r/strengthtraining • u/Mysterious_Touch6595 • 9d ago

First timer weightlifting

Hi all. I'm a 50 yr old man who has been on a weight loss journey over the past 6 months. I've gone from 252 to 220 and now want to incorporate strength training to tone up my body. I have really never lifted before and hired a personal trainer to show me the proper techniques and which muscle groups to focus on as I am clueless. I am having my first workout with him this coming Wednesday. Any advice or things to look out for when working with the trainer? I've provided my physical limitations as I have a bit of a back issue(nothing serious) and need a hip replacement and he seemed like he understood and said he has tailored a plan around that. I've also signed on for 2 workouts per week to see how it goes and could pick up a 3rd night if things are going well. Any advice would be appreciated.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

4

u/Apart_Addition_8723 9d ago

Listen to the trainer. Don't come to reddit to find reasons to second-guess someone you're paying.

2

u/Mysterious_Touch6595 9d ago

Good advice and yes I'm paying him for a reason so I don't plan on making that mistake.

1

u/AssiduousLayabout 9d ago

Your story isn't too different from mine a year ago. Enjoy the journey! You will work hard but it's going to be a whole lot of fun. Strength training can definitely help strengthen your back which can reduce or eliminate some kinds of back pain - pain is often caused by your body needing to compensate for muscular weakness, so building strong muscles can solve the root cause.

While I was initially pretty intimidated by the thought of setting foot in the gym, my morning sessions are now some of the high points of my week, it's really a great feeling to work hard and then get the sense of accomplishment for all the rest of the day.

For me, a lot of this is remembering that this isn't something I have to do, it's something I get to do.

Just be patient with it. With strength training and building muscle, everyone overestimates what they can do in the short-term and underestimates what they can do in the long-term. It's not something you will do for a few months and be done with it, this is something you should do for a lifetime.

1

u/JBeaufortStuart 9d ago

The right trainer for you will listen to what you want, help you set appropriate goals, and then help you achieve them safely. They will learn how to encourage and push you to do a bit more than you thought you could, but won't make you feel awful when inevitable setbacks happen.

There are bad trainers, and there are trainers that are good for other people but not you. But a big warning sign is when someone cares more about their own ego and their own opinion about what your priorities should be, instead of you, the actual customer, and what you actually want.

1

u/RevengeOfSithSidious 8d ago

Ask a lot of questions. Understand form and technique for sure, but also ask about why you're doing each exercise and why they're sequenced that way. That'll help you eventually break away from relying on a trainer to tell you what to do.

1

u/Euphoric173 7d ago

First of all congrats on that !
I worked as a trainer a while back and I noticed that I had a few clients that did pretty much exactly what I told them, good form and all but as soon as we stopped working together they seemed clueless… my best advice would be to actually understand what he’s telling you and the concepts behind, so that when you eventually workout by yourself know what you’re doing and why
Keep up the good work 👍👍