Relatively light people trying to get leaner
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Wow, I am also 5'3" and about 140# (in my mid 40s). I too am hypothyroid and have an very high heart rate while working out --- not uncommon for it to be in the 180 to 200 bpm range. I love to push myself to the max when working out, but sometimes I wonder if I am putting myself in danger. I have never met another person who has this problem.0
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peaches-what a coincidence! I've always loved working out in the high intensity range too. However, I was at the gym one day doing intervals on the elliptical and my heart rate was around 164. High but nothing to worry about. Then it jumped to 215 and stayed there for 4 minutes or so. My doctor was concerned because my heart rate didn't come back down as it normally would. Long story, but I ended up seeing a cardiologist the day before my 50th birthday. She put me on a beta blocker drug to lower my heart rate and keep it from spiking like that again. I wasn't happy about having to take a medication but at least I won't worry when I ride on the bike trail by myself this summer!
It sounds like you have a high range but it is consistent. Ask your doctor about it but I would guess it's probably what's normal for you. Being hypothyroid sure makes it a challenge to lose weight, doesn't it? :ohwell:0 -
bump0
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Great info thanks0
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good read.
im totally one of the ones that gets discouraged.
i have started ignoring the scale and am using skinny pants as a form of progress testing0 -
I've been reading this thread with interest.
I normally do lots of cardio - treadmill (sometimes interval training) and cross trainer, sometimes swimming (I go through phases!). Plus plenty of work on my abs.
I mix this up with some workout DVDs (on non gym days) that have some squats and upper body stuff but I've only ever used 2kg weights.
I'm female and am not really trying to lose any weight at the moment, I'm pretty happy with my build (weighing around 122lb give or take at 5' 3") but would like to be leaner and more toned. Wouldn't we all I guess...
I also have intermittent back problems so would be keen to strengthen my core and protect my back.
I know nothing about weight training but this thread has made me want to find out more - but where to start? can anyone recommend a website that covers some of the basics for a beginner? Particularly one that would be useful for women as well as men.
Sorry if this info is already in the thread somewhere but it's a bit overwhelming.
I hope that the OP or someone else can help.
thanks
Lots of traditional ab work can lead to a bad lower back. I'm wondering if you know what's causing your back issues. There's really no need to do tons of core work in relation to your other muscles. It's not as if you can selectively trim the fat off of specific areas with resistance training.
And resources? There are so many it doesn't do it justice listing a few. But Chris listed two great ones. Others would include:
www.body-improvements.com
http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://gubernatrix.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/getting_into_weight_training_feb2008.pdf
www.bodyrecomposition.com
www.ampedtraining.com
www.alanaragon.com0 -
I do have a question for you before I go out the door to work. I just turned 50, am 5'3" and weight 140. My comfy weight is around 130, which doesn't seem unreasonable for my height. Here's my issue-I was recently put on a beta blocker due to an extremely fast heart beat while exercising. It slows my heart rate down about 20 or more beats while working out. I'm also hypothyroid.
For workouts, I go to spin 3-4 days a week, weight train 2 days a week and go to a core class 1-2 days a week. MFP has me at 1200 calories a day. I try to eat very clean-no processed foods at all.
Is there anything I can do to jumpstart some weight loss? When I first went on the beta blocker a month ago, I gained 4-5 lbs!
Thank you so much for any imput. I'll check back later!
How long have you been plateaued?
More importantly, who cares about weight loss. You should be focusing on or worrying about muscle gain and fat loss.
1200 seems a bit low but might be necessary given your condition. Are you medicated for the hypo?0 -
Well this is definitley so interesting and informative...all my life I've been a Yo-Yo/Crash dieter punishing myself for overeating and being super restrictive until I started MFP...This thread is very long so I was just curious if someone could check if I'm processing this correctly...if for me to mantian I need 1570 cals/day that is almost 12.5 cals/lb so MFP has me at the min 1200 cals/day which restricts me by 370cals...so it would take me what approx 9-10 days to loose a "real" lb?...not the up and down water weight I keep logging here for the past week...
What is your height and weight?
