Zombies aren't that strong either
dragon1ady
Posts: 335 Member
Since there's a large number of us who apparently are interested in building muscle strength (so we can tear the zombies to pieces if they do catch up with us), we obviously need a discussion thread for this topic. Here it is!
I'm a few chapters into New Rules of Lifting for Women, and so far really like it. I may have to re-read it a few times to really get the finer points, but it's very interesting so far. I like the fact the author seems to be a lot more focused on actual lifting and building strength, than on the fact the reader is female. It's a refreshing change of pace from other fitness books for women.
I'm a few chapters into New Rules of Lifting for Women, and so far really like it. I may have to re-read it a few times to really get the finer points, but it's very interesting so far. I like the fact the author seems to be a lot more focused on actual lifting and building strength, than on the fact the reader is female. It's a refreshing change of pace from other fitness books for women.
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I'm in probably my 4th week or so of it. Monday I'm going to change up to Stage 2. I can't say how much I've lost as I'm currenlty in the womenly bloating phase of the month, but I feel better and seeing muscles being built slowly. A little tough for me to really see gains on the muscle side as I'm still around 220 lbs and trying to lose at least 80 more and it's a little tough to build muscle and lose weight at the same time.0
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I'm currently in the "shopping around for a gym" stage. I am working all weekend but I'm hoping to go try one out on Tuesday.0
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I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 for 2 months now, and I LOVE it! Absolutely love it.
There is a group here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
sure, the group says 'for women' but there are guys on it, too.
The main website for Stronglifts is at http://stronglifts.com/
It's geared toward men, but I don't care. The program's working for me. He's got a free ebook download. I suggest d/l ing it, skimming over it (a lot is meathead success story stuff, so just skim)...and then going to the link above for the group here on MyFitnessPal. There's sticky in that group where Tameko summarizes the whole plan very succinctly.0 -
I did a lifting workout this morning, and lifted heavier for several of the exercises than I've done before now. I think I may have mentioned it before, but lifting really is an easy way to see progress, all you have to do is look at how much you can lift.
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There is also a Nrol4W group here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/102-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w
I have the book, but haven't read it yet.
I recently moved, so my gym is farther away.
It's made me a bit lazy about getting there, but I like to lift.
I like it way mare than cardio, actually.0 -
I do the weight machines at the gym 3 times a week.. Have the NROL4W which I'm going to read after my exams.
Also doing 30 day shred and TOugh mudder training.0 -
Thanks for the group link, FF. If I decide to start lifting on my own, I might join there. Husband and I are currently working with a personal trainer at our gym, so we get a lot of the benefits of a program designed for us, hep tracking weights and sets, designing workouts, providing information, et cetera. (And I am firmly convinced she's a closet sadist. There is no other explanation for why she describes the exercises as "fun!" and smiles cheerfully at my excruciating pain! But if she is, that is completely okay, because we're getting results!)
I used to hate lifting by the way. Absolutely hated it and made a point of avoiding it whenever I could. I am about one third through the NROL4W book, and so far very much like it. Having spent years in the gym, doing exactly what women supposedly were supposed to do and getting nowhere, it's more than a bit encouraging to find out that there wasn't something wrong with me this whole time. I was just doing the wrong exercises the wrong way.
Now that I am doing things right (thanks in no small part to a nice and knowledgeable personal trainer) I am getting very encouraging results that makes me really like it. I did three sets of 15 straight leg deadlifts with a 50 lbs barbell this morning, which is a new personal record. Hooray for me!0 -
A personal t̶o̶r̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶s̶t̶ trainer, isn't in my budget unfortunately.
I'd hire one in a heartbeat if I could.
There's no better motivation than an appointment, with an actual human, to make you show up.
I tend to make my own workouts by spying on what others do and reading.
I like the idea behind this book though, so plan to read it and use at least some of what I learn.0 -
Just printed out my NRLFW log and I'm starting it tonight!0
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A personal t̶o̶r̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶s̶t̶ trainer, isn't in my budget unfortunately.
I'd hire one in a heartbeat if I could.
