Ladies who lift. . .

stenochick0417

Hi, all. I've been lurking on the forums and am extremely inspired by all the before/during/after pics of the women who lift and I really want to add weight lifting to my fitness routine. My question is, do you alternate lifting and cardio days or do both on the same day? How exactly does weight lifting fit in with your fitness routine? I'm a big cycler (will probably do it every day once spring comes along) and for now, I'm doing spinning classes at the gym to keep the momentum going as far as my weight loss.

But, like I said, I'd really like to add weights to what I'm doing now. I've read the New Rules and have Chalean Extreme videos at home, plus some free weights (no barbie weights!) so I have somewhat of a starting point. I'm just confused as to when or how many days or how often (or really how) to work lifting in to what I'm doing now.

Any help or advice is appreciated! :flowerforyou:

shamr0ck

Weight lifting *is* my fitness routine, lol. I do 9 hours of lifting per week with a trainer, and about 5 hours of cardio. I do my cardio after my lifting sessions, unless you count 5-10 minutes of warmup beforehand.

kgordon7

I'd suggest just following the calendar for Chalean Extreme and adding extra cardio exercises on your rest days where you see fit.

brandiuntz

I strength train 4 times a week (2 days of upper body, 2 of lower body), and cardio twice a week. I sometimes do cardio after strength training.

LJC44

On days I lift I try to do some intervals afterwards (even 10 min). Adding any cardio after lifting I think would help! I would also save low impact cardio for their own separate days (say 45 min of walking or slow jogging), although I do not do alot of low impact cardio. I also have one day dedicated to intervals and plyo. Your cycling could def be done after lifting or you could try 1 day lifting, next day cycle, 1 day lifting, next day cycling, etc. (rotate days). Hope this helps somewhat! I am going off of my experience!

tmoyer1209

I personally lift 2-3 days a week, and do JIllian MIchaels DVDs 5-6 days a week. I, fortunately, have the option of doing Jillian earlier in the day, then lifting in the evening. When I lift right now I am doing a whole body circuit, a couple exercises on each major body group. Make sure you don't under eat tho, as your muscles still need fuel, the harder you push it, the more it needs!

savlyon

Check out bodybuilding.com. There are a lot of awesome programs on there. Jamie Eason's program looks awesome, but it suggests cutting out cardio for a month. I'm planning on starting it doing cardio too.

Dbaratta1

Lifting weights is my favorite part of my work out. I love the burn and am much stronger in general when I do. I do cardio to warm up my muscles, then do the weights. I also have a weight bench and free weights at home I use on days I don't go to the gym. I think if you add weights to your work out you will like it,,,,but only one way to find out,,,,,

molissep

i currently do 3 days of strength training (incorporating upper and lower body) with 20-30 min of cardio and then 3 days of cardio, 50-60 min and 1 day of rest. adding strength training has changed my body so much and it's only been a month.

HeidiMightyRawr

I do 5x a week Mon-Fri with weekends off.
It's a split routine and goes a bit like: Workout A - B -C - A - B so A&B are 2x a week and C only once a week.

I used to do just 2-3 days a week full body though, I've heard that's best for when you are new to lifting.

As far as cardio goes, I don't do much, but when I do, it's usually after my lifting or on a separate day. So you could do alternative cardio-lifting days such as cardio - lifting - cardio - lifting etc etc and have 1 or 2 days rest. Or if you like to cycle almost every day, you could do 3x a week lifting and 5/6 x a week cycling, with 1 or 2 days off?

ArroganceInStep

In case you missed it from my profile pic, I'm not a lady. That being said you should base your schedule around the time frame you have. Myself personally I lift M W F and do cardio T Th Sa Su. It's what works for me, and since during the week I go to my gym over lunch I don't usually have time to lift and do cardio anyway. If I had more time, I'd add HIIT immediately following lifting (I'm a masochist I know), and would reserve my current 'cardio' days for longer distance endurance runs. Go with what fits in better for you. I'm sure there are plenty of arguments as to when you should exercise, how long you should exercise for at any given time, and what foot you should take the first step with to maximize your burn. At the end of the day, sticking with a routine because it's convenient for you is far better than the added burn you'd get from wearing a pink shirt over a blue one.

RunChinni

I lift on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and do cardio on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

I also tend to eat more protein on the days I lift. Probably because I am hungrier on the days I lift.

Mondays - Lower body and Core exercises
Wednesdays - Chest and Back exercises
Fridays - Shoulder, Biceps and Triceps.

And my cardio workout is typically running (street or treadmill)

It takes a while getting to understand lifting and finding out what works best for you.

Bodybuilding.com and Muscleandstrength.com have excellent programs for you to begin with. And lift heavy. :-)

deekaydee

I split up lifting and cardio days. I've been focusing more on lifting lately, but still run races so like to keep up the cardio. But I find that if I combine them on the same day, one or the other suffers. So I keep them separate.