And I believe MFP simply backs into how many calories are in a pound of fat when determining what your intake should be. So if you want to lose 2 lbs of fat per week, for example, it will place you at a 7000 calorie deficit per week. But there's a governor on their system in that they'll limit the lowest calorie intake to 1200. Someone correct me if I'm wrong as I haven't toyed around with their platform at all.
But none of this means that 1200 is the appropriate intake for you.I guess my Qn is when do I know it's real?...guess at this point it seems I just have to go by my BF % instead of numbers?
By "real" I'm assuming you're asking how do you know when it's fat loss? Just focus on the longer term trends (month to month) of metrics that matter. Things like your strength levels, your monthly pictures, your measurements, etc. They'll paint a pretty clear picture if things are going in the right direction.
Obviously patience is a must.Also I usually go to the gym about 3 days a week and do cardio, strength training and abs all in one session, so in total I spend at least 2 hrs if not more at the gym...should I be doing this in separate days/sessions?
Ab training is strength training.
And yea, ideally they're in separate sessions. When they're not, especially when you're doing as much as you are in each session, there's a "watering down " effect so you don't get the best bang for your buck. If it's necessary though given your schedule, don't sweat it.I guess I'm just confused as to how much is to much for any given day or week,
It's tough to throw out real limits, but in terms of strength training, I'd say for the dieting female that's relatively light already, 2-3 full body sessions per week is the sweet spot. Going above that for most is probably unnecessary and counterproductive.
Cardio is a different story. You can do lower intensity stuff daily if you'd like. I prefer a rest day each week, but that's not even mandatory if training and stress is being managed properly. Now if you're doing higher intensity cardio (stuff that I'd label neurally demanding) then you have to be more cautious with how much you're doing.
For example, if you're doing HIIT where you're really sprinting 100% effort, well, as I always say, there's a limit to how much stress we can impose on our bodies without recovery before things go wonky.0 -
if anyone else has more recommendations though that would be great, the more info I can get the better. I'm definitely interested in putting more effort into this sort of exercise... turns out I was doing more than I thought already though as the DVDs I use have quite a lot of these exercises on them. Maybe I need bigger weights!
The exercise isn't as important as the load and volume.
Put differently, doing a squat isn't "magic." But doing a squat with sufficient load and volume will trigger changes to your muscles. It's not the exercise. It's how the exercise is performed.oh yes - that brings up a new question actually... what sort of weight of dumbells would you recommend for a reasonably fit/strong female to be using if newish to weight lifting?
I have 1.5kg ones at home but I think they are too light. What should I be trying to build up to?
You should really read this entire thread. I know it's a time commitment, but it would really pay off for you. I posted these links earlier in this thread and you should read them as they explain the answer to your question about "what should I be building up to."
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/stroutman81/view/resistance-training-foundation-19725
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/stroutman81/view/more-random-thoughts-on-resistance-training-199450 -
Steve, I was wondering what your thoughts are on what you could call the ''right'' amount of exercise. I asked you some questions earlier in this thread and at that time I was working out every other day, and after a ''food slip'' I decided to start working out everyday. I realize I made the choice just to try to recover those pounds I gained but I figured it wouldn't do me any harm to be more active than I was. I do strength training every other day, followed by a little bit of cardio, and then cardio every other day in between. As for resting, I took a rest day yesterday because of time constraints. Anyhoo, the question is, should I really be working out everyday? I know the lighter you are the harder you need to work towards losing weight/toning up.
Exercise dosage is a touchy subject.
On the strength training front, it requires less "work" to maintain muscle than it does to build muscle. When dieting you're not really trying to build muscle, so it makes sense to do less "work." This doesn't mean lighter weights. Weight on the bar (intensity) needs to remain high in order to give your body a reason to hold onto muscle while you're short changed in energy intake.
But you should reduce volume. Where, when building muscle you might say 3-5+ days per week are ideal, when the goal is muscle maintenance while dieting, I'd say 2-4 days per week. My ideal is 2-3 days per week depending on the person using full body programming.
