Almost at goal weight- want to start toning & gaining muscle

jillianbonsteelnewlin

I'm 5'1" and have lost 56 lbs total and am currently at 116 lbs. My goal is to get to 110 lbs but I now realize that even once I get to this weight I won't have achieved the body I want. I have realized that I need to tone and add muscle. Right now I'm keeping my calories at a net of 1200 so I know I'm going to need to increase that which freaks me out a bit. FYI For the past 2 months I have been drinking a whey protein shake post workout every morning and have noticed significant toning in my arms. I am also doing Insanity, this week is my last week and I have no idea where to go from there.

I guess my questions are can I still do cardio? I just got Shaun T's new program T25 which are shorter cardio workouts from what I understand but not sure if this will interfere too much with gaining muscle and toning up? I also love to run and wonder how or if I should incorporate that in somewhere? Also, are there any good weight lifting programs that anyone has tried? All I've done for weight lifting is machine weights which I've learned is really not the best way to tone up. One book I'm thinking about getting is The New Rules of Lifting for Women, supposedly that has a good program in it to follow.

Any suggestions and insight would be so much appreciated

Thank you for reading!

CharlotteAnneUK

I am about to start pump FX shortly for the same reasons. Watched a bit of the DVD and it looks interesting.

themightylewry

Hi, here any my 2 pennies worth.

There is no reason why you cannot incorporate cardio into your workouts. There are a lot of conflicting theories about which cardio is best for fat loss and maintaining muscle, like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and LISS (Low intensity Steady State). You need to work out what works for your body best, try a bit of both, I incorporate HITT and lower intensity cardio into a workout and switch it up every couple of weeks. this seems to work for me.

Weight machines are great for isolating the muscles and they reduce the risk of injury, but if you want to gain a bit of muscle and tone up I would suggest free weights, three great exercises are: Squats, dead lifts and bench press, they all incorporate multiple muscle groups.

Depending on what your schedule is like you can have a split workout over 4/5 days working the whole body over a week or you could do whole body workouts so everything is done in one day

have a read of this and see what you think.

http://www.builtlean.com/2011/09/15/full-body-workout-vs-split-routine-which-is-better/

http://straighthealth.com/pages/articles/earticles/full-body-vs-split-routine.html

I would also suggest getting some BCAA's (Branched chain amino acids to take after your workout with your protein shake, it will help the muscles recover faster.

TavistockToad

You cant gain muscle without eating at a surplus. The more cardio you do, the more you have to eat!

kwedman488

You are very much where I am. I am 5' 2", 107 pounds. I just finished insanity exactly a week ago, and I'm really wanting to tone and get some serious muscle. So what I have done is switch to strength training. I'm doing P90X right now which I would highly recommend-it's relatively straightforward and you don't have to worry about coming up with your own regimen and not know what to do. Plus, that way you can get your cardio in-P90X does weight lifting Monday, Wednesday, Friday with plyometrics, kenpo, and yoga on the off days. But even with strength training in general you do weights roughly 3 times a week with some kind of cardio on the off days in between. So you could easily fit in T25 and do some running on the off days no problem. And if you're like me, I thought the P90X version of plyo was too easy so I might switch it out with max plyo from insanity haha.

mustgetmuscles1

Strong Curves is a great book.

It also has a section on how to incorporate "cardio" into the program.

ghost15026

You can do cardio but it makes weight gain more difficult if done in extremes (you need to eat back all the calories). Keep doing the cardio but ease back on it (if it's extreme). Everything is about balance and sometimes that balance has to shift. It's all based on what you want.

In fact, you're already seeing results from that. The fat has come off from the cardio but the training and protein supplements left a toned body beneath the fat. Your arms are living proof. But you are right, you do have a scary change - nothing more than mental, though. Keep this in mind: You demonstrated you can cut weight and stick with it. If you gain any fat back, you can burn it back off again by easing back into more cardio. Doubtful you will have to do that, though.

Yes, traditional training is cut then "bulk" (tone, in this case) but nothing says you *have* to do that. Cardio is only bad for the tone/lean muscle if you're not eating calories back. You may not actually like eating as much as you thought lol. I wish I had the room for a machine

Google is your friend but Amazon has a variety of good books - just find a resource that isn't part of that "all cardio is evil" stance. The "New Rules" books are purportedly very good as I'm sure you've discovered. Just be sure to get books targeted towards ladies since men tend to follow a different regimen.

Nothing wrong with machine weights. Women worry about "bulking" instead of toning. Under normal fitness and diet circumstances a lady won't bulk. Low weight, high reps. Do exercises that target a variety of muscle groups. Make sure you rest every other day. That's it.

