10 Mistakes Women Make in the Gym

Ervie317

http://www.t-nation.com/training/10-mistakes-women-make-in-the-gym

LOL

fitandfortyish

Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.

im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscle

"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.

Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.

NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.

This. I've never heard of anyone refer to a marathon runner (or any endurance athlete) as skinny fat. It makes no sense since they have low body fat. But someone who does a crash diet, or suffered from an ED like anorexia and loses a disproportionate amount of muscle due to poor dieting choices but still reached 'normal' weight, would be skinny fat. They are thin but their ratio of fat to muscle is very skewed.

Agreed. However the article specifically refers to those who do "too much aerobics" as skinny-fat. Aerobics in my mind is cardio.

Deipneus

I love it. I get tired of looking all over for gender stereotypes and this article conveniently aggregates them in one place.

Guys are probably the biggest tools in the gym because they're driven by ego instead of logic, but women make their own share of mistakes that are unique to their sex. Women are torn between what they read in Shape or on some insane aerobic queen's blog, their unqualified husband's or boyfriend's pontifications on diet and exercise, or society's conflicting and confounding expectations of what a woman should look like. It's no wonder women can't decide between lifting weights, becoming a Crossfit wind-up toy, doing aerobics until they're thin as a waif from Oliver Twist, or practicing so much yoga that their seven angry and overworked chakras pack up their things and go to Cabo for a weekend of volleyball, sun, and suds.

Plus, they have a lot of good stuff to sell in the store.

likitisplit

"It's virtually impossible – no matter what you eat – to gain any fat in the post-workout period, which is roughly defined as the hour-long timeframe after you finish lifting weights. "

Is THIS part true?

We should eat all of our daily calories in that hour after lifting, then!

That's another thing that doesn't make much sense.

I think he just grossly oversimplified. I know after you workout, your body continues the burn for a period of time. For anerobic exercise like lifting, that period is longer and more intense than after doing aerobic exercise like steady state cardio. So you can and should eat after lifting to aid in recovery rather than produce fat. This is only to an extent though. If you leave the gym and eat Thanksgiving dinner regularly, you're probably not going to lose weight.

Afterburn is grossly overstated though. And this article takes it to a whole new level.

likitisplit

Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.

im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscle

"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.

Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.

NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.

This. I've never heard of anyone refer to a marathon runner (or any endurance athlete) as skinny fat. It makes no sense since they have low body fat. But someone who does a crash diet, or suffered from an ED like anorexia and loses a disproportionate amount of muscle due to poor dieting choices but still reached 'normal' weight, would be skinny fat. They are thin but their ratio of fat to muscle is very skewed.

Agreed. However the article specifically refers to those who do "too much aerobics" as skinny-fat. Aerobics in my mind is cardio.

And that makes no sense. Skinny-fat is an eating problem, not an exercise problem.

JoRocka

And that makes no sense. Skinny-fat is an eating problem, not an exercise problem.

I'm not sure there is an official definition- but I've always referred to people who were clearly small/thin and had no muscle definition what so ever and just looked squishy as "skinny fat" in which case it would be a lack of exercise being the problem.

That has always been- ever since I ever heard the term back in the 90's, the general premise of the expression.

eric_sg61

"It's virtually impossible – no matter what you eat – to gain any fat in the post-workout period, which is roughly defined as the hour-long timeframe after you finish lifting weights. "

Is THIS part true?

We should eat all of our daily calories in that hour after lifting, then!

That's another thing that doesn't make much sense.

I think he just grossly oversimplified. I know after you workout, your body continues the burn for a period of time. For anerobic exercise like lifting, that period is longer and more intense than after doing aerobic exercise like steady state cardio. So you can and should eat after lifting to aid in recovery rather than produce fat. This is only to an extent though. If you leave the gym and eat Thanksgiving dinner regularly, you're probably not going to lose weight.

Afterburn is grossly overstated though. And this article takes it to a whole new level.

