How often should I workout and when should I add more weight?

**Mirage** · 08-30-2005, 09:27 PM

I would like to know how often a beginner should lift and when should I add more to my bar? Should I just put as much as I can lift and do it a few times or however many times I can? Or should I put a decent amount on the bar and do 3 sets of 12 reps? I'm just getting back into all this and any help would be most appreciated?

**YSK** · 08-30-2005, 09:32 PM

Good rule of thumb is three times a week so you have that off day where you can relax and rejuvinate your muscles. You dont necessarily have to do 12 reps you can go for 7-12, depends what your aiming for like mass, definition and stuff. I try and put 5-7% of added weight a week.

**CowPimp** · 08-31-2005, 10:24 AM

3-4 times per week is plenty, even for advanced natural trainees. I add weight whenever I can. Basically, if I choose to lift in the 8-10 rep range for example, I will add weight when I hit 10+ repetitions. Stick with that weight until I can get 10+ clean repetitions, and repeat.

**Anson** · 08-31-2005, 12:58 PM

Hello... I'm new not only to this site, but to exercise. I'd like to know if you should be sore after every work out? If you aren't, is this a sign to increase wt or reps or both? I want to tone...not bulk up. (I'm female). *waves at Mirage..hope you don't mind me asking my question here. xoxox

**P-funk** · 08-31-2005, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by Anson

Hello... I'm new not only to this site, but to exercise. I'd like to know if you should be sore after every work out? If you aren't, is this a sign to increase wt or reps or both? I want to tone...not bulk up. (I'm female). *waves at Mirage..hope you don't mind me asking my question here. xoxox

soreness is not a good indicator of a good workout. Naturally, you will be more sore when you are first starting out (or coming off a long lay off) because your body is not used to the beating and trauma being placed on it.

**Anson** · 08-31-2005, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by P-funk

soreness is not a good indicator of a good workout. Naturally, you will be more sore when you are first starting out (or coming off a long lay off) because your body is not used to the beating and trauma being placed on it.

Thank you for your answer here...so, I shouldn't expect to be sore? I know I sound like a fruit cake, (cuz I am one-

) but what do I look for to insure first of all that I'm doing things 'correctly' and second of all that I've done enough? And like Mirage asked, When should you add wt? Every week, month? Help us newbies....we are just babies!

**Yanick** · 08-31-2005, 01:28 PM

you add weight whenever you can, ie you hit more reps than you were supposed to, the weight feels light w/e. you should always be pushing yourself, sometimes you'll feel off and actually need to drop the weight for that session, in the beginning you're probably going to be adding weight w/o.

as far as knowing if you are doing enough, and doing it correctly...you really can't. its all about trying different things for a given period of time and seeing how you react to it. i know it sounds wierd, but if you stick with it you'll understand somewhere down the line. for now stick to the tried and true stuff and as you advance your mind and body you can try more and more advanced techniques to see how you respond (i'm not talking supersetting and crap either, but other stuff that won't make any sense to you right now).

biggest thing is to stay consistent and to always learn more and more. always question and never take anyone's word as the complete truth. way too much of that going on and thats how stupid myths are started and perpetuated.

**Anson** · 08-31-2005, 01:55 PM

Yanick- Thank you. I'll keep what you have said in mind. Makes sense to me. My legs are starting to feel a bit sore since today's workout, so maybe I'm doing a bit better. I know that the main thing is to 'stay safe'. I for sure don't want to hurt myself. I'm glad I found this forum. I'm sure it's gonna help alot. Everyone seems so nice here. I look fwd to getting to know you all better.

Blessings~

**squanto** · 08-31-2005, 09:04 PM

When you add weight depends on diet a lot too. If you're losing weight, it's very unlikely that you will be getting stronger, althought is possible in certain cases. Even gaining weight, if you don't have the proper nutrition, weight gains may not happen all that often.

I'd say if your diet is perfect, either maintaining or gaining weight, and you don't see any improvements in an exercise for 2 weeks, then something is wrong. This is when I'd re-evaluate what exercises you're doing for that particular body part. Cowpimp also gave good advice as to when to add weight.

Also, after a couple months, you may stop seeing gains altogether. If this happens, try a completely new weight training program! Try to do a little research at a time while you're doing your current workout, and by the time you're sick of it, you'll have something new to try. There are a million different weight training techniques.

If you're new to lifting, start slow! After a couple weeks you'll start to see what areas need more or less work. If you don't know where to start, ask people here at IronMagazine to put together a beginner plan for you.

As far as staying safe, there are a few things you could do. If you have a friend who knows what they're doing, ask them to come to the gym and help you out. If not, it might be work investing in one or 2 personal training sessions to help you with your form. You can probably make another $50 bucks one day, but you won't get another back. The trainer can also help you put together a workout plan, although they will probably try to get you to buy more training sessions too :P

Listen to your body, and record your results. Don't forget to eat well. Doing all these things take some work to get into the habit of, but are second nature once you've been doing them for a while. Keeping a journal on this website can be great too, as a lot of people here can really help you with your plan.

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