Zombies aren't that strong either

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dragon1ady
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.
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  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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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.
  • lizpirate
    lizpirate Posts: 92 Member
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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.
  • janeensan
    janeensan Posts: 66 Member
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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.
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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    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. :)
  • FakingFitness
    FakingFitness Posts: 325 Member
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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.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
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    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.
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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    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!
  • FakingFitness
    FakingFitness Posts: 325 Member
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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 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.
  • sb4480
    sb4480 Posts: 199 Member
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    Just printed out my NRLFW log and I'm starting it tonight!
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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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!
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
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    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.
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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    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.
  • lizpirate
    lizpirate Posts: 92 Member
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    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.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    I'm not a women so...

    Luckily I'm a personal trainer though
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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    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.
  • sb4480
    sb4480 Posts: 199 Member
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    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.
  • sb4480
    sb4480 Posts: 199 Member
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    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?
  • dragon1ady
    dragon1ady Posts: 335 Member
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    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.
  • lizpirate
    lizpirate Posts: 92 Member
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    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!
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    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.