Ladies, when you say, "I lift, little cardio." What does tha

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TheMiddlePath
TheMiddlePath Posts: 230 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I am so happy for all the ladies on here that I see getting amazing results mostly 'lifting' and not doing much cardio...what does that mean?

Can you provide some examples of your weekly routine? Ideally both free weights and machines....

How many reps/sets of what exercises, at what weights, how many days a week?

Thanks!
on behalf of all the rest of us that are new to "lifting"
:D
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Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    im doing new rules of lifting for women and lift 3 days a week since it's a full body program.
    here's my last routine from Sunday. all exercises were 2 sets of 12 reps and i rest 45-60 seconds between sets

    dead lifts 110#,125#
    dumbbell shoulder press: left 25,30 right 22.5,25
    wide lat pulldown :112.5,120
    lunges: 22.5,25
    swiss ball crunch 25

    generally speaking i use the last (heaviest) weight from the previous workout as the starting point (easiest weight) for the next workout.
    as for cardio i probably do 4 hours a week
  • TheMiddlePath
    TheMiddlePath Posts: 230 Member
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    im doing new rules of lifting for women and lift 3 days a week since it's a full body program.
    here's my last routine from Sunday. all exercises were 2 sets of 12 reps and i rest 45-60 seconds between sets

    dead lifts 110#,125#
    dumbbell shoulder press: left 25,30 right 22.5,25
    wide lat pulldown :112.5,120
    lunges: 22.5,25
    swiss ball crunch 25

    generally speaking i use the last (heaviest) weight from the previous workout as the starting point (easiest weight) for the next workout.
    as for cardio i probably do 4 hours a week

    Thanks for the detail! weights over 100#...WOW - I definitely can't lift like that! Are those machines?
  • alexsmith01
    alexsmith01 Posts: 350 Member
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    im doing new rules of lifting for women and lift 3 days a week since it's a full body program.
    here's my last routine from Sunday. all exercises were 2 sets of 12 reps and i rest 45-60 seconds between sets

    dead lifts 110#,125#
    dumbbell shoulder press: left 25,30 right 22.5,25
    wide lat pulldown :112.5,120
    lunges: 22.5,25
    swiss ball crunch 25

    generally speaking i use the last (heaviest) weight from the previous workout as the starting point (easiest weight) for the next workout.
    as for cardio i probably do 4 hours a week

    Hey there - just wondering how long you've been doing this routine and what your success has been?
    Also what intensity is your cardio?
    I probably do around 4 hours a week or maybe even less of cardio, so if I was to get into the whole "heavy lifting, little cardio" thing I would have to actually increase my cardio haha. I try and do quite intense cardio (I run) mixed in with pilates and yoga - I used to do weights but not very heavy - may try heavier weights but that means I have to join a gym again and I travel a lot for work so can't go as much as I would like.
  • KPainter70
    KPainter70 Posts: 152
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    Here's a sample of what my typical week looks like. My exercises vary since my trainer likes to keep things interesting. lol

    Monday: Cardio warm up - 10 mins. Legs & Abs - variety of squats (hack, sissy, regular, front), leg press, deadlifts, weighted walking lunges, step ups, possibly some box jumps, weighted crunches, leg lifts, plank

    Tuesday: Rest day

    Wednesday: Cardio warm up - 10 mins. Shoulders & Obliques - DB presses, Arnold presses, DB raises (laterals, sides), face pulls, etc, then side plank, Russian twists, leg lifts with twists, Cardio finish - 10-20 mins of HIIT

    Thursday: Cardio warm up - 10 mins. Arms - BB curls, DB curls, skull crushers, tricep extension, super set of cable curls/extensions

    Friday: Cardio warm up - 10 mins. Chest and Back - Bench press, DB presses (inclines, flat, etc), flies, seated and standing rows, lat pull downs Cardio finish - 10 - 20 mins of HIIT

    Saturday: 20 mins HIIT & Abs

    Sunday: rest day
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    this is my second time going through new rules, which is why those numbers are so high. actually i lost a bit of strength in those 2 yeats since by the end of the program the first time i was able to do 1 unassisted chin up. i was quite proud of that considering i wsd 250 # and had to do my pushups against a wall when i first started 6 months prior.

    the first time i followed their advice strictly in terms of diet and cardio. i did lose a size, so id suggest following their advice about eating at maintenance or a above if you're close to your goal weight and want to lose a size or 2.

