gym advice please

Were you actully bulking up or did he say you would! It's a false statement that women bulk up! Lift free weights if you can or use a TRX if your gym has one. Lift heavy for fewer reps (I know I know, women think they will get bulky this way but you WON'T) If done right you will get cardio while lifting as it's hard work! The muscle you build will look tonespd and burn calories at a resting state! Go for it, it's the latest way to get fit!!!! Look up a fitness instructor on line called Mike Geary!!! :0)

Your muscles don't grow quickly. I promise you, that as a woman, they simply don't. What you're likely experiencing is muscle swelling - where your muscles hold onto water to extract nutrients from it to facilitate repair. The more you train, the less time this will last after a workout.

It's incredibly difficult to build muscle on a calorie deficit, even for men, so for a woman who would, on average, have about 1/16th the testosterone, you won't actually be seeing much, if any growth. Your muscles can become stronger though, as more fast twitch fibers are activated.

With that said, I would recommend a 3 x 5 Strength lifting program with focus on:
Squats
Deadlifts
Bench Press
Military Press
and Pull Ups

excellent advice....I substitute pendlay rows for the pull ups for now...but i eventually hope to do pullups. I have been li fting for 10 months now, and i have gotten SMALLER and more streamlined... i am even the lowest around the band for my bra than I have ever been! all while lifting heavy(for me).

no way you will get bulky...i recommend reading Starting Strength,

Jules:flowerforyou:

Agree, doesnt make any sense at all! Cardio doesnt bulk up muscles anyway, as stated above just burns calories, really dont see how the guy decided on this, is he a PT or just a gym bod so to speak?

Also on an induction they should be working out a plan on the machines to use and how long for, reps/sets etc, doesnt sound like he has been overly helpful to be honest!

I do lots of cardio and lifting now, and trust me the cardio does not bulk me up and at the moment the lifting is only strengthening what is there, I'd be looking at talking to someone else to be honest.

You may be interested in reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I found it to be very informative and there's like 6 months of workouts included.

Without knowing verbatim what was said, let us dismiss that part and concentrate on the strength training. Most people want most benefit and least time spent, in this regard lifting wins, vigorous lifting in a circuit style using compound movements is the king.

Maybe that is the message that the PT was putting across to you.

There's nothing wrong with a heavy lifting workout, but the guy should have taken you through the whole circuit! How to load the machines (safely), whether you need a spotter, and how to lift with the least risk of injury. Maybe you already know this stuff ^_^ (I had to be shown how to plug in the treadmills, d'oh.)

If it feels like you paid for the right to enter the gym and you're worried they might charge more for PT time, try going in when there are several trainers hanging around during a lull and ask it as a casual question - "Ah, can you please show me how to use the X machine properly?" All our internet advice can't compensate for two minutes in front of the relevant machine. Good luck and happy lifting!