Right now I lift Mon, Wed, Fri and do cardio, Tues, Thurs, Sun. After my next race I plan to tone down the cardio and focus more on lifting, so I can make more gains there.

nutandbutter

I used to do just 2-3 days a week full body though, I've heard that's best for when you are new to lifting.

As far as cardio goes, I don't do much, but when I do, it's usually after my lifting or on a separate day. So you could do alternative cardio-lifting days such as cardio - lifting - cardio - lifting etc etc and have 1 or 2 days rest. Or if you like to cycle almost every day, you could do 3x a week lifting and 5/6 x a week cycling, with 1 or 2 days off?

x2

I'm new to lifting (started in September) so I'm doing compounds and lifting heavy 3 times a week. My rep max is 4-8. Since I'm a noob, I was able to go up in strength while eating at a deficit (notice I said strength, not necessarily muscle). Now I'm doing a couple weeks of maintenance before moving into a recomp through summer. My mind can't handle more cutting. Since I won't be running a huge deficit, I'll be adding HIIT after my workouts 1-2 times per week (max 20 minutes).

amysj303

I am doing the Jamie Eason Livefit trainer, it's a 12-week plan and it the first month there was no cardio, and the reason was that she really wanted us to focus on building muscle and not syphon away calories for cardio. the second month there is cardio, 30 minutes after lifting, about three days per week. Now, in the last month, we are doing HIIT and that is after lifting as well.
I would like to get to a maintenance where I am only in the gym three days per week, so I would continue to do some cardio after lifting and maybe short jogs or dog walks on the weekends.

teagin2002

So far I have a split workout routine:

3 weeks working out 5 to 6 days a week:
3 days lifting heavy for 1.5 to 2 hrs then a 30 min aerobics and stretching.
2 to 3 days 30 min lifting heavy, then 15 min HIIT with stationary bike (30 sec @ tension 20, then 1 min @ tension 5), 30 min bike @ tension 5, then 25 min calisthenics and stretching.
Food wise I eat 400 under my maintenance + cals back from exercise with macros 30% protein, 50% carbs, 20% fat.

1 week working out 5 days a week:
4 days lifting heavy 1.5 to 2 hrs then a 30 min aerobics and stretching.
1 day HIIT and cardio as listed above.
Food wise will eat @ maintenance with 5 days macros 50% protein, 20% carbs, 30% fat (workout days)
2 days still @ maintenance but eating what ever I want not paying attention to macros and only going on walks with my sweetheart.

Lifting heavy meaning to where I can only do 5 to 8 reps with the amount of weight on the bar or the machine.

Also this might benefit you:
For my shapely silhouette and larger breast I drink a tea I make at home, here is the recipe:

1tbs fegureek seeds
1tbs funnel seeds
5 whole star anise
2 cups water

boil for about 20 min then drink the entire thing every day. You can feel free to research it to see what it actually does to the body.

I also do eat some fat (mostly olive oil and coconut oil) nuts, love fruit and all kinds of veggies. When it comes to carbs I try to stay away from processed foods and it is hard to do with carbs. So I tend to eat more whole oats and rice, or higher fiber breads, if they have a higher fiber content it will slow the digestion process and help me stay fuller for a longer period of time.

MMarvelous

My approach to start lifting weights was to take a few strength training classes at my gym. I needed instructions and help with form and selecting the proper weights for my strength level. I do boot camp a couple of days a week and another strength training class. I started w/ 3lbs and 5lb weights. After a year I am at 5lbs, 8lbs and 10lbs. I will get 12lbs weights and try doing a set with those. I use a 15 body bar and barbell. There are weight lifting books just for women. I like the Her Muscle and Fitness books.

stenochick0417

Thank you all for the tips and tricks. Now maybe I can find what fits in my schedule and get going! (Easier said than done sometimes. . . )

ChanyRae

I work out at home. The days I lift, I still jump on the elliptical for 10-20 minutes before. I like to warm my muscles up and cardio just feel so good to me!

Then a few days a week I do cardio on its own for 30-45 minutes.

LJC44

In case you missed it from my profile pic, I'm not a lady. That being said you should base your schedule around the time frame you have. Myself personally I lift M W F and do cardio T Th Sa Su. It's what works for me, and since during the week I go to my gym over lunch I don't usually have time to lift and do cardio anyway. If I had more time, I'd add HIIT immediately following lifting (I'm a masochist I know), and would reserve my current 'cardio' days for longer distance endurance runs. Go with what fits in better for you. I'm sure there are plenty of arguments as to when you should exercise, how long you should exercise for at any given time, and what foot you should take the first step with to maximize your burn. At the end of the day, sticking with a routine because it's convenient for you is far better than the added burn you'd get from wearing a pink shirt over a blue one.

\

Absolutely agree