For women who lift heavy...

smccb

for women who lift heavy and have seen great results......

I am trying to lower my body fat percentage. Some questions:

Is Chalene Extreme a good program? A gym is out of the question; I live way out in the middle of nowhere.

Do you do any cardio, or is it all heavy lifting?

What is a good body fat percentage to aim for? And what is the best way to calculate it?

Can you eat carbs when lifting heavy? I currently do intense cardio and need the carbs (good carbs) to fuel the workouts. I am wondering if I will have to give that up.

Thanks!

Sarah

KPainter70

I don't know anything about Chalene. I just lift. I do a little cardio - HIIT 2-3 times a week. That's it other than my 5-10 minutes of warm-up.

I'm aiming for 18% bodyfat, but what's good for you might be different. Best way to calculate it is water immersion, but outside of that, someone who KNOWS how to use calipers can give you a close reading.

Yes, I eat carbs, all kinds.

meshashesha2012

also have a look at complexes
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/rebuild_yourself_with_complexes

i have never done chalean but i have a friend who does it and she seems to like it. i'm currently doing new rules of lifting for women but have also done strong lifts. not sure what you're body is like now, but i have a riend who never lifted weights in her life or even exercised. she started off 100 pounds overweight and started doing something like strong lifts. she ended up losing tons of weight after a year and completely reshaping her body and she also did very little cardio.

i myself do a little less than 4 hours of cardio a week, about half of that is HIIT sessions and the other half is steady state cardio that i primarily use to knock out soreness from the lifting sessions.

i'm currently about 32% body fat and i'm looking to be 18-20%. at the moment i'm just using some skin calipers to measure and track the fat, since it's the best at home option.

you can definitely eat carbs while lifting. the only reason why i restrict my carbs is because i'm allergic to gluten, but as long as something doesnt have gluten in it and it fits within my calorie budget, then i'll eat it if i want

jennewby71

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chalean Extreme program!! I start many many things to only give up. CE is the only program I've stuck to. Started in Nov. 2011, and have only missed about 7 workouts total. Great program. I lift very heavy, even got the Select-tech dumbbells so I can go heavy. I am doing 30-45 minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week in addition, but its to lose weight. Ive gone down about 3 sizes since Nov. I eat whatever but try to stick around 1800 calories/day, and of course make good choices.

yesthistime

Chalean Extreme group:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/318-chalean-extreme-support-group