Hi everybody,

I used to lift weights a long time ago (way back in the 90s ) with a trainer and she wrote out a schedule for me with all the specific muscle group exercises with the amount of weight and reps in order for me to follow at home just with free weights.

With all my brain fog over the years I have forgotten what was on that list.


I want to try getting back into it, using the free weights at home will work for me to get started.

Is there a website that anybody knows of that gives info and illustrations and schedules with the different exercises with free weights??


I remember upper body was like biceps and triceps, shoulders, chest, and back with ab work

Lower body, quads, hamstrings, calves, gluteous maximus and ab work ???

And you alternate days of upper and lower exercises, right?


Any info would be appreciated




OOOPS! THis should probably be in the sports and fitness category.....

I do not know of a website but I bought the book Buff Brides (way before I was engaged, which I am now, yay!). Sorry for the tangent.
Anyway, it has a good number of weight exercises as well as exercise ball stuff and it breaks it down per day and week what you should be doing. It starts with three days a week and works to four halfway through the 6 month program.
I have spoken to people who have continued to use the exercises after 6 months.

Thanks for ths suggestion. I'll look into it

Julie, I usually do chest/back on day, biceps/triceps/shoulders/abs, one day, and legs the other day. I also do cardio three days per week.

I really like the book The Body Sculpting Bible for Women. It's specifically designed for women and has detailed descriptions of all the exercises. It also has suggested programs and diet.

Here are some of my tips:
-Make sure you are working opposing muscle groups. Like if you work your biceps, you should also work your triceps, quads and hamstrings, abs and back, etc.
-Work large muscle groups first (like quads and biceps). If you work your smaller muscles like triceps, they may be too fatigued for you to effectively work your biceps.
-Lifting should be done to the point of fatigue so you try for that last rep, but you just can't do it. This will result in maximal strength gain.
-You don't have to alternate days of upper and lower exercises. You do need to have 48 hours between working the same muscle. Muscle isn't built during lifting, it's built during rest. When you lift you create micro-tears in the muscle. When those heal, you gain strength. If you lift again before the muscle is healed, you'll never build strength. I tend to do a whole-body workout every 2-3 days. If you want to lift everyday, alternating upper and lower body is a good way to do it.
-I don't have any specific websites I go to - I'm more of a library book girl. I also love my exercise ball.

Thanks Carla and kbtoyssni, great tips!

I thought I started off with like 1,3, and 5 lbs for upper body doing like one set of however many reps, and then went up weight for the second rep. But since that was a while ago, maybe that is old school

I'll look into those books and other sources.

I got all my weight lifting info from the Mens Health magazine website, if you search the 'abs diet' on that website, it should bring up the workout info--it's for women too. It has a breakdown with pictures for each day of the week. I usually do it 3x week. If you're interested and can't find it, let me know and I'll see what I can find.

You can either do high weight and low reps (which is good for bulking up) or low weight and high reps (which is better for toning). I'm guessing you want the latter Either one works just fine as long as you do enough reps to reach exhaustion. The trouble with really low weights (like the 1 and 3lbs) is you have to do a lot of reps to get to that point. I tend to get bored around 15 reps so I use medium weights so I don't have to do a lot or reps.

There are tons of philosophies on how to lift - starting at lower weight for one set and higher weight for the next set is one way. I tend to do it the other way around, but again, I really don't think it matters much at all.

I lift as much weight as I can and still lift three sets at 8-12 reps. I've never had a problem with bulk.

With Lyme Disease, the famous doctor who wrote the guidelines for treatment says to work at what weight you can handle and still be able to work out for a whole hour. If the weights make you too tired too early, then to reduce them ... that how long you work out matters (this is specifically for Julie). You might check out those guidelines at www.ilads.org.

I LOVE weightlifting, but I hate endless reps, lol, so like Carla, I go as heavy as I can go to do 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps. I have recently done a little experiment with very light weights (2 lbs) and going 50 reps (it takes that many with 2lbs before I feel anything at all, lol). I still like my heavy weights best.

Thanks Carla, I'll check it out.

Thanks to you too Donna

Have you tried googling? I'm sure there are exercise sites out there.

