Women strength training... for real

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  • deninevi
    deninevi Posts: 934 Member
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    I hit a 400 pound lift total today.

    Now working towards 500! :happy:

    That's so , so so cool! :)
  • Happyoceangirl
    Happyoceangirl Posts: 1,993 Member
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    Bump
  • micls
    micls Posts: 234
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    Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it's been very informative.
    I'm looking into the best exercise routine for me at the moment and it can get confusing but this cleared up quite a bit.

    I still have a few questions though if anyone can help.

    When I started MFP, my focus was on changing my eating habits and losing weight. I've been naturally slim most of my life but an awful diet for the past 2 years and getting older led to me putting on 2stone. Now I'm coming close to the goal of losing that 2stone again, I'm looking at what I need to do to tone up(need to look fab for my wedding next July :)) and have a generally healthy attitude and programme to follow for life.

    My goals:
    1) Lose the final 5lbs or so to reach my goal of 140lb (I'm 5'7" and 25 years old).
    2) Once at goal weight, reduce body fat percentage (however I'm happy with the goal weight, so I need to replace the fat with muscle)
    3) Build strength, build muscle, look fab, feel healthy!
    4) Keeping 'fit' cardio-wise. I'm going travelling in Africa on honeymoon and there'l be plenty of difficult trekking (to see gorillas etc) and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling like I'm dying! (I hate cardio :()

    My questions really are how is it best to achieve these goals, and what steps to take.

    Currently I do 3 gym days per week.
    -1 day is with a trainer, however he hasn't had me do many free weights (possibly cos I'm ridiculously weak!). I only have 2 sessions with him left and can't really afford to continue anyway so would like to figure out my own programme. This is 45-60mins with him doing machines, and stuff like lunges, crunches etc. Then 30 mins low intensity (bout 65% of maximum heart rate) cardio, usually elliptical
    -The other 2 days is me trying to figure out a routine. I tend to try to do HIIT for 15 mins(can't cope with any longer) and then weights. I only follow what I've done with the trainer though and I do it for 30-40mins. sometimes I change things, last week I did a body pump class, sometimes I do a spinning class after weights if the times of the classes suit.

    As well as the gym days I play football for an hour or so one day(incorporates some sprints) which is a good workout, and like to go for a walk with my OH on a Sunday. I've also downloaded Jillian Michaels 30day shred to help me figure out how to do push ups, plank, etc but haven't actually done that yet.

    So, what should I be aiming for. Should I stick as it is until I reach my goal and then re-assess?

    I'm confused also about how to lower body fat without losing too much on the scale. My bf% is very high (about 32%). Also, if I'm at my goal weight, but want to lose body fat, I don't know if I should still be eating at a deficit? It's all a bit confusing tbh.

    I was considering getting new rules of lifting for women, to give me an idea of where to start, once I'm at my weight goal, as I've read a lot about it on here.

    All tips welcome. Thanks
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it's been very informative.
    I'm looking into the best exercise routine for me at the moment and it can get confusing but this cleared up quite a bit.

    I still have a few questions though if anyone can help.

    When I started MFP, my focus was on changing my eating habits and losing weight. I've been naturally slim most of my life but an awful diet for the past 2 years and getting older led to me putting on 2stone. Now I'm coming close to the goal of losing that 2stone again, I'm looking at what I need to do to tone up(need to look fab for my wedding next July :)) and have a generally healthy attitude and programme to follow for life.

    My goals:
    1) Lose the final 5lbs or so to reach my goal of 140lb (I'm 5'7" and 25 years old).
    2) Once at goal weight, reduce body fat percentage (however I'm happy with the goal weight, so I need to replace the fat with muscle)
    3) Build strength, build muscle, look fab, feel healthy!
    4) Keeping 'fit' cardio-wise. I'm going travelling in Africa on honeymoon and there'l be plenty of difficult trekking (to see gorillas etc) and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling like I'm dying! (I hate cardio :()

    My questions really are how is it best to achieve these goals, and what steps to take.

    Currently I do 3 gym days per week.
    -1 day is with a trainer, however he hasn't had me do many free weights (possibly cos I'm ridiculously weak!). I only have 2 sessions with him left and can't really afford to continue anyway so would like to figure out my own programme. This is 45-60mins with him doing machines, and stuff like lunges, crunches etc. Then 30 mins low intensity (bout 65% of maximum heart rate) cardio, usually elliptical
    -The other 2 days is me trying to figure out a routine. I tend to try to do HIIT for 15 mins(can't cope with any longer) and then weights. I only follow what I've done with the trainer though and I do it for 30-40mins. sometimes I change things, last week I did a body pump class, sometimes I do a spinning class after weights if the times of the classes suit.