It is not about afterburn. It is refering to the heightened insulin sensitivity that occurs post-workout. If your in a surplus, you will store fat at some points in time. Throughtout the day the body is either releasing fatty acids or storing them, during post-workout the muscles are absoring the amino acids and glycogen at an increased rate. The article is not taking it to a new level, athletes and bodybuilders have known this for decades which is why some eat their biggest meals post workout.

eric_sg61

Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.

im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscle

"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.

Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.

NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.

This. I've never heard of anyone refer to a marathon runner (or any endurance athlete) as skinny fat. It makes no sense since they have low body fat. But someone who does a crash diet, or suffered from an ED like anorexia and loses a disproportionate amount of muscle due to poor dieting choices but still reached 'normal' weight, would be skinny fat. They are thin but their ratio of fat to muscle is very skewed.

Agreed. However the article specifically refers to those who do "too much aerobics" as skinny-fat. Aerobics in my mind is cardio.

And that makes no sense. Skinny-fat is an eating problem, not an exercise problem.

It is also a hormone problem.

BinaryPulsar

"It's virtually impossible – no matter what you eat – to gain any fat in the post-workout period, which is roughly defined as the hour-long timeframe after you finish lifting weights. "

Is THIS part true?

We should eat all of our daily calories in that hour after lifting, then!

That's another thing that doesn't make much sense.

I think he just grossly oversimplified. I know after you workout, your body continues the burn for a period of time. For anerobic exercise like lifting, that period is longer and more intense than after doing aerobic exercise like steady state cardio. So you can and should eat after lifting to aid in recovery rather than produce fat. This is only to an extent though. If you leave the gym and eat Thanksgiving dinner regularly, you're probably not going to lose weight.

Afterburn is grossly overstated though. And this article takes it to a whole new level.

It is not about afterburn. It is refering to the heightened insulin sensitivity that occurs post-workout. If your in a surplus, you will store fat at some points in time. Throughtout the day the body is either releasing fatty acids or storing them, during post-workout the muscles are absoring the amino acids and glycogen at an increased rate. The article is not taking it to a new level, athletes and bodybuilders have known this for decades which is why some eat their biggest meals post workout.

It takes time to digest food and have it running through your blood stream. It's not what you eat post workout. It's what you eat through out a day.

juliewatkin

I mean... the main points of the article make sense in terms of things woman are afraid of in the gym. But all in all, the article is poorly written and the person who wrote it sound extremely closed minded and relies mainly on stereotypes of men ("men are driven by ego, not logic in the gym") and woman, as well... the article is overall extremely insulting and almost shaming to both sexes.

I've a long time member and poster on t-nation and most of their articles are not well written. Their site exists to sell their product so much of what is written should be taken with a grain of salt.

That's not to say the article doesn't have elements of accuracy and entertainment but it's really just a bit of fluff.

This is much better and not about women but about men and women and getting stronger. It also talks to different training for different goals such as marathon running.

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie-20120504

JoRocka

I only take peeks at their articles- and while some of them have solid info- most of them are still poorly written. It makes me shake my head sometimes.

eric_sg61

"It's virtually impossible – no matter what you eat – to gain any fat in the post-workout period, which is roughly defined as the hour-long timeframe after you finish lifting weights. "

Is THIS part true?

We should eat all of our daily calories in that hour after lifting, then!

That's another thing that doesn't make much sense.

I think he just grossly oversimplified. I know after you workout, your body continues the burn for a period of time. For anerobic exercise like lifting, that period is longer and more intense than after doing aerobic exercise like steady state cardio. So you can and should eat after lifting to aid in recovery rather than produce fat. This is only to an extent though. If you leave the gym and eat Thanksgiving dinner regularly, you're probably not going to lose weight.

Afterburn is grossly overstated though. And this article takes it to a whole new level.

It is not about afterburn. It is refering to the heightened insulin sensitivity that occurs post-workout. If your in a surplus, you will store fat at some points in time. Throughtout the day the body is either releasing fatty acids or storing them, during post-workout the muscles are absoring the amino acids and glycogen at an increased rate. The article is not taking it to a new level, athletes and bodybuilders have known this for decades which is why some eat their biggest meals post workout.

