Advice: Beginner Starting Weights At Home...
Discussion
If you've never done weights before and aren't in good shape/unfit/overweight you need to sort out your core first. If you go lifting even moderate weight and you have a weak core, you risk injuring yourself, possibly badly.
Get a stability ball for about £10. Work your core 3 times a week for a month. Don't worry, these aren't just for women. There are some good intense exercises you can do on these. If you live anywhere near me, I could show you around 50 exercises with varying levels of intensity progression. Some will be too tough for you to do.
Worry about weights later.
Get a stability ball for about £10. Work your core 3 times a week for a month. Don't worry, these aren't just for women. There are some good intense exercises you can do on these. If you live anywhere near me, I could show you around 50 exercises with varying levels of intensity progression. Some will be too tough for you to do.
Worry about weights later.
If you're looking at going to the gym anyway id say buy absolutely nothing at all until you've figured out what YOU want and what YOU need. If you want to do stuff at home first, look at doing body weight stuff like press ups, sit-ups, etc, then move onto the gym and then look at buying dumbells and Olympic bars and squat racks, etc.
Depending on what you want to do, how serious you are, how strong you are now (bare in mind you'll hopefully be a lot stronger in a year so might need to upgrade) and how much room you have, look at things like.
A weight bench, good solid one.
An Olympic bar, standard ones are steel, 7feet long and weigh 20kg.
Plates for the Olympic bar, you'll be looking at getting around 300lbs - depending on how big and strong you are, 300lbs will seem lightweight very quickly when doing stuff like deadlifts and squats.
A power rack, this will keep you safe when squatting and bench pressing - if you drop the weight or lose control, the weight will land on the rack and not you.
Dumbells to at least 40kg - 40kg would be good for things like shrugs, but again you'll be working towards that.
Ez bar, these are used for bicep curls, skull crushers and tricep extensions.
Join a gym first though, not any gym I.e. don't go for a fitness centre like Virgin fitness, go to a proper local gym with a good bunch of knowledgable guys. It can be intimidating working out with 100lbs bench press when there are guys doing 4x that but everyone starts somewhere. A good gym should motivate you and guide you.
Don't just start lifting weights though, if you want to get anywhere then it's not just about your training, it's also about your diet and how much rest you get and how much sleep you get. You grow when you sleep and rest, not when you're at the gym lifting.
The general rule is low reps 3-5 for power, 6-12 for hypertrophy (size, think bodybuilders) and 13+ for conditioning. That's not set in stone at all as some muscles, you'll want more reps than others. Also remember what works for you might not work as well for anyone else and what works great for them might not be as good for you, everyone's body is different.
A weight bench, good solid one.
An Olympic bar, standard ones are steel, 7feet long and weigh 20kg.
Plates for the Olympic bar, you'll be looking at getting around 300lbs - depending on how big and strong you are, 300lbs will seem lightweight very quickly when doing stuff like deadlifts and squats.
A power rack, this will keep you safe when squatting and bench pressing - if you drop the weight or lose control, the weight will land on the rack and not you.
Dumbells to at least 40kg - 40kg would be good for things like shrugs, but again you'll be working towards that.
Ez bar, these are used for bicep curls, skull crushers and tricep extensions.
Join a gym first though, not any gym I.e. don't go for a fitness centre like Virgin fitness, go to a proper local gym with a good bunch of knowledgable guys. It can be intimidating working out with 100lbs bench press when there are guys doing 4x that but everyone starts somewhere. A good gym should motivate you and guide you.
Don't just start lifting weights though, if you want to get anywhere then it's not just about your training, it's also about your diet and how much rest you get and how much sleep you get. You grow when you sleep and rest, not when you're at the gym lifting.
The general rule is low reps 3-5 for power, 6-12 for hypertrophy (size, think bodybuilders) and 13+ for conditioning. That's not set in stone at all as some muscles, you'll want more reps than others. Also remember what works for you might not work as well for anyone else and what works great for them might not be as good for you, everyone's body is different.
Edited by Regiment on Thursday 20th December 18:36
If you're planning on doing weights at home untill you're big/fit enough to feel comfortable at the gym: Just join the gym 
There will be 'normal' people there just starting out and you won't stand out unless you do something stupid
Have a look round the gyms in your area before signing up and pick one that feels right and is easy to get to. I walk past mine on the way home from work, It's so much harder to make excuses not to go when you're stood outside it.
When you sign up there should be an instructor to show you how to correctly use the equipment, also consider a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to give you a better idea of how to get the most out of it. YouTube has loads of videos of different exercises so have a look on there for ideas.
As for exercising at home, as said above: pushups (and variations of,) pullups, crunches and dips. For actual home equipment a set of adjustable dumbbells or a kettle bell set. Although it's worth considering that if you were going to the gym regulally, how often would you want to do it at home as well? Since I really started pushing myself I've barely touched my kit at home.
There will be 'normal' people there just starting out and you won't stand out unless you do something stupid
Have a look round the gyms in your area before signing up and pick one that feels right and is easy to get to. I walk past mine on the way home from work, It's so much harder to make excuses not to go when you're stood outside it.
