Show me ur heavy lifting results please!

bump ... for when I need a lil' Xtra motivation

For y'all ladies on here posting insanely amazing results did you use free weights or machines?

I do compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, and row.... mostly.

Before: 270+ lbs and some high bodyfat percentage. I actually didn't start my trek until about a year after this photograph was taken.






About a month ago at 190lbs, looking much better in a suit than the prior shot.






Now: 185lbs, 18.3% bodyfat.

Fantastic job!

What I want to know, is which of you female lifters attained your shape changes with lifting alone, and no cardio,
and which of you incorporated cardio/Hiit as well ?

I notice some of you have very lean legs, and some have more muscled legs, if that makes sense, and it got me curious.
Some very different results between individuals, and wonder if that is down to the programme, diet or what.
Some look very lean and ripped, while others are more sort of obviously muscular.
It is the former I would want.

Bump

Such a wonderful thread! I need the inpiration again.

So nice to finally see a thread on MFP about heavy lifting!!

What I want to know, is which of you female lifters attained your shape changes with lifting alone, and no cardio,
and which of you incorporated cardio/Hiit as well ?

I notice some of you have very lean legs, and some have more muscled legs, if that makes sense, and it got me curious.
Some very different results between individuals, and wonder if that is down to the programme, diet or what.
Some look very lean and ripped, while others are more sort of obviously muscular.
It is the former I would want.

Zero cardio for me, besides the incidental stuff like walking the dog etc

For y'all ladies on here posting insanely amazing results did you use free weights or machines?

Free weights - compounds plus auxiliary work.

What I want to know, is which of you female lifters attained your shape changes with lifting alone, and no cardio,
and which of you incorporated cardio/Hiit as well ?

I notice some of you have very lean legs, and some have more muscled legs, if that makes sense, and it got me curious.
Some very different results between individuals, and wonder if that is down to the programme, diet or what.
Some look very lean and ripped, while others are more sort of obviously muscular.
It is the former I would want.

I did cardio in the beginning - because I didn't know any better. But I honestly didn't lose that much from doing cardio (like 7-10 lbs, if that) because I was eating too much and justifying it by doing all the cardio. My shape didn't "emerge" until I started lifting. When I learned you don't have to do cardio if you lift - I dropped it all together because I hate it.

Lean legs vs muscled legs is not JUST gonna be from whether you did cardio or ate a certain way - you HAVE to factor in genetics too. Calves are a really great example of this. Some people can lift heavy and often and train JUST to increase their calf size and won't see a great development. Some people don't train at all and have amazing calves. My calves are tiny little things (when compared to my quads) and all my life they have had a very specific shape to them. I used to envy other girls' solid, round, athletic looking calves and try to get them for myself...but they never came. No matter how much jumping or calf-raising I did.

Also - you have to consider body fat - some of us are still working towards dropping bodyfat and with that will come a leaning out of the body, thus looking more "lean and ripped" as you put it. My legs look very heavy right now because I still carry a significant amount of body fat on me (particularly in the upper, inner thigh). If I'd get my diet in check, I'd cut more fat, and eventually lean out my thighs a bit. But it's a process....and not one that happens overnight, or in a month, or even in a year for most people. That's why people go through bulking and cutting phases - and these tend to last several cycles and/or years.

For y'all ladies on here posting insanely amazing results did you use free weights or machines?

I use free weights - all barbell and dumbbell based moves. I built a gym in my basement that includes a power rack (or cage as some call them) with a lat attachment, pull-up/dip station, 1 45# olympic barbell, 1 35# olympic barbell, a collection of plates, dumbbells from 5-25#, and I threw my treadmill down there (from my cardio days) but the thing is getting dusty since no one uses it. Very highly recommend picking up a copy of the book Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe. It's a pretty intensive guide on how to properly perform the main compound lifts. Kind of like a beginner lifter's bible, if you will.

What I want to know, is which of you female lifters attained your shape changes with lifting alone, and no cardio,
and which of you incorporated cardio/Hiit as well ?

I do both. I love running, and usually run 3x a week, between 3-7 miles.

But running didn't really change my shape much. I got smaller, but... well, photos say it best. I was down about 20 pounds in the first picture, down another 10 in the second one, which was right around the time I started strength training.

The third picture is after about a year of strength training and about one month after switching to free weights. Legs are leaner, waist is smaller, stomach is flatter.. and I weight more.

I know, I fell in a tank Cuprinol, hence the lovely tan !

I did cardio in the beginning - because I didn't know any better. But I honestly didn't lose that much from doing cardio (like 7-10 lbs, if that) because I was eating too much and justifying it by doing all the cardio. My shape didn't "emerge" until I started lifting. When I learned you don't have to do cardio if you lift - I dropped it all together because I hate it.

I have recently gotten back on track and want to start lifting. I am currently doing 1 hour cadio 3 to 4 days a week and Zumba 2 days a week. Are you saying I could give these up and concentrate solely on lifting heavy and still lose the weight while eating at a deficit?

bump

Well done everyone! Looks like I need to get on my squats, feels like I'm losing my *kitten* with the weight loss....