Ladies! Don't be afraid of the Weightroom! :)

When I'm on a cutting phase (trying to lose weight) I add in cardio. Right now I do 20 minutes five days a week on the arc trainer. When I'm just maintaining my weight I usually cut down to one 30 minute session a week, just because I like it.

Right now I'm in a deficit and I've been adding weight to my lifts, but it is slower progress then when I'm eating more. But it is possible with a solid program.

I love the meets! I find that the atmosphere is really great, and everyone I've met so far has been very helpful and supportive. It's a really awesome community.

I totally recommend signing up for a meet even if you feel your lifts aren't competitive. It's good to get some experience on the platform under your belt and you might surprise yourself. When I did my first meet I went at it with the attitude that it was just for fun and for the experience and not about being competitive yet. The best thing about powerlifting is beating your own personal bests, not trying to beat other people. Most lifters look at it from this point of view

I'm going to be lifting at the Canadian Powerlifting Union's national championships on April 1st.

I wouldn't worry too much, that kind of weight spike could be caused by lots of things, sudden change in workout routine, diet, sleep pattern, or could be a time of the month thing. It's just going to be water weight. My advice is to just keep on trucking. You should be able to get stronger while in a caloric deficit, especially if you're new to weight lifting. Sometimes this is a game of patience

Also, as a side note, I often put on a few pounds of water right before I hit a new low in body weight. So you might have a really good weigh in next week.

Whew! Woke up to a lot of replies this morning. This is going to be a long one, but I'm going to try to answer everyone.

Runforestrun3 - I would always suggest either a full body workout three times a week for a beginner or a upper body/lower body split where you work out four times a week. So Monday is upper body, Tuesday is Lower body, Wednesday you rest, Thursday is upper body again, Friday is upper body again, and you rest on the weekend. Once you’ve been doing that for a while and you’re feeling like your recovery is good between workouts you can add a fifth day so it’s Monday upper body, Tuesday lower body, Wednesday upper body, Thursday lower body, Friday rest, Saturday full body, Sunday rest.

Ladyshellbell – You can try adding in benchpress (either dumbbell or barbell), planks, shoulder press, side lateral raises, Bent over rows, upright rows, lat pulldowns and weighted crunches for your upper body. Keep in mind you can’t spot reduce though, so everything will tone up with weight loss.

Kr1stadee & JennaM222 – Haha, I totally forgot about that toilet. It’s a left over sticker from Halloween, of a zombie crawling out of the toilet and blood dripping from the tank. We put it on and never bothered to take it off. Halloween is a very serious affair in my house, you should see our shower curtain ;P

Lshortway – It really depends on how hard I’m cutting. Right now it’s a little extreme because I’m trying to get down a weight class in a really short amount of time. It varies depending on how much cardio I’m doing or what the goal is. But mostly I focus on a steady deficit, I start out with as many calories as I can get away with and slowly cut them out as weight loss slows down. I also eat fairly high protein to conserve muscle mass as much as possible, try to keep as many carbs in as possible for optimal energy and focus on getting my fats from good sources.

Maryaly40 – If you want to focus on your core I highly suggest adding in planks and a few compound movements like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses or barbell rows. Just make sure you look up the correct form so you don’t injure yourself. Also remember that you can’t spot reduce, so if your tummy is your trouble area working your core won’t speed up fat loss there, it will just come with the weight loss.

sabrina197820 – Try using unilateral movements, where each side is individually weighted, and use only as much as your right side can handle. This will help it catch up to your left side. For example, if all you can bicep curl in your right hand is 5lb, then do bicep curls with 5lb and progress based on your right side.

Sam_sarge – The first thing to remember about the men in the gym is that most of them are far too busy watching themselves in the mirror and mirin’ the guys around them they wish they looked like to even notice you. The second thing is that lots of them will be very nice, and very willing to help you out. Some of the best, most helpful advice I’ve gotten has come from men, and some of the men in my gym are my biggest supporters.
I suggest that you use bodybuilding.com to help you find a workout plan to start out with, they have some really good ones and a whole video database of exercises so you can see how to preform them correctly. It’s also got lots of helpful articles to read. But if your bf is a PT then use him! My bf is my powerlifting coach and trainer, and even though I’m certified myself now I still let him make all my workout programs for me. Someone close to you who knows what they’re doing will have good insight into what will work best for YOU because they know you so well. And also, trust me, lifting together is good for your relationship

LeadingMuscle – 245lb Squat (but I’m going for 250lb this week), 125lb Benchpress, 300lb Deadlift. I haven’t done an OHP in a really, really long time, so I’m not sure. I can Barbell row 105lb for 5 reps.

And to everyone who posted success stories, way to go! So proud of all of you, us sisters in iron have gotta stick together!