    As well as the gym days I play football for an hour or so one day(incorporates some sprints) which is a good workout, and like to go for a walk with my OH on a Sunday. I've also downloaded Jillian Michaels 30day shred to help me figure out how to do push ups, plank, etc but haven't actually done that yet.

    So, what should I be aiming for. Should I stick as it is until I reach my goal and then re-assess?

    I'm confused also about how to lower body fat without losing too much on the scale. My bf% is very high (about 32%). Also, if I'm at my goal weight, but want to lose body fat, I don't know if I should still be eating at a deficit? It's all a bit confusing tbh.

    I was considering getting new rules of lifting for women, to give me an idea of where to start, once I'm at my weight goal, as I've read a lot about it on here.

    All tips welcome. Thanks

    Couple of things.

    1. I'm not going to go through an entire, individualized program for you as that wouldn't be fair to my clients. I don't think you're expecting that either. But when I answer questions like this, I like for people to see the big picture... to learn something... and from there, to build out their own program.

    2. You say you work with a trainer but he doesn't have you lift weights because you're weak. I don't really get that. If you're weak, you SHOULD BE lifting weights to improve your strength. Avoiding weights won't fix your weakness. Is sounds like he at least has you doing calisthenics, and that's okay, assuming his intent is to build some very preliminary strength using solely your body weight and to hammer down movement quality before adding external resistance to the movement. Knowing how most trainers operate though, I'm doubtful. Also, are you paying him for the full hour when half of that hour is spent on an elliptical? If so, I'd fire him before the 2 sessions are up, haha.

    3. You're very concerned about exchanging fat for muscle. It doesn't generally work like this, unfortunately. They're completely separate tissues. In general, losing fat requires a deficit and gaining muscle requires a surplus. I've worked with people for a lot of years now and know well that this isn't a hard and fast rule. But I also know that trying to accomplish both... or better yet... expecting to accomplish both is typically a recipe for frustration.

    When you're new to resistance training, it's VERY likely that you can lose fat while adding muscle. This ability won't last forever though, so it's important to milk this time period for everything it's worth. You still want to lose fat, so yes, you need to be eating in a calorie deficit. Concurrently though, I'd be focusing on 2-3 full body strength training sessions per week. I'm talking very basic stuff where you're in and out of the weight room in 30-45 minutes.

    The idea is to do just enough to stimulate muscle growth/maintenance and no more. Doing more is futile since you're in a calorie deficit. you can use the additional time to do some conditioning work or whatever.

    New Rules of Lifting for Women is okay. Not a huge fan of the author, but I'm sure the programming is suitable. It's hard to totally screw up programming as long a few core fundamentals are adhered to such as proper exercise form, adequate loading, progressive overload, etc. Another very basic program that would be worth checking out is the basic 5x5 program. Mark Rippetoe has some fantastic resources that he sells - 2 books.... Practical Programming and Starting Strength along with a companion DVD that shows exercise form. You can simply google "5x5 workout" though and get the general gist without buying the books... though the books will set a lot of people straight about a lot of things pertaining to strength training.

    Here are a couple of websites as examples:

    http://madcow.hostzi.com/table_of_contents_thread.htm

    http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

    The bottom line is you want to learn how to squat. You want to learn how to hinge at the hips (deadlifts, hip thrusts, pull throughs, RDLs, etc). You want to learn how to press weights as in the bench press and overhead press. You want to learn how to row. And you want to learn how to stabilize the core.

    Once that foundation is in place, you can put together a basic program as outlined in 5x5 or some other iteration and focus on getting stronger until that stops working. Simple as that.
  • micls
    micls Posts: 234
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    Couple of things.

    1. I'm not going to go through an entire, individualized program for you as that wouldn't be fair to my clients. I don't think you're expecting that either. But when I answer questions like this, I like for people to see the big picture... to learn something... and from there, to build out their own program.

    Oh course, that's what I was aiming for, thank you for the response.
    2. You say you work with a trainer but he doesn't have you lift weights because you're weak. I don't really get that. If you're weak, you SHOULD BE lifting weights to improve your strength. Avoiding weights won't fix your weakness. Is sounds like he at least has you doing calisthenics, and that's okay, assuming his intent is to build some very preliminary strength using solely your body weight and to hammer down movement quality before adding external resistance to the movement. Knowing how most trainers operate though, I'm doubtful. Also, are you paying him for the full hour when half of that hour is spent on an elliptical? If so, I'd fire him before the 2 sessions are up, haha.

    Well, I'm not 100%sure of the reason, I'm only guessing. He doesn't speak much english so communication, other than basic commands, can be difficult. Tbh, I don't think he's giving me much now that I can't do myself(now that I know how the machines work). No, the half hour elliptical is separate to the hour. I've already paid for the last 2 sessions, so I'll use them and see what we do.
    3. You're very concerned about exchanging fat for muscle. It doesn't generally work like this, unfortunately. They're completely separate tissues. In general, losing fat requires a deficit and gaining muscle requires a surplus. I've worked with people for a lot of years now and know well that this isn't a hard and fast rule. But I also know that trying to accomplish both... or better yet... expecting to accomplish both is typically a recipe for frustration.

    Yeah I thought that but was hoping otherwise :) I'm just worried about losing too much weight as I'm happy with my size now, however my BF is just about in the healthy range so I want to reduce it a bit more for health reasons.
    When you're new to resistance training, it's VERY likely that you can lose fat while adding muscle. This ability won't last forever though, so it's important to milk this time period for everything it's worth. You still want to lose fat, so yes, you need to be eating in a calorie deficit. Concurrently though, I'd be focusing on 2-3 full body strength training sessions per week. I'm talking very basic stuff where you're in and out of the weight room in 30-45 minutes.
    Ok, thanks.
    The idea is to do just enough to stimulate muscle growth/maintenance and no more. Doing more is futile since you're in a calorie deficit. you can use the additional time to do some conditioning work or whatever.

    New Rules of Lifting for Women is okay. Not a huge fan of the author, but I'm sure the programming is suitable. It's hard to totally screw up programming as long a few core fundamentals are adhered to such as proper exercise form, adequate loading, progressive overload, etc. Another very basic program that would be worth checking out is the basic 5x5 program. Mark Rippetoe has some fantastic resources that he sells - 2 books.... Practical Programming and Starting Strength along with a companion DVD that shows exercise form. You can simply google "5x5 workout" though and get the general gist without buying the books... though the books will set a lot of people straight about a lot of things pertaining to strength training.

    Here are a couple of websites as examples:

    http://madcow.hostzi.com/table_of_contents_thread.htm

    http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

    The bottom line is you want to learn how to squat. You want to learn how to hinge at the hips (deadlifts, hip thrusts, pull throughs, RDLs, etc). You want to learn how to press weights as in the bench press and overhead press. You want to learn how to row. And you want to learn how to stabilize the core.

    Once that foundation is in place, you can put together a basic program as outlined in 5x5 or some other iteration and focus on getting stronger until that stops working. Simple as that.

    Thanks for the info, I'll definitely look into these. Appreciate your time and help :)
  • babyblues4
    babyblues4 Posts: 241 Member
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    Great Video Steve. Great thread, very inspiring.

    Question. Do you recommend training one body part a day ie, legs, chest etc? When I use to life (8yrs ago) that's what I did. Getting back into lifting again and using bodybuilder website and their "program" is a full body workout.

    Thoughts?

    Thanks!
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options

    Couple of things.

    1. I'm not going to go through an entire, individualized program for you as that wouldn't be fair to my clients. I don't think you're expecting that either. But when I answer questions like this, I like for people to see the big picture... to learn something... and from there, to build out their own program.

    Oh course, that's what I was aiming for, thank you for the response.
    2. You say you work with a trainer but he doesn't have you lift weights because you're weak. I don't really get that. If you're weak, you SHOULD BE lifting weights to improve your strength. Avoiding weights won't fix your weakness. Is sounds like he at least has you doing calisthenics, and that's okay, assuming his intent is to build some very preliminary strength using solely your body weight and to hammer down movement quality before adding external resistance to the movement. Knowing how most trainers operate though, I'm doubtful. Also, are you paying him for the full hour when half of that hour is spent on an elliptical? If so, I'd fire him before the 2 sessions are up, haha.

