Workout Regimen

michellehucke

I am at standstill a right now with my goal...

My weight ranges from 118-120. I try to workout 3-4 times a week.

I'll typically run for 20 minutes on the treadmill and lift weights for about 40-45 minutes, each time I go to the gym.

I'm finally at a good place with my weight and now I'd like to trim up with some lean muscle.

Any tips or advice?

BoresEasily

What's your weight lifting include? Are you using free weights or machines? Are you lifting light or heavy? Are you following a guideline like New Rules of Lifting For Women or Starting Strength by Rippletoe or something along those lines or are you just winging it? That makes a huge difference.

Lyadeia

Don't be afraid to lift heavy. :bigsmile: So many women think they are going to bulk up, and I wish I knew who started that lie...but it won't happen.

When I lift weights while not doing a prescribed program such as P90X, I use the principles in Tom Venuto's book "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle." You can find it online and download it for a small price. Using his book, I created a program for myself where I would lift every other day and alternate muscle groups as well so that in one week I would have done a complete total body workout just split up on different days. I also lifted as heavy as I could possibly stand to do for each exercise, and I stayed between 8-10 reps. When I could make it to 11 reps, I upped my weight. If I couldn't do 8, I decreased the weight. I prefer to do 3 sets per exercise, but some people say you only need to do one concentrated set...huge debate on which is better, but I say do whatever seems to work for you cause lots of people have success with each way. Also, I try to keep my heart rate elevated while lifting weights, so it's more like circuit training that I do rather than just straight lifting. That way I get a calorie burn and a cardio effect. This can easily be done simply by hopping on a treadmill for 3-5 minutes every 15 minutes or so to make sure your heart rate doesn't fall.

Before I got slack, this is how I was able to add lean mass without gaining "weight." Basically, I was chaning my body composition and my weight stayed about the same. I stayed the same size, but you could definitely see and feel a difference in the muscle groups.

BoresEasily

Thank you Lyadeia. That's exactly what I was working up to. I was also afraid of that when I was growing up and I'm male! Thankfully now I know better. Just like GI JOE teaches "Knowing is half the battle."

michellehucke

I typically do 5 sets with 15 reps for each machine I do.

I do several different machines that target abs, glutes, calves, quads, hams, bi's, and tri's.

The weight varies.....glutes, calves, quads, and hams range from 60-80lbs.

Abs around 30-35lbs. Arms will range from 12-17 lbs.

I'm not very knowledgeable of what is needed and what works.

Thank you for all the advice!