    this time im trying to get skinny :laugh: dammit

    cardio wise, on lift days i do 30 minutes. 15 mins warm up before lifting and 15 minutes hiit (15 seconds all out, 15 seconds rest)
    2 days a week i do 45-60 minutes of easier hiit (2 min recovery, 1 min all out)
    1 day a week i do 45-60 minutes of easy steady state cardio. im usually too pooped to do anything hiit related on this cardio day, so i usually just do something fun like a water aerobics class or yoga
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    I have my own routine, it is basically just Starting Strength base with a few exercises I love and have to keep up on for the Army ROTC. Strongly suggest Starting Strength

    Cardio I uh walk to class and that's about it anymore lol

    Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Lifting
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    Monday - Thursday - Sat I either Barbell Squat -- Overhead press -- Deadlift or Barbell Squat -- Bench Press -- Barbell row (aka Stronglifts 5x5) which takes me about 45 minutes to an hour depending on how much rest time I need in between (90 seconds to 5 minutes in between each set of 5) and I do not do anything active during my rest time, I rest (I rest standing but that's it).

    i don't cardio warmup at all anymore - I didn't feel like it really got me warm so I just do some lighter weight squats as a warm up.

    As far as hardcore cardio I do more or less zero. I will occasionally go for a jog or fastish walk but the jogging portion is never more than 35 minutes or so. those are only on my non-lifting days. On lifting days I will sometimes get on an elliptical or something and just kind of wander along at a low intensity for 30-40 minutes. Low intensity like HR under 120. I just do it because otherwise I spend all day sitting on my butt so I figure some easy walking/biking/whatever the hell the elliptical is makes up for hte massive amount of time I spend on my butt. (and I try to at least stand up several times a day)

    Since I started this about 4 weeks ago I've probably seen the best significant improvements in my measurements in such a short period of time since back when I was first starting out and had lots of weight to lose.

    PS ok other people are pimping their numbers so I'm gonna too - Squat 115, bench 75, overhead 60, barbell row 80, deadlift 120. but it changes every week right now - except the presses and I'm starting to stall out at those numbers.
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
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    I found New Rules of Lifting to be a little overly complicated. I'm mostly doing StrongLifts 5x5 now, which is deadlifts, squats, bench, rows (for your back), and overhead presses, five sets of five reps for each exercise. There's a free download with a PDF that explains the whole program, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking to get stronger. I'm now squatting about 10lbs over my body weight, and I can deadlift 1.5x my body weight (working my way up to 2x)! I've also been eating around 2300 calories a day. I've gained exactly zero inches, and am getting better definition in my arms. Woohoo!
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
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    To clarify about StrongLifts, you don't do all of those every day - they're broken up into two different workouts, and you only lift every other day.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I was doing 30-45 min lifting 3 times a week followed by 20-30min low-moderate intensity cardio. Now I'm trying to split it up so I just do lifting 3 days a week, and cardio 2 days (for 45-60 min)
  • kmorris246
    kmorris246 Posts: 312 Member
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    Another one doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women program :-) I just started- about 2.5 weeks in and LOVE it so far. Used to be a Cardio queen (running, Insanity, HIIT, and kickboxing), and would do "light" strength-training. Now just doing NROL and HIIT, and running here and there sometimes (because I love it). However, for all that cardio that I used to do, I'm seeing MUCH quicker results with heavy lifting. Especially in my hips and midsection, which was a huge shock to me.

    If you're interested in getting into heavy lifting, I highly suggest buying this book. Its awesome as a starting point!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    oh yeah my successes:

    the only running ive been doing for about 2 months is the 15 minute ultra hiit. before then i could maybe do 5 minutes straight on a 5.0 setting. i checked again 2 weeks ago and i was up to 20 zminutes on 5.5!

    losing an average of 2# a week with minimal changes to my diet. even thogh i have days where i eat entire pizzas and whole containers of shortbread cookies i still lose 2 lbs an average

    my blood pressure has decreased to being high and my doctor wanting to put me on meds, to be being on the lower end of normal

    so far ive lost a pant size

    i have a tendency to collect fat on my inner thigh, that area is slimming down nicely.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Oh and I also do Strong Lifts 5x5.
  • kmorris246
    kmorris246 Posts: 312 Member
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    oh yeah my successes:

    the only running ive been doing for about 2 months is the 15 minute ultra hiit. before then i could maybe do 5 minutes straight on a 5.0 setting. i checked again 2 weeks ago and i was up to 20 zminutes on 5.5!

    losing an average of 2# a week with minimal changes to my diet. even thogh i have days where i eat entire pizzas and whole containers of shortbread cookies i still lose 2 lbs an average

    my blood pressure has decreased to being high and my doctor wanting to put me on meds, to be being on the lower end of normal

    so far ive lost a pant size

    i have a tendency to collect fat on my inner thigh, that area is slimming down nicely.

