Just starting doing some strength training and feeling a bit lost … any suggestions for who to follow? Workouts? An app? Could anyone cast an eye over my current routine?

Cannot recommend fitbymik on YouTube enough. I’m on wk 3 of her free 6 wk beginner plan. Never enjoyed weight training,always weak,with a selection of medical limitations. Now I look forward to it,have moved up in weights and am buzzing to do my workouts each morning. There’s modifications a plenty I’ve enjoyed every single workout and am finding it more calming than yoga. I like a rotation,so someone is telling me what to do on each day, I don’t have enough knowledge of my own and left to my own devices would avoid the hard bits. Now I can do the hard bits.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3D3ysBMhKYVg0P28X3oCUMe9UrUKfswI&si=LjV_wjJqrMnVZVdl

@PicklePalace your new workout split looks much more sensible. I couldn't work out the point of your first workout.

It's a pity you're avoiding the classic squat, bench, deadlift pattern - those compound lifts are really really good at building strength, but you've got some good substitutes & accessories in there.

If you could add some RDLs in there on your lower body day, you'd really hit the back, hamstrings & glutes.

Now what you need to do is track your reps & weights, so that you maintain strength and actually get yourself into progressive overload after a few weeks. Some people say add 2.5 to 5 kilos per week, but I think that's for 20 year old blokes! But do make sure you challenge yourself, and after about 4 weeks of getting used to the programme, try to go to failure. You can always do a drop set (ie drop the weights on the last set).

Make sure you rest between 2-4 minutes between heavy sets.

I'd second the recommendation of MegSquats. I use her programming when I'm travelling & away from my PT. It's really well balanced & the app has loads of guidance & substitute exercises. It's only about £90 a year. And it's designed specifically for women.

The other online programme I'd recommend is Rachel Henley - Henley Fitness. She specialises in getting people over gym anxiety, and also weight loss in a sensible way. Even if you don't pay for her programme, her content on YouTube and Instagram is excellent (although very sweary!) and she explains progressive overload, plus how to do it all.

Yes I love it as well!
If you find you really hate it, you are less likely to stick with it - so you may want to consider alternative options. While strenght training is very important, you don't necessarily have to go to traditional gym's weight section to get the benefits.

It’s fun for me at least!

I agree with the advice to go steady and consistent. You’re just there to build a habit right now, and let your body adapt.

I am in my 40s and play a team sport competitively. I have had knee pain for 15+ years, and scans show I have no cartilage in my knees. I have been weight lifting for 2.5ish years and have so much less pain going up and down stairs, hiking, running, and playing my sport. Same for back pain too. It helped me realise that tightness is actually weakness in my body.

I recommend seeing how your new programmes suit you for a month or so, then checking in with your body and seeing what still hurts. You will never regret building up the supporting and surrounding muscles! My physio has me doing a lot of single leg stuff, which has helped balance out my strength on each side.

I'd go steady on all of it tbh.....slow, gradual progression.

But if things hurt/are weaker, they need training (perhaps with adaptations) to strengthen them.

I'd get the hang of this programme first, get into a routine, then maybe come back for some advice about how to add shoulders in (I had an RC tear some years ago, probably badminton, am now pretty much equal on both sides because of strentgh traning). And perhaps get some RL advice about knee pain during squats.

Im peri/ almost post menopausal , hypermobile, reviving from cancer treatment and needed a lot of structure and instructions and something for bone density

I bought power happens a year ago (Stacy sims / Hailey happens fitness) and really rate it. Beginner 1 and now beginner 2. It’s x3 resistance sessions and two different cardio per week (one hiit, one sit) for 12 weeks. Either 60 mins or shorter 30-40 min session every day. Additional optional core and mobility sessions. Beginner 2 moves onto plyometrics for bone density. Linked to a calendar, it either plots it on the calendar for you to follow or you can pause it and work through at your own pace. Videos and instructions for every move. You join a Facebook group for questions you need help with or message people via the app. Regular zoom recordings about nutrition and various other things (you can send questions for zooms in) which are all stored on the app to listen to again. For a one off payment, which you can repeat, I think it’s worth its weight in gold.

Can be done at home or gym; you ideally need a bike or rower for the cardio, but you could also probably skip or run on the spot tbh. If an exercise is on gym equipment, there’s a home dumbbell version to switch to. Beginner just needs weights and bands - short ones and some longer ones.

