Gymbhais! What weights should I do or try as a beginner in the gym?

[Gengar’s Ghost]

besides the compound lifts I focused on back, core, and shoulders

Ahh okay, nice! And how much did you improve? And have these improvements stayed permanent or..?

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

For upper body, 50-70 lbs less than your own weight. For lower body, it should be around your weight.

Do you go often as well?

 

[Deleted member 295787]

Thanks for explaining what bracing is, but no, I don’t think he has done that. Or maybe he has, and I just forgot. Because I’m forgetful. Ahh okay, once again thanks for the help and advice bhaijaan. So far I haven’t done all exercises yet. There’s some (minor?) exercises I’ve yet to do, such as bicep curls but I will keep that in mind. Do you go to the gym often?

I do a Pull/Push/Legs routine 7 days a week, so I go everyday.

I have a very nice apartment gym with a ton of equipment though, so it's much easier to be consistent.

 

[Sacrimoon]

Did you go by yourself? I guess if you are going by yourself, it takes longer to figure it out. I’ve got my friend helping me, and he’s got 15 years of experience.

Having a friend like that is definitely already a great start.

I’m pretty sure i went for myself the first time i started, but it was like 5 years ago so i don’t really remember

 

[Outlander]

You guys are absolutely right, but getting form right is difficult for me. Because you need to focus on a couple of movements, and my brain cannot think of them all, I’ve got shitty memory. Good thing I’m not dreaming to be a powerlifter or something.

Just take it easy and stick to weights you can't hurt yourself with till you get the hang of it. I remember in 2022 when I started I couldn't even do one push up or pull up, and eventually I worked my way up to 34 push ups in a row and 10 pull ups. My body weight is higher now than back then and although I'm still lean, the extra weight works against you for bodyweight exercises, and right now I can do around 28 push ups in a row and 8 pull ups on a good day. I feel better about myself and look stronger after gaining healthy weight

As far as weights go, that's where you can really get hurt if your form isn't right and if you've got any natural weaknesses in your joints. Just get the form right and take it easy. You've got your whole life to make slow and steady progress but one bad injury can set you back so much and even leave you with a joint issue for life.

Some super easy and safe exercises would be things that are isolation exercises that are simple and only really use one muscle group at a time like biceps curls, tricep pushdowns, and other similar ones. Bicep curls were one of the first weight exercises I did because they required minimal equipment and were easy to get the hang of

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

It's completely subjective, you just have to start out light for every exercise, try a few reps, add more if it feels easy while keeping a safe form in mind until your rep goal feels challenging, soon enough you'll know your baseline strength for most exercises, and then you can focus on actual progress
Don't take the stat sites like strengthlevel or whatever people self report here too seriously either, it's much more subjective than just weight and height

Thank you for the input, yeah I think what you say makes most sense about it being completely subjective, and that one should start out light. That’s basically what I’ve been doing so far, I started off with just the bar and that was on my third day of being in the gym. I didn’t jump into it from the first day.

 

[Outlander]

Yeah I’m a retard in general but sometimes I know when not to be a retard, so I just listen to my friend haha.

Good to have sensible friends like that lol

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

it doesn't matter what exercises you do

the important thing is to mog somebody on your first day

I don’t mog shit.

 

[SomaliSub5]

Ahh okay, nice! And how much did you improve? And have these improvements stayed permanent or..?

i actually improved quite a bit I did it for a few months. definitely decent improvement toward my physique and the weights were getting heavier

Lowkey got bored of that tho and switched to swimming only which really made my shoulders pop and gave me a V taper

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

I don't think so. I'd rather be healthy. Fat isn't healthy but neither is lean.

I’m legit overweight. It looks bad. Can’t fit into my a bunch of my clothes anymore.

 

[Deleted member 271577]

How much kg / lbs should I be doing for certain exercises?

my favorite mod posted

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

I do a Pull/Push/Legs routine 7 days a week, so I go everyday.

I have a very nice apartment gym with a ton of equipment though, so it's much easier to be consistent.

Holy shit, 7 days a week! Even if you’ve got an apartment gym, it still dedication to go everyday in the first place. Mirin hard.

 

[NotAMogger]

Do you go often as well?

I try to go every three days at best.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

Having a friend like that is definitely already a great start.

