Casual Conversation

Biggest advice I have is, NEVER feel bad about cutting exercise short if something feels off or too sore/tight. Not only does it generally help to keep motivation up when a "lazy" day isn't a big negative on the track record, but staying healthy is unironically the best way to keep up an exercise regiment.

Getting laid up for a few weeks or getting hurt will have a WAY bigger impact than even skipping entire exercises on a day. It's also really important not to rush back in to exercising too hard when recovering. Especially when you get older and older.

Also if you ever pause or stop for a while, go really easy when getting back in to it!! I've hurt myself several times, and it's basically always been trying to rush back to where I was. (or simply pushing too hard on things that don't even need a spotter). Let slow aches heal even if it makes a whole lazy week. Some athletes let minor injuries go for months and keep playing until one day the muscle/tendon/bone finally just gives, and now they have a major injury from something minor.

I utterly cooked my forearms and couldn't work out for six months simply because I somehow managed to push them really hard without feeling it in the moment, once, during one day of exercising. Like my pain receptors were just turned off. No noises or creaks or pain or anything. The muscles did it, without slowing down much at all, but it was like those stories of big adrenaline rushes: They do something crazy like lift a car, and are literally disabled for months after. Felt like my elbows were being torn in half with minimal strain after for over six months. (could be some arthritic condition showing up, but interesting that it'd be right after straining the area a ton).

Also stretches! For similar reasons. More than being flexible, it helps prevent injuries.

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.

I would like to start weight training at home and have no idea where to begin. Do you have a particular routine? Do you have any advice?

Congrats on the progress, keep it up! I started lifting weights for the first time during Covid and since then I've turned into that annoying person who won't stop talking about the benefits to anyone who will listen. Before long people will start to notice, and you'll be asked to lift and carry heavy crap

I‘m a guy but i started doing pullups some weeks ago. At first i was able to do one clean and then an ugly one and now am able to do 5-6 clean ones and one ungly one. Pretty cool how fast you are able to progress. I noticed it improved my posture as well, which i like :)

Me ✋ I've been lifting for a year now, so idk how qualified I am to offer advice, but I'll say don't lift in running shoes, the barbell is easier to lift than it may seem, and consistency is king. Oh, and make sure you sleep and eat enough. I have noticeable biceps and my forearms no longer fit into my fav shirt... but nobody notices my arm gains because of my boobs lol

Keep it up! My wife’s been power lifting for years and she’s still improving just through consistency (also there are things you can do once you hit plateaus but you’re quite a bit away from that for now).

Related - are there any active lifting communities on Lemmy? I think I signed up to a couple a while back but haven't seen a single post. Looking at these comments, it looks like we have a number of people interested in the topic.

If you want free training programs: liftvault.com

I recently started my health improvement journey too. First swimming, then a mixed strength training swimming program.

I think the key is anything you can sustainably do long-term has the biggest life improving dividends.

and even though I can't finish all of my workouts because of exhaustion

You are completing your workouts, if you're putting your body to the point where you've reached exhaustion, or technical form failure, you have created the right stimulus for your body to improve and adapt. That's a success

You didn't mention anything about your diet, I just hope you're taking enough protein, so that you're maintaining and enabling your body improvements.

I found having an exercise buddy has been a great help in staying consistent

Me! I did it for years while in my twenties, then stopped because of injury, bad form and other circumnstances. Now I've picked it up again but through a personal trainer. My goal is long term mobility and independence, not so much muscle growing so I strength train 3 times a week, pilates or barré 2 times a week and yoga daily to stretch and help my mental health. I love being able to do pushups and other exercises that challenge me and feeling stronger and stronger everyday. Good for you for listening to your body and what it needs, no need to risk injury to kick ass IMO.

I’m a dude so maybe this doesn’t hold up for you but when I first started I’d get discouraged from putting in tons of hard work for weeks and even a month or two and not see significant progress in the mirror. But would have people complimenting me after about a month.

You’ll feel your gains long before you notice in the mirror. And other people will notice your gains long before you’ll see them. So don’t let that discourage you! I didn’t see progress I wanted for many months. (But I also had terrible nutrition which didn’t help)