advice needed from strength training folk

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FluffyDogsRule
FluffyDogsRule Posts: 366 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
hello! here's my current workout schedule...

Mon - 30 min elliptical
Tues - Insanity max circuit
Wed - Insanity max cardio
Thur - 4 mile run
Fri - 30 min elliptical
Sat - Insanity max plyo
Sun- 4 mile run

I am now able to do the Insanity max workouts (month 2) all the way through at the same speed as the actors...I used to be sore afterwards, now my muscles feel fatigued the next day, but not sore. I gained about 3 pounds of muscle with Insanity, so it was a great method for muscle for a newbie like me.

But I think that to change my body any further, I need to add more strength training in. I'm thinking I should replace the elliptical?? Both days?? One of the days?? I can control my weight with diet, so I'm not worried about dropping some cardio.

Here's where I really need advice. I don't belong to a gym and can't afford to, but my work has an exercise room with kettle bells and small weights. Would that be enough to get me started twice a week? Or should I invest in my own barbell set at home?

Also, I plan to google/you tube some 30 - 40 minute strength workouts, but any good ones you recommend? I want the best workout for the time I have.

And any other advice you can give me is wonderful.

Thanks so much for your help!
Kate
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Replies

  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Hope you are eating at least 2000cals a day if not more.
    Seems a bit excessive with no rest days.
    What are your goals?
    Where are you now with your goals?
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    2 observations:
    1. If you're this obsessive about exercise, I suspect you're starving yourself crash dieting.
    2. Rest is paramount. Over training will stifle progress.

    Conclusion: work hard but smart, or you'll fail to reach your goals.
    Good Luck :flowerforyou:
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    REST!!!!!!
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Take one or two rests day a week. You're still new so you may not feel it now, or for quite a while, but over time your body may suffer if you do not. I ran into a wall about 2 years in and I'm finally starting to take my rest days and periodic rest weeks much more seriously.

    Edited note: I'm sure the women strength trainers will come in with program advice but Strong Lifts is one that is popular. I'll defer to the ladies that have that experience.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Name calling is classy, especially considering the work that I know how much knowledge Dan has put in to the forum. OP, rest is certainly needed. Eating plenty is needed.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    And to the OP- not an expert, but sounds like trading off the elliptical for some weight work would be a good start. Starting off with Kettlebells and dumbbells is a good way to ease into it. Do they have any other machines at your work gym? Check with others who use the weight room to get some tips on using the equipment. There are also a lot of body weight exercises you can do at home without any extra equipment. I have heard of a book called Your Body is a Gym? or something like that.
  • ijs_leggo
    ijs_leggo Posts: 8
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    You're definitely going to need to insert a rest day in there if you plan on doing strength training. You actually should have a rest day in there regardless, just to give your body a break. If you're thinking about replacing the elliptical with weight training, that would be 2 days per week for strength training (good start). You'd could do the insanity or 4 mile run for 3 days, and still have one rest/recovery day per week. An example would be:

    Sun- Cardio (run or insanity)
    Mon- Weights
    Tues- Cardio (run or insanity)
    Wed- REST
    Thurs- Cardio (run or insanity)
    Fri- Weights
    Sat- Cardio (run or insanity)

    The following week, Sunday would be the rest day so you could keep a pattern of 3 days of activity folowed by a rest day.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    If you're going to keep doing Insanity, that's enough of a cardio workout on its own. I would ditch the elliptical and the running, put in a couple of days of heavy lifting and a couple of days of rest. If you just really love to run, okay, but then cut out some of the Insanity. You've got to have rest days and lifting days, so something has to give.

    How heavy are the kettlebells and free weights you have in your work gym? You could probably start with a 26 lb kettlebell for swings (maybe presses, too, but an 18 lb would be good for those) and 35 lb for rows, goblet squats, and single-leg deadlifts, but at some point, you will want access to a barbell so you can do the full range of heavy deadlifting, squatting, rowing, and overhead pressing. You're going to get the most bang for your time with those lifts.
  • 21Pontoon
    21Pontoon Posts: 46
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    http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357823763&sr=8-1

    Buy this book.
    I've just bought it and I've been weight lifting with my boyfriend, and have this one in the post. It has great reviews x
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    i never mentioned food, so thats not all she got!
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Name calling is classy, especially considering the work that I know how much knowledge Dan has put in to the forum. OP, rest is certainly needed. Eating plenty is needed.

    There is nothing in her post or on her page to indicate that she is crash dieting, yet she is immediately accused of that. There are many people on here that work out as much or more than she listed here, and no one jumps on them about it. The OP didn't ask for any diet advice, she asked for advice on lifting weights. Is it classy to accuse people of having eating disorders based on no evidence?
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,650 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    i never mentioned food, so thats not all she got!

