Going from thin to fit

Go_Deskercise

Hi there from a noob that embraces my noobness!

Short sweet and to the point ... I have always been slender at 5' 5" anywhere between 115 lbs at my lightest and 140 at my heaviest. I am currently sitting at 128 lbs. While I enjoy being at a lower weight, I really don't care what the scale says as much as what my body tells me. Right now my body tells me that I am "flabby" and I need to work on getting toned and stronger. My legs are pretty strong, but my arms are very VERY weak and scrawny looking.

Any advice as to how I can get started putting "on" muscle and getting myself stronger would be greatly appreciated! What sort of equipment should I have or will I need in order to achieve this goal? My logging in my diary sucks right now because I don't have a scale, but I will have that kink worked out shortly so I can start logging accurately. Abs are made in the kitchen, right?

Thanks in advance to all who reply! Brutal honesty is respected not discouraged, but that doesn't mean to be a **** lol

robin52077

a good place to start is to google Stronglifts 5X5 and Starting Strength.

In general, you will need a barbell and a pile of plates, as well as a bench and squat rack.

if you go dumbbells instead of barbell, if you don't have space for a barbell, invest in a top quality set of adjustable ones, rather than many sets of different weights. Takes up less space, is more versatile, and will last forever.

gabrielleelliott90

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

JoRocka

Also would recommend New Rules of Lifting

and strong curves of the lower half of the body is a focus.

And yes
power cage
bench
squat rack...

but to be fair- a power cage pretttttttttty much = squat rack + bench.

scrapalooza

I have been doing this & it is working.
http://www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2014/05/01/7-exercises-for-tank-top-ready-arms-video-instructions-included/

robin52077

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

no offense, but, 125 is perfectly fine for her height, and she is asking about putting on muscle, which will make the scale go up, so did you even read?

erickirb

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

a female at 5'5" would be considered healthy as low as 110-115, ideal would probably be in the 120-135 range depending on amount of lean mass the person is carrying. And since when is 5'5" considered tall, shot no, but not tall either

OP, if you want to gain muscle, eat at a slight caloric surplus (weekly goal to gain 0.5lbs/week) and lift heavy things. Look into strong lifts 5x5, starting strength, strong curves, or New Rules of Lifting to get a good strength training program

Go_Deskercise

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

no offense, but, 125 is perfectly fine for her height, and she is asking about putting on muscle, which will make the scale go up, so did you even read?

Thank you lol ... People that comment on a post they obviously didn't read make me so angry....

Go_Deskercise

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

a female at 5'5" would be considered healthy as low as 110-115, ideal would probably be in the 120-135 range depending on amount of lean mass the person is carrying. And since when is 5'5" considered tall, shot no, but not tall either

OP, if you want to gain muscle, eat at a slight caloric surplus (weekly goal to gain 0.5lbs/week) and lift heavy things. Look into strong lifts 5x5, starting strength, strong curves, or New Rules of Lifting to get a good strength training program

I think that was the first person to ever call me tall!

bugaboo_sue

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

"Ideal" by whose standards? It also depends on how she is built.

Holly_Roman_Empire

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

I'm 140 and 5' 7.5" so...

Besides, she's trying to put on muscle.

lishie_rebooted

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

Perhaps you should learn to read.


OP, Strong Curves, Nia Shanks Beautiful Badass, Stronglifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, or Starting Strength are all great beginner programs. IMO, SL is best just due to simplicity - I'm lazy. New Rules had way too much for me to remember. SL is simple, takes like 45min (little longer with warm up), and we've got a great group for it here on MFP that shows a multitude of success with this program (NROLFW does as well tho)

a_stronger_me13

No offense, but I don't get why tall people want to be at low weights..... 140lb would be ideal for a person of your height. Lower weights are what short people like myself have to get down to in order to look thin.... Perhaps you are looking into it way too much, and 120lb at your height is probably too low of a weight.

Perhaps you should learn to read.


OP, Strong Curves, Nia Shanks Beautiful Badass, Stronglifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, or Starting Strength are all great beginner programs. IMO, SL is best just due to simplicity - I'm lazy. New Rules had way too much for me to remember. SL is simple, takes like 45min (little longer with warm up), and we've got a great group for it here on MFP that shows a multitude of success with this program (NROLFW does as well tho)

+1

Also, aside from a small amount of initial newbie gains, you aren't going to see a change in muscle mass without a surplus. You could start out doing a recomposition which would be eating at maintenance with the right macro set up and lifting heavy for a while. If you want to see more "growth" vs just leaning out/exposing muscle, then you will need to run a small calorie surplus aka bulking.