Posting update here!
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ajwall3
Posts: 187
kay I'll try to post a before and after picture on here.. Edit : okay It's not really letting me, how can I? I have been doing the stronglifts 5x5 for about a month and a half. I have noticed my lower half has toned up a lot as you see in the pictures and I have built up muscle in my lower half, but my arms I'm not exactly sure what the problem is. Have been working out and I have been maintaining 3 days of cardio about 4 miles on those days. I try to eat the right amount of protein which is around a hundred grams a day. I'm trying to eat at maintenance which is about 1710 a day. I haven't weighed myself since I started. I'm just disappointed in the lack of resting definition in my arms. Advice?
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Are you doing additional exercises for your arms, or just SL?0
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My shoulder muscles got very defined but that may some muscle memory going on. Pre SL I had good definition in my shoulders. After a couple years of being out of shape, I started SL in Oct and found that my arms didn't shape up with just the 5x5. I bought a curl bar and DB for my exercise room and do curls and tricep work. You could do tricep dips off a bench or stable chair. Great bodyweight exercise.0
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I've been doing other arm workouts to supplement. Biceps, triceps, shoulder press, row. My strength is increasing but the shape isn't. My arms look like thin girls arms not necessarily arms that lift.0
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They are muscular when I flex just not resting. I think time will only help but it's frustrating0
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I think it takes a long time to put on muscle. If you are eating at maintenance rather than bulking then it will take even longer to to build. A month and a half does not seem like long enough to see major progress as far as muscle growth.
Since you haven't been weighing yourself, could you actually have lost some weight? Maybe your legs look more toned/muscular because you had more fat on your legs so lost more fat there, making you look more defined there without actually having built any or much muscle.0 -
^^^agree. Not enough time to put on enough muscle. It's very slow going for women to build muscle and needs a calorie surplus. I think eating at maintenance (or deficit) you are hopefully just preserving the muscle you have as you lose fat. Fat loss will reveal your muscles more, like Nancy said. Your leg muscles are the biggest muscles and support your every move. You probably lost some water and/or fat and now you can see some definition. I already had big arms/shoulders from 20+ yrs of a physically active job with lifting, climbing ladders, etc. It takes very little for me to get my arms pretty muscular again because I didn't lose it. But if you hadn't already built up those muscles it's unlikely that you would have the definition you are looking for in one month.0
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I have probably put onsome weight, gosh I wish I could post the before and after picture of my lower half thx to squats I can't fit into my pants anymore. As in, they're too tight now. I was 115 pounds starting out. I had a up my cardio and lost a lot of weight but I felt I was flabbier then I wanted to be. That's when I cut back on cardio which was 6 days a week to only 3 days a week I upped my calories to 1710 instead of 1200. so I feel like I have increased muscle mass on my lower half but maybe it just takes awhile for my arms? They are thinner but they're not as defined as I think they should be maybe because I am gaining weight and with that comes a little fat? I'm scared to do a true bulking cycle because mentally knowing that I'm gaining fat along with muscle is difficult for me. I know, I sound like a basket case.you girls are right though, I'm sure that I'm being a little over eager with only a month and a half under my belt lol literally!0
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I had to log in from my phones browser instead of the app to get it to post!!0
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Sounds like you are doing great. I have wide hips & junk in the trunk, as they say. My measurements went up & then I lost water wt. lost a little fat. Measurements are down but my butt is higher & looks better. I wear jeans with stretch to them so I can still wear them. I'm afraid of doing a bulk, too, frankly. Some fat always comes with the muscle, I've read. But, apparently, the cut really shows off the new muscle. Maybe eat a tiny surplus & really work those muscles? I'd love to know what maintenance/bulk would do for my strength.0
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that's a great idea to eat a tiny bit more and really really work those muscles. Tonight is a strong Lift night and I haven't done very well with eating today. it's all been healthy but not very caloric.It seems difficult for me to even hit my maintenance calories, I tried to eat protein filled foods that I know are high in calories but are the good kind of calories.here's to keeping on keepin on0
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It seems difficult for me to even hit my maintenance calories.
Is this an ongoing issue, or just since you've upped your protein? If it's the latter, I went through something similar. The increase in protein kept me so full that I had very little appetite during the day. It only lasted a couple of weeks.0 -
Yes increasing my protien has decreased my appetite. It's only been this way about 2 weeks but I've increased my protein since I first started. I try to get most of it through food but I do a protien shake when I can't (which is usually every day or every other) and those have been hard to choke down.0
