Is it enough?

E

erikajune

New member
I have dumbbells (2,3,5 lbs) and a resistance band.

Is that enough to tone and build muscle or do I need to get heavier ones? I have no desire to bulk up or be "cut". I just want to make sure these weights are sufficient for the results I want.

I'm 6'0", 205 lbs. Goal: 185.
 
Sorry, I disagree... they're not sufficient. Or they might be for a couple of weeks, but you'll quickly outgrow 5lb weights. :)

First of all, let's dispel the tone/bulk myth. :) There's no such thing as toning - not in the sense that most people mean when they talk about getting that fit, in-shape look. Toning is a myth that was invented by bad trainers in order to calm the fears of women who were afraid of "bulking" by lifting weight. The next part of the myth is bulking - a woman who lifts weights is *not* going to bulk up. Bulking up takes serious, intense, long term effort - in both lifting and diet. And it's even harder for women because we don't have the natural testosterone levels to stimulate that kind of muscle growth the way men do. Trust me on this - you CANNOT bulk up just by lifting heavy weights 3x a week or so.

Now. Those myths out of the way: You *want* to build muscle. Not "bulk" - build. There's a difference. :) And the only way to build muscle is to lift heavy. 5lbs is not going to cut it - at least, like I said, not after the first week or two. :)

Look at it this way ... do you carry bags of groceries? If you do, then you lift more than 5lbs on a regular basis - so why limit your weight lifting to 5lbs or less.

There are body resistance exercises you can do that will be more effective than a zillion reps of a 5lb weight - because you're lifting your own body weight. Things like squats, lunges, pushups, dips, burpees, etc.

But if you want to lift weights to get that "toned" look, you're going to have to lift real weights. :)
 
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Ahhh, crap. LOL Does it make a difference if I'm a weakling? I do some aerobics with the 3 lb weights and my arms are burning. Even just doing the 5 lbs for a few reps, my arms are shaky afterwards and sore the next day.

How will I know when I've done as much as I can do with the weights I have?

Are pushups as effective as lifting weights? Plank? Do I even need weights at all if I can do regular exercises using my own body weight?
 
Hehe. :)

Ok, so right now 3lb *might* be your limit, but I promise you if you lift weights regularly (like 3x a week) you will VERY quickly outgrow 5lbs. Also doing aerobics holding weights is VERY different from actually lifting weights. One adds additional tension to your muscles while you're doing a cardio vascular exercise. It's a different use of the muscle and it doesn't provide the same result as actual lifting.

How will I know when I've done as much as I can do with the weights I have?
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From everything I've read and what I practice in my own lifting, is that you'll see the best results using somewhere between 60%-80% of your 1 rep max. What that means is that you test yourself to see the heaviest you can lift one time. And remember that each exercise is different - you should never pick one weight and use it for every exercise. For example, I can squat 100lbs, but I can only bench 65lbs. :)

So start there. Pick an exercise .. say a bench press. Then start adding on weight to see how far you get before you can't do the exercise any more. Obviously, the more you do, the tireder you'll get, so try to estimate as best you can as quickly as you can. So if you can barely lift the empty olympic bar (which weighs 45 lbs), then you could figure your best most effective weight to be, say, 30 lbs (65% of the bar). An EZ bar (the one that has the curved hand grips) usually weighs around 25 lbs. So you could add 2 2.5lb weights to the EZ bar to start out with.

After that, if it gets so that you can do 3 sets of 10-12 w/out struggling to complete the 3rd set, you're not getting any benefit any more. It's time to add weights.

Now, those are the guidelines I use based on research. They're not the only right guidelines. Some people say to start with less weight. Some people say to start with more. Some people say 3 sets of 12, some people say 5 sets of 5. There are benefits to each and every method depending on what you're trying to achieve.

But I think for someone just starting out it's easier to say .. here's my starting weight, and now I just add more when I'm not pushing myself to lift these anymore. Make sense?

Are pushups as effective as lifting weights? Plank? Do I even need weights at all if I can do regular exercises using my own body weight?
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Body resistance exercises are VERY effective ... there are a ton of things that you can do and not have to have weights. I know a lot of people who have made impressive changes to their bodies doing nothing more than bodyweight work.
 
idk.. really truly you don't *need* weights though. You can do basic toning by using your very own body. pushups, situps, back extensions, squats... stuff like that.

here is some more info on that if you're interested




I will say though.. that eventually if you want to keep increasing the resistance you will need some heavier weights.. but innitially you shouldn't need any at all.. Of course if you have bad posture (Like I did) and horrible form you'll want to start out with something a bit easier.
 
semi agreed that you don't "need" weights. But lets be realistic, you can't dealift without weights you can't squat effectively without weights. Squats aren't just about working your legs btw, it's also an AMAZING core exercise, but only with resistance on your shoulders. Squats are a full body blasting exercise when done properly. with bodyweight it's just your quads taking the bulk of the workout and you're not getting near the benifit. Lunges you don't need weights, but with the addition of them you can totally revamp your workout to get a much greater core activation. a lunge and a lunge with a barbell on your shoulders are 2 different worlds apart. using dumbells to add torso rotations take a lunge to a whole new full body level. The same principle applies to a lot of workouts. You can get away with bodyweight on a lot of exercises for a while though. pushups and pullups being the most notable 2. But there is a lot of movements, like a good numbers of the primal movement patterns, that cannot effectively be trained without some form of resistance.

Long story short, body weight only severely limits your workout potential. Yes you can train with bodyweight, but you shouldn't. The amount of options you get from adding resistance gives a whole new world to play with. don't limit yourself and get free weights. you won't be sorry..
 
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No I totally agree in that adding weights/resistance is an awesome way to train.. but if she's just starting out to learn proper form and stuff of that nature it might be good to work up to them. Sorry if I didn't write it like that the first time around, but thats really what I meant. :D
 
You can make anything work to lose weight so long as are consistent with your efforts. The low weights might not do you any justice but if you utilize them properly you can make them work.

Just get out doors and run as fast as you can. Wind sprints on a hill are a great way to lose weight. Pick up a sport or join a cheap gym. Anything that gets your heart rate up is going to help. But when you can start training with real weights, as in doing deadlifts or squats, that is going to really boost your metabolism.

Joey
 
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