There's no better motivation than an appointment, with an actual human, to make you show up.
I agree. Though for me the best advantage is one I didn't expect when we first started out: Learning proper form and more exercises.
Not sure if it's relevant to you, but my employer has a bunch of deals with companies in town, that gives us discounts. Then we asked about couple discounts, and we lastly timed it so we got a holiday discount, and in the end the price tag wasn't that scary after all. Don't get me wrong, still intimidating, but we talked about it and decided together that it was a worthwhile investment for our mutual future. (Yay for no heart attacks before 60!) We're probably paying for with all the money we used to spend on take-out junk food anyway.. .Just printed out my NRLFW log and I'm starting it tonight!
Good luck! Tell us all about it when you come back!0 -
Gyms also sometimes offer deals for PTs too.
Mine only charge £10 for 30 minutes for members ( the only way I could afford it) which is less than I was paying to smoke.0 -
Gyms also sometimes offer deals for PTs too.
Mine only charge £10 for 30 minutes for members ( the only way I could afford it) which is less than I was paying to smoke.
Our gym only sells sessions to members, as far as I know, but they get cheaper the more of them you buy at once, and they offer payment plans.
So it seems I will be doing a lot of lifting in the near future. I have been forced to accept that whatever is wrong with my foot will not go away if I continue to ignore it. I was really hoping that my strategy of pretending nothing is wrong and continuing to run on it for another month would pay off. :grumble:
Since SB's approach of resting and applying proper treatment seems to be more effective, I've decided to put in at least a token effort to do that instead. For now. I'm taking a complete break from any impact cardio (now relegated to exercise bikes at the gym -- urgh) and will apply anti-inflammatories and ice, along with gentle stretching exercises for at least a week. If I see improvement I will continue with this bizarre behavior until the foot is back to normal.0 -
I tried out a gym yesterday and was really happy with it, so I think I'll be joining soon. I went to a BodyPump class, which is basically an hour long lifting class that focuses on all the different major muscle groups. I am definitely feeling it in my legs and behind today--wow! I wasn't squatting that heavy (maybe 35 pounds total), but you do so many reps that you are wiped out by the end!
They offer a free hour of personal training when you join, so I think I'll take advantage of that to set some fitness goals. You can also get an "intro" training package once every 6 months for ~40 bucks an hour, so that might be useful for staying on track/reevaluating every couple of months. I am so out of practice with free weights and I'm hoping that a trainer can get me reacquainted.0 -
I'm not a women so...
Luckily I'm a personal trainer though0 -
I tried out a gym yesterday and was really happy with it, so I think I'll be joining soon. I went to a BodyPump class, which is basically an hour long lifting class that focuses on all the different major muscle groups. I am definitely feeling it in my legs and behind today--wow! I wasn't squatting that heavy (maybe 35 pounds total), but you do so many reps that you are wiped out by the end!
That sounds like fun!
Our gym does classes, but since I work 9-6, the only ones I'd be able to attend are the 7:00 AM ones, and I'm just not that motivated yet.0 -
I tried out a gym yesterday and was really happy with it, so I think I'll be joining soon. I went to a BodyPump class, which is basically an hour long lifting class that focuses on all the different major muscle groups. I am definitely feeling it in my legs and behind today--wow! I wasn't squatting that heavy (maybe 35 pounds total), but you do so many reps that you are wiped out by the end!
They offer a free hour of personal training when you join, so I think I'll take advantage of that to set some fitness goals. You can also get an "intro" training package once every 6 months for ~40 bucks an hour, so that might be useful for staying on track/reevaluating every couple of months. I am so out of practice with free weights and I'm hoping that a trainer can get me reacquainted.
Liz, Victoria (vc10um) and Claire (Clairtek) both SWEAR by BP. Vix might actually get certified to teach. Unfortunately the closes gym with BP is 20 minutes away.0 -
I'm not a women so...
Luckily I'm a personal trainer though
Hey Iron Smasher, question for you.
