Yup, Bgirl explained it right. However, Noelle, since (I think) your main goal is to lose fat/tone and not necessarily gain strength, this is probably a better choice of program for you: http://www.mikesfitness.com/article_weight3daylowvol.php In this program you will do almost every set close to muscular failure (and once you are comfortable with the exercises and are sure that you are performing them correctly, you should push it all the way to failure). Again, just to repeat Bgirl's explanation, "to failure" means that you will perform as many repetitions (aka reps)of the exercise in a row as you physically can before your muscles simply can't perform that exercise any more. At that point you'll take a 60-90 second rest. That will complete one set of the exericse. In the program I linked you'll do most exercises for 2 sets before moving on to the next exercise. So, for example, "BB Deadlift 1 x 8-12" means perform the barbell deadlift exercise for 1 set using such weight that you can only lift it between 8 and 12 times before needing a rest (i.e. reach failure in 8-12 reps). Because you are a beginner, you actually should NOT go to failure early on and instead pick, say, a weight you can lift 15 times instead and then only lift it 8-12 times to complete 1 set. Later on, you can start pushing yourself harder and go truly to failure. Also, the program I linked is relatively light, with just 1 set per exercise and 30 sets per week total. You can and probably should make it more challenging and do 2 sets of each exercise instead of just 1. (The reason the program is written out with so few sets is that it's meant to be followed by somebody coming off a very heavy program -- in your case you're coming off not weighttraining at all, so you can certainly do more sets :) Some of the exercises you might not have the equipment to do, so substitute close alternatives: - Do dumbbell squats instead of barbell squats. With dumbbell squats you hold dumbbells down by your sides to provide extra weight.
- Instead of incline barbell bench press, do it on the flat bench if that's all you have.
- Instead of using EZ-bar, you can use regular barbell.
- If you are not strong enough to do pullups (and vast majority of women are not, even if they are in very good shape) then grab a chair and start yourself in fully pulled up position and then as slowly as possible lower yourself to the floor, fighting your weight the whole way.
Hope that clears things up a bit. Definitely let me know if you still have any questions. |
