Weight-lifting rookie here

[Captain Jackson]

Hello everyone,
I am very new to the world of body building, but I've been working with dumb-bells for a few weeks now and I'm slowly starting to see results. I'm interested in building muscle mass, but really do not know how.

I have two dumb-bells, and can add and remove weights from them. Right now I only have 10 pounds on each of them, and I've been doing lifting them about 3 to 4 times a week for a couple of months. I lift the weights ten times with each arm (I believe these are called reps) four times (I believe these are called sets) during each work-out.

Where should I go from here? How do I build muscle-mass? Should I lift more often? How soon should I start to add more weight to my dumb-bells?

Thanks,
Captain Jackson

 

[Mudge]

You are only doing one movement it sounds like?

Reps = repetitions, correct - and sets are the group of repetitions in between rest periods.

 

[prophet]

so much to learn.. lol.. i'll leave this to the regulars and the more knowledgeable.. but good luck with weight lifting

 

[Pressalot]

Since you want to build muscle mass, I think you should double or triple the weight and go down to 4-8 reps and 2-3 sets. It sounds like you prefer the slow and easy method (which is a bit contradictory to building mass), so maybe you should try 20lbs and 2 sets of as many reps as you could do, assuming its between 4 and 15 reps. Don't be afraid to add a few pounds every few weeks.

If you're only doing one movement (curls, presses, or whatever) that's kind of wrong, but I don't think you need to worry about adding exercises if your not that serious about bodybuilding--until you get up to about 30lb dumbells. I figure you wouldn't add more kinds of excersizes even if we recommended it anyway. It's kind of obvious to work out evenly, and I don't want to turn you off to exerscise.

By the way, if the 20lbs still seems easy for you, don't be afraid to go straight to 30. If you're a man, that wouldn't be so unusual, even for a beginner. And you could increase the weight even if it's not so easy for you!

 

[HoldDaMayo]

Captain Jackson, what's the origin of your name?

 

[Captain Jackson]

Originally posted by Pressalot
Since you want to build muscle mass, I think you should double or triple the weight and go down to 4-8 reps and 2-3 sets. It sounds like you prefer the slow and easy method (which is a bit contradictory to building mass), so maybe you should try 20lbs and 2 sets of as many reps as you could do, assuming its between 4 and 15 reps. Don't be afraid to add a few pounds every few weeks.

If you're only doing one movement (curls, presses, or whatever) that's kind of wrong, but I don't think you need to worry about adding exercises if your not that serious about bodybuilding--until you get up to about 30lb dumbells. I figure you wouldn't add more kinds of excersizes even if we recommended it anyway. It's kind of obvious to work out evenly, and I don't want to turn you off to exerscise.

By the way, if the 20lbs still seems easy for you, don't be afraid to go straight to 30. If you're a man, that wouldn't be so unusual, even for a beginner. And you could increase the weight even if it's not so easy for you!

Thank you for the advice, but I'm not nearly large enough to handle 20 pounds. 15 might be a better amount to work with.

Does anyone agree or disagree with what has been said?

 

[Brando457]

maybe lose the dumbells and get a real bench and bar

 

[Captain Jackson]

Originally posted by Brando457
maybe lose the dumbells and get a real bench and bar

I don't have the money for one, nor do I have enough room in my dorm. Also, I don't have anyone to spot me. Thank you for the advice, though.

 

[gr81]

Originally posted by Captain Jackson
Thank you for the advice, but I'm not nearly large enough to handle 20 pounds. 15 might be a better amount to work with.

Does anyone agree or disagree with what has been said?

I disagree, but first off let me say that you need to go someplace where there is weight lifting equipment like a gym. With DBs at home you might see a little somethingb/c you have never shown your body any type of training, but that will platuae very quickly. As afr as what he said though, I say stay with a higher rep range like 10-12 when you are a beginner. Right now in your training you need to focus on learning the movements correctly more than you need to worry about poundages. This is the first time your body has seen this type of stress i.e. weight training, you are gonna see results no matter what you do. It is important to learn to be strict in your form and get a mind muscle connection, as well as letting your muscles get into shape before you need to worry about getting into lower rep range like 4-8. Work your way down into that range in time. Be patient, the only way youare gonna see results in the long run is to be in it form the long run and that includes not getting overzelous and hurting yourself. The biggest newbie mistake is to overtrain b/c all of that energy is focused in the wrong direction. Focus all of that desire and energy into learning and taking it step by step bro, you will be fine. Stick with multi joint movements like the squat, bench, deadlift, powerclean, presses and rows to build yoruself a foundation and you will be fine. GL

 

[vanity]

good post gr81

 

[Pressalot]

Yeah, read up on proper form. A friend of mine progressed to 90 pound dumbells and had to completly stop weight lifting because of joint problems. If you can't handle 20 lbs, I wonder if you're lifting the 10lbs correctly. On the other hand, if you've never even been sore, you need to work out harder.

I wonder if serious bodybuilders get sore after every workout...

 

[gr81]

a higher level of soreness is not a proper indication of muscle hypertrophy, it is more of a mental barometer than anything. I used to never get sore when I was a beginner. Sometimes I am soar, sometimes I am not but my WOs are always intense