Can anyone help me with weightlifting?

Question

Ok, I started a weightlifting class, and I can't lift nearly as much as I thought I could, I could only do 90 for 5 reps. Im 17 5 "5 and yeah it's kinda embrassing, Cause my arms look like they are well shaped, but I can't do crap. Someone plz help explain this, or give advice. I have never lifted before, but it just doesn't seem right, that thats all I can do!

Answer 1

Yahoogroups has a great group dedicated to help with this kind of thing:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/More_Muscle/

Go check it out, it's free advice from people who've been there.

Answer 2

Nothing to get excited about brother. Ok, you did 90lbs 5 times, so next time we do this try:

Set 1 90 lbs 5 reps
Set 2 92.5 lbs 4 reps
Set 3 95 lbs 3 reps
Set 4 97.5 lbs 2 reps

Amount of weight lifted: 375.0 lbs
Total number of reps: 14

Keep this system until you can do set 1 8 to 10 times then you system should look like:

Set 1 90 lbs 10 reps
Set 2 92.5 lbs 8 reps
Set 3 95.0 lbs 8 reps
Set 4 97.5 lbs 6 reps
Set 5 97.5 lbs 4 reps

Total amount of weight lifted: 472.5 lbs
Total number of reps: 36 (Yes, we are building muscle strength and lean muscle mass.....36 reps..outstanding. Now, how can we get 500lbs out of this exercise?)

Don't worry about what your arms look like, this is not a 100% fact that you are strong (which most people think).

Shake it off, concentrate on your weightlifting classes, and make sure you get enough rest!

Keep it up, you will run into allot of "obstacles" in the world of pumping iron.

Answer 3

I remember when I first started working out and everyone thought I was so strong, and I was barely lifting my bodyweight. There is a long learning curve to lifting weights!! Months even. Your muscles are not used to being worked out that way, and you don't have "stabilizer" muscles that need to be developed for good lifting technique.

Bottom line: don't worry about the ego part of how much you can lift, and continue to work on form. I promise it'll improve, and you may even go through some serious strength gain spurts! You are lucky, there is a ton of *fun* in this being a beginner. Once you get to more advanced levels, any strength gains are very hard to achieve. So enjoy this time! You are just 17, and you are developing a good habit that'll last a lifetime.

And being 5'5", and probably still growing, you may have an excellent frame for weighlifting. Shorter is actually better in the world of bodybuilding, at least in terms of potential for success.

Answer 4

OK no reason to panic. I assume we are talking about a bench press from the amount of weight. Thats not bad for someone who hasn't been working out.

The explaination for bench presses is that the mussels on your chest are not used much for day to day activity but are needed for doing the bench press.

Don't get carried away you can increase your strength by about 5 lbs every two weeks. So use a comfortable weight to work out with, increase the weight by about 5 lbs every two weeks. And make sure you skip a day before you work the same mussel group.

I started out at around 110 lbs and in a couple of years I was up to 300 lbs. A good number to shoot for is approximately your body weight or just a little more.

Answer 5

well as a beginer as someone else stated you won't be able to lift a lot. You are also likely to cause great injury by trying to lift the most that you can so soon into you lifting weights for the first time. you shouldn't even max out right now...you should go lower weights and work with your stabilizer muscles which if you are bench pressing will be in your back shoulders, triceps and ofcourse your chest. There is nothing wrong with going slow and be sure to give your body plenty of time to recover from lifting or you will be prone to injury from not giving enough time to your muscles to recover.

Answer 6

Don't worry about it! It takes time. Everyone has to start somewhere. I took alot of time off from lifting and I lost ALL of my results. The first few months back in the gym were embarrassing. I wanted to hide in the corner of the gym. I went from curling 80 pounds 12 times for three sets to barely being able to curl 40 pounds 8 times for one set! It just took some time. That's all. You will see nice results if you stick with it.

Answer 7

Lifting strength is mostly in the tendons. Your muscles will fill out more as you reach your early 20s. Your teenage years are more for gaining skeletal growth (height). So, you're still too young to be at your full strength. 90 pounds (benchpress I assume) is normal for that age. Height really doesn't matter in determining strength.

Answer 8

You might also want to try to build up muscle in the shoulders and back in order to support the weights you will be lifting. It does take time for you body to adjust to the weights so don't over exert yourself and keep it up.

Answer 9

Well, if you just started then you are obviously not going to be great at it. Just keep doing it and follow a routine. Add more weight each week. Quality is better than quantity as well.

Answer 10

if you have never weightlifted before then you wont be as strong as you think, especially if you hav`nt lifted heavy objects either, you have to start at the bottom and make your way up!!!