When you sign up there should be an instructor to show you how to correctly use the equipment, also consider a couple of sessions with a personal trainer to give you a better idea of how to get the most out of it. YouTube has loads of videos of different exercises so have a look on there for ideas.
As for exercising at home, as said above: pushups (and variations of,) pullups, crunches and dips. For actual home equipment a set of adjustable dumbbells or a kettle bell set. Although it's worth considering that if you were going to the gym regulally, how often would you want to do it at home as well? Since I really started pushing myself I've barely touched my kit at home.
Regiment said:
Plates for the Olympic bar, you'll be looking at getting around 300lbs - depending on how big and strong you are, 300lbs will seem lightweight very quickly when doing stuff like deadlifts and squats.[/footnote]
Really? So fast to make it worth the whole of a total beginner who intends joining a gym after a while?Lost_BMW said:
Really? So fast to make it worth the whole of a total beginner who intends joining a gym after a while?
Like I said, should join the gym first to figure out what weights youd need but no long term contract, it depends on how big someone is. It also only took me 6 months to hit a 300lb deadlift, it's not that heavy a weight but I'm far bigger than the average guy so that's me.Regiment said:
Lost_BMW said:
Really? So fast to make it worth the whole of a total beginner who intends joining a gym after a while?
Like I said, should join the gym first to figure out what weights youd need but no long term contract, it depends on how big someone is. It also only took me 6 months to hit a 300lb deadlift, it's not that heavy a weight but I'm far bigger than the average guy so that's me.Edited by Lost_BMW on Wednesday 26th December 20:23
I think as earlier posters have pointed out, OP is doing things the wrong way round. Better to spend 6 months+ at the gym in an environment with support, than spend 6 months' worth of membership on gear for home that you'll have no idea how to use.
Most people don't start buying kit for home until they're confident in their routines and are certain they're willing to invest in the gear. A basic starting set of olympic weights is going to set you back £150+, and that doesn't include a bench, or stands/a cage for squats.
That said, if you're sure you want to start at home I'd start with a basic 100kg~ set of olympic weights with 6' or 7' bar, and find a sturdy bench with uprights which can double as stands for squats & overhead press. If you're a big guy, then you'll be wanting more weight fairly quickly - but there's no reason to get it all at the start.
My home setup is this:
Which is:
Cage made from scaffolding
Wobbly bench from Friday ad
100kg Olympic bar + weight set
50kg from a friend's Olympic bar + weight set
Some miscellaneous 1" dumbell bars and weights
Most people don't start buying kit for home until they're confident in their routines and are certain they're willing to invest in the gear. A basic starting set of olympic weights is going to set you back £150+, and that doesn't include a bench, or stands/a cage for squats.
That said, if you're sure you want to start at home I'd start with a basic 100kg~ set of olympic weights with 6' or 7' bar, and find a sturdy bench with uprights which can double as stands for squats & overhead press. If you're a big guy, then you'll be wanting more weight fairly quickly - but there's no reason to get it all at the start.
My home setup is this:
Which is:
Cage made from scaffolding
Wobbly bench from Friday ad
100kg Olympic bar + weight set
50kg from a friend's Olympic bar + weight set
Some miscellaneous 1" dumbell bars and weights
Meoricin said:
I think as earlier posters have pointed out, OP is doing things the wrong way round. Better to spend 6 months+ at the gym in an environment with support, than spend 6 months' worth of membership on gear for home that you'll have no idea how to use.
Most people don't start buying kit for home until they're confident in their routines and are certain they're willing to invest in the gear. A basic starting set of olympic weights is going to set you back £150+, and that doesn't include a bench, or stands/a cage for squats.
That said, if you're sure you want to start at home I'd start with a basic 100kg~ set of olympic weights with 6' or 7' bar, and find a sturdy bench with uprights which can double as stands for squats & overhead press. If you're a big guy, then you'll be wanting more weight fairly quickly - but there's no reason to get it all at the start.
My home setup is this:
Which is:
Cage made from scaffolding
Wobbly bench from Friday ad
100kg Olympic bar + weight set
50kg from a friend's Olympic bar + weight set
Some miscellaneous 1" dumbell bars and weights
WTF Most people don't start buying kit for home until they're confident in their routines and are certain they're willing to invest in the gear. A basic starting set of olympic weights is going to set you back £150+, and that doesn't include a bench, or stands/a cage for squats.
That said, if you're sure you want to start at home I'd start with a basic 100kg~ set of olympic weights with 6' or 7' bar, and find a sturdy bench with uprights which can double as stands for squats & overhead press. If you're a big guy, then you'll be wanting more weight fairly quickly - but there's no reason to get it all at the start.
My home setup is this:
Which is:
Cage made from scaffolding
Wobbly bench from Friday ad
100kg Olympic bar + weight set
50kg from a friend's Olympic bar + weight set
Some miscellaneous 1" dumbell bars and weights
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