Advice on female weight training (Still not toned!)

iceycoldhot

Thanks guys! I'm glad it's not hopeless!

Let me clarify a few things: first off, I eat plenty and healthy, protein filled foods. My diet is not an issue.

Second, I read up on weight training where they said if you cannot lift past 8 reps then that is the weight you should use. For me, it WAS 5 pounds. I literally was so weak when I first started (because I never weight lifted before) that I could only lift 5 pounds for a MAXIMUM of 8 reps. After a while I gradually increased the weights. From 5 to 7 to now 10 and I wanted to gradually increase 10 12 then 15. So I know I was doing exactly what every strength training article said to. But I understand it probably will just take time for me to work my way up to a higher weight in order to see the results I want!

But thanks soo much for your responses I know I have 25 pounds to lose and I'm in no rush. Have been losing 1-2 pounds a week or so and just taking my time. I just need to lose more fat and lift heavier and I will get there.

What exercises are you doing? And is there a medical condition you are dealing with in regards to muscle weakness?

And not sure if I had a medical condition or not. I was just A) overweight and naturally very weak. I had NO muscle tone when starting. Never have my whole life really. I didn't eat any protein rich foods either or to my weight training.

spicegeek

Lower body 20 pound kettlebell: Squats, lunges, kettlebell swings

Upper body: dumbbells- overhead press, tricep lifts, side lateral raise

I don`t use kettle bells for squats much - but when I do - 50 llb
lunges - I never do
swing 50 - 95lbs

double 40lb bells for clean and press

never understood the obsession with tris and lateral raises

__freckles__

Nope. The weights you are lifting are not heavy enough yet. Talk to a trainer about some basic, full body lifts to master, and increase what you're lifting.

*Like*

iceycoldhot

95 lb!!!! WOW that's a lot! lol

Sarah4fitness

@ sara4fitness What weight would you recommend for lower body?

I am currently using a 20 pound kettlebell. What should I increase it to? Or better yet, what do YOU use for lower body?

Comparing yourself to my lifts is pointless. I'm 5'5", have been working out consistently for YEARS, and have been lifting heavy for years. In that profile pic I'm 145lbs. Shows what muscle looks like on a frame your size.

You're 26. You said you are "naturally weak". No. No one is "naturally weak." There are only people who have yet to actualize their potential. Do not sell yourself short with 5 or 10lb dumbbells. PUSH yourself. Sometimes, those last 2-4 reps should be a strain, not habitual or "easy".

My leg day currently consists of:
Squats
Stiff-leg Romanian Dead Lifts
Box step-ups
Bulgarian Split Squats
and a super set of
Seated leg extensions
and
Prone hamstring curls

I do one warmup set with low weight, one "feel set" at a significantly higher weight, to assess how much more to add for my final three NORMAL sets, of which I must be able to complete 8-10 reps, and sometimes add more reps if I am maintaining form, to failure.

My squat is considered WEAK, at the bar (approx 45lbs) plus two 45lb plates, for a total of 135lbs.
My deadlift ranges between 155 and 195lbs depending on my meals the prior day.

As I said, comparing is pointless. However, you SHOULD be pushing yourself to lift as HEAVY as you can with proper form for even 6-10 reps. I stress proper form, and moving SLOWLY. Don't just phone it in and rep it out at a high speed. That's not weightlifting, that's cardio.

If you've got access to a gym, talk to a trainer (with a legit certification, two of the most recognized are NASM and ISSA) to get guidance on form and a program. If you can't afford a meeting with a trainer, look for a woman who has the type of body you want for yourself, and ask her for pointers on her routine.

iceycoldhot

This helped a lot. Thanks

Dr__Girlfriend

Buy Strong Curves, that would be my suggestion:) It's a book full of knowledge, workouts, etc...

Anyway, If you're cutting it's going to be hard to gain strength, except for noob gains. Cut, and then eat at maint or a little higher to build muscle and increase strength (if that is your goal - to be toned) When you lose weight, and you're eating in a deficit you lose fat and muscle, as others have pointed out. I still lift weights on a cut to attempt to maintain strength/muscle, but you're not gonna stack on a ton of muscle on a cut. Recomping is hard. I suggest keep cutting, keep lifting weights and when you are ready to start increasing muscle/strength, then eat at maint or a little higher.

Strong Curves would help you out a lot, methinks:) I love it!!! The workouts are bomb and it's full of great, scientific information from a PT with a PHD in sports science. The women in my lifting group are big fans. I think it's $9 online.

