About to hit maintenance, advice on heavy lifting wanted!

nikkihk
nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I'm proud to announce that in 10-ish pounds I'll officially be around maintenance weight. In actuality, despite my ticker, dropped around 23 pounds and these few last steps are looking pretty easy to achieve.. HOWEVER I feel like I've reached a skinny fat stage. I'd like to drop down to 140/135-ish and then build back weight with muscle using heavy lifting. SO my question is, do you guys have non-obvious advice (links or personal experience) on finding your maintenance calories and adopting a slightly aggressive routine that will build lean muscle?

If your answer contains hours of high intensity cardio and you look like marathon runner vs. a low BF% body builder, I appreciate your advice but it'll fall on deaf ears. Just looking for the words of people with weight room swell, and abs to prove they put the work in. I want an introduction to the body sculpting world, cuz marathons aren't for me.

Thanks guys!!!

Replies

  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    I'm going to add a 'bump' as this is something I am interested in too (I'm currently in maintenance). A lot of people suggest reading the New Rules of Lifting for Women and following that programme.
  • whizzlers
    whizzlers Posts: 101 Member
    Hey :)

    Read NROLFW or Stronglifts 5x5. I started with NROLFW and found the book really helpful, in the end I only did stage one and started 5x5 a few weeks ago.

    I find 5x5 nice and easy. Just google stronglifts - and there is a group on here which explain it really well.

    NROLFW is a book - it explains it really well and I am glad that I have it as a reference. There is also a group on here for that. They are both really helpful and answer any questions that you have.

    Hope that helps. I think they are great beginner programs and gave me loads of confidence in the weights room as I would know exactly what I was doing when I walked in, as initially I was a bit daunted by it all.

    Good luck and you will be amazed at how strong you actually are!

    Feel free to add :)

    xx
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    I started stronglifts 5x5 program. It's free, just do a google search. Yesterday was y first day and even at the low weights I was surprised to be sore today.. I work out regularly already, just trying something new since what I was doing wasn't working for me. A lot of people swear by 5x5.
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
    Okay looking those up tomorrow, Thank you guys! I'll wait for some more info in the mean time... I want to absorb as much as I can.

    <3
  • Adasunshine
    Adasunshine Posts: 8
    Bumping as also interested in this. :)
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
    If you're someone new to resistance training, then I would suggest something like Stronglifts for sure, and also read, NROLFW.

    Also, another good read would be starting Strength. Only reason i would suggest Stronglifts over SS is due to the Olympic Lift in SS. Also, Stronglifts is free.

    You can see really good strength and muscle gain on theses programs at maintenance, even on a deficit. Just keep in mind, that those gain will be short lived. How short, depends on your body and your experience as a lifter. From there, you decide if you're happy with the body you have (maintenance), or you can experiment with a slight bulk to increase lifts and muscle.
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
    One thing I'd like to know from girls is where did you start at weight wise (with dead lifts and squats etc.)... The weight bar is intimidating to me, but I'm ready to tackle it.

    Oh and 'New Rules of Lifting for Women' is now in my arsenal, thanks!! =D
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
    One thing I'd like to know from girls is where did you start at weight wise (with dead lifts and squats etc.)... The weight bar is intimidating to me, but I'm ready to tackle it.

    I'm not a girl, sorry for responding!

    Start with the empty bar for everything, learn proper form first and foremost, everything else comes with time and dedication. The only tricky exercise is deadlifts, with anything lower then the standard 45lbs plates, the bar will not be at the proper heights. Unless your gym has bumpers. Just use smaller weights to put underneath it to raise the bar (approx around 9" heigth)
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
    One thing I'd like to know from girls is where did you start at weight wise (with dead lifts and squats etc.)... The weight bar is intimidating to me, but I'm ready to tackle it.

    I'm not a girl, sorry for responding!

    Start with the empty bar for everything, learn proper form first and foremost, everything else comes with time and dedication. The only tricky exercise is deadlifts, with anything lower then the standard 45lbs plates, the bar will not be at the proper heights. Unless your gym has bumpers. Just use smaller weights to put underneath it to raise the bar (approx around 9" heigth)

    LOL!! No no, all good!! I'm watching a few proper form videos on a lot of these exercises. I really wish I had a trainer to help with form in the gym though... might have to hire one, even if for a week.

    I'll have to check at the Gym for the bumper situation...
  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
    Oh oh one other question... How are you guys logging your workouts? Say for instance a 1 hour session.. I'd like to eat back my expenditure. And do you carb load a bit before hand and protein after? I'm sure this is probably covered in the book but in case not I didn't want to forget to ask.
  • steve0820
    steve0820 Posts: 510 Member
    Oh oh one other question... How are you guys logging your workouts? Say for instance a 1 hour session.. I'd like to eat back my expenditure. And do you carb load a bit before hand and protein after? I'm sure this is probably covered in the book but in case not I didn't want to forget to ask.

    Hiring a trainer is not a bad idea, if you have the funds for it. Since Stronglifts only incorporates a few different exercises, split into 2 workouts, you would only need a trainer for a couple of sessions. Read tons, watch tons of videos, have people critique your form either at the gym, or post a video for others to offer suggestion.

    As far as logging, it depends on how you setup your goals. Some add the weekly exercises into there macros, others set it as "sedentary" and eat some of it back. For me personally, I tend to "load" before and after a heavy lifting session. That is something you'll have to gauge for yourself really, some people "carb load", some people train fasted.
  • whizzlers
    whizzlers Posts: 101 Member
    One thing I'd like to know from girls is where did you start at weight wise (with dead lifts and squats etc.)... The weight bar is intimidating to me, but I'm ready to tackle it.

    Oh and 'New Rules of Lifting for Women' is now in my arsenal, thanks!! =D

    Start with the bar - then you can make sure that your form is correct. I found that the hardest, making sure I was using the correct form.

    xx
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  • Bun_Ya
    Bun_Ya Posts: 174
    Stronglifts is great but if you want a slightly more aggressive program that covers all the bases then have a look at 'Jason Blaha's Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 Novice Program' - http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/jason-blaha-ice-cream-fitness-5x5-novice-workout
  • fredgiblet
    fredgiblet Posts: 241 Member
    Eat 250-500 calories over your maintenance, do Stronglifts 5x5 or Starting Strength. You'll gain fat, but slowly. Eventually you'll need to do another cut to get your fat back down, but if you want to gain muscle you've got to gain fat at the same time, unless you're juicing.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Here is a link to the SL 5x5 summary

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary


    As for the weight I started with...I personally started with 60lbs on each lift except OHP which I started at 40lbs and DL I started at 90lbs..

    Most people who lift use the TDEE method so they don't have to worry about eating back the calories as it is hard to know for sure what you are burning...but it is not a low burn type exercise...

    I have been doing SL for 6months..and dropped 5% bf and about 17lbs...dropped significant inches and on my way to the body I want.

    Be prepared tho you will gain weight as first (water weight) and you may even gain actual weight.

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
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  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    Lifting is pretty low burn. Not sure why you said it's not. It's around typically 200 to 300 for about an hour session, including rest. So, that's not really that much. But, you don't do lifting for the burn. That is totally not the point of it.

    ...and, I've read that the after-burn theory is a myth, or at least it's is so very minimal, one could argue that it's non-existent.

    More recent studies (one from Arizona State comes to mind) have suggested it's a fair bit more than that (roughly double).
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  • nikkihk
    nikkihk Posts: 487 Member
    All amazing information guys!! Thank you!! I'll be on this system starting this Monday, very excited!!

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