I’ve just beta tested a new advanced express which I really liked; didn’t think I was at that level but I am now. I’ve bought a shoulder add on course that runs alongside it all to help stabilise and tone shoulders as mine are particularly hypermobile - and need to start tbh!

I actually now use it as a distress tool as i just go into the zone. You can play a podcast or your own music at the same time.

For me this is preferable to the gym as I don’t have a lot of time and need to be able to just quickly squeeze a session in. I’ve now bought a TRX - advanced seem to use this. There’s also a trx course you can buy.

Basically 2 courses have lasted me the year. I’ve gone back a repeated blocks and they suggest cycling back anyway. It’s very good for slowly building tendon strength before building muscle which can be an issue for menopausal women. Other online courses were too hard for me.

I rate Kaleigh Cohen strength on YouTube. Much more chatty and encouraging than some. Lots of variety and cute dogs.

Looks much better! Hope you enjoy, getting stronger is so much fun.

I’d advise not expecting to enjoy it. Just get in and get out asap.

looks good! I missed the rotator cuff concerns. I have found bench press exacerbates my RC issues but floor press does not. I think shoulder press was an issue for me - but maybe just be super careful about depth.

On a quick look, that looks loads better.

There are some tweaks I might suggest (no shoulder exercise for eg - you help prevent injury by getting strong - but I understand you may want specific advice if you have RC concerns, as a beginner), and I agree about the rest periods - but if you are confident doing those exercises for now, then try it and see how you go. If machines and areas are busy you can swap out and learn more gradually....Have fun 😀

I originally had a similar routine @PicklePalace - you may find in time that as you increase the weights and go to three sets of each exercise, you will need a longer rest period between sets - I then struggled to fit everything into an hour or so. I’ve now split it into two lower and two upper body workouts which I can fit in much easier. Not that I’ve been to the gym for weeks!

Might it not be easier to just follow one of Caroline’s programmes. So many to choose from, each has about 50 sessions that target all areas.

I loathe and detest the gym, so keep it as simple and quick as possible. I got a programme from a PT which is basically one session legs - weighted squats, then all the machines - one day pull, and one day push. Works all the major muscle groups but properly each time. I can be done and dusted in 30 minutes, which is about as long as I can bear to stay in the hellhole.

@olderbutwiser I decide what muscles I want to target, and then as @MsMartini says, start with bigger ones and move to smaller. However, I may vary my plan depending on how busy the gym is and what equipment is available. if your gym also gets busy and you know which machines are most in demand, always good to consider what the alternatives are, so you don't need to stand around waiting.

You need to follow a well structured programme.

Check out…

• Growingannanas
• Heather Robertson
• Caroline Girvan

When I started going I booked a few sessions with one of the personal trainers. She designed a programme for me & made sure I knew what I was doing.

I also rate Hevy (so much so I pay for the full version).

I love Henley Fitness on instagram- aimed at beginners and has a free programme to get you started.

Another rec for Hevy - I don't use its pre-set programmes but they look fine to me.

@PicklePalace I agree your programme is a bit all over the place. I start with a brief warm up (cat/cow, world's greatest stretch, arm circles, that sort of thing) but mainly use the first set in each exercise to warm up for that exercise - I want to start fresh.

Then I would do the biggest exercise for whatever muscle group I am training that day, then the second biggest, then anything else, then core. So tomorrow, I will do pull ups (the big one), some front lever or cable row (horizontal pull, but that's not my focus right now), maybe some other back, bicep curls or bicep holds on the bars, core. Then leave the "pull" muscles (back and biceps) for 2/3 days and return to them. If you look at Hevy it will give you splits like this in the pre-set programmes.

You do want to be fresh for the big compund lifts and rtest well between them, so your programme seems very long to me for 40 mins, and is also in a random order.

@olderbutwiser the apps work in different ways - Hevy gives you a list to work through with little videos and notes (but I would always google a new exercise to get some proper human tips as well). I have a weekly plan that I tweak sometimes, and work out my own splits as I (now, finally) know what works for me (60 later this year, and with variable PT work pattern, so I plan rest days carefully).

Have a look through the threads here for other recommendations - I know people rate Before the barbell (insta).

Brilliant on starting!! Keep going 😀

Another beginner question - what do you actually use at the gym to tell you what to do next? Do the apps show you a programme or do you have something like a recipe where you press a "next" button?

Nobs is a good app. There are beginner to advanced workouts, home and gym, easy to follow and videos for instructions and form.

I love Chat Chippy Tea!

Have a look at megsquats shes great:
https://megsquats.com/