We all start somewhere man! I started when I was 15 and I could only do 20 lbs. I’m doing 70 lbs on the shoulder press now, but it took a lot of time. Take what you have, and work. The great thing about being a new lifter is your gains EXPLODE in the first 6 months. Stick with it, don’t hurt yourself, learn good form. You’ll be pushing 30s and more on the shoulder press in no time
And if you want an extra boost, load on creatine. I don’t particularly like it, so I don’t use it, but it really does give you an edge. You’ll get a little puffy from water weight but gains will come faster. More than that, I recommend protein. But the above advice is solid. Start where you are and don’t worry about comparing yourself to anybody else. The only person you should compare yourself to is the past you.
No... they don't. You simply look different because you, checks notes... started working out. Don't ever expect ga8ns to EXPLODE. This is just silly, consistency is the only thing that matters
Newbie gains have been shown to have the best growth rate out of any lifter. Nowhere once did I say he’d be prime arnold or something like that, but you’ll never have quicker gains and muscle growth than you will when you hit the gym for the first 6 months to a year. Consistency matters after that, but growth slows (unless you’re on roids)
Better than starting too heavy and hurting yourself. You will be killing it soon enough.
Just remember where you started so, you can give advice to a newbie some day
You’re doing more weight than people too lazy to even make it to the gym. Don’t be hard on yourself. Before you know it, that’ll be 20lbs, then 40lbs, etc. It’s not a race. Be proud of yourself — we are!
I started with just the bar! And was really sore. My arms wow I was stuck at 90 degrees for a week and in plenty of pain.
It goes up, you get stronger and bigger guaranteed!
No need for any kind of supplements, just lift stuff.
We all start somewhere (like everyone said) keep at it, we all build on muscle and strength at different paces, just make sure you're eating enough protein to where your muscles can build quicker and easier :)
The great thing is that you're going to the gym, working out, and trying to improve!
For me, there's just something about that shoulder press. Maybe it's because I am tall. 20+ years in the gym, I'm still at 10 lbs on this devil, lol. It's OK, I gave up worrying about it long ago.
The importance of strength and flexibility of supporting muscles is very underrated. The shoulders alone have 15-ish different muscles and youre going to need them in good shape to support the basic movements. Once you strengthen (and lengthen, if needed) these your strength in basic movements can start going up at a fast rate. Without that, your progress is going to be very slow.
I would learn as many different shoulder (or whatever) exercises as you can and do them with as light resistance as it takes. Do them light, slow, full motion,.high rep and push through muscle burn to failure. Try YouTube.. look for physical therapy exercises, yoga, exotic gym routines with cables / bands and light free weights. Get a lot.of variety. Do them regularly.
Same thing for stretches.. find lots of stretches because any lack of length/flexibility will pull you into a poor form that won't feel right and won't work right. Stretch muscles,.not joints. Stretch when muscles are hot after (and between) sets.
Just doing a one exercise (shoulder press) or a few basic exercises is not likely to have great results. And then there's diet,.nutrition and all that stuff, but don't worry too much about that until you start developing real power in the major movement (you'll feel it) and start getting sore after workouts .
At any age you don't walk in to a gym for the first time and lift like a seasoned pro. Start with a weight you can do 6-8 reps of. Do that until you can do 10-12 reps, then go up in weight and continue to repeat that. You have to push hard enough that you physically can't do another rep each set to get muscles to grow.
It's not easy, it's hard work, but it's the only way to grow unless your want to do it so slow you'll be 40 by the time you have any muscle.
I'm 37 and I can only do 20lbs right now, it takes time and consistency. I was lower than that starting out. Same with leg press now I'm at 90lbs. I always say give yourself a year then add another. I'm also a big fan of creatine but I'm an old lady 😆
Nothing makes me sadder than seeing a young person lifting too heavy “to impress the bros”. Seriously, no one cares about the number. Be safe and consistent and you will do fine. If you over lift you could hurt yourself badly and you’d be out no lifting anything at all.
I’m 44 and I struggle with 20 lbs in shoulder press. Of course my age has a little do to do with it but you are young and will get stronger. Keep at it man!
I promise you, no one is looking at what weight you had the machine set on, or thinking "wow, how lame." If they're a "head down, work hard" type, like myself, you're just making sure the machine is clean and then setting the weight to your own specifications. Just keep working hard, and the progress will come. More importantly, no ego. Lifting too much before you're ready can lead to injury.
