Ladies lifting weights!

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swaggadactyl
swaggadactyl Posts: 18 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone! Wanted to see if there were any other ladies out there lifting (heavy, free) weights :) My boyfriend got me into lifting last year and we did it for awhile together and made some good gains. Then we moved and I got busy with school and work and we sort of fell off the wagon.

Looking to get into it again and figured I'd try to get involved with other mfp people who are doing the same! It makes me feel strong and awesome, and muscle gains in larger groups have really given the fat left on my body something to hold on to - my shape has really changed into something I like!

I've been reading some fitness magazines and was excited to discover that some of them are encouraging heavy weight lifting now! Rather than the minimal lifting and endless "toning" exercises I remember from previous years :)

I encourage you to try it if you've thought about it. For me, it's tons of fun to push myself and become stronger. Get down and dirty with the boys and show them what we can do, girls!
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Replies

  • 1FITmamaofTWINS
    1FITmamaofTWINS Posts: 185
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    im a heavy lifter 100%
  • jmmtaylor
    jmmtaylor Posts: 225
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    I'm not "heavy" lifting yet. I am doing ChaLEAN Extreme and right now I'm up to muscle failure at 15 pounds (doing 8 reps). I never lifted before though, so I think that's pretty good since I started a month ago having failure at 8 pounds (doing 12 reps). Plus she helps you make it feel like you are lifting more than what you are. I can already see a difference in my muscle :)
  • starboardzor
    starboardzor Posts: 312
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    Good for you!! I'd like to get into it a little heavier, even though I don't think my boyfriend likes it. I LOVE having muscle. I get this sense that I can take care of myself, you know?
  • taldie01
    taldie01 Posts: 378
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    I am slowly getting back in to it

    I do legs Chest Triceps one day, cardio next day, Back, biceps, shoulder one day, Cardio next day, ,
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    3 times a week I do a 30 min cardio/weights circuit at my gym. I lift as heavy as I can and increase weight at least once a week.
  • beccaboo1021
    beccaboo1021 Posts: 51
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    I only do upper body weights (biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, and some chest), the heaviest I lift is 20# for the bicep curl. I need to get my own bench press bar so I don't have to mess with my husband's HEAVY weights, then I think I'd do more presses and squats.
  • millerll
    millerll Posts: 873 Member
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    I've been a heavy lifter for over 30 years. In fact, it's the only kind of lifting I do. If it were up to me, I'd banish the word "toning" from the fitness lexicon! I don't know why so many women are intimidated by weights. Strength training is great for weight loss, overall fitness, and helps strengthen your bones to stave off osteoporosis. Win-win all around!
  • swaggadactyl
    swaggadactyl Posts: 18 Member
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    Awesome everyone! I'm getting into a new routine that my bf is putting together for us. I'm so excited by just the idea of lifting regularly again :) I'll post what we end up doing. Before, I did a program focused on powerlifting and had built up my squat to 165 and my deadlift to 210.. probably no where near those numbers anymore but that's where the motivation from mfp will help! I'm hoping getting back into it will help me on my fast-track to my first-ever bikini body.

    Keep going, ladies! Please share any and all lifting experiences :)
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    Good to see the ladies lifting weights, it's probably the best thing for a woman's body.

    It increases bone density
    tightens up problem areas for women (Back of the arms, legs..ect)
    Helps balance hormone levels
    More functional strength (if you're a mom this is helpful)
    Tends to help highlight your shape better.

    Way to go ladies!
  • bethiepoo30
    bethiepoo30 Posts: 16
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    I've always heavy lifted, the five and ten pound weights just seem pointless to me. Fifteen years ago, my sophomore year in high school, I took advanced PE with many members of our football team. Starting in January, I began lifting again. I generally lift three times a week, I do upper and lower body in the same session. My lifting sessions generally last 35 to 45 minutes. I do 3 sets of 10 reps each on about 10 to 12 different exercises (what we did in high school). I havent lost a lot of weight during this time but I've went down a whole pants size as I see my body tightening and toning up. I may be an exception though, I've yet to see another female at my gym who lifts as heavy as I do but I've always been pretty stong.

    I would encourage anyone to go for it!
  • namrettik
    namrettik Posts: 127
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    I've only been doing the machines, but I'm trying to get my strength up enough to mess with the barbells. I mainly focus on the machines that train groups of muscles rather than individual ones (which I know do next to nothing for the body and are more likely to injure it than anything else).

    My favorite machine is basically a vertical bench press. I started at 30 lbs. a couple weeks ago, now I'm up to 40-45 (doing three sets of 12). Once I'm comfortably at 45+, and if my friend ever tags along with me to the gym again (finals season is terrible on coordinating schedules) to spot me, I'm off to the real bench press.

