LIFTING ADVICE PLEASE?

Weight loss comes from cutting your calories. Both the mentioned programs will give a good overall workout -- you'll be toned for sure. Neither are high-rep workouts, so you're unlikely to bulk (women have a hell of a time bulking even when they want to).

I just started lifting and I am following Jaime Eason 12 week program and u can get it and track it on www.bodybuilding.com they have several different plans you can choose from and it's all free!!! You should check it out! Tells u exactly what to do on what days! Good luck :-) feel free to add me I would love more friends into lifting!

OP, I am going to suggest the New Rules of Lifting for Women for you. Please read the dietary info in there, too. I seem to recall that you were eating a very low calorie diet previously. The information you got on your other thread about fueling your workouts is going to be even more important when you are lifting.

And, don't be afraid of being strong. You are a nursing student, if I remember right. Nurses end up lifting and moving all kinds of heavy stuff. You will feel so much better at work when you are strong!

i also read the New Rules of LIfting for Women but disregard most of the nutrition parts. the book advocates egg whites and protein powders, both of which i dont agree with

EWJLang wrote: »

I don't use protein powders, and I use egg whites in omelettes only. But, I "met" op on another thread, and she was really not eating to fuel a resistance workout. The recipes themselves might be of limited use, but if my memory serves, she'd probably benefit from the straight talk on protein, etc.

I also think she's in the UK, but I could be wrong. I promise I'm not a stalker, OP, your profile picture just stuck in my mind for some reason!

Hope to God OP didn't set up her macro goals based on that thread. 172 g of protein a day with a 1700 cal target? Freakin' insane. At her weight, 105 g of protein is more than enough, even if she were lifting heavy.

NerdFitness is a good resource for beginner questions. Really, to start out you just need to learn the basic lifts and some good form - a session or two with a personal trainer should sort that. You say there are no PTs -but there are gyms, right? There'll be trainers at the gym. Ask about it there.

Stronglifts will start you out doing the main lifts - deadlift, row, squat, overhead press and bench press. You start light and do 5 sets of 5 reps (take 1 min rest in between) and if it was easy to do with good form, you raise the weight a little more next time. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is more for those who want to get strong though. Don't know it til you've tried it - being strong feels AMAZING. You feel light as air!

If you're looking just to 'tone' though - that's not really a word, to be honest, so let's just go down a hypertrophy route here - you might prefer a lighter weight but done more times, like 8-12 reps across 3, 4 or 5 sets. Losing weight will reveal the muscle. Eating more calories than you need and gaining weight will aid in building the muscle if you decide you want them larger. Later, though. Google 'beginner gains' - you'll improve your look quite rapidly in the beginning. I haven't bulked yet but in 9 months my body looks very different.

Beginners won't need to worry too much about upper and lower body days - you're weak all over, so full-body, compound movements will tackle everything. Later on, you may decide on new goals and may identify some weaknesses you want to focus on, and when you start adding in new lifts and accessory lifts, that's when time constraints will mean you plan and upper and a lower day (so the other half is resting.)

If you're heading to a gym you could also look into a Body Pump class, which is high-rep, low-weight work with barbells, which again will teach you the lifts.

And then you could always do what I do. Buy a barbell and just lift at home I do the Stronglift five, but I have to keep the weight down for safety reasons (and to keep my floor intact!) and I'm going to start exploring other lifts soon. I also use dumbbells and a kettlebell, and bodyweight stuff like pushups and pullups are very effective. So, if you've no access to a gym just yet it's no hinderance. You can do loads without a gym.

Chlo92x wrote: »

what do u guys think of this:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-routines/home-barbell-workout

I think it's way overkill for a beginner -- that's a lot of stuff to master.

TR0berts wrote: »

hill8570 wrote: »

Chlo92x wrote: »

what do u guys think of this:
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-routines/home-barbell-workout

I think it's way overkill for a beginner -- that's a lot of stuff to master.