Best of luck to you:) Keep up the great work!

Bernadette60614

May I suggest: Bodybuilding.com has a number of free programs which you can join, complete with what you need to do per day and what to eat. Jamie Eason is a good place to start, IMHO.

12by311

Buy Strong Curves, that would be my suggestion:) It's a book full of knowledge, workouts, etc...

Anyway, If you're cutting it's going to be hard to gain strength, except for noob gains. Cut, and then eat at maint or a little higher to build muscle and increase strength (if that is your goal - to be toned) When you lose weight, and you're eating in a deficit you lose fat and muscle, as others have pointed out. I still lift weights on a cut to attempt to maintain strength/muscle, but you're not gonna stack on a ton of muscle on a cut. Recomping is hard. I suggest keep cutting, keep lifting weights and when you are ready to start increasing muscle/strength, then eat at maint or a little higher.

Strong Curves would help you out a lot, methinks:) I love it!!! The workouts are bomb and it's full of great, scientific information from a PT with a PHD in sports science. The women in my lifting group are big fans. I think it's $9 online.

Best of luck to you:) Keep up the great work!

Not really true. You can make good strength gains in a cut. It's gains in mass you can't do. And those two things are different.

JeffInJax

Everything Sarah said are great to do. When it comes to the stiff leg dead lifts though i highly recommend you either ask someone who knows what they are doing to show you how or study some internet videos. People who do dead lifts without knowing proper form are highly likely to injure themselves..

JeffInJax

Buy Strong Curves, that would be my suggestion:) It's a book full of knowledge, workouts, etc...

Anyway, If you're cutting it's going to be hard to gain strength, except for noob gains. Cut, and then eat at maint or a little higher to build muscle and increase strength (if that is your goal - to be toned) When you lose weight, and you're eating in a deficit you lose fat and muscle, as others have pointed out. I still lift weights on a cut to attempt to maintain strength/muscle, but you're not gonna stack on a ton of muscle on a cut. Recomping is hard. I suggest keep cutting, keep lifting weights and when you are ready to start increasing muscle/strength, then eat at maint or a little higher.

Strong Curves would help you out a lot, methinks:) I love it!!! The workouts are bomb and it's full of great, scientific information from a PT with a PHD in sports science. The women in my lifting group are big fans. I think it's $9 online.

Best of luck to you:) Keep up the great work!

Not really true. You can make good strength gains in a cut. It's gains in mass you can't do. And those two things are different.

Gaining muscle mass is very hard while cutting but strength CAN go up, just much slower then when you're on a bulking phase. My 1RM for bench has increased 40 pounds in the past 3 months and my sets are 20 pounds heavier just as an example, All while eating 1800-2000 Calories at 6'5 258 right now

Capt_Apollo

awesome thread

JoRocka

new rules of lifting for women
strong lifts
starting strength
strong curves

you will get stronger on a deficit- you will not bigger- you will see water retention so ignore that.

Stay on your calorie deficit- and keep pressing.

Get some help- learn compound lifts. HUGE PROFITS!!!!

Topsking2010

May I suggest: Bodybuilding.com has a number of free programs which you can join, complete with what you need to do per day and what to eat. Jamie Eason is a good place to start, IMHO.

This

nz_deevaa

Buy Strong Curves, that would be my suggestion:) It's a book full of knowledge, workouts, etc...

Anyway, If you're cutting it's going to be hard to gain strength, except for noob gains. Cut, and then eat at maint or a little higher to build muscle and increase strength (if that is your goal - to be toned) When you lose weight, and you're eating in a deficit you lose fat and muscle, as others have pointed out. I still lift weights on a cut to attempt to maintain strength/muscle, but you're not gonna stack on a ton of muscle on a cut. Recomping is hard. I suggest keep cutting, keep lifting weights and when you are ready to start increasing muscle/strength, then eat at maint or a little higher.

Strong Curves would help you out a lot, methinks:) I love it!!! The workouts are bomb and it's full of great, scientific information from a PT with a PHD in sports science. The women in my lifting group are big fans. I think it's $9 online.

Best of luck to you:) Keep up the great work!

Not really true. You can make good strength gains in a cut. It's gains in mass you can't do. And those two things are different.

