. She is doing fine but I am still looking forward to hearing this from the doctor.
Lala - I also started out on my own, just followed a book & did what it said. Like you, my biggest obstacle is to actually get started. I solved this by getting some dumbells, and putting a gym mat and a cheap mirror next to my bed. When I get up on lifting days, I start before I an conscious enough to think of excuses; I lift before I shower. And that works for me. It turns out to be much easier and less timeconsuming to just do it than to try to figure out how to fit it into my day.
Oh, I really like that! I'll have to try it.
Thanks so much everyone for the good ideas and input.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4rabbit
I'm off to go to the hospital with DD. She has a checkup with her cardiologist They closed a hole in her heart 8 years ago, but she is still checked every couple of years. She is doing fine but I am still looking forward to hearing this from the doctor.
I have a question. I want to build up my barbell squats. I've been practicing with my broom handle. I'm kind of worried when I get a real barbell (45 lbs ?) that it'll be a bit too much.
I'm wondering if I should buy a spri weighted bar to practice? How do I build up to a barbell? I'm having mental issues with the concept that doing squats with a barbell is so much different than with dumbbells/kettlebells.
I know that continuing to do this will keep me looking younger and moving longer and better than my contemporaries as I age. Those motivations may be too far in the future for you, but looking good and being able to wear great clothes because you have a great body rather than just a thin one should be a motivation at this point 
And if you feel stressed, slinging some iron is great way to relieve stress! 