Yeah, it's not the worst thing in the world, but it's not great. It seems like a lot of wasted movements for a beginner, too.

As was mentioned in the very first response to this thread - look into a true beginner's program. I'd suggest, for your goals, the Practical Programming version of Starting Strength. It's a fairly low volume program and it (basically) substitutes pull-ups and chin-ups (you can do both of these on a lat pulldown station) for power cleans. You won't get "bulky" or anything like that.

Of course, you'll want to look more into whether or not there are any good PTs in your area - I know you said there weren't any, but I gotta think that there are some - or at least get your "gym buddy" that actually knows what (s)he's doing. At minimum, watch as many training videos from whomever wrote the program you choose (there are quite a few on youtube from Mark Rippetoe, author of Starting Strength), record yourself doing the lifts - WITH LIGHT WEIGHT!!! - post those videos you take online and get feedback for your form.

This 100%.

The fundamental rule of losing weight: Calories in < calories out.

CONSISTENTLY and HONESTLY follow the Myfitnesspal calorie recommendations and exercise regularly. Bodybuilding.com is a good resource for exercise plans and tutorials on how to perform those exercises. Just stay away from the supplement section.

There is ZERO scientific evidence to support the notion that lifting light weights at high repetitions is somehow better for women. This is "broscience."

I am a crazy muscle head female haha.

My routine is as follows:

Monday:
Chest, Back, Shoulders, Bis, Tris

Tuesday:
Calves, quads, glutes, hammys

Wednesday:
CARDIO & Core

Thursday:
REST

Friday:
Chest, back, shoulders, bis, tris

Saturday:
Calves, quads, glutes, hammys

Sunday:
CARDIO & CORE

The problem is, the hours I put in the gym per week due to high volume of weights is roughly 9.

theworkoutbox.com has a complete library for each body part. Great to check out.

maxwellnyce wrote: »

The fundamental rule of losing weight: Calories in < calories out.

CONSISTENTLY and HONESTLY follow the Myfitnesspal calorie recommendations

There is ZERO scientific evidence to support the notion that lifting light weights at high repetitions is somehow better for women. This is "broscience."

The MFP calorie recommendations are debatable as they are often a little extreme and under-shoot protein needs. If it works for you then great but don't be surprised if you need to go the TDEE route.

I don't know about clinical research but I have both talked to and read from many strength & conditioning coaches that their female clients tend to respond better to higher volume. I don't know if there's any real-science behind it or not as I have not taken the time to look, but when a large body of professionals state something like this there's probably something to it. I'm not talking about anything extreme either; not saying instead of 5x5 do 5x20.

Chlo92x wrote: »

I have a healthy diet although I do need to up my protein intake...

Yup. If you start lifting, at your weight, something in the neighborhood of 100 g of protein would be a good target. The "standard" advice of 1 g / pound is easy to remember, but way overkill.

Chlo92x wrote: »

I can only manage 2 evenings at the gym.

I might start with the 5x5 stronglifts twice a week because its simple and only a few moves to master, and its not a regime that requires different days for different body parts

Good plan. There are only 5 lifts in 5x5, but compound lifts have a lot of nuances, and take a while to master (nice thing about both SS and SL is that they start light, so you can work on form and range of motion at first). And mastering those lifts will carry forward into any intermediate program you choose to do further down the road. If you don't have an experienced coach or trainer, I'd recommend you pick up a copy of "Starting Strength" (under $10 US in Kindle format) -- it has great discussions of the mechanics of all but the Pendlay row. I found it invaluable starting out.

I started with StrongLifts and did very well with it. I also started without a trainer and, whilst I got on okay, having an expert in your corner will make a world of difference.

Which uni are you at in Wales? Have you contemplating looking to see if they have a university weightlifting or powerlifting club?

Let's face it, most of us girls pick up a barbell because we want to lose weight, look hot and be able to be thinner whilst eating more, so what bigger motivation could there be than the fact that I know that these girls ALL have their cake and eat it!


(The Welsh Ladies' Powerlifting Team)