Dumbbell work out questions

[pinkyponkyplink]

please can someone help me with some answers?

how many times a week should I be doing weights? I’m working out at home

can I do full body work outs with 3kg weights every time or does it need to be a leg day, an arm day etc and be split? I’ve tried following CarolineG and I prefer full body work outs

how long should I be exercising? I’ve started following some 20 min full body work outs with so many moves and repeated 3-4 times. Will these work?

I appreciate any help.

Personally I do mine 3 times a week and I always do full body.

i do full body
3 kg is very light, too light (unless you are very very weak) for things like chest press
look up Rhonda Voight, specialist in preventing osteoporosis, and what she recommends weight wise

It’s good to have a rest day in between but I do arms/chest on Monday and legs/back on Friday (but I go gym) on Wednesday I go swiming.
3 kg is light though are you planning to build up ?

Yes planning to build up to
bigger. Should I go 5kg or heavier?

Is that the correct name? My Google searches for her have been fruitless.

Three times a week is fine, but try and mix it with a little cardio work too. What are you trying to achieve?

If you want to lose weight and be lean you need to do low resistance and high reps and if you want to build muscle and bulk up you need to do high resistance and low reps.

3 kgs is fine to start with and then when it becomes easier and you're not having to put so much effort into it, you start to up it. Also depends what muscle you are working. Back, legs etc heavy weights are much easier than triceps/biceps. Weights is a great way to achieve what you want.

For strength training the NHS recommends twice a week (although you will probably see better/quicker results doing 3) plus either 150 minutes moderate or 75 minutes vigorous cardio type activity. For most people a good balance is to do around an hour's strength type activity 2-3 times a week (this wouldn't be all 'work' if you are pushing yourself hard, you'll need rest between sets), then moderate cardio activity which could be brisk walking, jogging, swimming etc for 30 mins 5 days a week OR more intense activity like a spin class or circuits or similar for 30-45 mins 2-3 times a week.

Fine to do full body every time in your workouts if that's your preference, it really doesn't matter. You'll definitely need heavier dumbbells though, I've been doing weights for about 6 months now and am up to 8-9kgs for things like overhead presses that work the arms/shoulders and 12-15 for goblet squats and lunges that are more legs and core. Can you ideally get the type of dumbbell that's like a mini barbell, with plates you can add/take away as needed?

Thanks
@NoctuaAthenedoes the nhs recommend one hour weights 3x a week? I struggle to fit 30 minutes in.
im trying to lose a stone, tone up and be healthier now im near 50!
I’ve heard mixed reviews about the dumbbells you can add more and take off. Might try them.
im trying to hit 10k-12k steps every day and do weights 3 x a week

I have the Northdeer adjustable dumbells which are great if I can't get to the gym.

No. It’s Vonda Wright.

3 times a week full body is perfect. You’ll soon outgrow 3kg as you get stronger. Different parts of your body will need different weights, so for example legs will need much heavier than arms as they’re bigger muscles. But just get started, get into a routine, see what works for you and add weight when you need to. I absolutely fell in love with lifting once I got started so hope you enjoy getting strong too.

I do the CG works out. I prefer the 20/30 full body workout. I do these 4 to 5 times a week alongside a pilates class and a 5km walk once a week.
I do 5kg for some and 8kg for other exercise.

I do 30mins 3 times a week. I do LiftwithCee on youtube. I am 49, she is about the same age. The ones I do are full body, she has different ones. I do the same one for a month then move to the next.

if you’ve just started, i would take the weight increase slowly, for now i would make sure I’m doing the exercise correctly.

having said that, i would already get the 5 kg
for squats , lunges, etc

when i’m in a rush or can’t be bothered with a long workout, i’ll do a 20 minute targeted one(either legs or arms) and use quite heavy dumbbells (7kg for me).

i'm usually very sore the following day when i do this.

good luck!

Dr Vonda Wright …. Got that one wrong!!! I follow her on Facebook for little useful vids, but here’s the super compelling podcast link as interviewed by Mel Robbins:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mel-robbins-podcast/id1646101002?i=1000697960651

She recommends low number of reps but as heavy as you can go

2 to 3 times a week - 3 if you prefer the shorter sessions

style is whatever you like best as that encourages continuity which is the only really important thing

think at some point about heavier weights, but only when you are sure of technique

rule of thumb - light and many or few and heavy - whatever you prefer but aim to work to exhaustion

if you want to build muscle that means “can’t do another rep”

if you want to be fit and healthy you can be a little less rigourous about the the work to exhaustion. Building muscle you need to really target groups, being fit and healthy then whole body movements are best

if you have one exercise you hate - triceps for example - always try and do that one

but basically anything is better than nothing and the returns on optimising any program are small compared to the returns of doing something regularly

The comments on here are so positive and helpful. Thank you so much everyone

Ah sorry no that was misleading - the NHS doesn't set a time guidance for how long you should spend doing strength training, just that you should do it twice a week. Whatever you can manage is brilliant and probably a lot more than many people get! I put an hour because I would personally struggle to get through a full body workout of say 3-4 sets of 5-6 different exercises with rest in between, in less time. But bear in mind the NHS does say strength work doesn't have to be gym or weights, if you lift heavy things in everyday life like carrying heavy shopping home from shops or lifting a toddler or gardening or have a job that involves lifting/manual handling that would all count too. Or you can also do bodyweight activities like push ups, sit ups, planks where you don't need any weights at all?

I workout at the gym but use dumbbells 95% of the time. Other 5% is machines on leg days. I workout arms on one day and legs the next. This gives my upper body and lower body a day to for rest before working out and I find a day is all I need to recover. And I go to the gym 4-5 times a week.

Arm days have a total of 6 exercises and leg days have 5. Each exercise has 4 sets with 10-12 reps so it takes me 1-1.5 hours per day to workout.

Not sure who Caroline G is but follow ‘Caroline Circuits’ on Instagram. She has 20mins workouts per day and a combo of leg or arm ones and full body ones. She’s also having a major PR push, I gather, as she now has a column in the Times.

Anyway I like her short burst workouts which are manageable.

Using 3kg weights you could work out full body everyday. It isn't very heavy (except for lat raises and flies, and maybe bicep curls).

It's hard for women to build muscle. You need to be training so that the last few reps in a set are really hard to do & you're puffed afterwards. Caroline Girvan's stuff is ok, but it's almost as much aerobic as it is resistance/strength training.

You also need to have what's called a progressive programme - one that tracks what's called progressive overload.

The way to build muscle is to stress it - by overload, and working to failure (eventually, not when you're just starting) and so then the muscle adapts to that stress - the overload - which causes the muscle to grow as it repairs itself.

Take it slow, you are right to start low. If 3kg feels comfortable you could try 5kg and see how it feels. How many reps are you doing?. I do 3 x10 of each exercise. If I can’t finish it I consider maybe I need to be a slightly lower weight, if I can do it easily I go up. A lat lift I’m still on 3kg. Bicep curls, farmers carry, boat , goblet squat and overhead I’m on 6kg. Weighted bridge and dead lift I use 8kg . I also use bands.
i can often lift slightly higher in the gym on the machines or cable.
The NHS website has some good exercises for beginners.

Note that there is some very recent research that says working to complete failure isn’t needed to build useful muscle ( although it may help with body builder show off muscle )

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