this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2024
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Hello y'all. I am taking a break in the midst of my workout and thought to write this post. I recently increased the weight of the two dumbbells I'm using, so now both of them are 6kg.

I definitely notice the difference from 5kg each, and even though I can't finish all of my workouts because of exhaustion, I don't want to beat myself up too much over it. I'm getting stronger each time I workout, and eventually I'll be able to finish them all fully.

Anyway, I've been strength training for a few weeks now and I notice a difference. Maybe it's delusion or wishful thinking, but I like my body better now, I feel stronger and more energetic. I've been thinking about picking up boxing as well, and my dad just ordered one of those big boxing sacs that you punch (like you see frustrated husbands doing in shows), so that's fun.

Y'all got any exercise stories to share or advice for beginners like myself? Any other women in here who strength train? Would be fun to hear from y'all, no matter who you are. (: Cheers!

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[–] tuckerm@supermeter.social 17 points 3 months ago

Congratulations! I want to point out that going from 5 to 6 kilograms is, in fact, a huge jump. That is 20% more than what you were doing before, which is literally huge. That is a big accomplishment -- and also, you won't have to jump by that much in the future.

This is an unfortunate paradox for people at the beginning of their workout careers: the smaller weights are harder to move up in, because each step up is actually a pretty large percentage increase.

going from 5 to 6 is 20% more going from 6 to 7 is 16.7% more going from 7 to 8 is 14% more and so on

So eventually the next weight will only be like 10% more than the previous weight, and that's a much more reasonable amount to increase by. If each new dumbbell set feels way harder than before, just know that the next step up will be easier than the last one you just did.