Exercising daily but not building muscle

Aclaire88
Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all.

I recently tested positive for Impaired Glucose Tollerance/Pre-Diabeties, the cause; I have thin PCOS. I'm Vegan and I have a pretty good diet but I have a heart condition MVPS. I've seen a dietician and Diabeties Educator and they tell me I'm doing everything right. I've made some changes to my eating habbits to combat the risk of escalating to Diabeties but my aim is to get fit!

I've become extremely inactive over the past 2 years and this year I'm trying to change all that. The issue is I'm losing weight quickly but not getting any fitter. I aim for a min of 30-45 min of strengthening exercises w a bit of cardio / day, keeping my heart rate up for the duration. I eat a min of 50g of Protein / day.

I'm a month in and don't feel any fitter/stronger. Am I expecting results too soon? I used to work out all the time and see the difference within this time frame and I was thinner back then.

Any suggestions?

28yo, 165cm, 57kg

Replies

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    i have rheumatoid arthritis (supposedly) and lift. that doesn't give me any special knowledge about the conditions you're dealing with, but fwiw i don't monitor my heart rate while i'm lifting. i see the lifting as a separate thing from any aerobic/cardio stuff.

    to give you the context, i started with teh stronglifts 5x5 lifting format three years ago, and then went 3x5 for a while before switching to wendler 5/3/1 almost a year ago.

  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    Thanks @MeganAM89 I'll increase my protein. I have been trying to and now you've mentioned it, it makes sense, I had hardly any fat back then but I also never went long without exercising. Desk jobs = Killer!
    I'll keep at it!
  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    @canadianlbs I guess I need to do more lifting! I need to keep a bit of cardio for my heart but I'll try lifting heavier weights.

    I keep going and hopefully start to see results.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    MeganAM89 wrote: »
    A month isn't long at all. It's hard for women to gain muscle to begin with and compared to mine your protein goal seems low. I'm 117 pounds and I'm trying to eat in between 80 - 100 g of protein a day.

    Before I'm sure you weren't gaining muscle, it just looked like you were because your bodyfat percentage was probably lower.

    That being said I barely know anything about PCOS and how it effects training and results.

    This is what I aim for, too. I think 50g might be a little low for you if you are training so much.
  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    I'm glad you've said that too because I asked the Dietician and she said 50g was good for my size and I didn't want to increase it unnecessarily but I definitely will now @jenilla
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    Aclaire88 wrote: »
    @canadianlbs I guess I need to do more lifting! I need to keep a bit of cardio for my heart but I'll try lifting heavier weights.

    I keep going and hopefully start to see results.

    if strength is what you're looking for, then a programme designed to build strength does make the most logical sense. it's definitely more efficient, anyway.

    look for a programme rather than trying to guess at your own. there are lots of them out there and they all have the 'progression' part built in for you, so you don't have to do your own math. only caveat is to be aware that a lot of them are designed with young, 'healthy' men in mind so don't be afraid to modify the degree of challenge to suit your own needs.

    and since you do have health conditions, please check in with your doctor about it as well. from my experience starting out as a lifter who has r.a.: it might make the best sense to figure out which programme you want to try, and take that to them. me, i just waltzed into my gp's office with the parks board's Mandatory Release Form For People Who Checked Certain Boxes On Their Questionnaire, and said 'i wanna start lifting weights'. she signed off on it without the faintest notion of what i was getting into, so that left a lot of onus on me to define and then police my own limits.

    that's fine when it's just joints, i guess. not fatal, at least. but i don't want you getting yourself a heart attack based off something some random mfper like me says in here.


  • Aclaire88
    Aclaire88 Posts: 80 Member
    canadianlbs wrote: »
    Aclaire88 wrote: »
    @canadianlbs I guess I need to do more lifting! I need to keep a bit of cardio for my heart but I'll try lifting heavier weights.

    I keep going and hopefully start to see results.

    if strength is what you're looking for, then a programme designed to build strength does make the most logical sense. it's definitely more efficient, anyway.

    look for a programme rather than trying to guess at your own. there are lots of them out there and they all have the 'progression' part built in for you, so you don't have to do your own math. only caveat is to be aware that a lot of them are designed with young, 'healthy' men in mind so don't be afraid to modify the degree of challenge to suit your own needs.

    and since you do have health conditions, please check in with your doctor about it as well. from my experience starting out as a lifter who has r.a.: it might make the best sense to figure out which programme you want to try, and take that to them. me, i just waltzed into my gp's office with the parks board's Mandatory Release Form For People Who Checked Certain Boxes On Their Questionnaire, and said 'i wanna start lifting weights'. she signed off on it without the faintest notion of what i was getting into, so that left a lot of onus on me to define and then police my own limits.

    that's fine when it's just joints, i guess. not fatal, at least. but i don't want you getting yourself a heart attack based off something some random mfper like me says in here.


    Haha all good. I understand, I've had it / known about it for 13 years so I know my limits but every gym or exercise class I've ever joined has asked me to sign a waiver. I played competitive tennis for many years and if anything gets your heart racing it's tennis. Also played Aus Tag (touch football) and got into Zumba so If I can handle that I'm good, just have issues with chest pain and low blood pressure which causes dizziness. Cardiologists encourages exercise but listening to my body so that's my management plan. I'm using the 30 Day Fitness Challenge app and equipment at home to get back into it. I'll look into more strength focused plans too. My core strength is shot so baby steps. For cardio I use my legs, the ground and stairs at a park near my work.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    edited March 2017
    Aclaire88 wrote: »
    I'm glad you've said that too because I asked the Dietician and she said 50g was good for my size and I didn't want to increase it unnecessarily but I definitely will now @jenilla

    Well, 50g of protein per day is fine if you're sedentary or not that active. I think you'll have better results with more, though, since you are working out so much and trying to build strength. I was really struggling to progress with my fitness until I increased my protein. You can experiment and see how you feel with more. B)
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    edited March 2017
    Losing weight quickly, half an hour of strengthening exercises and a but if cardio is the perfect storm for years of spinning your wheels.

    Write down your goals. Pick the most important and focus on that.

    Start on a specific well regarded training plan to meet your goals.

    Eat more. That's not to say eat a surplus yet, but you state you're losing weight quickly, stop that.

  • motoveg
    motoveg Posts: 23 Member
    Double down on the protein or go 1.0 to 1.5 grams per pund of bodyweight.
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