I’m pretty sure i went for myself the first time i started, but it was like 5 years ago so i don’t really remember

It really is! And his friends there are also helpful, but to be fair if they didn’t know I was his friend they probably wouldn’t even talk to me.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

Just take it easy and stick to weights you can't hurt yourself with till you get the hang of it. I remember in 2022 when I started I couldn't even do one push up or pull up, and eventually I worked my way up to 34 push ups in a row and 10 pull ups. My body weight is higher now than back then and although I'm still lean, the extra weight works against you for bodyweight exercises, and right now I can do around 28 push ups in a row and 8 pull ups on a good day. I feel better about myself and look stronger after gaining healthy weight

As far as weights go, that's where you can really get hurt if your form isn't right and if you've got any natural weaknesses in your joints. Just get the form right and take it easy. You've got your whole life to make slow and steady progress but one bad injury can set you back so much and even leave you with a joint issue for life.

Some super easy and safe exercises would be things that are isolation exercises that are simple and only really use one muscle group at a time like biceps curls, tricep pushdowns, and other similar ones. Bicep curls were one of the first weight exercises I did because they required minimal equipment and were easy to get the hang of

Good job bhaijaan, you’ve definitely come along way! Yeah, I’ll try to be safe, for sure! My friend honestly knows that more than anyone else. He’s been unfortunate enough to have serious injuries that set him back for years. Not from improper form but just being careless in general, and it’s still his biggest regret. I haven’t really done isolation exercises yet but they’re on the list, especially bicep curls. Maybe I can get rid of the uneven shape between my two arms.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

Good to have sensible friends like that lol

Yeah haha he’s a great guy. You two would get along well.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

i actually improved quite a bit I did it for a few months. definitely decent improvement toward my physique and the weights were getting heavier

Lowkey got bored of that tho and switched to swimming only which really made my shoulders pop and gave me a V taper

Oh that’s nice! I’ve been sedentary and just switched to this. Main goal is weight loss, so physique improvements are just cherry on top of the cake for me. But who knows. Maybe I’ll end up with another goal, one that is gym-related.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

my favorite mod posted

Thanks bhai.

 

[Outlander]

Good job bhaijaan, you’ve definitely come along way! Yeah, I’ll try to be safe, for sure! My friend honestly knows that more than anyone else. He’s been unfortunate enough to have serious injuries that set him back for years. Not from improper form but just being careless in general, and it’s still his biggest regret. I haven’t really done isolation exercises yet but they’re on the list, especially bicep curls. Maybe I can get rid of the uneven shape between my two arms.

Yeah I completely understand your friend's injuries because I've also had injuries that left some joints just never fully right again, and not from bad form. Some of it was from pushing myself too hard and some was just freak injuries that happened in day to day life. Getting injured is sometimes kinda like when a car gets in a major wreck and is repaired, how it isn't always as true and perfect with the alignment of everything after and can have hidden issues that are going to surface sooner rather than later

 

[2ndAscension]

Thank you for the input, yeah I think what you say makes most sense about it being completely subjective, and that one should start out light. That’s basically what I’ve been doing so far, I started off with just the bar and that was on my third day of being in the gym. I didn’t jump into it from the first day.

Nice, just keep testing the waters while keeping the form in check, and when you know what you're doing, try going alone a few times and get used to that too, gymbros come and go as their priorities change, don't be dependent on others to actually work out

Maybe I’ll end up with another goal, one that is gym-related.

Working out keeps you alive, it's a great habit all around and there's really no good reason to stop

 

[Outlander]

Good job bhaijaan, you’ve definitely come along way! Yeah, I’ll try to be safe, for sure! My friend honestly knows that more than anyone else. He’s been unfortunate enough to have serious injuries that set him back for years. Not from improper form but just being careless in general, and it’s still his biggest regret. I haven’t really done isolation exercises yet but they’re on the list, especially bicep curls. Maybe I can get rid of the uneven shape between my two arms.

In a way you could think of learning good form before adding heavy weights like learning the basics of driving in slower paced zones before you decide to jump on the highway and try pushing 100mph. I was driving for a couple years before I felt I was ready to handle speeds like that. If you just jump right in too hard and heavy you'll crash and burn so to speak like an inexperienced driver trying to do stuff beyond their current skill level lol

 

[Lefty Rankin]

I’m legit overweight. It looks bad. Can’t fit into my a bunch of my clothes anymore.

