Lifting progress has stalled.

morticiamom
morticiamom Posts: 221 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone, especially those who've been at the fitness thing longer than me -- which is most everyone probably. I'm looking for some advice. I'm about to turn 53, on week six of stage one New Rules for Women, and my progress has stalled. I wasn't able to go up any weight and still get the reps in.

I lift three days a week (MWF), and do a light 30 - 45 min walk after. I do heavier cardio Sun, T, Th, including the C25K workout (only on week 2 of that, so it's not very strenuous). For a challenge I also do some BW calisthenics on lifting days (squats, lunges, push-ups, crunches (50 each), planks (2 - 90sec) ).

My progress on the push-ups has stalled too. I had to start against the wall, and now I can do them while leaning on the weight bench, but can't get any lower.

Help?

Replies

  • FitandFab33
    FitandFab33 Posts: 718 Member
    You can somewhat expect to stall at some point when eating at a deficit. Bodybuilding.com has something like 133 articles on the subject.. including this one :-)

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/6-ways-to-rise-above-plateaus-and-hit-your-peak.html
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    The book probably says something about what to do when you stall.
  • morticiamom
    morticiamom Posts: 221 Member
    Darn reality, always harshing my buzz. So I guess I need to eat more, but I'm not sure how much more. It's silly, but I don't want to go over, and would rather track my strength training separate from cardio, so there's no extra calories from it.

    I guess I should make an effort to eat most of my cardio calories back on a routine basis before I sweat the details though.
  • karrielynn80
    karrielynn80 Posts: 395 Member
    if you are worried about gaining when you up your calories - i've been there - try adding about 200 healthy calories, equal protein / carb & low fat. carbs scare many people but if they aren't empty sugar carbs and or bad carbs than your body needs them. And they'll give you a boost of energy for workout - at least they do me.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    You definitely should eat more - looking at your diary you're only eating around 1200-1300 total calories, which is barely enough to fuel your body alone let alone give you the strength for lifting and improving strength. Eat back your exercise cals, including those from lifting - log them as strength work if you prefer but also log as cardio so you get the calorie credit.

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