Gaining muscle mass is very hard while cutting but strength CAN go up, just much slower then when you're on a bulking phase. My 1RM for bench has increased 40 pounds in the past 3 months and my sets are 20 pounds heavier just as an example, All while eating 1800-2000 Calories at 6'5 258 right now

More strength does not equal more mass.

Anniebotnen

Lower body 20 pound kettlebell: Squats, lunges, kettlebell swings

Upper body: dumbbells- overhead press, tricep lifts, side lateral raise

For upper body, start doing dumbbell bench presses with whatever weights you can manage instead of the "tricep lifts" and side lateral raises. Bench presses will build a lot more strength much quicker! How many sets and reps are you doing?

sunshinemouse34

Just a question/thought...

Is it possible that extra skin is also covering up part of the progress you are making?
I've been losing weight and toning up for almost 3 years now.
There doesn't seem to be anything that I can do about the extra skin -

I just keep up the lifting because it feels good.
My trainer always tells me that I am stronger than I think. - Don't be afraid to do heavier weights.

Lofteren

@ sara4fitness What weight would you recommend for lower body?

I am currently using a 20 pound kettlebell. What should I increase it to? Or better yet, what do YOU use for lower body?

If you want to build muscle, lift like the people who have lots of muscle. Most of them aren't using kettlebells, they're using barbells. So start squatting, deadlifting, bench pressing, overhead pressing and rowing with the barbell. You might only be able to do the bar at first, and that's okay, just add 5lbs next time, and the time after that, and the time after that, etc...

Edit: By "barbell" I mean a 7' long olympic barbell with 2'' collars. Not the little preloaded barbells.

tjh19591990

Sorry if this gets long winded!! What if you just can't lift that much weights, isn't doing more reps then helpful?
I just went back to the Y and started the Body Pump class again. Its a weight lifting class designed by Les Mills. I can only do the lightest weights, I did add double to try and see if I could do that without hurting so much. It's not so much that I can't lift more, I'm not as strong as I use to be but can lift OK. The problem is I have so many pains that I've lived with for 20+ years. My shoulders, my hips, knees and plantars in my right foot.

My Chiropractor and the physical therapist I've just started going to both said DON'T PUT THE BARBELL BEHIND YOUR HEAD!! I've had 3 slipped dics in my neck and the PT said it is hard on your arms/shoulders. Chiro said because of my dics and his wife said if your just doing lunges anyway what they do at her gym is hold a weight against your body. What does it matter when it 's just lunges. Lunges kill my knees. My left knee cap moves to the side when I bend it - - one reason for PT.

Last year I decided to join the Y as the 8 miles a day (broken up throughout the day) wasn't doing a thing for me. Here was my scheduled
Monday - Body Attack (high impact aerobics) .......................Tuesday Zumba.....................Wednesday Body Pump........Thursday my day off.......................Friday I just went in and did the machines. I did this from June until October when my foot just got way to bad with the plantars and I couldn't take the pain any more. I needed to give my foot a break. Anyway 5 months of that and I didn't lose ONE POUND, NOTHING, NADA, ZIP. I didn't even tone up. I was still doing my walking too a few miles a day.

How can someone work that hard every week faithfully for five months and nothing happen?????????????????????? I was journaling and trying to be sure I had protein but since I didn't have anyone to look it over I really don't know if I was having to many calories, not enough calories, not enough protein. I just know I was very and still am depressed over that.

What is it going to take for me to lose weight? I'm 55, been in menapause since I was 40. That is when a lot of my problems started. Going into menapause that early was not a good thing! I've gain a lot of weight since then.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Tammy

tomcornhole

Thanks guys! I'm glad it's not hopeless!

Let me clarify a few things: first off, I eat plenty and healthy, protein filled foods. My diet is not an issue.

Second, I read up on weight training where they said if you cannot lift past 8 reps then that is the weight you should use. For me, it WAS 5 pounds. I literally was so weak when I first started (because I never weight lifted before) that I could only lift 5 pounds for a MAXIMUM of 8 reps. After a while I gradually increased the weights. From 5 to 7 to now 10 and I wanted to gradually increase 10 12 then 15. So I know I was doing exactly what every strength training article said to. But I understand it probably will just take time for me to work my way up to a higher weight in order to see the results I want!

But thanks soo much for your responses I know I have 25 pounds to lose and I'm in no rush. Have been losing 1-2 pounds a week or so and just taking my time. I just need to lose more fat and lift heavier and I will get there.

My wife's purse weighs more than 5 lbs. Push yourself harder.