Just lift weights and do cardio too.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

Nice, just keep testing the waters while keeping the form in check, and when you know what you're doing, try going alone a few times and get used to that too, gymbros come and go as their priorities change, don't be dependent on others to actually work out

Working out keeps you alive, it's a great habit all around and there's really no good reason to stop
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Yeah, so the idea was I was gonna go with my friend so that he can help me out with everything, and when I get how to do it properly, I start going by myself whenever I want. That was basically the plan I had and told my friend about.

And woah, that’s interesting. I’m a lazy person so that’s probably why I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll just keep it to exercising once a week or something. I don’t know yet!

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

In a way you could think of learning good form before adding heavy weights like learning the basics of driving in slower paced zones before you decide to jump on the highway and try pushing 100mph. I was driving for a couple years before I felt I was ready to handle speeds like that. If you just jump right in too hard and heavy you'll crash and burn so to speak like an inexperienced driver trying to do stuff beyond their current skill level lol

That’s actually a really good analogy for it. You’re right. I’ll definitely be working on form! Hah, I took driving lessons before but one day I accidentally hit a cyclist with the car. My brain just went retard mode and I forgot how to hit the brakes. I asked the instructor but he was too busy talking to my friend (the same one who’s helping me out at the gym) so he didn’t intervene when he should have.

 

[Gengar’s Ghost]

Just lift weights and do cardio too.

But if it slows down metabolism, that means I should avoid it, right? Because lower metabolism means staying fatter, no?

 

[samuel_hamrick]

This is the most googlable question. Do whatever weight you can handle, strength = more weight less reps or do resistance training. All and all yes it can be complicated but keep it simple and you’ll learn more it’s better that way. Don’t make it harder than it is. Spiking cortisol over stressing if you’re doing it right or not isn’t the way to go. Goodluck with the gym bro

 

[zygosmasher]

You have a trillion replies so this probably means nothing but there’s no specific weight you just start off light if it feels too easy to do with good form you just go up it needs to be heavy enough to do at the max 15 reps

 

[samuel_hamrick]

This is the most googlable question. Do whatever weight you can handle, strength = more weight less reps or do resistance training. All and all yes it can be complicated but keep it simple and you’ll learn more it’s better that way. Don’t make it harder than it is. Spiking cortisol over stressing if you’re doing it right or not isn’t the way to go. Goodluck with the gym bro

I saw someone say something about form. Yes that’s the #1 most important thing when it comes to lifting, the second is getting enough calories probably. Anyways you get it. Proud of you for getting into lifting big dog

 

[samuel_hamrick]

You have a trillion replies so this probably means nothing but there’s no specific weight you just start off light if it feels too easy to do with good form you just go up it needs to be heavy enough to do at the max 15 reps

15 reps kinda crazy, max should be 12 with 3-4 sets

 

[samuel_hamrick]

You have a trillion replies so this probably means nothing but there’s no specific weight you just start off light if it feels too easy to do with good form you just go up it needs to be heavy enough to do at the max 15 reps

15 reps kinda crazy, max should be 12 with 3-4

 

[Diyorldar]

Cardio slows down metabolism? Never heard of that before, but that just means I should cut off cardio.

That isn't true

Cardio is good and an important part of staying healthy

 

[samuel_hamrick]

You have a trillion replies so this probably means nothing but there’s no specific weight you just start off light if it feels too easy to do with good form you just go up it needs to be heavy enough to do at the max 15 reps

 

[zygosmasher]

15 reps kinda crazy, max should be 12 with 3-4

15 reps is not ideal but it’s still good that’s why I said maximum

 

[TechnoBoss]

How much kg / lbs should I be doing for certain exercises?

Weight doesn't matter when you're a beginner. Focus on form & don't ego-lift (lifting more than you actually can lift and sacrificing form)

Everyone lifts different weight & there's no set number you should aim for. Rep range matters more than weight you're lifting because rep range is what will differentiate between lifting for power and lifting for muscle hypertrophy.

E.g let's say you can lift 135 pounds on the bench press as your 1 rep max. If you want to gain power, you lift maybe 120 pounds for 3 sets of 5 reps. If you want to gain size, you'd lift roughly 85-100 for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

 

[GandyLuvr]

How much kg / lbs should I be doing for certain exercises?

This all depends on BW and how much endurance vs strength training you’re doing.

 

[bourgeoizyzz]

I don’t mog shit.

Maybe I'm just stoned, but you don't need to mog shit

you need to mog a person

 

[Lefty Rankin]

But if it slows down metabolism, that means I should avoid it, right? Because lower metabolism means staying fatter, no?

Maybe, but you have to have a healthy heart.