Women and weight lifting

MityMax96

Came across this, and that it pretty good article.
Especially for those women who think they will look like Arnold if they touch a free weight.

http://www.trimmedandtoned.com/the-ultimate-beginners-female-fitness-guide-what-it-takes-to-build-a-fit-female-body

KimalaTheWarrior

Thank You, MM!

AMHouse85

Nice info. Thanks!

MityMax96

welcome

mjterp

Thank you!

ShannonMpls

Helpful article with good tips.

Wish the author had left off the pseudo-porn pics and "What It Takes To Build An Attractive Female Body" tagline, though. The headline says "What It Takes To Build A Fit Female Body!" so I'm not sure why that morphed into "attractive".

loconnor466

Thanks, good article. It again brings up an issue I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.
How does an obese woman like myself lose weight and still build muscle? Everyone says that on a calorie deficit, I can't.
I just started NRL4W two weeks ago, I love it, feel stronger, but the scale is stuck. I knew it would be and I am not freaking out. But will it eventually move? While trying to be at a calorie deficit, am I just trying to retain my muscle with lifting? Or should I bump up the cardio? So confusing sometimes.

tniemiec1

awesome thank you, something I've been struggling with figuring out. Any ideas how to best follow this while still being a runner? I'm currently training for a marathon and before I started my training I was doing higher intensity interval workouts, kettlebell workouts, and running shorter miles (maybe only 3x a week). However, I'm having a hard time balancing adding those strength workouts in with my current running training schedule without risking injury. I definitely want to build more lean muscle, but struggling with the balance of the two. Any thoughts?

justanotherloser007

How does an obese woman like myself lose weight and still build muscle? So confusing sometimes.

Too bad no one answered this question. I have just kept my diet low calorie and been a complete weakling at the gym. Of course, I just started lifting 3 weeks ago after a 20 year hiatus - so there is that.

Trying to min/max my RL avatar, decided lifting weights would burn more calories in the long run. I am losing weight very slowly, but dr is happy with that, says it is more permanent that way.

Fun things that happened to me at the gym:

Conversation overheard: "My pre-workout makes my face itch SO BAD" *I giggle madly at this*

Clown shorts: When I saw a young man running at an all out sprint pace, he loses his shorts after 3 minutes. Don't worry though, he still has some more on underneath making me wonder, just how many shorts is he really wearing?

86tigger

If you are new to weight lifting then you will build muscle even at a calorie defiict. It's only for people you have been lifting for a while that find it harder to build mucle while cutting calories.
It is possible to lose fat and build mucle. In three months of working out with a PT and doing body pump 3 days a week and spin classes I lost 13kg of fat and put on 3kg of mucle. It's all about eating the right food for buiding mucle like loads of chicken and lean meats/fish.

Now I've lost 5 stone it's harder for me to lose the extra bit of weight and build mucle but I've starting lifting heavy.

Samenamenewlook

Great article! The model in it is amazing too! She will be my new girl crush :laugh:

JoRocka

Thanks, good article. It again brings up an issue I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.
How does an obese woman like myself lose weight and still build muscle? Everyone says that on a calorie deficit, I can't.
I just started NRL4W two weeks ago, I love it, feel stronger, but the scale is stuck. I knew it would be and I am not freaking out. But will it eventually move? While trying to be at a calorie deficit, am I just trying to retain my muscle with lifting? Or should I bump up the cardio? So confusing sometimes.

well it's really important to know that there are a few exeptions to can't gain muscle while on a calorie deficit.
And it's also important to know that strength =/= muscle gains in size.

So you will get stronger.
You may even build some muscle- because 1.) you're a new lifter- we call these newb gains. 2.) you're (per your words) significantly over weight) these two things are exceptions where you can possible gain some actual muscle- it's not much and it's a short term thing- but it's possible.

So keep lifting- keep doing you're calorie deficit. You will lose weight- and get fabulously strong too.

teresamwhite

This was a very good, informative article, but I think they made a typo...lol

"Active women should be drinking at least ten cups of fluid per week, if not more to ensure they are getting what they need after their workout sessions."

perseverance14

Thanks, good article. It again brings up an issue I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.
How does an obese woman like myself lose weight and still build muscle? Everyone says that on a calorie deficit, I can't.
I just started NRL4W two weeks ago, I love it, feel stronger, but the scale is stuck. I knew it would be and I am not freaking out. But will it eventually move? While trying to be at a calorie deficit, am I just trying to retain my muscle with lifting? Or should I bump up the cardio? So confusing sometimes.

You are not lifting at this point to BUILD muscle, you are lifting to KEEP muscle, to get your body to burn the fat and keep the muscle. There is some newbie muscle gain possible even in a deficit, newbie effect, but the point is to KEEP your muscle.

If you don't lift (or at least do some heavy resistance training, but lifting is better), average muscle loss while losing weight is 30% (meaning 30% of weight lost is muscle). It is important to keep muscle for strength as you age, you lose about 0.5 lb. per year after age 30, and also your metabolism burns more if you have more lean tissue (like muscle) than fatty tissue, keeping the muscle is very important.

MityMax96

Thanks, good article. It again brings up an issue I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.
How does an obese woman like myself lose weight and still build muscle? Everyone says that on a calorie deficit, I can't.
I just started NRL4W two weeks ago, I love it, feel stronger, but the scale is stuck. I knew it would be and I am not freaking out. But will it eventually move? While trying to be at a calorie deficit, am I just trying to retain my muscle with lifting? Or should I bump up the cardio? So confusing sometimes.

You go on a calorie deficit, this is what is required for weight loss.

You lift weights in order to preserve the muscle you do have, while also developing it.
So it is possible to get STRONGER while in deficit....
But adding on more mass, getting bigger, whatever u wish to call it....will not happen in deficit.

But with the muscle being developed while losing weight/BF....
You will look a LOT better at the end of your journey

loconnor466

Thanks for the feedback everyone! In the couple of weeks since I wrote that post, I have totally fallen in love with heavy lifting! Yes the scale is moving a little more slowly, but I am getting my hourglass figure back! Most of my measurements are shrinking, except my thighs! But damn, I love squats! Got up to 125# last week! I feel like superwoman after leaving the gym!!!!!

happening5

great info

amusedmonkey

How do you determine what weight to start at? How many lifts should you be able to do to mark a certain weight as "just right"? I currently do resistance training at home and a new gym may be opening soon, which I will be looking into.

loconnor466

How do you determine what weight to start at? How many lifts should you be able to do to mark a certain weight as "just right"? I currently do resistance training at home and a new gym may be opening soon, which I will be looking into.

I literally started with the bar itself, 45 pounds. Knew that was too light and added 10# increments from there. When I started NRL4W my starting weight was 65# for squats and deadlifts and 15# dumbells for other exercises. Stage one starts at 15 reps per exercise and drops to 8 reps by the end of the stage. That is where I am now and yesterday was doing 125# squats!

I highly recommend the book "New Rules of Lifting for Women". You need a program to get you started, focused and gives you goals to work towards.

JoRocka

How do you determine what weight to start at? How many lifts should you be able to do to mark a certain weight as "just right"? I currently do resistance training at home and a new gym may be opening soon, which I will be looking into.

Well-I would highly recommend a program to start with so you have some structure- and just start with the bar.

As a general rule of thumb

0 reps = too heavy
1-5 = lifting heavy- great for building strength- less about size- and zero about muscle endurance/cardio.
5-10=lifting heavy- great for strength more about building size (diet dependent) and almost nothing about muscle endurance or cardio (if you super set this changes the equation)
10-15 = more about muscle endurance- possible size- and little about strength
15+ no strenth- muscle endurance/cardio

there are exceptions to the rule- but these are a good guide line to start you out on your journey for weight lifting. Diet plays a huge role in size and strength- so if you are at a deficit you will NOT gain significant size- and you will not maximize your strength gains- will you still have gains? yes- but deficit means you just get stronger without going hulk. So it's a win win for many women looking to "tone" or get stronger and just have some nice definition while contining their weight loss journey.

Beyond that it's paramount as a beginner you learn compound lifts with the bar- to learn technique only- move on ward from there with weights so the lift is second nature- if a program feels laughable light- it's okay- it might be- don't rush it- there are other things that need developing (joints/ligaments) and if you go to fast they may not keep up with your muscles and you may sustain injury.

take it slow- there is absolutely no reason to rush adding weight other than pride.

amusedmonkey

Thank you both for explaining. I'm planning to get the book. My main goal is to reserve muscle while losing weight and possibly gain strength.