New to working out.

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djw911
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New to working out.

Post by djw911 »

Im new to working out. and main goal is to gain muscle mass and strength. i dont have a lot to work with, dont have a ride to the gym. I have dumbells a barbell but no bench and a curling bar. i looked up body wieght exercises and do those. i want to know which exercises are best for me to do; like curls and with the dumbells.
Packard
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Post by Packard »

Tell us a bit more about yourself.

Age, height, weight, body type, sports and other activities, etc.
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

age-15
wieght-140 lbs
hieght- 5' 9"
body type- inbetween athletic and average
sport- play football with friends alot
Packard
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Post by Packard »

I don't believe in heavily loading soft tissue (cartilage), tendons and ligaments at 15 years of age.

You can easily get strong enough to damage these by lifting heavy. Especially on bench presses and squats.

Push ups (wide and medium grip) are good for the chest development.

Pull ups (wide and medium grips) and chin ups are good for the lats.

Squat thrusts and lunges are good for the legs and are very athletic moves.

Dumbbell curls will make impressive biceps.

1 arm or 2 arm behind the neck triceps extensions with dumbbells will give good range of motion development of the triceps.

Close grip (palms touching) push ups are also good for triceps development.

Crunches and leg raises are good for the abs.

Dips between two chairs (with your legs on a third chair) is good for the shoulders, pecs and triceps.

There is enough you can do to get in condition with the equipment you have on hand for the next two years. By then you will have your driver's licence and will be able to drive to the gym--and your skeletal system will be sufficiently mature to withstand heavier lifts.
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

thanks for the information and how much is a good ammount of wieght for the dumbell curls??
Packard
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Post by Packard »

I'm an old timer, and younger folks are using lower reps, but recommendation is that you choose a weight that you can do 3 to 4 sets of 10 reps with.

Increase the weight each week until you fail at the last set.

I like to split workouts so that I do "pushing" exercises twice a week and "pulling" exercises twice a week.

I usually work out this way:

Monday push, heavy
Tuesday, pull, heavy
Wednesday--rest
Thursday push light
Friday, pull light
Saturday--rest
Sunday--rest


The light days should be about 20 to 30 percent lighter than the heavy days with the same number of reps and sets. This is part of your recovery/rest cycle.

Pay attention to the following:

Workouts/rest/nutrition/sleep--all are key components of your routine.

Balance: try to balance your workouts so you work all muscle groups equally. Try to include strength training, endurance training, stamina training, and stretching. (Stamina, as I define it, is middle ground between strength and endurance; it is moderately heavy work load over moderately long periods of time). Interval training should also be incorporated in your workouts.

Balance will allow you to look good and move well.
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

so i should experiment with different wieghts until i can do that. right now i do 3x8 35 lbs. and i do incline pushups.(3 steps up).

by the way do you know which exercise would be the best for me to work on back?
Mystik
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Post by Mystik »

Do pull ups, rowing and shrugs for your back.
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

thanks mystik.
Mystik
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Post by Mystik »

No problem. :D Just remember to get some good core work done as well. And I don't mean crunches. I mean real core work, and remember to include your lower back into your core. Your core isn't just your abs. :wink:
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

can you be more specific about the core muscles. which ones should i workout.

and if its not to much trouble maabey get some exercises if not ill look them up.
Mystik
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Post by Mystik »

Some of favourites:

Hand walkouts
Leg climbers
Modified sit ups (sit cross legged and lay back, with legs crossed perform a sit up and touch the floor in front of you with one hand, lay back and repeat touching the floor with a different hand each time)
Plank
Side plank
Superman's

If you go to youtube and search core exercises there are a lot more. Watch those and try them out.
Packard
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Post by Packard »

Mystik wrote:No problem. :D Just remember to get some good core work done as well. And I don't mean crunches. I mean real core work, and remember to include your lower back into your core. Your core isn't just your abs. :wink:
Funny. I've been lifting for 47 years and we always said, "Just remember to work your torso, and not just your abs."

Same concept; new terminology. It made sense 40 years ago; still does.
djw911
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Post by djw911 »

thanks agian.
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