Weight Lifting! Q & A's

The only way to drop body fat is a calorie deficit. I would suggest a lifting program. Stronglifts or New rules of lifting for women seem to be the go to's. I lift weights 4 days a week followed by 20 minutes of HIIT and I do 1 day per week of steady state cardio for 40 minutes. The cardio is ONLY because I like food... ALOT!

ETA I know nothing about Amino acids or Creatine. I don't like pre workouts. They make me jittery!

Marcillene wrote: »

Also, what is your opinion..... Amino Acid complex powder vs. creatine. i know creatine holds water in your muscles, and can cause water weight gain.... but physically for lifting.. what is your opinion?

The short-answer to this is that Creatine can improve your weight lifting performance. Creatine is one of few proven supplements that actually does what it says it does. Amino Acids have a different purpose in that they help reduce muscle breakdown. Although there is some more current research that indicates Creatine might help prevent muscle catabolism as well, but more research is probably warranted on that.

I say cardio should be viewed as a way to keep you within your calorie goals. I see my calorie goals as daily and weekly, and mentally apply the cardio deficit to the week rather than thinking about it as a "daily".

I lift 3x a week and this is where the focus of my program/goals is, alternating with 1 day spinning (because it's fun), 1 day elliptical (because its so easy), and the 6th day is what I like to call "active relaxation" which means that I go for a hike if I've got the time (but I don't stress about it), plank and roll out my muscles, light some candles, make some tea or pour a celebratory scotch before I take a nice epsom salt bath and ready myself for the next week.

Honestly, I used to use BCAAs because I got really sore and achey, but I hate the flavor and I'm not always sure it helps, so unless I'm feeling like crap I stay away from supplements. Not sure what kind of look you're going for, but I bet you can get your protein needs from whole nutrients alone. The bath soak though... It's pretty blissful, and I always think of it as necessary for the strength of my training program. This is often the day I cook and food prep for the week! The next morning I'm blissed out and ready to hit hard in the weight rack. Good luck.

dbmata wrote: »

3laine75 wrote: »

Calorie deficit to drop your fat - doesn't matter if it comes from diet or exercise. Do cardio if you enjoy it and want more food.

BCAAs are a waste of money IMO. Creatine is a waste of money, for me, but is a tried and trusted supplement for many.

Coffee is my, go to, pre-workout.

Oh and 'clean' eating is only good for getting more volume of food. No harm in enjoying the things you like if they fit your calories/macros for the day.

Something to keep in mind about creatine is in the right dose, it's a good nootropic.

I think most people (myself included) could use a good nootropic in their lives.

I think the research is a little too new and more is needed, much of the success has been in animal studies. I've seen some of the human studies and it does show some promise in helping things like Alzheimer's and Hutchinson's disease but more research is needed. Vitamin-D on the other hand, some actually feel that it is more of a pro-hormone and believe that a Vitamin-D deficiency can lead to certain neurological disorders as well. I forgot which one, but they pretty much proved that Vitamin-D deficiency does cause it, it may have been Alzheimer's but I don't recall.