Running is good for your lower body and will actually yield toning. Nothing wrong with it. Think of running as low-weight, high reps. The weight is your body weight (kind of like calisthenics).

I do cardio+resistance and it has worked out exceptional for me. I love eating the calories back. I've built my body in a slow but constant cut. It's a lifestyle now and it's actually very easy imo. (I don't log my resistance stuff btw; it's in Excel)

Here's my training:
1. Cardio - 2.5 to 3+ hours/week, high intensity cycling.
2. Weights - .75 - 1.5 hours/week total. 2-3 sessions/week. Rest every other day. Push-ups, decline weighted sit-ups, dips/bench-ups, jack-knife situps, inner bicep curls, barbell fly, skullcrushers, side laterals, dumbbell press, lunges.

And congratulations on approaching your goal

Porcelaine22

Bumping for later reading. This is a great topic with interesting responses, congratulations on all of your hard work!!!

CarlKRobbo

As has been said, Cardio is fine, but if looking to gain, you'll need to eat back the calories, so therefore I'd keep the sessions short.

As for programs, you've already been given a few, so just to add Strong lifts 5x5, and Staring strength.

I'd keep to the basics - Full body work as opposed to a split - Just my 2 pence worth.

I'd also disagree with the wording on one of Glewry's points - "Weight machines are great for isolating the muscles and they reduce the risk of injury".... Not having a pop at Glewry here, but I hate this statement.... Just watch the people using the chest press with their head off the support (brings shoulders in to the lift, injury risk)..... That statement need one thing adding - "Weight machines are great for isolating the muscles and they reduce the risk of injury, Providing they are used correctly"...

In saying that, I'd still go for free weights, keep it light, and Nail the form first, Good form > Heavier weight, all day long... It'll also reduce injury risk, and once the forms drummed into you, you'll keep that wen you increase the weights later

rileyhall00

Yep hit some weights and eat back your cals. The protein shakes are great fir muscle gain.

like others have said keep up some cardio but limit to 10-15min interval training.

Start lifting some weights and maybe have a PT session at your gym and go from there.

Snooozie

Bumping as I'm just at the beginner stage of strength training and appreciate any info I can learn from - many thanks to those replying and to op for posting!:bigsmile:

deksgrl

You cant gain muscle without eating at a surplus. The more cardio you do, the more you have to eat!

This.

To gain muscle, you need to eat above maintenance and strength train.

deksgrl

Google is your friend but Amazon has a variety of good books - just find a resource that isn't part of that "all cardio is evil" stance. The "New Rules" books are purportedly very good as I'm sure you've discovered. Just be sure to get books targeted towards ladies since men tend to follow a different regimen.

Actually the premise of the New Rules book is that ladies should train the same as men.

ndj1979

if you want gain strength and muscle then you would benefit from a program of compound lifts - deadlifts, squats, over head press, pull ups/chin ups, bench press, etc. Learn those moves and then incorporate them into a total body work out where you are hitting legs/arms/back/shoulders/trics three times a week and do cardio two times a week ..after about three to four months you could go to some kind of a upper/lower split with cardio once a week...

ghost15026

Google is your friend but Amazon has a variety of good books - just find a resource that isn't part of that "all cardio is evil" stance. The "New Rules" books are purportedly very good as I'm sure you've discovered. Just be sure to get books targeted towards ladies since men tend to follow a different regimen.

Actually the premise of the New Rules book is that ladies should train the same as men.

Fine by me! Like I implied, never read it (especially a ladies edition). lol

Porcelaine22

How much extra should be eaten when trying to gain muscle? is there a percentage rule for instance?

deksgrl

How much extra should be eaten when trying to gain muscle? is there a percentage rule for instance?

You can use the Scooby calculator and choose "build muscle, lose fat" as your goal and see what your suggested calories would be.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

mustgetmuscles1

http://dynamicduotraining.com/wordpress/15-experts-weigh-in-on-hiit-or-liss-cardio-for-optimal-fat-loss/

mdwelch123

When I finished Insanity, I was below my goal weight. 5 ft 3 in and 103 pounds. I was still not happy with my belly. I started ChaLean Extreme (another BB program) which is weight lifting geared toward women. Six weeks in, I had maintained my weight and dropped my body fat from 22.4 to 17.9 as per a trainer at the gym (caliper test). I have not had it checked since then, but my belly has gotten a little smaller. I'm keeping my weight the same, so with recomposition this is a slllooooow process. I eat 1,700-1,800 calories a day. I just started month four of ChaLean. Google it. It is strenght training 3x a week plus cardio 2x. I usually run on the extra off day. I'm lifting 8-25 lbs.

tammys_changing

Bump

Snooozie

:bigsmile: