Question for ladies that lift

MamaFunky

I have been looking back at old threads and looking online, but thought I would start a new thread as well.

For those ladies who lift...how long do you lift per day? How many days per week? How many calories do you eat in a day? I know its different for everyone, but just wanted to get a general idea of what other ladies are doing.

Since lifting is different than cardio how do you know how many calories to log in your exercise diary? or do you even log it?

I currently exercise about 6 to 7 hours per week doing various Jillian workouts, running and doing some lifting with free weights w/ a bench at home. I was thinking about decreasing my cardio a little bit and start increasing the amount I lift and lower the reps.

I have my calories set at 1840 before exercise. I am 40 yrs old, 5'8, 132 lbs.

Thanks in advance!!

LeanButNotMean44

I lift 5x/week (2 days on, 1 day off). If it is a weekday workout, I lift for about 45 minutes; on the weekend I lift for 60-90 minutes (lift with my guy). I usually eat about 2,000 cals/day, with Friday being the one day my cals spike up (usually due to my cheat meal at lunch and cocktails after work). I try to do at least 3 cardio workouts per week (running, stairmill). I also walk about 3-4 miles per day.

I have been using the TDEE formula to figure out my cals and using MFP to log my exercise (but don't eat back the cals) and food intake (mostly to make sure I am getting enough of my macronutrients, namely protein).

I am 46 (today), 5'9 and weighing in around 146-148lbs.

JoRocka

5'8"
168 (and dropping- slowly on my cut)

I lift 4 times a week- roughly 1.5- 2 hours per lift
I go to dance class 4 days a week- 2 very intensive classes and 2 very technical classes
I run/stair master/jump rope/zumba on averate of 1-2 total hours a week (I'm not a cardio person)

Calories are set it at sedentary and back off a few hundred calories for loss since I'm cutting. I eat back 50-75% of my workout calories.
1700 goal for none workout days
upwards of 2500-2800 for workout days.

Platform_Heels

I lift 5 days a week for 60-70 minutes.

These past few months since I was training for a race I was also doing 30-60 min. of cardio in the afternoon 6 days a week which I plan on keeping up post-race.

My calories are all over the place. I could eat any where from 1300 to 2100 depending on how hungry I am and whether or not I had alcohol.

kdiamond

5'4" 115 pounds just finished a mini bulk (was 110 before)
Lift 5x a week for 60 minutes per session, split sessions
Cardio approximately 90 minutes a week of low intensity for now
Calories 1550 + exercise as I am on a 3 week cut (usually around 1750)

MamaFunky

I love doing my cardio workouts, but I am looking forward to doing more lifting too.

Thank you all for your responses. Its great to hear what works for others!

Leadfoot_Lewis

5' 6", 125lbs

Calories 1800-1900 (currently on a cut). I eat the same everyday, regardless if I lift or not.

I lift 5 days a week, currently my workouts are Heavy Upper Body, Push, Pull, Heavy Legs, and a Light Squat/Olympic Lifts Practice. Workouts take 60-70 minutes. I also do some kind of cardio x1/week and throw in a couple of Ab workouts a week.

beesareyellow

Lift 4x a week, cardio 1-2x a week (very loss pace). 5"8", 50 yrs old. 1800 to 2800 depending on how I feel, usually 2400 and I'm on a bulk right now.

iorahkwano

I lift 2-3x a week, each session is about 45-60mins. My cardio is lacrosse 2x a week.

I eat around 1700-1800 calories but if I'm trying to put on lots of muscle, I increase it (gradually) up to 2200.

I log it on MFP but I don't really follow a strict calorie limit so I don't make a point of eating the calories back, I focus more on if I got at least 120g of protein that day. I just try not to eat over 2200 calories

LiftHeavyWeights

5' 2" 113 lbs. Age 60. Lift 3 X week 45 min M, W, F. Cardio is at least 2 X week: walk to pool, AquaFit or swimming, walk home; 2 hrs.

Recording exercise calories with Polar FT80 HRM which has a strength mode. It also has a built in trainer which tells me how many exercise calories to burn a week to 'maximize my fitness level'. It adapts to me. At the current time, I need to burn 2300 exercise cals to earn the virtual trophy each week.

Food calories between 2000 to 2500. Set at 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein.

whitebalance

I consider myself a noob to lifting, although I've been doing it for a while... I've had some false starts and a mild overtraining-related injury.
I lift twice a week following All Pro's beginner routine with two heavy days instead of the three-day deload schedule. About an hour each time.
I attend Krav Maga classes three times a week -- one of those times (a day that usually coincides with lifting) is one hour; the other two times are two hours or more.
I walk a lot on other days and throw in some random cardio stuff when I feel like it -- light running, rowing, hula hoop dancing -- but Krav classes give me plenty of cardio.

This is all subject to change from week to week, as my work and volunteer schedules are packed and/or I sometimes feel a need for more recovery time.

ETA: Re OP's question about calorie burn, I use MFP's estimates for lifting and Krav Maga... I used to use estimates from elsewhere, but they were higher and I found myself gaining... now I find I'm losing just a little bit, which is in line with my current calorie target. I use a Fitbit for walking/running and non-exercise activity, and I use a self-calibrated HRM for random cardio that isn't walking or running. Re question about eating... I use MFP's NEAT method with sedentary activity level... my actual caloric intake ranges from 1500 to 2400 calories depending on the activities for that day and the days immediately before and after. I am in maintenance.

TheStephil

Reading everyone else's posts I feel like a slacker.

Still new to lifting; lifted for a few months at the end of last year but had horrid form, didn't stick to a good schedule and then took two months off during my move. Been lifting for about two months now and while I had to basically start from scratch again I've been consistent and improved my form.

I lift 3x/week for about 45 minutes each session. I don't do any real cardio. I work from home but take frequent breaks to walk around the house, walk in place, jog in place or around the house, etc. I walk during my breaks and my lunch or clean the house. Usually only hit about 5,000 steps/day. I'd like to start hiking again now that it's nice outside.

archaichoney

Been lifting for a year here. Was lifting on a 6 day split, moved into doing Crossfit 5-6 days a week now with a focus on compound and Olympic lifts. Spend about an hour and a half on my workouts. Eating about 1900-2200 calories a day. I'm 5'9, 29 and 160lbs. In a bit of a recomp phase right now. Although I'll have to see, I'm burning more calories with the conditioning work I'm getting in.

wpwarrior88

I was lifting last year from April/May through Sept 5/6 days a week 45-90 min per session. Then Life happened, I went to T25 and stayed with that program until March. I am currently using the 5x5 program and am just adding abs back in. I use an elliptical trainer almost daily anywhere from 15 min to 60. I walk when I can.

I am 44, 5'5" 120 lb. Body Fat 18.1%. I am still trying to figure out what I "should" weigh and where I want my bf, so I am eating around 1700 cals per day regardless of my workouts until I make up my mind! LOL

I do log my workouts, while I have an HRM, it doesn't give me calories burned, what I have done is roughed it in on my own. Since I don't eat back my workout calories I am not overly concerned with accuracy. I do have a fitbit and it "agrees" with my estimation most of the time.

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

bumping for the info. Well done, everyone :flowerforyou:

jstout365

5'2", 34, ~135 lbs.

I am currently lifting 4x/week and also taking a co-ed boxing class 3x/week so on Mon/Fri I do two workouts in one day. My boxing coach said I am in the gym more than he is. My lifting sessions usually last for 45 min to an hour. I just changed programs from Stronglifts 5x5 to Strong Curves. Last week was my first week of SC and my calorie goal was 2000, I think I averaged 1880 for the week since I didn't have any boxing. This week I've aimed for 2000, but today's workout was proof to me that I'm too low. I'm doing two days at 2500 now and will bump up to 2300 calories on Monday. If I still feel completely drained by Thursday, I'll up them again. I'm not looking for weight loss so I don't mind eating at or close to maintenance. At this point, recomp would be my preference.

I don't log my workouts and eat at a flat calorie rate. I adjust calories based on performance in the gym and overall energy levels. I thought my TDEE was around 2100, but I think it is much higher. I'm guessing around 2500 at this point with the lifting and the boxing.

ETA: Boxing class is an hour and can be pretty high intensity with most skill rounds being 2 min with 30 second rests in between. Lost of moving around, punching, holding focus mitts for a partner, bag work. I am mentally estimating between 400-600 calories per class.

whitebalance

ETA: Boxing class is an hour and can be pretty high intensity with most skill rounds being 2 min with 30 second rests in between. Lost of moving around, punching, holding focus mitts for a partner, bag work. I am mentally estimating between 400-600 calories per class.

This range matches my experience in KM... The heavy bag training came in at about 600 with an HRM, and the MFP estimate for KM is around 450.

3dogsrunning

I have been looking back at old threads and looking online, but thought I would start a new thread as well.

