Gym help

H

HarryChest

Central Defender
I’ve recently joined the gym. Ideally I’m hoping to lose some fat and gain some muscle.

I usually do 30 minutes on the bike or cross trainer then weights. I split the weights into 3 days. Back and legs, shoulders and tris, chest and bi’s.

However I do not like doing the majority of freeweight barbell exercises such as squats, deadlifts or overhead press so the StrongLifts is no good for me. Am I wasting my time if I am not willing to do these exercises?
 


HarryChest said:
I’ve recently joined the gym. Ideally I’m hoping to lose some fat and gain some muscle.

I usually do 30 minutes on the bike or cross trainer then weights. I split the weights into 3 days. Back and legs, shoulders and tris, chest and bi’s.

However I do not like doing the majority of freeweight barbell exercises such as squats, deadlifts or overhead press so the StrongLifts is no good for me. Am I wasting my time if I am not willing to do these exercises?
Click to expand...
Do what your body is crying out for then understand what works for your body.

I do cardio - machine - dumb bells - punch bag - tractor tyre - medicine ball it works for me but I haven't been to the gym for ages.

Have you seen the Training Logs yet why don't you make your own?
 
why don't you like freeweights? Concern over form?

I wouldn't say you're wasting your time, but I suggest you do your weights before cardio so you can give more effort into the weights.
 
niceonemarra said:
Do what your body is crying out for then understand what works for your body.

I do cardio - machine - dumb bells - punch bag - tractor tyre - medicine ball it works for me but I haven't been to the gym for ages.

Have you seen the Training Logs yet why don't you make your own?
Click to expand...

At the moment I do 3 sets of 10 reps for each.

An example of what I do is:

Back and legs:
30 min cardio
Seated Row
Leg press
Lat Pulldowns
Calf press
Back extension machine
Leg extensions

Shoulders and tri’s:
30 min cardio
Dumbbell lateral raises
Dip machine
Shoulder press
Triceps extensions
Front raises
Rope pulldowns

Chest and bi’s:
30 mins cardio
Chest press
Alternate bicep curl
Machine fly
Preacher curl machine
Incline bench press
Bicep curl machine

I know some of the things I am doing is similar but not sure what else to do without doing compound lifts

oROSSo said:
why don't you like freeweights? Concern over form?

I wouldn't say you're wasting your time, but I suggest you do your weights before cardio so you can give more effort into the weights.
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Yeah. I don’t mind dumbbells but not keen on the compound lifts so try to keep away from them when I can.

I usually do the cardio first because if I do the weights first I end up skipping the cardio and going home
 
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HarryChest said:
At the moment I do 3 sets of 10 reps for each.

An example of what I do is:

Back and legs:
30 min cardio
Seated Row
Leg press
Lat Pulldowns
Calf press
Back extension machine
Leg extensions

Shoulders and tri’s:
30 min cardio
Dumbbell lateral raises
Dip machine
Shoulder press
Triceps extensions
Front raises
Rope pulldowns

Chest and bi’s:
30 mins cardio
Chest press
Alternate bicep curl
Machine fly
Preacher curl machine
Incline bench press
Bicep curl machine

I know some of the things I am doing is similar but not sure what else to do without doing compound lifts


Yeah. I don’t mind dumbbells but not keen on the compound lifts so try to keep away from them when I can.

I usually do the cardio first because if I do the weights first I end up skipping the cardio and going home
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well as said, you're not wasting your time per se but it's far from optimal. My advice would be hire a good PT for a couple of sessions to help with your form/get you started and add compound moves into your routine. And hit the weights before your cardio.
 
Lyle McDonald has talked about machines and free weights.

Machines vs free weights - BodyRecomposition Support Forums

https://staff.washington.edu/griffin/fitfaq.txt

Hi again. This time I would like to address the choice of machines
versus free weights for the beginning weight trainer. Personally,
I tend towards machines for the complete beginner for a variety
of reasons. There are a couple of exercises I think free weights
are better due to the lack of really good machines for these particular
bodyparts.

—- More ——

Ok, this is the final part of this series. I promise. So, let's put it
all together. A possible workout routine might look like this.

Mon: Warmup, stretch, leg press, leg curl, calf raise, bench press,
Low row, Military press, dumbbell curl, tricep pushdown, crunch
Tue: Aerobics
Wed: Warmup, stretch, lunge, leg curl, calf raise, incline bench press,
lat pulldown, military press, barbell curl, tricep pushdown, crunch
Thu: Aerobics
Fri: Same as Monday
Sat: Aerobics
Sun: Off
 
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Cardio combined with deadlifts, squats and bench press is a great all round session. Use a smith machine on both the bench and the squats until you find a weight youre comfortable with and ultimately find your confidence to use a barbell.
 
Hugh Gains said:
Cardio combined with deadlifts, squats and bench press is a great all round session. Use a smith machine on both the bench and the squats until you find a weight youre comfortable with and ultimately find your confidence to use a barbell.
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Agree with the first bit , but don’t think there is any harm in starting with a bar ...even if it isn’t loaded with any weight
 
Hugh Gains said:
Cardio combined with deadlifts, squats and bench press is a great all round session. Use a smith machine on both the bench and the squats until you find a weight youre comfortable with and ultimately find your confidence to use a barbell.
Click to expand...

I'd say use goblet squats and some light dumbells etc as opposed to the Smith Machine.
 
Any particular reason why you don't like the 'big lifts'?
A lot of people don't do them/ don't like them because they are hard to begin with, but you get the most 'bang for your buck' out of them
 
Charmless Man said:
You’re not wasting your time at all as any exercise is better than no exercise.

I strongly contend that training using barbell exercises is far more efficient than training with machines, though.[/
maygo said:
Any particular reason why you don't like the 'big lifts'?
A lot of people don't do them/ don't like them because they are hard to begin with, but you get the most 'bang for your buck' out of them
Click to expand...
its the bench press and squats which newbies i have taken along hate doing i find. But to me there the basics you must master if you want to push on. Imo.
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ffs. Made a mess of that
 
It can be intimidating when you first go to a gym and are lifting very light, but form is everything. I haven’t been for a while, but when I started I was only squatting with an empty bar! Felt embarrassing but I wanted to make sure I got form right and avoided injury.

I then got a bit daft, lifted too much and injured my knee.
 
Joe Public said:
It can be intimidating when you first go to a gym and are lifting very light, but form is everything. I haven’t been for a while, but when I started I was only squatting with an empty bar! Felt embarrassing but I wanted to make sure I got form right and avoided injury.

I then got a bit daft, lifted too much and injured my knee.
Click to expand...
you just have to remember that everybody had to start somewhere
 

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