Lifting weights at the gym

[Zen]

Don't most gyms have someone knowledgeable walking around helping folks??

It's pretty much a crapshoot as to how knowledgeable the club "trainers" are. Some have college degrees and certification but no experience, some have years of experience and some have little or no experience at all.

In the US club trainers aren't even required to be certified. There is no system of licensure.
You really have to be careful in choosing a trainer.

[OakLeaf]

I'd be surprised if all the machines have the same size plates. They certainly don't with Nautilus machines, which are the only ones I've spent any time on.

Compare your leg press machine with your rear delt flye machine, just for example of maybe the heaviest and the lightest weights you're going to be pushing. You wouldn't want to have to go up by 5# increments on the leg press... and you wouldn't be able to go up by 20# increments on the delt machines.


For your specific question, if "2" is 15#, then what's 1? (Yeah, I get there's no place for "1", but it's what you're lifting if you take the pin out, right?) If "2" is 15#, I would assume that "3" is 22.5#, "4" is 30#, and so on. If you're really talking about 15# increments, I sure hope you're talking about leg presses, because not too many women would be able to progress at all in 15# increments on any other exercise. Bent-over or seated rows, maybe. Bench presses and tricep dips, barely. Any delt exercise, fuhgeddaboudit.


Edit again: kg, if the last time you worked with one of the trainers was two years ago, take advantage of them again. We all need someone else to critique our form now and then. Obviously the machines kind of lock you into position and there's not as much precision as there is with free weights, but there's still room for advice on setting the various positions on the machine, pacing, breathing, etc. Zen is correct as far as there being no licensure in the USA - don't know what your situation is down there - but in practice, it's only the very smallest gyms here that don't require their trainers to at least be certified by one of the four major organizations (ACE, AFAA, ACSM or NSCA). But definitely, if you're going to be working with a trainer for more than a check-up every couple of years, check their credentials and trust your gut.

[kelownagirl]

Great thoughts Oakleaf. I think I will make an appt.