![personal-trainer-pad-his-hand-gym-34940641[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/8lq9vqr.jpg "personal-trainer-pad-his-hand-gym-34940641[1].jpg")
So I started "lifting" like four months ago and the first time I came into the gym after cold turkey signing up, I told the instructor that I was going to do 5x5. At that point, I just stepped off the train to Auschwitz so I believed him when he said "no you cannot start with free weights, you will have to build some stamina and strength first, it's like stepping in a Ferrari when you barely have your license".
So he made a routine for me which involved machines which had a 1 to 12 grading system (no weight visible). I followed that routine for like a month after which I got a new one which involved actual machines (pretty much same routine but now with weights adjustable).
A month after that he got me on a new routine which involves machines with much more flexibility in the weights. The machines all have names on them, but I just memorized the cycle I am following, not the names of the workout (the machines are branded "hammer strength" is what I remember). I am doing that for something like a month now.
So over that time span of a few months, I made great increments in weight being able to pull/lift and according to their scale I also put on circa 5 kilos of muscle without growing in bf%. I still look a bit from ottermode but I feel stronger, look better without shirt and I enjoy going to the gym.
In the first week of January I will have a new meeting. What do you think of all this? Is this bad progress? Is the instructor right? He isn't anti-freeweights as I have seen him training and he does only freeweights (squats, dls, ohp et cetera). So what should I say to him?
>>35296312
You should definitely be able to do freeweights by now. Actually, no real reason you shouldn't have been able to do freeweights at the start. Maybe a little bodyweight to master the form before you go in there fucking your shit up, but within like a week MAX you shoulda been on dumbbells at least. Squatting/DLing the bar and whatnot.
Honestly, your trainer may not have your best interests in mind. The longer you need him and his instruction, the longer he makes money, so it's profitable to try to make you progress as slow as possible. Not all trainers are like that and it depends on how the gym pays them for sure, but if you have a slow gym with few new signups and he gets individually paid for his time with you, he could be purposely fucking you over.
>>35296312
Sounds like he doesn't want to spend time teaching you how to do free weights, so he just puts you on a boring machine circuit instead.
Just do 5x5. You don't need a personal trainer anyway.
>>35296373
>>35296373
>>35296373
You dun waisted months op
>>35296352
The instructor was included the monthly amount I pay. Because I signed up cold turkey, I didn't really check alternatives but there are much cheaper alternatives in my town which do not include this monthly instructor meeting. It's a nice guy and it feels like he is actually helping me, though I haven't checked his knowledge. I am not paying him extra.
By the way, my routine includes this machine in which I sit and do the dumbbell "curl" motion and can already do 15 reps x 3 55kgs on that. But that instructor said I should up the weight and go for 3x8, so I can probably hit 60 to 65. With regular dumbbells curling, how much KG would that translate to? 2x20? For another instance, I also do this "triceps dip" in which I am managing 3x8 80 kgs.
>>35296407
>>35296373
I wouldn't quite go there just yet.
OP, post a before and after, he may be right for assigning you a routine to get your strength up.
>>35296352>>35296373
You need to consider thatvOP had just left Auschwitz, so maybe the instructor decide to go slow with him after seeing him skelly
>>35296373
So how do I learn how to do proper form? Also, what do I do if he just go do freeweights and he comes up to me and asks me what I am doing as it is not my routine? There is a 7/10 chance he is there when I workout.
>>35296407
Nah, I might have not been going to my full potential I could have achieved in those months but I certainly put on more muscle and increased my overall strength and body weight. If anything, I could maybe have done better. I didn't waste months.
>>35296444
>There is a 7/10 chance he is there when I workout.
tell him that what you're doing isn't any of his damn business and you're a strong independent black woman or something.
>>35296444
>So how do I learn how to do proper form
Read SS watch the relevant videos.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AasgaardCo
>Also, what do I do if he just go do freeweights and he comes up to me and asks me what I am doing as it is not my routine?
