Lifting help

alyhuggan

heavy weight, less reps. you wont get bulky by lifting heavy unless you take supplements.... lifting heavy will help lean you out while keeping your LBM.

First of all you don't "lean out", you can grow your muscles and gain some fat or loose fat and some muscle. Heavier weights and less reps (1-5) is more for power lifters and gaining strength with muscle gain as a bi-product of that, higher reps hitting total failure (6-12) is more for optimal muscle growth and strength gains being a bi-product of it.

Also really stretch and contract your muscles, your muscle(s) you are focusing on should be burning midway at the very least and you should get to a point where you literally can't do any more. Focusing on the contraction on some muscles may be harder than others, for example lats I found difficult to begin with. One thing people don't understand is how I can bounce my pecs, but that just comes with muscle memory from contracting my chest during chest exercises, my body remembers how to contract it so I can then do that without having any resistance which then appears to be making them bounce. Always control the negatives as well, this is neglected regularly but you really want to make sure you get a proper stretch as well as a contraction.

P.S Every time I've been to a commercial gym I see exceptionally skinny people lifting heavy, sometimes more than I am yet they have virtually no muscle and horrible form. Don't turn into one of those people!

I used to think this too when I was 18, but it's just inaccurate. Go check out Strong Lifts 5X5 or NROLFW. Lift heavy. Do a little cardio on non-lifting days to keep a good calorie deficit. Rinse and repeat.

And by doing strong lifts 5x5 how long did it take you to look like this?



And to anyone claiming Chris is on roids, no, this is what his back would look like on steroids

brandiuntz

LIFT HEAVY!

Some women are afraid of it, but seriously, if you want definition there's no better way to get it.

This. ^^^ Lift heavy, fewer reps.

ladyark

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

Also, in my opinion low weight/ high reps or heavy weight / low reps....its all up to you and what you are trying to accomplish. Lifting heavy means different things to different people. I dont consider myself a heavy lifter but, i have made some huge gains ( and losses) by pushing and challenging myself all the time. I was just a flabby mess 15 months ago....so its do able.

I have only been lifting weights for a year now and i am still learning so this is just my experience. Ive been lucky and only had 1 injury ( not fitness related but, made worse because i didnt listen to my body) that held me back for several months.

Good luck!

alyhuggan

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

ladyark

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

yes i didnt mean it to sound like " stop as soon as the burn hits". I meant it as most people will stop as soon as it happens instead of giving it a few more of what you have left in you. . I agree with everything else you added

Lleldiranne

Definition is going to come mainly from having a low enough body fat % to show the muscle underneath. I've seen reasonable results with both methods (high weight, low rep or lower weight, high rep). Right now, I am preferring the heavy lifting, and would recommend it to most people, but I am by no means an expert, and I'm new enough to lifting heavy to not be able to claim any fabulous results yet (aside from lifting heavier than I did a few weeks ago)

alyhuggan

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

yes i didnt mean it to sound like " stop as soon as the burn hits". I meant it as most people will stop as soon as it happens instead of giving it a few more of what you have left in you. . I agree with everything else you added

Ahh okay misinterpreted what you said! Was wondering why it had such a good beginning then a bad end! But with that minor change I agree with everything you say! Those last few reps while burning is what makes you grow. And you are the only female with any proper definition I have seen on myfitnesspal, everyone else swears by 5x5 and makes no gains except for strength...wonder why!

ladyark

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

yes i didnt mean it to sound like " stop as soon as the burn hits". I meant it as most people will stop as soon as it happens instead of giving it a few more of what you have left in you. . I agree with everything else you added

Ahh okay misinterpreted what you said! Was wondering why it had such a good beginning then a bad end! But with that minor change I agree with everything you say! Those last few reps while burning is what makes you grow. And you are the only female with any proper definition I have seen on myfitnesspal, everyone else swears by 5x5 and makes no gains except for strength...wonder why!

Thank you for the compliment. I have no desire to do the stronglifts 5x5 program as i find it boring. I need the variety of isolation exercises. The gym has so much to offer in the way of lifting and all the different equipment i enjoy using. I usually do a different body part or two a day with about 5 moves for each part and i hit all areas of what i am working....and it works for me. Not everyones cup of tea but, it keeps me interested . When it gets easy i move up in weight or find a way to make it more challenging.

tigersword

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

yes i didnt mean it to sound like " stop as soon as the burn hits". I meant it as most people will stop as soon as it happens instead of giving it a few more of what you have left in you. . I agree with everything else you added

Ahh okay misinterpreted what you said! Was wondering why it had such a good beginning then a bad end! But with that minor change I agree with everything you say! Those last few reps while burning is what makes you grow. And you are the only female with any proper definition I have seen on myfitnesspal, everyone else swears by 5x5 and makes no gains except for strength...wonder why!

Just based on your last sentence (never mind all the rest of the crap you've posted here) it's obvious you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

I can think of a whole crapload of people just on my friends list alone that have incredible definition that use powerlifting and compound work, rather than wasting time with isolation work. Isolation work has its place, but they're called "accessory lifts" for a reason.

alyhuggan

What works for me is lifting to failure or close to it most of the time. Dont count your reps til it starts to hurt. When you feel the burn is when your muscles are being challenged. Most people have a few more reps in them by that time but , stop as soon as the burn hits.

When you feel the burn that's when your muscles are being challenged, I agree with this completely but there is no point stopping. That's like knocking on a door then not waiting for someone to answer it. The muscle is only being challenged, not tested. Find a weight where you start to burn early, keep the rest between sets fairly low (45-60 seconds) and make sure you cannot do a single rep with good form because it is burning so much before you drop that weight on the floor. That is when your muscle realises it isn't strong enough to endure that so then it's forced to grow to try and endure it if it happens again.

yes i didnt mean it to sound like " stop as soon as the burn hits". I meant it as most people will stop as soon as it happens instead of giving it a few more of what you have left in you. . I agree with everything else you added

Ahh okay misinterpreted what you said! Was wondering why it had such a good beginning then a bad end! But with that minor change I agree with everything you say! Those last few reps while burning is what makes you grow. And you are the only female with any proper definition I have seen on myfitnesspal, everyone else swears by 5x5 and makes no gains except for strength...wonder why!

Just based on your last sentence (never mind all the rest of the crap you've posted here) it's obvious you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

I can think of a whole crapload of people just on my friends list alone that have incredible definition that use powerlifting and compound work, rather than wasting time with isolation work. Isolation work has its place, but they're called "accessory lifts" for a reason.

I also stated that muscle is a bi-product of powerlifting routines, so yes, you do gain muscle and a good amount of it but if you want maximum muscle gains then a bodybuilding routine is more suited. And compound work does have its place and I do believe it makes more sense to go heavy on compound movements, especially squats but compound movements aren't the be all or end all. Look at the picture of Chris, his back is huge and he barely deadlifts.

ladyark

I can think of a whole crapload of people just on my friends list alone that have incredible definition that use powerlifting and compound work, rather than wasting time with isolation work. Isolation work has its place, but they're called "accessory lifts" for a reason.

I dont consider myself " wasting time" because i do this type of thing. I also add compound lifts....i just think the 5x5 program is over rated. Ive shed 80 lbs doing this kind of thing and made alot of gains. Everyone will have their opinions on these forums but, they should not be put down or looked down upon because of what they choose to do. No one thing is better than the other. Its what will work for you and what you will stick with and challenge yourself with .