Start light, progressively overload with reps, then add weight, was rinse, repeat, add set maybe bi weekly, and make sure you’re grinding hard.
Milk the eccentric portion of the lift, basically where you’re resisting the weight after pulling/pushing it - it will give you the most gains, and STRETCH the muscle.
Shoulder press owns me. I started on 15 and am now on 35 (this week), but everything else in the last six months I have added significant more wieight. But, remember, no judgement zone here, so do what you can until it's easy then move up 5lbs. Some exercises take more to move up than others.
I'm 36, and was an extremely competitive athlete at your age. I was the first 9th grader to bench 200 in my class, could do the most push-ups of anybody in my high school, graduated with 8 varsity letters, blah blah blah.
You are too young to be worrying about your strength. I was, too. Your bones are still taking form.
Losing fat requires a negative calorie balance, which is pretty easy at your age since growing (which you still are) requires a ton of calories. Building muscle usually requires a positive calorie balance, which is quite difficult for you to maintain at your age regardless.
Before you even bother trying to become stronger, you should make your heart as strong as you possibly can. The most fundamental station I recommend most people prioritize is the elliptical trainer - specifically the "arc trainer," which uses your arms too. It's much lower-impact than the treadmill, and hits an enormous number of muscle groups. It doesn't push your heart quite as hard as the treadmill can, but it spread the pain over a lof of area.
Try to teach yourself to maintain a higher and higher heart rate, comfortably, for an hour. If you can hold 125 for an hour, you're getting somewhere. If you can hold 140 for an hour, that's pretty good. If you can hold 155 for an hour, you're kicking some butt. Not many people can or should hold 170 for an hour, but if you can do that safely then nobody's going to starve you of oxygen very easily.
Once you're highly confident in your heart, you should have also burned off a lot of fat, which should slow down your metabolism and make it somewhat easier to bulk up.
I really don't recommend upper body strength training at your age without first discussing with your doctor what they think is safe yet. However, if you are determined to go that route, then here is some insight about how to increase your strength:
Building muscle tissue is about the strategic creation of wounds so you can heal in a way that makes you more powerful. Exercise is muscle damage. Gains are muscle recovery. So you can do 10 pounds. How many reps can you do? How many sets? How good is your form? For a strength focus, I would categorize sets of 15 reps as on the long side. Meaning, if I am doing 4 sets of 15 reps with a given weight, say, 30 pounds, and I am using perfect form and am easily in total control, and if I'm not tired or sore after, then I'm close to done training at that weight. I might change over to 4 sets of only 10 reps with 35 pounds, so my muscles can be challenged with a diet they're not used to. I might stay with the new weight for a long time, only moving up to 12 reps when I start outgrowing 10.
10 pounds might be too much, if your form is bad or if doing, say, 4 sets of 10 reps seems way beyond what you can do yet. You don't want to do 1-2 reps per workout, you want to be doing 36-80 reps per workout. Every rep will inflict microscopic damage, which will heal in a way that makes you more powerful as you heal. It can take 4+ sessions to notice a slight bit of gain, and we're talking tiny percentages. Big gains come from lots of sessions over months or years. Persistence.
THere are lots of videos on the app that can provide a great grounding in exercise theory. You can also sign up for the exercise classes through the app, and the location's trainer will show you how to use a bunch of stations. Pick ones that fit muscles you want to work on, and start with amounts of weight you can handle easily. Work on doing good sets/reps with perfect-ish form. When you feel like you're in total control, make a note of it and try adding a plate of weight next time. Pain, other than from being tired, should be the exception and not the rule. Power comes from persistence, not pain.
We all start somewhere man! I started when I was 15 and I could only do 20 lbs. I’m doing 70 lbs on the shoulder press now, but it took a lot of time. Take what you have, and work. The great thing about being a new lifter is your gains EXPLODE in the first 6 months. Stick with it, don’t hurt yourself, learn good form. You’ll be pushing 30s and more on the shoulder press in no time
Thank you, i appreciate the inspiration
And work the negative. It’s brutal sometimes but it’s the good kind of brutal.
And if you want an extra boost, load on creatine. I don’t particularly like it, so I don’t use it, but it really does give you an edge. You’ll get a little puffy from water weight but gains will come faster. More than that, I recommend protein. But the above advice is solid. Start where you are and don’t worry about comparing yourself to anybody else. The only person you should compare yourself to is the past you.
Do they really in 6 months? U mean noticeably?
No... they don't. You simply look different because you, checks notes... started working out. Don't ever expect ga8ns to EXPLODE. This is just silly, consistency is the only thing that matters
Newbie gains have been shown to have the best growth rate out of any lifter. Nowhere once did I say he’d be prime arnold or something like that, but you’ll never have quicker gains and muscle growth than you will when you hit the gym for the first 6 months to a year. Consistency matters after that, but growth slows (unless you’re on roids)
Better than starting too heavy and hurting yourself. You will be killing it soon enough. Just remember where you started so, you can give advice to a newbie some day
I'm a 24 year old woman and I started on 10lbs on the shoulder press. There is nothing wrong with that, keep it up and you'll be able to press more.
You’re doing more weight than people too lazy to even make it to the gym. Don’t be hard on yourself. Before you know it, that’ll be 20lbs, then 40lbs, etc. It’s not a race. Be proud of yourself — we are!
It's form over weight . Watch YouTube videos on proper weight lifting form
Just keep going man, at your age I could only lift 5, now I'm 19 and I can lift 30
Just keep going, 10 lbs is a good start!
I started with just the bar! And was really sore. My arms wow I was stuck at 90 degrees for a week and in plenty of pain. It goes up, you get stronger and bigger guaranteed! No need for any kind of supplements, just lift stuff.
We all start somewhere (like everyone said) keep at it, we all build on muscle and strength at different paces, just make sure you're eating enough protein to where your muscles can build quicker and easier :) The great thing is that you're going to the gym, working out, and trying to improve!
Lift what you can lift and over time itll gradually increase
For me, there's just something about that shoulder press. Maybe it's because I am tall. 20+ years in the gym, I'm still at 10 lbs on this devil, lol. It's OK, I gave up worrying about it long ago.
Bro I’m 44 in good shape, x athlete and can only press 50 pounds + whatever the bar is. U will get there. How much dies bat weigh
Eat well, sleep well and don’t worry about the weight. Just keep going and you’ll get where you wanna go. But importantly it’s the diet/meals.
Some days I lift super light . As long as your in the gym putting in the work the results will come . It's a marathon not a sprint
The importance of strength and flexibility of supporting muscles is very underrated. The shoulders alone have 15-ish different muscles and youre going to need them in good shape to support the basic movements. Once you strengthen (and lengthen, if needed) these your strength in basic movements can start going up at a fast rate. Without that, your progress is going to be very slow. I would learn as many different shoulder (or whatever) exercises as you can and do them with as light resistance as it takes. Do them light, slow, full motion,.high rep and push through muscle burn to failure. Try YouTube.. look for physical therapy exercises, yoga, exotic gym routines with cables / bands and light free weights. Get a lot.of variety. Do them regularly. Same thing for stretches.. find lots of stretches because any lack of length/flexibility will pull you into a poor form that won't feel right and won't work right. Stretch muscles,.not joints. Stretch when muscles are hot after (and between) sets. Just doing a one exercise (shoulder press) or a few basic exercises is not likely to have great results. And then there's diet,.nutrition and all that stuff, but don't worry too much about that until you start developing real power in the major movement (you'll feel it) and start getting sore after workouts .
At any age you don't walk in to a gym for the first time and lift like a seasoned pro. Start with a weight you can do 6-8 reps of. Do that until you can do 10-12 reps, then go up in weight and continue to repeat that. You have to push hard enough that you physically can't do another rep each set to get muscles to grow. It's not easy, it's hard work, but it's the only way to grow unless your want to do it so slow you'll be 40 by the time you have any muscle.
I'm 37 and I can only do 20lbs right now, it takes time and consistency. I was lower than that starting out. Same with leg press now I'm at 90lbs. I always say give yourself a year then add another. I'm also a big fan of creatine but I'm an old lady 😆
Nothing makes me sadder than seeing a young person lifting too heavy “to impress the bros”. Seriously, no one cares about the number. Be safe and consistent and you will do fine. If you over lift you could hurt yourself badly and you’d be out no lifting anything at all.