Tell him you are doing your routine.You pay real money don't you?Then do whatever the fuck you want to do.
your mistake - listening to the trainer
its a hard fact to get your head around, but personal trainers almost always advise badly and i honestly have no idea why. they are too book-learned, i guess.
you've been more or less wasting your time until now. for christ's sake, listen to /fit. instead (with a pinch of salt, cardio isn't evil and deadlifts are an exercise not a way of life).
depends on your goals though. that trainer can't tell you shit and neither can we if you don't know what you want to look like/be able to do, in detail.
>>35296569
Thanks for the YouTube channel. When I planned to do 5x5 I already extensively read and viewed the materials they had, but this will be of help too.
>>35296592
Though it might be a mistake, you probably don't know what it is like as a gym veteran. I came there the first time in a room I knew nobody in and this guy who was high fiving other big guys with an aurora of authority comes up to me and asks what my plans are. I told him I was going to do free weights, even named all the exercises which I would be doing each day and he just smooth talked over me and told me to do his routine instead.
What was I supposed to do? Print a sticky on /fit/ and shove that on his desk complaining the real deal is lifting free weights? No, I succumbed. I am sorry I let you guys down.
In the next meeting I will definitely insist on going the free weight way. If he still doesn't allow me or smudges me into a new routine I will just find a new gym as I have one month left on the contract anyway.
>>35296444
Tip - don't blindly accept form tips from strangers, including PTs, even if they are massive.
Read starting strength for extremely reliable and in-depth descriptions of the form. Start there. It'll tell you how to do deadlifts, squats, overhead presses, bench presses and other exercises and its worth a read cause the book is fucking excellent, even if you don't agree with rippetoe's workout structure advice.
otherwise, rake around on youtube and shit. also, rake around here, read articles, and most of all, learn the function of every major muscle in the body and which movements activate which muscles.
>>35296312
Pics of your body before and after these four months.
>>35296312
>4 months
> 5 kilos of muscle
thats physically impossible you tard
>>35296644
>If he still doesn't allow me or smudges me into a new routine I will just find a new gym
for fucks sake, have a bit of backbone about you lad.
"thanks for the advice but i'm gonna do X routine"
don't be so fucking beta. jesus christ its like having to hold your hand through every step.
>>35296693
How come?
>>35296651
Thanks, will do.
>>35296668
Can anyone explain why do people insist on seeing pictures of my body? I have seen the CBT threads and I feel no urge to post such a picture as 1) finding a before pic takes time to hop through my archive and 2) I am not keen of pictures of myself in underwear floating on the internet, especially how this board is persisted in various archives.
>>35296769
>How come?
because its the laws of nature.
You must be one of the most genetically gifted people in the world to make these kind of gains within 4 months.
Even with noob gain advantage its highly unlikely that you gained 5kg of lean body mass in 4 months.
>>35296769
>Can anyone explain why do people insist on seeing pictures of my body?
oh, just cause /fit/ is gay and stuff
>>35296769
>Can anyone explain why do people insist on seeing pictures of my body?
because you came here and made big claims about your gains
crop your face out and just post a picture you retard >>35296792
>>35296769
Because exercise will have a direct impact on your physical appearance and if you've been exercising poorly over these past 4 months it will instantly be noticeable.
>>35296789
wtf are you talking about? 5kgs in 4 months is pretty normal
it is only 2.5 pounds per month
>>35296826
its not normal LMFAO
you are delusional. Use google to find your answers.
>>35296769
Are you roiding? I think the max amount you can put on as a natty in a year is like 5kgs. Might not be correct but scooby said somethin like that if I remember correctly.
Does anyone know the max is if you are doing everything optimaly?
>>35296865
you can find the ~10lbs/5kg number for first year almost everywhere you look
sure its down to genetics, diet and some people might gain more than that in their first year but after that it becomes way less
hodge twins said they gained like 25-30 pounds over 4 years of lifting.
If you dont juice theres almost no way you can gain 5kg lean body mass in 4 months
>>35296420
no way to know for sure, machines *can* provide a mechanical advantage and actually let you move more weight