    I'm a little terrified of deadlifts and squats, though. Great for the body, if you don't break something trying to do them in the process :P
  • torregro
    torregro Posts: 307
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    I've pretty much given up the cardio classes (although they were a lot of fun), because I wasn't seeing the results that I wanted.
    Today's work out was upper body.
    We do four sets of upper body exercises.....warm up set, regular set, regular set with 10 second isometric hold and max set with 15 second isometric hold.
    Today:
    Chest press: 40# 15 45# 15 50# 12/8sec 50# 15/15 sec
    Chest flies: 15# 15, 15# 13, 15# 14/2sec 50# 15/15 sec
    Seated Row : 70# 15, 75# 15/10 sec, 75# 15/15 sec, 80# 12/0 sec
    Lat Pullover: 100# 15, 110 15, 120# 10/0sec, 120# 11/15 sec

    The reason I'm posting these numbers is because I have no idea how they relate to any other woman, but only how they relate to ME. I have made gains in every one of these exercises over the past month, so regardless of what the scale is showing, I AM getting stronger, which is a good thing. Lift on!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    ME! Not TOO heavy but my trainer has me curling 12.5 free weights and 25 lbs on a curling machine. The most I've worked my arms is about 30.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I've only been doing the machines, but I'm trying to get my strength up enough to mess with the barbells. I mainly focus on the machines that train groups of muscles rather than individual ones (which I know do next to nothing for the body and are more likely to injure it than anything else).

    My favorite machine is basically a vertical bench press. I started at 30 lbs. a couple weeks ago, now I'm up to 40-45 (doing three sets of 12). Once I'm comfortably at 45+, and if my friend ever tags along with me to the gym again (finals season is terrible on coordinating schedules) to spot me, I'm off to the real bench press.

    I'm a little terrified of deadlifts and squats, though. Great for the body, if you don't break something trying to do them in the process :P


    Good articles on squats and deadlifts here:
    http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-technique-fix-common-problems/
    http://stronglifts.com/how-to-deadlift-with-proper-technique/

    They are perfectly safe as long as you adhere to proper form.

    Great to see ladies involved in heavy lifting. I get so annoyed when women say that it will make them “bulky”. And I also agree we should ban the word toning. There is no such thing as toning, there is only stronger and weaker.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Ain't nothin' but a peanut!! :wink:
  • seckler
    seckler Posts: 169 Member
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    I am soooo glad I found this thread! I am on my 3rd week of P90X and was wondering whether to do the heavy weights and max out at 10 reps or the "toning" and max out at 15. I have been doing the toning and maxing out at 15. (I currently use 10 pounds for shoulders, back, and biceps and 8 for triceps). It sounds like I may need to switch and go heavier?
    I have also been confused about my eating. I still have fat to lose so didn't know how many calories I would need to take in a day. I am 5'2" and have it set at 1300 (raised it up from the 1200 myfitnesspal set but didn't know if I should go to maintenance) and then try to eat back whatever I burn off during the day, but usually don't eat them all back - sometimes that would mean eating over 2000 calories a day. I am worried about getting "fat" weight back on if I do that.
    Any help with either of these issues would be awesome!
    Thank you!!
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Nice to see ladies lifting heavy!
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Used to be. Waiting on being able to afford a gym to go back to it; for two reasons. One, I no longer have the equipment at home. Two, I want someone to watch me for form, at least in the beginning. For now, I do bodyweight plus resistance bands. But I can't wait to get back to the big numbers.
  • bmontgomery87
    bmontgomery87 Posts: 1,260 Member
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    Ain't nothin' but a peanut!! :wink:

    lol. aware
  • torregro
    torregro Posts: 307
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    I am soooo glad I found this thread! I am on my 3rd week of P90X and was wondering whether to do the heavy weights and max out at 10 reps or the "toning" and max out at 15. I have been doing the toning and maxing out at 15. (I currently use 10 pounds for shoulders, back, and biceps and 8 for triceps). It sounds like I may need to switch and go heavier?

    I'm sure you'll get lots of great answers. It's about feeding the muscle, causing micro trauma to the muscle, and allowing the muscle to recover. I could do biceps curls all day long with a 5# weight, but..............why would I want to? It's not efficient, and it would take forever to truly fatigue (and cause micro trauma) to the muscle. We've got to take our flabby little triceps muscles and STRESS them so they know to stay still and quit jiggling when we wave good-bye! LOL
    good luck to you. And DON'T forget to stretch afterwards!

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