2002/07/03, 01:58 PM
Hello all,
I've just recently signed up and am suprised and delighted to find such an enthusiastic and vibrant group. I'm currently working off baby fat (that which I've gained over the last 3 years since my daughter's birth) and working towards better muscle definition. I'm doing weight training as well as cardio. I've also increased my water consumption and have broken up my total daily calories over 5 small meals instead of three big ones. I've been at it seriously for 3 weeks now and have lost about 7 pounds of fat, 1 inch of girth and 1 inch in my waist! Six pack, here I come!
I do have a question about weight - what is a good way to determine how much weight I should start with for a given exercise and what is a good increment to increase that weight as my reps decrease with each set? I've had pretty spotty results going at it on a best-guestimate basis.
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2002/07/03, 02:03 PM
I have always gone by the rep method. By that I mean, put on a weight for an exercise like say bench press. say that you can only get 4 reps. That is to heavy, ( you should be in the 10-12 rep range). so you lower the weight till you can get 8 or so reps with a little strain, but still reach the target range (10-12). The last few should be harder to get. Once you are able to easily get all the reps add weight. I usually add 5-10 lbs. For a person just starting out i would go with 5 lbs total. Then the cycle starts all over. I hope that made some sense. good luck this site is awesome
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2002/07/03, 02:19 PM
Thanks for the advice. That sounds like a great strategy - I'll put it into effect tonight.
============ Quoting from 7707mutt:
I have always gone by the rep method. By that I mean, put on a weight for an exercise like say bench press. say that you can only get 4 reps. That is to heavy, ( you should be in the 10-12 rep range). so you lower the weight till you can get 8 or so reps with a little strain, but still reach the target range (10-12). The last few should be harder to get. Once you are able to easily get all the reps add weight. I usually add 5-10 lbs. For a person just starting out i would go with 5 lbs total. Then the cycle starts all over. I hope that made some sense. good luck this site is awesome =============
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2002/07/03, 02:24 PM
No problem, another good way to learn is to ask someone at the gym. Almost 99% of the people there are very willing to help out. So go get them!!!!! Sounds like you are making a lot of progress.
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