Weightlifting people, here! Ongoing chat thread...

Annoyingly I couldn’t do squats at the weekend as I’ve pain in right thigh (outside at the botom of the muscle) but did some rows and benches.
Will try sqauts again today and see if I can work out what went wrong to cause the pain. Any ideas?

Might give it a go then

I started out by going along to a 'ladies lifting class' at my local community gym. I loved it! I then joined a new gym which was focused particularly on body building and power lifting and got a PT there just to help nail my form.

After that I did the LDN Muscle plan which I found fantastic! Brilliant for beginners and advanced lifters.

Has anyone tried Bret Contreras Strong Curves program?

Will do. I’ll try and send him a message later and see what happens.

Thanks again. I’m really excited that I might actually get started this time!

That is absolutely the way to go - can't beat word of mouth recommendations. Hope you let us know how you get on.

Thanks.

I think a barbell club is what I need. An old school friend is now a competing power lifter (local-ish, but not local enough) so I might reach out to him to see if he has any knowledge of local gyms and trainers and go from there.

A barbell gym is the same thing... It just includes powerlifting. Basically a gym with emphasis on heavy weights over spin classes and yoga.

In my experience, they are the best gyms in terms of atmosphere. They are also usually very well equipped with things that general gyms rarely have (trap bars, safety squat bars, odd benches like sissy squat and Roman chair.)

They're a bit evangelical about weight lifting and will be delighted to see you starting.

A barbell club is basically group weight training. You go along, you have access to all the equipment you need. There might be a group focus for a particular session or you might each work individually, but in a social environment with people around for advice and support.

The barbell part refers to the long metal bar with weight plates on each end that is used in a lot of weight training movements.

Thanks both, that’s really helpful. What do you mean by barbell gym? Maybe that’s what I mean rather than bodybuilding?

Hiya Basin!

You don't necessarily need a PT - I started with an online programme (Stronglifts 5X5) and so did a couple of other people on this thread - there are other similar programmes; Starting Strength or Wendler 5/3/1 are two other popular ones. But if you feel like you would prefer a PT, it'd be worth doing a bit of research to see who is respected locally.

Depending on where you are, there might be a local barbell club you can join - these have a coach, or coaches, and usually there's programming you would follow, much as PT would give you. You would get support and feedback there - both from the coaches and from other members. Usually there's a monthly flat fee.

As you suggest, a bodybuilding gym would also be a good place to access knowledgeable advice, if you're more interested in overall strength training rather than barbell work specifically. And a lot of PTs work out of bodybuilding gyms.

I don't think you need to build a base before you go - you can start strength training from any fitness base (assuming you don't have any medical contraindications etc) - you would start with light weights anyway, while you're learning the movements.

Hi everyone, hope you don’t mind me joining in?

I’m a long time admirer of weight lifting, but up until recently body pump classes were all I’d managed. I kept telling myself ‘one day’.

In the summer I joined a gym with a group PT programme and I’ve been doing that once a week and some HIIT/circuit type classes twice a week. It’s been nice getting back to exercise since having a child (who is 4, not a baby!) and carving out some ‘me time’ but now I want to take it up a notch and get into lifting properly- but I don’t know where to start.

Should I visit a body building gym and have some PT there? Or do I need a better base fitness first? The PT at my current gym is good, and gives a good work out, but I’m not sure if he is the right type of trainer for heavy lifting.

Would be so grateful for some advice.

That sounds a very productive morning, Just! Particularly like the sound of those squats - must remember to try them. I was hip thrusting this morning too.

This morning I went to the gym resolved to do hip thrusts. I rarely do them. Sometimes it's because the gym I'm at doesn't have bumper plates. Sometimes it's because I don't want to move benches around. I also feel a bit silly doing them. But today I was resolved!

When I showed up, there was another woman doing them. I took this as a sign.

The deadlift platform was empty. Someone had left the bar on the floor loaded with exactly the bumper plates I needed. Another sign.

So I went to the cardio studio and got a mat, then I moved a bench to the platform and I did three sets (50kg x 10)

Then I did Romanian deadlifts, because I had that rack to myself.

Lying nearby on the floor was a close-grip cable handle that someone had been using for landmine thingamabobs. I knew that meant that I was supposed to go to the cable machine and do my new favourite variation of goblet squats: you connect the handle and set the pulley down low. Not to the bottom hole, but just under the range of motion needed to squat. It's so much easier to get under the handle than it is to get a heavy dumbbell up to my chin. And you can sort of lean back a bit against the weight. I can get very deep with these squats. Love them!

I used a resistance band for crab walks.

Then I challenged some woman who thought that she could hog the leg extension machine for her elaborate superset routine. I saw her rebuff someone who asked to work in and that annoyed me so I just sat in it when she stood up and we had words but too bad.

It was a good workout.

Argh Stealing - that's my worst nightmare. Sometimes I do something (I'm still not sure what it is) on shoulder presses - I was thinking of it as a pinched nerve. My neck and shoulders go suddenly tight and painful and then I'm stiff and can't move without pain for a couple of days, then it gradually eases. Hasn't happened for a while thankfully, but I do wonder now if maybe it's a slightly bulging disc. My posture is awful.

It is so hard to rest, isn't it.

Findo re my neck injury, I'd been doing a really heavy leg session. I just started to do some superset finishers and was doing dumbbell thrusters when I felt my neck 'go'. I immediately stopped and then carried on but it was very painful. I then suffered weeks of arm pain, tingling, and pain around the neck. Spoke to the surgeon at work and he advised resting which is hard!

Maid Good Mornings are one of my absolute favourites! They took a while to master but they are a brilliant exercise. www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/good-morning

Check Facebook for a group called Moms Gone Strong.

Hi folks. Can anyone point me in the right direction for postpartum weight lifting advice?

Currently 36 weeks and haven’t really worked it whilst pregnant but did beforehand. Have full weights rack and set up in the garage and looking forward to getting back to it, just not sure where to start (when I can that is).

Posted on The Weights Room but guessing it’s not a forum frequented much.

We have a Roman chair in my gym (Gym Etc) but I’ve never used it.

My PT got the little ball thing on my shoulder to work out some snide knots yesterday. I feel like I’ve been beaten up!

Findo I prefer the 45°ones myself! I see them in a few pure gyms.

Don't be nervous about going to the bodybuilding gym. I am the least fit person at my gym but I feel very welcome there.

I've only ever seen a Roman chair (now I know what it is) in a weightlifting gym near me. There is a back extension bench in my local Pure but it puts your legs at a 45 degree angle to the ground rather parallel, so you're not working against gravity so much.

I messaged my local bodybuilding gym recently, by the way - they do pay as you go visits, £2 a time! They seem really friendly and welcoming. The gym is essentially a big shed on an industrial estate. I need to pluck up the courage to go.

Since my cardio is upper body intensive, I did an extra lower body workout.

I only get a crack at a safety squat bar in the bodybuilding gym so I made the most of it. I also took advantage of the lower back hyperextension/Roman chair bench. I don't see those in most Village or PureGym locations.