    Well, I'm not 100%sure of the reason, I'm only guessing. He doesn't speak much english so communication, other than basic commands, can be difficult. Tbh, I don't think he's giving me much now that I can't do myself(now that I know how the machines work). No, the half hour elliptical is separate to the hour. I've already paid for the last 2 sessions, so I'll use them and see what we do.
    3. You're very concerned about exchanging fat for muscle. It doesn't generally work like this, unfortunately. They're completely separate tissues. In general, losing fat requires a deficit and gaining muscle requires a surplus. I've worked with people for a lot of years now and know well that this isn't a hard and fast rule. But I also know that trying to accomplish both... or better yet... expecting to accomplish both is typically a recipe for frustration.

    Yeah I thought that but was hoping otherwise :) I'm just worried about losing too much weight as I'm happy with my size now, however my BF is just about in the healthy range so I want to reduce it a bit more for health reasons.
    When you're new to resistance training, it's VERY likely that you can lose fat while adding muscle. This ability won't last forever though, so it's important to milk this time period for everything it's worth. You still want to lose fat, so yes, you need to be eating in a calorie deficit. Concurrently though, I'd be focusing on 2-3 full body strength training sessions per week. I'm talking very basic stuff where you're in and out of the weight room in 30-45 minutes.
    Ok, thanks.
    The idea is to do just enough to stimulate muscle growth/maintenance and no more. Doing more is futile since you're in a calorie deficit. you can use the additional time to do some conditioning work or whatever.

    New Rules of Lifting for Women is okay. Not a huge fan of the author, but I'm sure the programming is suitable. It's hard to totally screw up programming as long a few core fundamentals are adhered to such as proper exercise form, adequate loading, progressive overload, etc. Another very basic program that would be worth checking out is the basic 5x5 program. Mark Rippetoe has some fantastic resources that he sells - 2 books.... Practical Programming and Starting Strength along with a companion DVD that shows exercise form. You can simply google "5x5 workout" though and get the general gist without buying the books... though the books will set a lot of people straight about a lot of things pertaining to strength training.

    Here are a couple of websites as examples:

    http://madcow.hostzi.com/table_of_contents_thread.htm

    http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/

    The bottom line is you want to learn how to squat. You want to learn how to hinge at the hips (deadlifts, hip thrusts, pull throughs, RDLs, etc). You want to learn how to press weights as in the bench press and overhead press. You want to learn how to row. And you want to learn how to stabilize the core.

    Once that foundation is in place, you can put together a basic program as outlined in 5x5 or some other iteration and focus on getting stronger until that stops working. Simple as that.

    Thanks for the info, I'll definitely look into these. Appreciate your time and help :)

    No problem. I feel like I didn't really help though. Take a real gander at those links I provided or pick up the books I mentioned. Once you're done with them, if you have questions, I'm all ears.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
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    Great Video Steve. Great thread, very inspiring.

    Question. Do you recommend training one body part a day ie, legs, chest etc? When I use to life (8yrs ago) that's what I did. Getting back into lifting again and using bodybuilder website and their "program" is a full body workout.

    Thoughts?

    Thanks!

    It's pretty comical that you're using a body builder website that emphasizes full body training but you're wondering if you should train one body part per day. It's funny because that's the exact opposite of how it typically is. It's typically that people are wondering if they should do full body training because the bodybuilder stuff they're reading is saying to train one body part per day.

    And that's just it, the crush one body part per day mentality stems from the steroid bodybuilding era. There are ways of making it work for the average joe or jane, but I don't see much of a point in it, generally speaking.

    Depending on your goals, I'd likely resort to something that hits each major movement pattern at least a couple of times each week. There are many ways to package a routine that accomplishes this, but by and large, I resort to full body training or split training that has you hitting your upper body twice per week and your lower body twice per week. I'll also sometimes use a split that has you train lower body once per week, upper body once per week, and then a third session focusing on full body.
  • TheCats_Meow
    TheCats_Meow Posts: 438 Member
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    bumpin' for a later read.

    Thanks in advance for the info! :smile:
  • babyblues4
    babyblues4 Posts: 241 Member
    Options
    Great Video Steve. Great thread, very inspiring.

    Question. Do you recommend training one body part a day ie, legs, chest etc? When I use to life (8yrs ago) that's what I did. Getting back into lifting again and using bodybuilder website and their "program" is a full body workout.