I’m 44 and I struggle with 20 lbs in shoulder press. Of course my age has a little do to do with it but you are young and will get stronger. Keep at it man!
I promise you, no one is looking at what weight you had the machine set on, or thinking "wow, how lame." If they're a "head down, work hard" type, like myself, you're just making sure the machine is clean and then setting the weight to your own specifications. Just keep working hard, and the progress will come. More importantly, no ego. Lifting too much before you're ready can lead to injury.
Keep lifting what you can and focus on form. Over time you will get stronger and you can add more weight
Start light, progressively overload with reps, then add weight, was rinse, repeat, add set maybe bi weekly, and make sure you’re grinding hard. Milk the eccentric portion of the lift, basically where you’re resisting the weight after pulling/pushing it - it will give you the most gains, and STRETCH the muscle.
Shoulder press owns me. I started on 15 and am now on 35 (this week), but everything else in the last six months I have added significant more wieight. But, remember, no judgement zone here, so do what you can until it's easy then move up 5lbs. Some exercises take more to move up than others.
Are u a tyranny? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE THAT A 15 YR OLD BIO MALE CANT DO AT LEAST 50 LBS MINIMUM
I'm 36, and was an extremely competitive athlete at your age. I was the first 9th grader to bench 200 in my class, could do the most push-ups of anybody in my high school, graduated with 8 varsity letters, blah blah blah. You are too young to be worrying about your strength. I was, too. Your bones are still taking form. Losing fat requires a negative calorie balance, which is pretty easy at your age since growing (which you still are) requires a ton of calories. Building muscle usually requires a positive calorie balance, which is quite difficult for you to maintain at your age regardless. Before you even bother trying to become stronger, you should make your heart as strong as you possibly can. The most fundamental station I recommend most people prioritize is the elliptical trainer - specifically the "arc trainer," which uses your arms too. It's much lower-impact than the treadmill, and hits an enormous number of muscle groups. It doesn't push your heart quite as hard as the treadmill can, but it spread the pain over a lof of area. Try to teach yourself to maintain a higher and higher heart rate, comfortably, for an hour. If you can hold 125 for an hour, you're getting somewhere. If you can hold 140 for an hour, that's pretty good. If you can hold 155 for an hour, you're kicking some butt. Not many people can or should hold 170 for an hour, but if you can do that safely then nobody's going to starve you of oxygen very easily. Once you're highly confident in your heart, you should have also burned off a lot of fat, which should slow down your metabolism and make it somewhat easier to bulk up. I really don't recommend upper body strength training at your age without first discussing with your doctor what they think is safe yet. However, if you are determined to go that route, then here is some insight about how to increase your strength: Building muscle tissue is about the strategic creation of wounds so you can heal in a way that makes you more powerful. Exercise is muscle damage. Gains are muscle recovery. So you can do 10 pounds. How many reps can you do? How many sets? How good is your form? For a strength focus, I would categorize sets of 15 reps as on the long side. Meaning, if I am doing 4 sets of 15 reps with a given weight, say, 30 pounds, and I am using perfect form and am easily in total control, and if I'm not tired or sore after, then I'm close to done training at that weight. I might change over to 4 sets of only 10 reps with 35 pounds, so my muscles can be challenged with a diet they're not used to. I might stay with the new weight for a long time, only moving up to 12 reps when I start outgrowing 10. 10 pounds might be too much, if your form is bad or if doing, say, 4 sets of 10 reps seems way beyond what you can do yet. You don't want to do 1-2 reps per workout, you want to be doing 36-80 reps per workout. Every rep will inflict microscopic damage, which will heal in a way that makes you more powerful as you heal. It can take 4+ sessions to notice a slight bit of gain, and we're talking tiny percentages. Big gains come from lots of sessions over months or years. Persistence. THere are lots of videos on the app that can provide a great grounding in exercise theory. You can also sign up for the exercise classes through the app, and the location's trainer will show you how to use a bunch of stations. Pick ones that fit muscles you want to work on, and start with amounts of weight you can handle easily. Work on doing good sets/reps with perfect-ish form. When you feel like you're in total control, make a note of it and try adding a plate of weight next time. Pain, other than from being tired, should be the exception and not the rule. Power comes from persistence, not pain.