women and lifting

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happywithme12
happywithme12 Posts: 477 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been lifting for about 3 months now i think and I know that I am getting stronger because i have moved up in weights on all the benches and can do things i couldn't do when i first started, but it seems like my arm measurements are not changing can someone tell me why that is. Or give me some advice on what to do about it. I started out just lifting the bar on the bench and now i am up to adding 13.5 pounds on each side in 3 months, I think thats pretty decent but i don't know if i am doing enough to help myself.

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  • happywithme12
    happywithme12 Posts: 477 Member
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    b
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Are you wanting your arm measurements to increase or decrease? If you're trying to add muscle mass, you need to eat more calories than you burn. If you're trying to lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn, but you also can't spot reduce fat, so it might come off somewhere else first.

    You can gain strength in your muscles without actually gaining mass because of neurological adaptations.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Are you hoping for your arms to get bigger or smaller? Can you give some input on your diet and overall fitness routine and goals?
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Are you wanting your arm measurements to increase or decrease? If you're trying to add muscle mass, you need to eat more calories than you burn. If you're trying to lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you burn, but you also can't spot reduce fat, so it might come off somewhere else first.

    You can gain strength in your muscles without actually gaining mass because of neurological adaptations.

    It is rare for the second post in a thread to hit pretty much all the right notes with such brevity. Bravo--I have nothing to add.
  • phatguerilla
    phatguerilla Posts: 188 Member
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    I'm going to assume you don't want to spot reduce fat because that's not possible, therefore you want your arms to grow. Women don't tend to gain that much muscle in the upper body (arms chest shoulders) even when gaining in the legs of back, so it will take longer. Also bench is not necessarily the best way to add muscle to triceps, you should look at doing a range of exercises for arms including curls for biceps and triceps extensions and/or dips if you can do dips. Also try increasing the volume of your training (ie 3x10 instead of 3x5).
  • happywithme12
    happywithme12 Posts: 477 Member
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    Ok sorry i wasn't more specific, i want to loose the fat or (bat wings) that i call my triceps but i want to gain muscle mass to be stronger and healthier overall, i do a lot of different arm workouts at the gym, they have a list of things and i do chest and tri's one day and back, shoulders and bicepts another day. I do 3x10 with all my strength training and i do dips and all that stuff as well. We actually have a dip machine with the leg part to help make it easier so you are not lifting your whole weight at one time and I started on that at like 7 or 8 and i am down to 3 or 4 depending on the day. I did 4 the other day but i had hurt my back last week and i prob could have done 3's if i pushed myself more. So i do a lot of different things and i think i have improved on all of it just looking for some advice on if i am doing anything wrong or should just keep at it the way i am
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Give it time. With lifting and a calorie deficit it will happen eventually, but you can't change you're body's preprogrammed fat loss schedule. My arms were very stubborn, it took a year to see noticeable change, and it didn't happen until I had already reached maintenance weight. Other friends of mine on here saw changes right away. There's really nothing you can do but keep working on it.
  • Katerina67
    Katerina67 Posts: 21
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    Another trick to promote muscular hypertrophy is to do weight lifting through muscular fatigue, i.e. reduce the the rest intervals between the sets and even between the reps (aka body pumping)
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Ok sorry i wasn't more specific, i want to loose the fat or (bat wings) that i call my triceps but i want to gain muscle mass to be stronger and healthier overall, i do a lot of different arm workouts at the gym, they have a list of things and i do chest and tri's one day and back, shoulders and bicepts another day. I do 3x10 with all my strength training and i do dips and all that stuff as well. We actually have a dip machine with the leg part to help make it easier so you are not lifting your whole weight at one time and I started on that at like 7 or 8 and i am down to 3 or 4 depending on the day. I did 4 the other day but i had hurt my back last week and i prob could have done 3's if i pushed myself more. So i do a lot of different things and i think i have improved on all of it just looking for some advice on if i am doing anything wrong or should just keep at it the way i am

    The bat wings might be loose skin, which might never go away at all for some people, and for others takes time. Longer than 3 months, for sure. So yeah, keep at it, do your strength routine, and be patient. Good luck.
  • happywithme12
    happywithme12 Posts: 477 Member
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    Ok well thanks to you all I am going to keep at it and hope that evenutally i feel better about it, I try to do less rest in between on all my reps. I took more rest in between this week because of hurting my back last week and although I feel back to myself I don't want to injur myself so I have been pushing but not pushing to far---I wish all of you the best in your journey for a happy and healthy you

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