So I was doing push ups the other night at a 30*ish incline (because I'm a weakling) and I tweaked something in my abdomen. I'm 33 and I've had a c-section and this pain is about an inch above my incision scar and two inches to the left of my belly button. It hurt enough that I couldn't do the swiss jacknifes NRL4W called for. It was a sudden pain and feels muscular but doesn't ache like a pulled muscle. I don't know how to describe it. I guess my concern is a hernia or an adhesion from my c-section. Are you familiar with any sort of muscle injuries in this area from push ups?0 -
Unfortunately the closes gym with BP is 20 minutes away.
I have that problem as well, so I have decided not to even try BodyPump and instead we enrolled in the gym that was closest to home. For me the biggest obstacle by far is to get my lazy *kitten* to the gym to begin with, so we signed up for one that is close enough to home that we can't get away with thinking it's too much effort to get there.0 -
Steph, I've been talking to Claire and Vix about it--that's what got me interested!
I can't believe how sore I STILL am. Especially my thighs and rear end. Holy guacamole!0 -
I'm not a women so...
Luckily I'm a personal trainer though
Hey Iron Smasher, question for you.
So I was doing push ups the other night at a 30*ish incline (because I'm a weakling) and I tweaked something in my abdomen. I'm 33 and I've had a c-section and this pain is about an inch above my incision scar and two inches to the left of my belly button. It hurt enough that I couldn't do the swiss jacknifes NRL4W called for. It was a sudden pain and feels muscular but doesn't ache like a pulled muscle. I don't know how to describe it. I guess my concern is a hernia or an adhesion from my c-section. Are you familiar with any sort of muscle injuries in this area from push ups?
It's great that you're doing incline instead of that on knees nonsense. I hope it's just muscle strain, but I'm not a doctor. I'd like to think even an expert would examine you before diagnosis.0 -
How's everyone doing on their strength training? I finally got my gym membership but I'm waiting to activate it until next week, since I'm going out of town on Thursday. I'm looking forward to doing a session with the personal trainer to establish some base goals. I think I'm also going to bring a copy of NROLFW with me on my trip.0
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I can lift way more now than I could just a month ago. I feel stronger, which is a great feeling.
How are the rest of you doing?0 -
I'm doing okay. definite changes. But, I'm really fighting with my gym being so far away now... and in a direction I never go, except for the gym.0
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I think I am going to have to start reading this book! I always comment on how I wish I knew more about lifting. Like, A normal conversation for me would be something like:
"What did you lift today?"
"The things the little read arrows on the machine diagram point to."0 -
Just got the book, and decided to try the program with my sister. Since the gyms near us are expensive and have bad reviews (sigh) I picked up dumbbells and chin up bar at sports store. Now if I can just actually do the excercises lol. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? 0
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In the world of fitness and healthy living I think it's more a matter of, "nothing ventured, lots and lots gained"...
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I did my first NROLFW workout last night! I think I went a little light on some of the weights, since I was still trying to figure out what I was doing. I'm going again tomorrow and will do workout B (and figure out how to do those exercises), then count next week as my official start.
For those of you doing it, the one thing I had a little trouble with was the Prone Jackknife exercise. I think I mostly got it the second time, but it felt really odd. Any tips?0 -
I finally read through NROWL last night and printed off some logs & noted modifications for doing everything at home. I dug around in the basement today and found my husband's curl bar (20 pounds) and used that for squats and bent-over rows. I deflated and lost my last exercise ball ages ago, so planks it was!
It's sort of depressing that I'm so out of shape after being a slacker for 2 months, but now I'm back on track
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Good for you! Getting started can be so difficult... kudos to you for making the effort.
I'm starting to think I should just buy the book and do the workouts, so I won't feel left out when the rest of you all start to look like amazon warriors in running shoes!0 -
I am surprisingly sore today. Like sore in ways & places that didn't happen after the first day of 30DS. Pecs, back, shoulders, glutes, front & outer parts of my quads, and to a lesser extent, my triceps, biceps, and abs under my belly button. This is so much more of a whole body workout than other things I've tried, and it took no time to do all the exercises.
I'm wishing my running path didn't flood in rain, or I'd be out there working some of these muscles loose.0