    Thoughts?

    Thanks!

    It's pretty comical that you're using a body builder website that emphasizes full body training but you're wondering if you should train one body part per day. It's funny because that's the exact opposite of how it typically is. It's typically that people are wondering if they should do full body training because the bodybuilder stuff they're reading is saying to train one body part per day.

    And that's just it, the crush one body part per day mentality stems from the steroid bodybuilding era. There are ways of making it work for the average joe or jane, but I don't see much of a point in it, generally speaking.

    Depending on your goals, I'd likely resort to something that hits each major movement pattern at least a couple of times each week. There are many ways to package a routine that accomplishes this, but by and large, I resort to full body training or split training that has you hitting your upper body twice per week and your lower body twice per week. I'll also sometimes use a split that has you train lower body once per week, upper body once per week, and then a third session focusing on full body.

    Thanks for the response. I guess it was the options I chose the first time around. I went back and adjusted some options and it gave me a different program.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options
    Great Video Steve. Great thread, very inspiring.

    Question. Do you recommend training one body part a day ie, legs, chest etc? When I use to life (8yrs ago) that's what I did. Getting back into lifting again and using bodybuilder website and their "program" is a full body workout.

    Thoughts?

    Thanks!

    It's pretty comical that you're using a body builder website that emphasizes full body training but you're wondering if you should train one body part per day. It's funny because that's the exact opposite of how it typically is. It's typically that people are wondering if they should do full body training because the bodybuilder stuff they're reading is saying to train one body part per day.

    And that's just it, the crush one body part per day mentality stems from the steroid bodybuilding era. There are ways of making it work for the average joe or jane, but I don't see much of a point in it, generally speaking.

    Depending on your goals, I'd likely resort to something that hits each major movement pattern at least a couple of times each week. There are many ways to package a routine that accomplishes this, but by and large, I resort to full body training or split training that has you hitting your upper body twice per week and your lower body twice per week. I'll also sometimes use a split that has you train lower body once per week, upper body once per week, and then a third session focusing on full body.

    Thanks for the response. I guess it was the options I chose the first time around. I went back and adjusted some options and it gave me a different program.

    Glad to hear and best to ya!
  • jenhowse1
    jenhowse1 Posts: 49
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    Bump. To read later. Thanks
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    This thread is helpful. I have always had good muscle mass though not very strong. Still, I don't desire to take the risk. Besides the increase in muscle mass helps to burn more calories.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options
    This thread is helpful. I have always had good muscle mass though not very strong. Still, I don't desire to take the risk. Besides the increase in muscle mass helps to burn more calories.

    That it does. Though I find that most people SERIOUSLY overestimate the amount of calories muscle burns. I've seen pretty insane statements like each additional pound of muscle burns 25 or even 50 calories per day. That's just not the case. But it is more metabolically costly than, say, fat. Even though there's also a metabolic cost to fat tissue, which is something else many people overlook.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
    Options
    This thread is helpful. I have always had good muscle mass though not very strong. Still, I don't desire to take the risk. Besides the increase in muscle mass helps to burn more calories.

    That it does. Though I find that most people SERIOUSLY overestimate the amount of calories muscle burns. I've seen pretty insane statements like each additional pound of muscle burns 25 or even 50 calories per day. That's just not the case. But it is more metabolically costly than, say, fat. Even though there's also a metabolic cost to fat tissue, which is something else many people overlook.

    I don't eat back exercise calories unless I am hungry anyway so I've never really taken the caloric burn of increased muscle mass into consideration. I just know that it helps increase my BMR. That's good enough for me.

    I don't have any weights now, but I plan to get some next year. For now, I use resistance bands and my own body weight. Can you recommend some exercises?
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options
    This thread is helpful. I have always had good muscle mass though not very strong. Still, I don't desire to take the risk. Besides the increase in muscle mass helps to burn more calories.

    That it does. Though I find that most people SERIOUSLY overestimate the amount of calories muscle burns. I've seen pretty insane statements like each additional pound of muscle burns 25 or even 50 calories per day. That's just not the case. But it is more metabolically costly than, say, fat. Even though there's also a metabolic cost to fat tissue, which is something else many people overlook.

    I don't eat back exercise calories unless I am hungry anyway so I've never really taken the caloric burn of increased muscle mass into consideration. I just know that it helps increase my BMR. That's good enough for me.