The cardio side is a bit different, as noted in a previous post. First, you don't *need* any cardio for fat loss. Your nutrition can take care of the deficit that's required for fat loss and your strength training can take care of optimizing body composition (holding onto the good stuff while the nutrition is ridding the yucky stuff).
That said, that's not a great idea given the host of other benefits cardio provide. Plus, it allows you to eat some more food... acts as a calorie "sink" if you will. But how much of it is right is nearly impossible to answer. Again, daily low intensity sessions isn't going to hurt. But I find too many people doing high intensity stuff nearly every day and that's just a quick path to overriding your body's recovery abilities.
With most of my clients, their overall programming looks something like:
2-4 days of strength training
1-2 days of high intensity cardio, which falls on the same days as strength training. This consolidates high intensity activities which, by default, inserts more room for recovery in the week
1-5 days of low/moderate intensity cardio - this can be walking, jogging, circuit training, fartleks, jumping rope, etc.Also, when strength training, I saw this nifty polar HRM tracks the amount of time you should spend in between exercises based on HR. I usually rest for 1 min. in between sets, but sometimes decide to skip the minute altogether to save time and keep myself moving. Not sure if my assumptions are correct and if this is harming my muscles.
There's no such thing as a general optimum rest time, so I'd ignore that feature. Rest time is dependent on goals.
If you're concerned mostly with expending calories, for example, then minimizing rest periods would make sense.
On the other hand, if you're concerned mostly with strength and muscle development, resting longer makes more sense.
As a very general rule of thumb, most of my clients are resting between 1-2 minutes between their strength sets. In between I'll have them do SOMETHING, but that something doesn't interfere with their recovery for the upcoming set. It might be a mobility exercise or something else non-fatiguing like foam rolling or whatever.Actually, this is probably relevant. I mix and match sets, so if I'm for example doing a set of dumbbell raises, I'll follow it with a set of push ups, so I'm still giving the muscle group a rest by working on another.
That's fine.0 -
I really appreciate this info!! I am 5' 2" 122 lbs and trying soooo hard to get back to 115lbs. I've been working hardcore doing mostly weight training with a trainer for about 3 months now and have not dropped a single pound. I am starting to get really discouraged. I have started incorporating more cardio because I am not seeing a change. So which is more important for us smaller people who only have a little to loose? Focus more on cardio or weight training, or a balance of both??
Have you read this thread?
If you're only interested in weight, I'd say it doesn't matter. Whatever gets you in a deficit and keeps you there.
If you're interested in looking and feeling good though, I'd say strength training should be prioritized ahead of cardio due to it's role in optimizing body composition.
You say you haven't lost a pound. That's meaningless at your weight. Could be holding water, building muscle, or whatever. The real question is have you physically changed? Are you stronger? Are you clothes fitting different? Do you see subtle differences in the mirror? Are you taking pics and measurements of yourself at regular intervals to track changes and if so, are you seeing them?0 -
I do have a question for you before I go out the door to work. I just turned 50, am 5'3" and weight 140. My comfy weight is around 130, which doesn't seem unreasonable for my height. Here's my issue-I was recently put on a beta blocker due to an extremely fast heart beat while exercising. It slows my heart rate down about 20 or more beats while working out. I'm also hypothyroid.
For workouts, I go to spin 3-4 days a week, weight train 2 days a week and go to a core class 1-2 days a week. MFP has me at 1200 calories a day. I try to eat very clean-no processed foods at all.
Is there anything I can do to jumpstart some weight loss? When I first went on the beta blocker a month ago, I gained 4-5 lbs!
Thank you so much for any imput. I'll check back later!
[/quote]
How long have you been plateaued?
More importantly, who cares about weight loss. You should be focusing on or worrying about muscle gain and fat loss.
1200 seems a bit low but might be necessary given your condition. Are you medicated for the hypo?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. Gosh, I was stuck at around 137 or so for six months. Then my doctor put me on a beta blocker and I've gained five pounds (as of this morning) since I started on it a month ago. I'm on medication for hypo thyroid and the levels are good. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out why I'm gaining and what I need to eat. I burned just short of 3000 calories last week, according to my heart rate monitor.
Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated! 0 -
Steve, I was wondering what your thoughts are on what you could call the ''right'' amount of exercise. I asked you some questions earlier in this thread and at that time I was working out every other day, and after a ''food slip'' I decided to start working out everyday. I realize I made the choice just to try to recover those pounds I gained but I figured it wouldn't do me any harm to be more active than I was. I do strength training every other day, followed by a little bit of cardio, and then cardio every other day in between. As for resting, I took a rest day yesterday because of time constraints. Anyhoo, the question is, should I really be working out everyday? I know the lighter you are the harder you need to work towards losing weight/toning up.
Exercise dosage is a touchy subject.
On the strength training front, it requires less "work" to maintain muscle than it does to build muscle. When dieting you're not really trying to build muscle, so it makes sense to do less "work." This doesn't mean lighter weights. Weight on the bar (intensity) needs to remain high in order to give your body a reason to hold onto muscle while you're short changed in energy intake.
But you should reduce volume. Where, when building muscle you might say 3-5+ days per week are ideal, when the goal is muscle maintenance while dieting, I'd say 2-4 days per week. My ideal is 2-3 days per week depending on the person using full body programming.
The cardio side is a bit different, as noted in a previous post. First, you don't *need* any cardio for fat loss. Your nutrition can take care of the deficit that's required for fat loss and your strength training can take care of optimizing body composition (holding onto the good stuff while the nutrition is ridding the yucky stuff).
That said, that's not a great idea given the host of other benefits cardio provide. Plus, it allows you to eat some more food... acts as a calorie "sink" if you will. But how much of it is right is nearly impossible to answer. Again, daily low intensity sessions isn't going to hurt. But I find too many people doing high intensity stuff nearly every day and that's just a quick path to overriding your body's recovery abilities.
With most of my clients, their overall programming looks something like:
2-4 days of strength training
1-2 days of high intensity cardio, which falls on the same days as strength training. This consolidates high intensity activities which, by default, inserts more room for recovery in the week
1-5 days of low/moderate intensity cardio - this can be walking, jogging, circuit training, fartleks, jumping rope, etc.Also, when strength training, I saw this nifty polar HRM tracks the amount of time you should spend in between exercises based on HR. I usually rest for 1 min. in between sets, but sometimes decide to skip the minute altogether to save time and keep myself moving. Not sure if my assumptions are correct and if this is harming my muscles.
There's no such thing as a general optimum rest time, so I'd ignore that feature. Rest time is dependent on goals.
If you're concerned mostly with expending calories, for example, then minimizing rest periods would make sense.
On the other hand, if you're concerned mostly with strength and muscle development, resting longer makes more sense.
As a very general rule of thumb, most of my clients are resting between 1-2 minutes between their strength sets. In between I'll have them do SOMETHING, but that something doesn't interfere with their recovery for the upcoming set. It might be a mobility exercise or something else non-fatiguing like foam rolling or whatever.Actually, this is probably relevant. I mix and match sets, so if I'm for example doing a set of dumbbell raises, I'll follow it with a set of push ups, so I'm still giving the muscle group a rest by working on another.
That's fine.
Thanks, this helps a ton, I was about to keep working out like a madwoman and my body would continue to hate me. The other day I had such a crappy strength training session, I didn't have the strength I normally have to even finish 5 pushups. I was alternating strength training days with high intensity cardio days and burning myself out. I'll put more importance to eating in the right calorie range instead of doing cardio when I don't necessarily need to.
I also need to pay more attention to eating right... it's sad that I've barely changed since I found this thread. Although I'm a bit stronger I'm still measuring the same.
Steve... you seriously don't know how much I've learned reading this and your blog. Thanks 0 -
Just want to send a big shout out THANK YOU to Steve-- I have been following your advice for the past couple weeks, focusing on lifting heavy weights & eating more to promote building muscle and the changes are obvious! I actually weigh a few pounds more, but who cares--- people keep telling me I look great and I can see the changes in the mirror. I took some pictures a couple weeks ago, soon it will be time to take some more and compare.
