Free weight exercises

[Petruchio]

Hey all. I just purchased some free weights, not used unfortunately. I am wondering what routines that you all have done in the past and what your results have been like.

For reference, I am a skinny 23 year year old who has never done weight training before. I'm looking for mass, strength and power.

[velocistar237]

Starting Strength

When I did it, I went from squatting 200 lb to 315 lb (3 sets of 5) in about 4 months. It was very hard. It was too hard to maintain after we had our 2nd child.

The book is mostly about how to do the exercises correctly. The program itself is pretty simple, and I can give you details if you want. There is also a video available separately.

[Jamesqf]

I'd recommend this book as a good general reference: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Stronger-Weight-Training-Sports/dp/B002FL5J9O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346736147&sr=1-1&keywords=Getting+stronger

One point is not to do just A set of exercises, but to vary them over time.  The book has some graduated programs for starting from scratch, then others designed for different goals, as for instance training for specific sports.

PS: The book has been in print for a number of years - my copy dates from the mid-90s, IIRC - so you should be able to pick it up used pretty cheaply.  Check out AbeBooks: http://www.abebooks.com/

[Steve Ainslie]

I strongly recommend men's health power training by robert dos remedios. After lifting for 20 years I followed this program and got stronger, leaner and surprisingly athletic. Wish I knew this stuff when I started lifting in my teens.

[Kriegsspiel]

Starting Strength

When I did it, I went from squatting 200 lb to 315 lb (3 sets of 5) in about 4 months. It was very hard. It was too hard to maintain after we had our 2nd child.

The book is mostly about how to do the exercises correctly. The program itself is pretty simple, and I can give you details if you want. There is also a video available separately.

Do this, if you are just starting it will be, undoubtedly, the best thing ever.  Mark Rippetoe is a legend in the iron game.  This is the best base of training for someone training with weights.  As a personal anecdote, I have been weight training for 14 years, and everything I do revolves around these basic exercises.

[GuitarStv]

Starting Strength is a great suggestion.  I followed a very similar program for years to improve my strength while training and competing in Jiu-Jitsu.  Heavy compound exercises with a bar are pretty much the only way I can keep any muscle on my frame too . . .

Start slowly (low weight), make sure that you learn the proper form for each lift and stick with it, you'll see tremendous strength gains in a pretty short period of time.

[Kriegsspiel]

HST (hypertrophy specific training) is also a solid program, especially for beginners, because you can get a lot of practice on the lifts, high frequency, etc.  Just google it and check out the site.

[Petruchio]

HST (hypertrophy specific training) is also a solid program, especially for beginners, because you can get a lot of practice on the lifts, high frequency, etc.  Just google it and check out the site.

I'm checking it out now... Do you have personal experience with this program?

[Kriegsspiel]

I do :)  HST was one of the most successful programs I've done, as far as increasing muscle mass is concerned.  I'm sure I still have my before/after measurements around somewhere, but I did put a permanent ...... oh, I think it was a half inch on my biceps that hasn't gone away.  Everything else I measured increased as well, except the waist.  That was over just an 8 week cycle.

I did a few runs of HST, just the plain vanilla one off the website, a 6 day a week version, and one I got out of Vicious' (an HST forum member from back in the day) ebook.  I think I have the ebook if you can't find it online.  Anyways, I did his too.  So several difference cycles.  My routines now still look like my HST runs did: compound moves like benching and squatting, eschewing annoying stuff like cable curls or flyes.

If you really boil it down, HST is a simple linear periodization program, which haven't really failed anyone ever.  Once you finish the cycle, you just add 5-20 lbs to each lift and start over.  That's a feature of a ton of successful programs (5-3-1, Korte 3x3, Coan's DL, Smolov [I think]etc etc).

BLAH BLAH TLDR Yes, it's fucking awesome.

[Bakari]

yeah, theres all that fancy stuff.

The basic thing is to pick stuff up, and put it down.
If its easy, pick up heavier stuff.

I used to do the gym thing regularly, took creatine and protein powder, read books and magazines and learned about hypertrophy and recovery time and interval training and supersets and may (or may not) have even used substances of questionable legal status at some point.

But you know when I really started to notice the muscle definition build?
When I started working as a mover/hauler.  I don't do bench presses or bicep curls to get a piece of furniture up 3 frights of stairs, or to load my truck full of concrete.  I just do the work.

I still do the weight stuff occasionally, in phases  - consistently for a month or two, then not at all for 6 months, but I think if I had to pick only one, the real life activity probably makes the bigger difference.
Which implies to me that it matter a lot more that you do anything challenging, and do it consistently, than exactly what you do.

[fiveoh]

Have you started on this yet?  How is your routine going?  Obviously this thread is about weight lifting but the main thing missing here is nutrition.  Your eating will be 75%(or more) of your gains if you are trying to add mass.  Basically you need to eat more than you are burning(preferably about 500 cal a day more so you will gain about 1 lb a week).  Try to eat clean and make sure you get enough protein(imo you dont need 2g per lb of bw or whatever the bodybuilding mags recommend).   If you have any questions/need any help feel free to pm me or post on here.(I have a BS in exercise sports science and several training certs)

[yolfer]

I use "You Are Your Own Gym" which has mostly "bodyweight" exercises (e.g. pushups, crunches) but also some stuff that optionally uses dumbbells:

http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0971407614

I just started it though, so I can't recommend it on a long-term basis yet.  I'm also very slender, and there's a chapter about proper nutrition during a weights program, which is important.

[DoubleDown]

Great question, and good for you for getting started!

The really good news is it doesn't take much to see dramatic results, and as others like Bakari have pointed out, it doesn't have to be fancy at all. Here are the Top 5 exercises I'd recommend. You do these 5 and you've hit just about every major muscle there is. These are more full-body exercises, so with each one you're getting a whole range of results across large muscle groups. By doing just these, you will get big results. You don't have to do a whole bunch of specialized exercises that target small muscle groups unless you want to (biceps curls, toe raises, etc.).

And it doesn't take a bunch of repetitious sets. Studies have repeatedly shown that you get the biggest bang for the buck with just ONE set. After that it's big-time "diminishing returns":

1. Push-ups
2. Pull-ups
3. Squats
4. Bench Press
5. Dead lift with overhead press (aka military press)

I'd add one more thing to this list for really huge benefits, even though it's not weightlifting -- RUNNING! (preferably barefoot)