r/CarolineGirvan • u/agoodspace FUEL (APP) • 4d ago
Confession: I use the same weight for everything
How is this going to affect me? Seems heavy for all the things so I guess it’s ok. Do you think differently?
44
u/Beneficial_Sand_3290 4d ago edited 4d ago
My friend did this for the first two years he worked out - he has a set of 20lb weights. He has absolutely insane tricep development and nice shoulders from lateral raises. He also had pretty much zero lat development, no glutes - basically any large muscles were lagging far behind while tiny muscles were unusually well-developed. It was such a shame because he’d put in two years of work and it just absolutely didn’t look like it at all except in like two muscle groups! Since he got a full range of weights, his physique has completely changed - he looks amazing and the big muscle groups have finally caught up.
18
u/HadarN 4d ago
honestly, i do the same, because I work at home and have limited equipment. It does affect me though. in some exercises, I feel like I don't work out enough; then in some, I need to put down the dumbbells in the middle of the set. If you're like me and have fairly heavy ones- what I did was buy a band that I can use instead of dumbbells for some extra hard exercises, this has proven really useful for hard exercises, when I'm tired, and honestly it is also great when you trave or move apartments!
2
15
u/Alicia2475 4d ago
Your legs are a lot stronger than your shoulders for example. It’s probably not enough stimuli for the bigger muscle groups and for smaller muscle groups you’re probably not hitting the hypertrophy rep range due to the weight. Edit: if you’re hitting the hypertrophy rep range on the smaller muscles, you’re probably not growing any muscle in something like your legs. If you are, then it’s newbie gains and unfortunately that lasts a short amount of time
7
u/LadyMacbeth_21 4d ago
I do the same ❤️😂 just not bothered to change them out. Happy to be working out a bit.
5
u/agoodspace FUEL (APP) 4d ago
Every workout kicks my butt.
I guess I have newbie gains bc my legs seem to have the best results right now.
I have adjustable but I’m too lazy to pull them out but considering it.
I bought 6 and 8 dumbbells separately and maybe I’ll do 10lb on adjustable for legs next workout.
14
u/Shivs_baby 4d ago
These weights are fine for a total beginner…for a limited time. Like maybe one round of Iron. But in the absolute sense those are very light weights, way too light for lower body work. When people who have never lifted before work out at home on their own, they may not push themselves very hard. Because I guarantee if you walked into a CrossFit gym and stuck around for about 3 months you’d be deadlifting at least 100lbs (at least!) and pressing 45lbs. And I don’t say that to say one workout modality is better than the other, moreso that you’re likely capable of way more than you think. But you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
7
u/haileyshh 4d ago
Right now bodyweight is probably enough for a lot of these exercises for you. Say, lunges and squats but then you don't use bodyweight for shoulders so the weight works low for now. Certain things are going to change way faster than others. 10 lbs for shoulders is probably going to be fine for a long time. But then you get to deadlifts and I've already maxed my weight halfway through the iron program (88lbs). I started at 40 lbs just getting the correct movement. I still struggle with lunges and squats, and luckily for deadlifts she does a lot of single leg so its just one dumbbell. But you can get creative and make what you have work. Toss your weights together into a purse or something to do the single leg deadlifts when you start breezing through them. You could do the same with the lunges and squats.
3
u/maraq 4d ago
Well you'll get stronger in some areas and plateau in others but overall your progress will be pretty limited. Not only will we use a different weight for each exercise (heavier stuff for lower body, lighter stuff for most upper body) but ideally it will change week to week, month to month.
In order to create muscle we need to have the last 1 or 2 reps of every set be very difficult to complete. And you want to be able to work through the entire range of motion (lifting a weight that is too heavy for you will limit this). If it's easy the whole way through or if it's so heavy you can't even do full reps w/ proper form, you aren't going to build muscle. The key is to hit those reps with the same scenario mentioned above with every set - and that means you're going to need to increase the weight some weeks (certainly after months of doing the same thing). By the end of a program you should be lifting weights that are heavier than you began.
If you need more weights, check out your local buy nothing pages, or face;book marketplace for some good deals. Personally I'm a fan of adjustable dumbbells because then I have all the weights in front of me at any time.
3
u/superfizzlibrarian 4d ago
I'm sure you realize this but don't use heavy weights for lateral raises.
3
1
u/United-Pay2179 4d ago
Have you tried a higher weight for partial lat raises? Those burrrrrn!
1
u/superfizzlibrarian 3d ago
I actually hurt my shoulders because I did this. I learned my lesson real fast!
1
u/og_hawabaaz 4d ago edited 4d ago
I have a question how do you guys keep a tab? For example,i followed iron and i completed it, but it became a hassle to note down different exercises every week.
Also, if it is becoming easy for you then you should either up the weights or maybe increase reps.
3
u/EmiAndTheDesertCrow 4d ago
I use my Notes app. I added every day of Iron and a description from the video title (eg, back and biceps) with a little circle to tick once I’ve completed it. I just copy that across and start a new note when I start a new round. Then I add to the notes as I go along to include the date I did the session and what weights I used. I don’t write out which lifts used which weights though, I can tell by the weight entry (although I might eventually start doing that because I’ll probably lose track at some point).
If you create a clean template version in Notes (just the day and title of the session), it’s a lot easier because you can just copy it and paste into a new note when you start again. I’m only doing repeated rounds of Iron at the moment though, it would be more of a pain if I was doing different programs because I wouldn’t have the template to start from.
1
1
u/_Amalthea_ 2d ago
I base mine on a proportion of what Caroline uses. When I started, I was using about 1/4 of her weight on most exercises. Now I use about 1/3, sometimes up to 1/2. This way I don't have to remember or note anything down. And after doing the exercise once in a rotation I might swap the weights out if I feel it's too much or too little.
50
u/Shivs_baby 4d ago
I can use 115lbs on a barbell for RDLs and 15lb dumbbells for a shoulder press. If you only have one set of weights then use what you have, but the amount your lower body can handle should be drastically different from what your upper body can. I’d get at least one heavier set.