How much weight should I start lifting?

I recently got myself a second hand set of dumbbells and barbells. I'm 25, fairly strong but I've never done weight lifting such as this before. I've moved furniture and such, but this is different. How much should I start lifting on either set and about how often and how much should I be increasing the weight? Any tips for how much lifting to do in a day is also appreciated.

Public Comments

1. Start lifting 80's that a fairly good weight.. That's for a bench press. Bars are an average of 45 pounds. For barbells you can try 20 or 15 (:

2. Depends on the lift, for example, you're going to be doing a lot more weight doing dumbbell bench presses than you will doing bicep curls.

My suggestion is just to start with weights that you can manage, maybe shoot for a weight you can get 8 reps with and then the next set move up for 6, then for 4, etc. etc.

But most importantly watch some youtube videos on common lifts (bench press, military press, bicep curl, tricep extensions, bent over rows, squats, deadlifts, etc) and just practice really good form. Don't try to force yourself to do heavy weight and sacrifice form in the process, form is more important than anything.

Edit: As mentioned below, Ripptoes is a great routine, but Mark Ripptoe is a strength coach above all else, so the way his lifts are described in his book (such as low bar squatting) are designed so you can move as much weight as possible, not necessarily getting the most muscle growth. He himself stated that bodybuilding is a "homoerotic hobby." I highly respect him, but I don't use his routine anymore because it is not aimed at my interests and may not be aimed at yours either.

3. okay well being 25 you probably weight 150+? what i would suggest is try to bench press 135 (45's on each side) if you can do it 8+ times increase the weight. do weight you can barely do 5 times. then do 5 reps of 5 sets. make sure to take a protein shake after you workout. also make sure to workout your legs! But it all depends on if you want to be toned or big.

4. Start with Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength routine. First get the book (Starting Strength 2nd Edition) to learn how to do the basic barbell lifts properly and safely, then go to the Starting Strength wiki to learn about putting together a routine. It's the best program there is for a beginner, IMO.

5. It's amazing!Check out the link in the blog post,
http://bufen.info/171079/hand-sets