    I don't have any weights now, but I plan to get some next year. For now, I use resistance bands and my own body weight. Can you recommend some exercises?

    Resistance is resistance. Your body doesn't know that it's using weights. It just registers that there's a load to be lifted and that load can come from external or internal sources.

    Internal would simply be your body weight. External would be things like barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, etc.

    I'm in the process of writing a very length home strength training article so stay tuned. I've been promising it for far too long and it IS in the works. I'm just having a hard time finding the time to finish it. When it's done though, I'll post it up.

    In the meantime though, you want to focus on the big money exercises like squat and lunge variations, deadlift and hip thrust variations, pushing, pulling, and core stabilization work.
  • blondishandbookish
    blondishandbookish Posts: 31
    Options
    Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it's been very informative.
    I'm looking into the best exercise routine for me at the moment and it can get confusing but this cleared up quite a bit.

    I still have a few questions though if anyone can help.

    When I started MFP, my focus was on changing my eating habits and losing weight. I've been naturally slim most of my life but an awful diet for the past 2 years and getting older led to me putting on 2stone. Now I'm coming close to the goal of losing that 2stone again, I'm looking at what I need to do to tone up(need to look fab for my wedding next July :)) and have a generally healthy attitude and programme to follow for life.

    My goals:
    1) Lose the final 5lbs or so to reach my goal of 140lb (I'm 5'7" and 25 years old).
    2) Once at goal weight, reduce body fat percentage (however I'm happy with the goal weight, so I need to replace the fat with muscle)
    3) Build strength, build muscle, look fab, feel healthy!
    4) Keeping 'fit' cardio-wise. I'm going travelling in Africa on honeymoon and there'l be plenty of difficult trekking (to see gorillas etc) and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling like I'm dying! (I hate cardio :()



    All tips welcome. Thanks

    Not an expert in anything except for the hiking bit - swap the elliptical for the stepper - got given this advice when training for kili and it really does work. (And make sure you walk in your boots/ rucksack before the trekking).
  • SarahMorganP
    SarahMorganP Posts: 921 Member
    Options
    I have been thinking of joining the womens weight lifting class at the Y, but just haven't gotten very serious about it. I think I will go there tomorrow after work and talk to someone about it!
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options
    Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread, it's been very informative.
    I'm looking into the best exercise routine for me at the moment and it can get confusing but this cleared up quite a bit.

    I still have a few questions though if anyone can help.

    When I started MFP, my focus was on changing my eating habits and losing weight. I've been naturally slim most of my life but an awful diet for the past 2 years and getting older led to me putting on 2stone. Now I'm coming close to the goal of losing that 2stone again, I'm looking at what I need to do to tone up(need to look fab for my wedding next July :)) and have a generally healthy attitude and programme to follow for life.

    My goals:
    1) Lose the final 5lbs or so to reach my goal of 140lb (I'm 5'7" and 25 years old).
    2) Once at goal weight, reduce body fat percentage (however I'm happy with the goal weight, so I need to replace the fat with muscle)
    3) Build strength, build muscle, look fab, feel healthy!
    4) Keeping 'fit' cardio-wise. I'm going travelling in Africa on honeymoon and there'l be plenty of difficult trekking (to see gorillas etc) and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling like I'm dying! (I hate cardio :()



    All tips welcome. Thanks

    Not an expert in anything except for the hiking bit - swap the elliptical for the stepper - got given this advice when training for kili and it really does work. (And make sure you walk in your boots/ rucksack before the trekking).

    Yeah, I'd agree with these things. Somehow I missed the hiking portion of that post. I'm an avid backpacker and mountaineer myself. Another option would be mountain biking. I've found it to be the greatest form of cross training for my treks.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Options
    I have been thinking of joining the womens weight lifting class at the Y, but just haven't gotten very serious about it. I think I will go there tomorrow after work and talk to someone about it!

    I wonder how they have it structured. I've done a few small group strength training clinics for women where I educate the group about the basics and why this stuff's important. This if followed with an introduction to barbell training where we hammer down proper form and mechanics. Then, in subsequent meetings, each woman is given an individualized program.... so they get the camaraderie paired with an individualized program.

    In my experience, a lot of these "female weight lifting" classes or clinics are merely glorified circuit training, where they emphasize fatigue over strength and form. Hopefully that's not the case with the class you're considering.

    Good luck!

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