    If I may add- you are doing so awesome :-)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    I found New Rules of Lifting to be a little overly complicated. I'm mostly doing StrongLifts 5x5 now, which is deadlifts, squats, bench, rows (for your back), and overhead presses, five sets of five reps for each exercise. There's a free download with a PDF that explains the whole program, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking to get stronger. I'm now squatting about 10lbs over my body weight, and I can deadlift 1.5x my body weight (working my way up to 2x)! I've also been eating around 2300 calories a day. I've gained exactly zero inches, and am getting better definition in my arms. Woohoo!

    i did stronglifts for a month before going back to new rules. i liked it. i just went back to new rules because a good friend of mine who is new to lifting wanted company. tge strong lifts program scared her, i think because of the idea she'd need to lift heavy *kitten* weights, make grunting noises and quite possibly drop weights noisily, so baby steps!

    OP, you can also look into something called complexes too. tnation has a great article on these as well as routines. id post a link but i'm on my phone :(
  • tlhorsley
    tlhorsley Posts: 141 Member
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    this is my second time going through new rules, which is why those numbers are so high. actually i lost a bit of strength in those 2 yeats since by the end of the program the first time i was able to do 1 unassisted chin up. i was quite proud of that considering i wsd 250 # and had to do my pushups against a wall when i first started 6 months prior.

    the first time i followed their advice strictly in terms of diet and cardio. i did lose a size, so id suggest following their advice about eating at maintenance or a above if you're close to your goal weight and want to lose a size or 2.

    this time im trying to get skinny :laugh: dammit

    cardio wise, on lift days i do 30 minutes. 15 mins warm up before lifting and 15 minutes hiit (15 seconds all out, 15 seconds rest)
    2 days a week i do 45-60 minutes of easier hiit (2 min recovery, 1 min all out)
    1 day a week i do 45-60 minutes of easy steady state cardio. im usually too pooped to do anything hiit related on this cardio day, so i usually just do something fun like a water aerobics class or yoga

    Wew...I was happy to read that this is your 2nd time doing New Rules for Women.... I am in my 3rd week and when I was reading the weights you were using I thought wow...I must be REALLY weak!!!

    With that being said I am lifting 3 days a week and the only cardio I am doing right now is the 5 minute warm-up I do before I lift. My legs are shot and sore and need to recover on my "off" days and are too shot for sure to do a cardio after I lift.

    I love the program and hope to be lifting as heavy as the person I quoted!
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 795 Member
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    Love this... since I just had a conversation with a friend reminding me that I would need to do some cardio if I really wanted to lose weight. But I'm sold out to the other camp now. LOL

    I've been watching diet since January 14th and started New Rules of Lifting for Women on February 6th.

    When I started I was trying to do two days of planned "cardio" each week, as well as generally increased activity, and three days a week of lifting. I've stopped trying to plan cardio workouts, and now my cardio consists of whatever is happening. Today it was shoveling snow. LOL

    So far I've lost about 8 lb (not sure since I haven't weighed since a week ago) and lost 9.75" overall, and seen some real changes in strength... not to mention in confidence.

    Squat - from 20lb to 80 lb
    Deadlift - from 20lb to 135 lb!!
    Pushups - from barely able to do one, now at three sets of ten (on my knees, but still)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    double post sorry
  • suztheq
    suztheq Posts: 171
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    Currently, my week looks like this:
    Monday: Road bike HIIT 20 mins, ride for 40 minutes after
    Tuesday: Squats 3x5 @ 115lbs, shoulder press 3x5 @ 65lbs, bent over rows 3x5 @ 90lbs (workout B)
    Wednesday: Road bike HIIT 20 mins, group ride 60-90 minutes (20 mile minimum)
    Thursday: Squats 3x5 @ 115lbs, bench press 3x5 @ 80 lbs, dead lifts 1x5 @ 90 lbs (workout A)
    Friday: Road bike HIIT 20 mins, group ride 60-90 minutes (20 mile minimum)
    Saturday: Workout B
    Sunday: Stretch X (from P90X)

    I rotate workouts A and B next week so "A" is done twice, "B" once. Weight increases for all lifting exercises. Also, as cycling season ramps up and my foot heals from surgery, the miles will go way up too. It's cool seeing what everyone else does too. :smile:
  • deekaydee
    deekaydee Posts: 158 Member
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    I am also doing Stronglifts.

    I do more than a little cardio, because I have some races coming up that I'm still training for. I've backed off from what I used to do. My schedule is:

    M Stronglifts (e.g. squat, overhead press, deadlift)
    T 15s / 45 s interval running -- 10 minutes of this knocks me out -- then 20 minutes of steady-state running
    W Stronglifts (squat, bench press, barbell row)
    Th treadmill incline work 30 minutes or crosstraining
    F Stronglifts
    Sa Rest
    Su 3-5 mile run

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