weights

[Dogmama]

The website you're referring to is Krista Dixon, right? If so, it's a good one, I agree.

Rather than a bar, I would get another set of heavier weights. A bar makes your arms & shoulders move in one plane. Not good. With regular weights, you can slightly adjust the plane of movement to accomodate any shoulder, elbow, etc. issues you might have.

Let's take shoulder work, for example. Free weights also allow you to adjust your hand position. For example, an overhead shoulder press can be done only one way with a bar. With weights, you can push overhead with your hands facing each other, push one at a time or angle them out slightly. Also, you can do side lateral raises with weights (to hit the medial head of the deltoid).

Don't forget the good old standbys like push ups. Those work your core as well as your chest, triceps and anterior deltoid. Varying your hand position lets you hit different areas.

[kelownagirl]

OK thanks Dogmama. I will look at more hand weights instead. I've been doing pushups as well. I suck at them. I cannot believe how weak I am. I can only do one real pushup. I struggle to do 10 girly pushups. And yes, it's Krista's website that was suggested earlier.

[aicabsolut]

Bulking up
the fact is, muscle requires lots of food to be built up. The art of bulking up is very challenging. it takes a lot of patience and time. The fact that some people feel they ARE bulking up is actual more like their fattening up (sorry for the lack of politically correctness there). They are eating unhealthily simple as that.
some of the pumped up feeling during exercise is simply fluid coming into the muscles. that dissipates after an hour or so.

What weights to use. General conditioning is typically any where from 10-20 reps of an exercise. that being said, if all you can do are 5 pushups, then thats what you start with. you want good form from beginning to end.

Muscle Failure
you want a nice challenge to the muscle, but you don't have to take it until you can't lift any more. you want to take it until you can't lift any more PROPERLY. there's a subtle difference. you will usually know because you will start to compensate (like arching your back to throw the back in, or swinging the body...stuff like that).

Remember the purpose of training is to apply the stress to the body that the body adapts to. Then you apply a new stress (ie heavier weight, more reps etc). thats progressive training. in order for this to be effective, exercises must be structured, other wise your body has nothing to adapt to. you have to remember to change your routine every couple of months.

hope that helps

hannah

Of all the things that have been posted so far, I agree with this post the most. (I've studied weight training in college and have had to incorporate weight training for functional fitness in a variety of sports--endurance or sprint-based). Here is my long, very opinionated take:

I want to add that bars are good for a limited number of exercises (chest press, deadlifts, upright rows, sometimes biceps and triceps), but they are something you don't really need. I find they are only essential for proper upright rows and when you need to lift the amount of weight where it really helps to get both hands on the thing, as opposed to having to stabilize two independent, heavy dumbbells. With the weights you've been lifting so far (up to 8lbs), bars are completely not necessary. (I'm referring to bent or straight bars where you add disc weights, not the lightweight things for stuff like a bodypump class).

If you've still got access to your bike during the winter, then you don't need gobs of weight training for them. Lunges and squats and even things like kickboxing can get you by. A stability ball can help you do some more things. TheraBands can let you target specific smaller muscles, like those in the calves.

For upper body training at home, I can get by with 8s, 10s, and 15s. In a strong phase (where I really keep up with it), I need some 17.5s, 20s and 25s. 3-5s are good for shadowboxing, which build up your shoulders, arms, upper back, and lats really quickly.

I'm not an advocate of 'endurance weight training' because it's still weight training, so it's really not getting those slow twich muscles much. You know that to get your legs in endurance shape it takes hours and hours on a bike. And it's very aerobic. Lifting is generally anaerobic, so IMO, lifting 20+ reps is a waste of time unless you're merely trying to maintain and going to a higher weight could cause a soft-tissue strain

[example: I lift approx 130lbs on an adductor machine. I can do 20-25 reps easily. Any heavier, and I'm going to pull a groin overcoming the static friction. But this is as strong as I need to be here anyway. To build endurance strength of these muscles, I've got to ride horses without stirrups for hours, which is made easier by being able to essentially hold my body weight with these muscles alone.]

To build strength, generally stay within the 8-12 range. To maintain / improve strength slowly, 12-20.

Whether you "bulk up" depends a lot on your body composition. Those of you who are great natural climbers are probably not going to get a significant increase in cross-sectional mass. Those who are natural sprinters probably will. Even though lifting is anaerobic and tends to enlist fast twich fibers, natural endurance athletes just won't build as much fast twich muscle as the sprinters. I think a lot of it depends on how your body likes to work (you will adapt to lifting like you adapt to anything else--if your body is more efficient enlisting and creating more cross-sectional mass then you'll build it. If it's not, you probably won't get as strong or as big as them.

If you're lifting to maintain, such that you aren't able to steadily increase your weight and/or reps with training, then you aren't going to be building much mass--or much strength--either.

But if you're going to LIFT, high rep/low weight is kind of a waste. If you really want to train for muscle endurance, get on a bike trainer, swim endurance sets, run like a marathoner. Lifting is for strength, injury prevention, and bone health.

[tattiefritter]

thanks aicabsolut, what a comprehensive reply!

I do so need to get some weight training done again (note to self: pull finger out!), particularly to strengthen my calves, lower back and glutes. I will be doing some squats with light weights for starters as even though it won't tickle my quads it works all the other little stabilising muscles really well, which helps me on the bike.

[kelownagirl]

I agree. I'm going to print out all this stuff. Thanks!

[Bad JuJu]

Lifting is for strength, injury prevention, and bone health.

I'm no expert, but this is why I lift--for strength and bone health. Read Strong Women, Strong Bones by Miriam Nelson and work up to heavier weights if you want to protect your bone density, especially as you age.