Thank you so much for your time Steve!
Sarah0 -
I do have a question for you before I go out the door to work. I just turned 50, am 5'3" and weight 140. My comfy weight is around 130, which doesn't seem unreasonable for my height. Here's my issue-I was recently put on a beta blocker due to an extremely fast heart beat while exercising. It slows my heart rate down about 20 or more beats while working out. I'm also hypothyroid.
For workouts, I go to spin 3-4 days a week, weight train 2 days a week and go to a core class 1-2 days a week. MFP has me at 1200 calories a day. I try to eat very clean-no processed foods at all.
Is there anything I can do to jumpstart some weight loss? When I first went on the beta blocker a month ago, I gained 4-5 lbs!
Thank you so much for any imput. I'll check back later!
How long have you been plateaued?
More importantly, who cares about weight loss. You should be focusing on or worrying about muscle gain and fat loss.
1200 seems a bit low but might be necessary given your condition. Are you medicated for the hypo?
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. Gosh, I was stuck at around 137 or so for six months. Then my doctor put me on a beta blocker and I've gained five pounds (as of this morning) since I started on it a month ago. I'm on medication for hypo thyroid and the levels are good. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out why I'm gaining and what I need to eat. I burned just short of 3000 calories last week, according to my heart rate monitor.
Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated!
[/quote]
How long have you been consuming 1200 calories per day without a break?0 -
And resources? There are so many it doesn't do it justice listing a few. But Chris listed two great ones. Others would include:
www.body-improvements.com
http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://gubernatrix.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/getting_into_weight_training_feb2008.pdf
www.bodyrecomposition.com
www.ampedtraining.com
www.alanaragon.com
These are all great websites but the Gubernatrix website you have listed really is a must for women looking to get stronger and leaner. I have viewed that website many times over the last few years and am constantly impressed by the solid, sensible and accessible information it contains.0 -
Thanks, this helps a ton, I was about to keep working out like a madwoman and my body would continue to hate me. The other day I had such a crappy strength training session, I didn't have the strength I normally have to even finish 5 pushups. I was alternating strength training days with high intensity cardio days and burning myself out. I'll put more importance to eating in the right calorie range instead of doing cardio when I don't necessarily need to.
Right. Your body will tell you when you're doing too much. And it generally happens when you're in a calorie deficit and pairing this with high intensity exercise most days of the week... and it's important to remember that high intensity can come in the form of strength training AND cardio.Steve... you seriously don't know how much I've learned reading this and your blog. Thanks
Glad to hear. Now apply what you've learned into what you're doing and kick some *kitten*!0 -
Just want to send a big shout out THANK YOU to Steve-- I have been following your advice for the past couple weeks, focusing on lifting heavy weights & eating more to promote building muscle and the changes are obvious! I actually weigh a few pounds more, but who cares--- people keep telling me I look great and I can see the changes in the mirror. I took some pictures a couple weeks ago, soon it will be time to take some more and compare.
Thank you so much for your time Steve!
Sarah
Awesome Sarah! Very happy for you.0 -
Steve, Thanks for your input. You make more sense than anything else that I have read in recent weeks. I will never give up again! I have been losing weight since last July (60#) I am working out 5 to 8 hours per week and carefully counting calories. I have found this site to be the most accurate of anything that I have tried previously. Thanks again for your time and motivation. LD0
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And resources? There are so many it doesn't do it justice listing a few. But Chris listed two great ones. Others would include:
www.body-improvements.com
http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://gubernatrix.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/getting_into_weight_training_feb2008.pdf
www.bodyrecomposition.com
www.ampedtraining.com
www.alanaragon.com
These are all great websites but the Gubernatrix website you have listed really is a must for women looking to get stronger and leaner. I have viewed that website many times over the last few years and am constantly impressed by the solid, sensible and accessible information it contains.
Yea, it's a great one. On my forum I have a subforum which is an RSS reader. It pulls in articles and links to all of the websites and blogs I follow. And there are MANY. It's an easy way for people to stay abreast of what all the gurus and professionals are putting out.0
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