    My apologies to you for including you in that remark.
  • chelseabrody
    chelseabrody Posts: 5 Member
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    Pick up a copy of Oxygen magazine! They have amazing workouts that use free weights and tons of at home exercises you can do. I've purchased every copy for the past 2 years and it helps keep me motivated! The best thing about weight training is that if you aren't feeling challenged you can always increase the weight. You won't bulk up either - i use to think lifting 5 pound weights would do the trick for me but i saw zero results. Good Luck!

    Oh, and for youtube videos check out Lori Harder - i know she has some quick but tough workouts on there.
  • Jester522
    Jester522 Posts: 392
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Well because resistance training is rather detrimental to the body when done properly for strength or size increase and requires more rest time and higher caloric intake as the recovery process is a 48hr venture over cardio which caloric output ends when you stop moving. Insanity is pretty much cardio in overdrive, not strength training. So they're doing the right thing.

    Drop two days a week of the cardio - it's catabolic and resistance training is far superior to any cardio workout. Replace them with resistance training for NO MORE than 60m. Anything longer and youre wasting time and stripping nutrient from the body. Leggo has a good week routine outlined.

    Resistance bands, barbell sets, kettleballs, it all helps and works the same concept. What you need to understand about resistance training for the most progress is training to failure: the physical inability to perform the last rep.
  • TxHamJello
    TxHamJello Posts: 31
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    OP, simply speaking from a strength training perspective, if your only access to weights is a couple kettlebells and a handfull of other weights, my recommendation would be to look into body weight exercises (examples - pull-ups, push-ups, air aquats) and adding the kettlebells for additional resistance as needed.. Easy to incorporate into your routine, will develop strength, and can be done with little equipment.

    Cheers
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
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    I would like more information about strength training too.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Name calling is classy, especially considering the work that I know how much knowledge Dan has put in to the forum. OP, rest is certainly needed. Eating plenty is needed.

    There is nothing in her post or on her page to indicate that she is crash dieting, yet she is immediately accused of that. There are many people on here that work out as much or more than she listed here, and no one jumps on them about it. The OP didn't ask for any diet advice, she asked for advice on lifting weights. Is it classy to accuse people of having eating disorders based on no evidence?

    Her profile is viewable to friends only so Idk where you got the first line in your comment from.

    I agree with the guy who listed cardio 3 days and weights 3 days with a rest day. Rest days are definitely important when you do weights.

    Someone else mentioned New Rules of Lifting for Women but if your gym at work doesn't have barbells/plates, exercise balls, and a step, you won't get that far with it.

    Stronglifts, and probably Starting Strength, requires barbell/plates, a power rack, and a bench. That's about 1000$ (give or take) worth of equipment you'd have to buy for your home.

    You can do a google search for kettle bell workouts and use the ones at the gym. I have no experience with kettebells - except the 10lb one I've got that I rarely do calf raises with.

    Does the gym at work have anything else besides kettle bells and dumbbells? What weights to they go to?
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Name calling is classy, especially considering the work that I know how much knowledge Dan has put in to the forum. OP, rest is certainly needed. Eating plenty is needed.

    There is nothing in her post or on her page to indicate that she is crash dieting, yet she is immediately accused of that. There are many people on here that work out as much or more than she listed here, and no one jumps on them about it. The OP didn't ask for any diet advice, she asked for advice on lifting weights. Is it classy to accuse people of having eating disorders based on no evidence?

    Only one person made the assumption that she was crash dieting. The other posters simply encouraged her to make sure she's eating enough to support her workouts. You classified this as " a bunch of Eat More Nazis".
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    WOW! The OP asks about some ways to start incorporating some strength training into her plan and all she gets is a bunch of Eat More Nazis telling her to eat more food. Way to be helpful there. Good job!

    OP, hopefully some of the lifters will jump in soon to give you some answers.

    Name calling is classy, especially considering the work that I know how much knowledge Dan has put in to the forum. OP, rest is certainly needed. Eating plenty is needed.

    There is nothing in her post or on her page to indicate that she is crash dieting, yet she is immediately accused of that. There are many people on here that work out as much or more than she listed here, and no one jumps on them about it. The OP didn't ask for any diet advice, she asked for advice on lifting weights. Is it classy to accuse people of having eating disorders based on no evidence?
    Maybe I'm blind, but I surely don't see any accusations of eating disorders in either of the posts where you called people out for being Eat More Nazis. If you had nothing else to offer to this thread than to slap the hand of people trying to help, why even comment?

    The OP needs to look into their diet AND add rest if they're looking to work on their body composition. Both of the replies were accurate. Other advice has been given to the effect of swapping out the elliptical for weights, etc. I don't recall either of the guys referring to the OP as a nazi.

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