For those ladies who lift...how long do you lift per day? How many days per week? How many calories do you eat in a day? I know its different for everyone, but just wanted to get a general idea of what other ladies are doing.

Since lifting is different than cardio how do you know how many calories to log in your exercise diary? or do you even log it?

I currently exercise about 6 to 7 hours per week doing various Jillian workouts, running and doing some lifting with free weights w/ a bench at home. I was thinking about decreasing my cardio a little bit and start increasing the amount I lift and lower the reps.

I have my calories set at 1840 before exercise. I am 40 yrs old, 5'8, 132 lbs.

Thanks in advance!!

I am not lifting now but when I did I was going 4 days a week, plus cardio.
I followed MFP guidelines for me with 1lb a week weight loss goal. I logged all my exercise and ate at least some of those calories back (depending on the entry). For weight lifting, it gave me 200 calories extra, which I ate all of. I was comfortable with that number, enough to give me extra calories to eat, but not so many that it would erase my deficit if it were too much.
I also eat most of my running calories, since they are pretty average (about 100 calories a mile). Things like cycling and swimming seem pretty high so I stuck to 75% of those.

In general I was about 1800-2000 calories a day on non-long run days, 5'5 female.

ucabucca

I am 5ft3 and 53 and weigh 132 I am lifting 4xwk for 90 min but with that said it is not all lifting since I have no concept of rest my trainer has me doing bosu ball between each set on leg days (squats around the world and kicks both sides of bosu). On upper body days it is sit ups different styles between sets. I am starting to settle into this but it is hard. Important though so I don't overtrain. Was doing 7 rounds of 6 exercises each was 45 reps. I am set at 1500 base and we are calculating it as circuit training not lifting so I am eating 2250 on training days I have found my protein level needs to be much higher I eat usually over 100 grams which it seems many other sites agree with and dietician felt was important. I also found I do need that protein shortly after in shake or bar or the next day feel like crap even though many say it doesn't matter

wilmnoca

I lift heavy 6 days per week, cardio 5 days per week (4 days of HIIT and one day of steady state), 1800 calories per day. If I feel super hungry one day, then I eat more. Simple. I also do a good refeed once or twice a month. I only log lifting to keep up with what I trained that day, not for calorie deficit purposes. I also pay very little attention to calories burned in cardio. I train for health more than aesthetics, though the physical payoff is BOMB!

JunieD3

I do curves fitness gym, its resistance training with weighted apparatus. I do this (on average) 3-4 times a week depending. When not feeling up to it I do 2-3 times a week.

Its a good work out for women

LexiMelo

Hi there, I just started lifting at the beginning of the year doing NROL4W. I am currently on stage 4, and lift 3x/week. The weights part is about 50 mins and on alternate workouts there is 15 min of HIIT training after. On my off days I run or play tennis w/the husband.

5'6", 132 lbs.

I wear a fitbit and eat back those calories. I work in a city so I walk a lot so I usually eat 1800-2000 calories/day (on maintenance - My goal says 130 but I'm not really trying to lose weight. I am the same size (lower BF%) I was when I weighed 125 w/out lifting so I'm happy where I am. except I wish I could gain back some of those bra sizes LOL)

margannmks

I am 5ft3 and 53 and weigh 132 I am lifting 4xwk for 90 min but with that said it is not all lifting since I have no concept of rest my trainer has me doing bosu ball between each set on leg days (squats around the world and kicks both sides of bosu). On upper body days it is sit ups different styles between sets. I am starting to settle into this but it is hard. Important though so I don't overtrain. Was doing 7 rounds of 6 exercises each was 45 reps. I am set at 1500 base and we are calculating it as circuit training not lifting so I am eating 2250 on training days I have found my protein level needs to be much higher I eat usually over 100 grams which it seems many other sites agree with and dietician felt was important. I also found I do need that protein shortly after in shake or bar or the next day feel like crap even though many say it doesn't matter

Were very similar in size age, you are right about the extra protein. In new rules supercharged it explains after a certain age the protein levels are going to have to be increased and getting it all day is best but you still should do a 30 gm within 2 hours of workout. They said it has something to do with age that causes the reserves harder to be utilized. And that post workout you dont need to worry about getting too much.

12by311

5'7. 179. Cutting. Working on getting down to 165-160.

Lift/workout 4-5 days a week.

Compound lifts with accessory work.

Or some days are HIITs involving weights and supersets.

The only cardio I do are sprints, running stadiums, or 2-3 mile run every once in a while (those are not very often anymore).