It takes time to digest food and have it running through your blood stream. It's not what you eat post workout. It's what you eat through out a day.

I agree 100% that that is what is most important.

Tillyecl1

This made me laugh

I am that girl in the free weights and I always shake my head at the quote un quote "cardio queens"

Not all of us are in this for the same reasons. For example, I really couldn't care less what I look like , I'm sure many people here would class me as 'fat' or 'skinny fat'. But as long as I am fit and healthy I honestly don't give two hoots what people in the gym say about me behind my back. To this end I have chosen competing in endurance triathlons as my exercise of choice. Now, how am I supposed to train for an Ironman without doing large amounts of cardio training and being considered a "cardio queen" by the people doing 'proper' exercises at the gym? And no I don't lift, in fact I avoid the gym entirely these day, mainly because I find it really freaking boring and I would rather be out actually enjoying myself on my bike or running rather than wasting my time on something I don't enjoy, I wouldn't do it with anything else in life so why should exercise be any different?

In the same way as what everyone else is eating is no business of mine, what my goals are and how I achieve them is nobody else's business but my own. You shouldn't judge people who don't conform to your ideas of what they 'should' be doing because you don't know anything about them.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

I normally have a very high tolerance for articles written by Bros' s but this one I don't care for so much.

While there are a few very valid points, there is lots of crap too.....but that's just my opinion.

Yagisama

"skinny fat" :explode:

eimaj5575

BUMP Good read and I def needed to read this today! Thanks!

kdiamond

Love this!

I rarely work my abs, I throw in a couple 1 minute planks a couple times a week max, and my abs are rock hard. Squats, lunges, and my diet - that's what makes my abs hard.

Also, while I do change my workouts every 6-8 or sometimes 12 weeks, I stick with it until then. That drives me nuts when people toss their workouts without giving it time. Unless its a really horrible workout plan (and you'll know the first day) I'm sticking with it.

melluc2

Yep

likitisplit

And that makes no sense. Skinny-fat is an eating problem, not an exercise problem.

I'm not sure there is an official definition- but I've always referred to people who were clearly small/thin and had no muscle definition what so ever and just looked squishy as "skinny fat" in which case it would be a lack of exercise being the problem.

That has always been- ever since I ever heard the term back in the 90's, the general premise of the expression.

Yeah, you are right. Sorry.

In the context of the article - it's not the running that makes you skinny-fat. It's the unwillingness to fuel the running.

I have a co-worker who lifts. I run and lift. She's been skinny all her life, I've just lost 40 pounds. Her bone structure is slightly smaller than mine, but we are about the same height. Adjusting for age, we're at the same body fat, even though she looks visibly thinner and is probably a good 30 pounds lighter. It's because she chronically under eats.

Also, my quads and calves are pretty exciting - from the running.

likitisplit

I mean... the main points of the article make sense in terms of things woman are afraid of in the gym. But all in all, the article is poorly written and the person who wrote it sound extremely closed minded and relies mainly on stereotypes of men ("men are driven by ego, not logic in the gym") and woman, as well... the article is overall extremely insulting and almost shaming to both sexes.

I've a long time member and poster on t-nation and most of their articles are not well written. Their site exists to sell their product so much of what is written should be taken with a grain of salt.

That's not to say the article doesn't have elements of accuracy and entertainment but it's really just a bit of fluff.

This is much better and not about women but about men and women and getting stronger. It also talks to different training for different goals such as marathon running.

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie-20120504

Only read the first two pages, but I love, love, love that article!

One of the great things about my trainer is that she argues with people who want her to work with them three times a week. She is in the business of helping you do the exercise you need in order to reach your potential - not babysitting you through a routine. So, she'll have you do six squats and then have you stretch to release your quads and then make you do them slow on her TRX equipment so you can feel what "right" is, and then have you do a couple balancing moves so your spine and brain really learn the right alignment. She "trains" you.