What I've heard is that you go with a weight where you can't do one more rep. If you could do more, you aren't stressing your muscles enough to make all the progress you could. If you do the same number of reps with the same weight, well, you will plateau. Also it is helpful to change the exercises you do. One's muscles get accustomed to a particular exercise.

I've heard that for bulk, one goes for a weight where 6 to 8 reps are possible. For toning, it is 12 to 15. If I get to where I can do more than 15, I go to a higher weight.

You might find it useful to use a video. The instructor will give you a warmup and cooldown, stretching, hints about form, etc., plus the music seems to help you go on. I find I do much better lifting this way than doing it by myself.

I won't recommend the program I'm using because it is advanced. But you can find lots of programs at www.collagevideo.com. You can see difficulty level, watch clips, read reviews, etc. Also, you can return programs to them if you don't like them.

I wanted to add that the number of reps you do each workout is going to vary. You may want to aim in the 12-15 range, but you should do as many as you can until you fatigue. So gradually the number of reps will increase until you get above 15 or 20 reps (depending on what you decide), and then you should increase weight and you'll be back down in the 8-10 rep range. I find my reps vary depending on how much sleep I got the night before, my mood, what I ate for lunch, etc. Some days I have more energy than others.

You might want to treat yourself to one session with a personal trainer who can give you some ideas of exercises that will work for you and your specific fitness goals. One or two sessions should be enough to then be able to continue on your own. I was lucky and was able to take a weight training class in college so I had a whole semester of instruction.

Ha, I was going to mention this but I tend to be a video maniac, so was afraid, lol. I have over 200 excercise videos and yes, it's a great way to learn correct form (mostly, lol) and technique.

I've ordered LOTS of stuff from collage, and yes, love those clips.



YES!!!!

Yes, this is correct. I should have made that clear. Thanks! Sometimes when I up the weight, even getting to 8 may be a problem at first

It is useful to write down what you do, the reps, number of sets, and weight used, whether you need to scale back or go to a higher weight the next time, if you had to take a midset break, etc. It is nice to see the progress.

Thanks hathor for your input, and kbtoyssni for more of your suggestions.

I used to get that Collage Video catalog , but haven't for a few years.

Check out www.bodybuilding .com. It's not just for muscle heads. They have a huge database of excercises and programs, articles, diet tips and all sorts of neat stuff.

Its OK but it won't give you the same feedback as a good trainer regarding good technique. Even experienced trainers need other experienced trainers to spot flaws in technique .. and its human nature to develop these 'flaws' because it makes things easy for us... its a lot like you naturally limp if you get a thorn in the foot... so we tend to cut certain parts of exersize routines we find hardest to to properly and ironically these tend to be the ones we need most...

I personally find abs and triceps very easy to work out and biceps really hard to do correctly (partly due to old injuries) .. however I will therefore tend to put more into abs and triceps than I do on biceps and do the reps better...
Even though I know this.... it takes a trainer to drill it in (IMHO) .. the same doing back, I find seated rowing (one of the few non-free weight exersizes I do) really hard to do correctly ... its easy to cheat and I can do double the weight or double reps if I do but its no longer the same exersize...

The very nature of free weights (and a big plus IMHO) is they work out more of the body at once... other muscles are used for balance etc. not needed on specialised machines ... however they also give more chance to cheat because of this ... like using too much shoulds for a bench press etc.

I think everyone should train with someone experienced every so often regardless ... just as if we only ever talked to ourselves our speech would become quirkly and less rich...
Personally I prefer training with someone else most of the time .. others prefer working out alone but even then I think regular technique checks with an experienced friend or better personal trainer is a good thing...
If you can't remember how to put together a routine (whichever methodology as there are several) then I'd say getting the technique correct should be #1 before you possibly injure yourself and then miss training for weeks.

Steve, can't argue with you, lol. You brought up good points. Fortunately, I see a physical therapist a couple of times a month, and he DEFINITELY corrects my form, lol. I totally agree on not wanting to work what's hardest for us. I DO do that!

Thanks John, I'll check it out.

gfp, good points, thanks!

I love this website: http://www.shape.com/workouts/

I cut and paste the stuff I want to do into a word document and then use it as a guide when I'm working out in the gym or at home. They have workouts for the machines at the gym, with freeweights and even with balance balls. Its great because they tell you which muscle group is being targeted with each exercise so you can make sure your getting everything.

Great website, thanks!