Women Who Lift

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  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    edited August 2019
    At the top of this sub forum there are the ‘must read’ threads. One is ‘which lifting programme is best for you’. Have a look through the beginner programmes and choose one that suits you at this point in time.
    No need to start with a barbell, though you can if you want, body weight or dumbbells are a good intro and get you in good condition to move onto barbells, if you wish.

    Most of the programmes have links to sites that will give form instruction. I also think there are links at the bottom of the programme list for some excellent form instruction.

    Cheers, h.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    edited August 2019
    ExistingFish wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    KelDawLan wrote: »
    I wanted to know what weight everyone lifts?
    For example I do 3 x 10-12 bench press with dumbbells 10kg each.
    Side lat raise is 3 x 8-10 4kg each.
    Shoulder press 3 x 8 9kg each.
    Just wanting to know if this is about the same for everyone, light or heavy. I’ve been on a programme for 2 months now, doing 4-5 30min sessions a week.
    Thanks x

    When I do my heavy lifting at the gym, I use barbells. I also do sets closer to 5-8 reps. My bench is around 95lb(it was 105, but I've not had a good schedule this summer), squats 145-150, ohp 50-55(also lighter, but because of shoulder injury), deadlifts around 165. This is going to vary between us a lot because we are at different levels of strength and fitness and also different sizes and ages and we have different goals. My working weights are lower than I'd like them to be because I'm on summer break and do not have regular access to the gym. I'm hoping too ramp them back up soon.
    When I do videos with dumbbells at home, I use 5s or 7.5s because that's what I have.

    It really is going to vary, but I was surprised at how close yours are to mine!

    Bench 100lbsx3
    Squat 165x2 (today!)
    OHP 70x3
    DL 195x3

    I work in kg but my numbers are very similar, except for squats, but I'm getting back up to the 75kg slowly but surely after taking time off to concentrate on running.

    Bench 56kg (123lb) tested 1rpm, 50kgx3 (110lb)
    Squat 75kg (165lb) 1 rpm pr, currently 45kgx5 (99lb)
    OHP 35kg (77lb) 1rpm pr, 30kgx5 (66lb)
    DL 99.5kg (219lb) 1rpm pr, 83kgx5 (182lb)

    These were all on my last heavy week lifting cycle, none felt like I couldn't have gone heavier, but as I said heavy lifting took a back seat for a while and I'm only 3 cycles back in to it. Hope to be at or above my previous 1rpm in all lifts by end of year.
    eta : all my previous maxs were using gloves and belt (no belt for bench), I now lift raw
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    sastacular wrote: »
    Lifting interests me but I'm a complete noob and I don't go to a gym. How did you all learn how to lift? What would you reccommend to a beginner? I'd prefer not to rely on a personal trainer or gym membership.

    Unless you own a weight set of some kind, you will probably need a gym membership to obtain access to weights.

    You can do resistance training with your bodyweight, which can be very effective. This can be done without a gym.
  • Alia_R
    Alia_R Posts: 410 Member

    ExistingFish wrote: »
    sastacular wrote: »
    Lifting interests me but I'm a complete noob and I don't go to a gym. How did you all learn how to lift? What would you reccommend to a beginner? I'd prefer not to rely on a personal trainer or gym membership.

    Unless you own a weight set of some kind, you will probably need a gym membership to obtain access to weights.

    You can do resistance training with your bodyweight, which can be very effective. This can be done without a gym.

    What she said ^^.

    Although I started off by buying a few pairs dumbbells for home workouts, not knowing that later down the road, they would become not as effective for strength training overall. But I still like to incorporate those lighter weights into my cardio workouts at home.
  • jaroby
    jaroby Posts: 152 Member
    tthickens637 wrote: »
    jaroby wrote: »
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    jaroby wrote: »
    Trouble shooting question:

    Your TDEE seems high. Cal-in or cal-out must be off too. Love your determination though!!

    Thanks :smile:
    I’ve wondered about my TDEE as well but I’ve calculated it using multiple sites and equations. It always ends up at 2450/2500 and the highest range I saw was closer to 3. I don’t eat 3! Ha! But the only way to drop my TDEE below 2450 is to input wrong information so I’ve just gone with it. I really do workout 5-6 days a week and I lift as heavy as I can with clean form & I’m a hot sweaty mess :smiley: The low TDEE range comes from saying I’m working out 3-4days a week moderate intensity. The high range is 6-7 days a week high intensity. To get it lower I would have to say I’m sendentary/don’t workout and that’s definitely not true :smiley: This isn’t going by MFP, it’s using other sites to cross reference.

    And I do weigh my food with an accurate scale. Bites, tastes, everything.

    I don’t eat back 100% of the calories MFP counts my workouts for. I’ve read enough on the forums over the years to know that it’s overestimated.

    Thanks for the encouragement though!
  • DebraNYC
    DebraNYC Posts: 1 Member
    Hi Ladies, getting back into training after several years of rotator cuff and wrist surgery, along with laziness. Now in my mid 40's and 143lb at 5'5" 32% body fat ( so sad at 36 I was 125 with 18% body fat, having trouble getting a good number for calorie.intake. depending on method I use I am anywhere from 1280 to 1850, with three workouts a week with weights and two cardio days. I tried 1280 and lost 10 lbs but BMI went up 5% so all I did was lose muscle.

    What formula does everybody use? I feel like going to the high end will just put on weight as my metabolism is much slower than it had been when I was younger.
  • katermari
    katermari Posts: 137 Member
    i have been lifting 5x a week for 2 years, in love.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I sent you a friend request - I'm currently lifting a routine based on Arnold's Mr Universe routine.
  • jnomadica
    jnomadica Posts: 280 Member
    DebraNYC wrote: »
    Hi Ladies, getting back into training after several years of rotator cuff and wrist surgery, along with laziness. Now in my mid 40's and 143lb at 5'5" 32% body fat ( so sad at 36 I was 125 with 18% body fat, having trouble getting a good number for calorie.intake. depending on method I use I am anywhere from 1280 to 1850, with three workouts a week with weights and two cardio days. I tried 1280 and lost 10 lbs but BMI went up 5% so all I did was lose muscle.

    What formula does everybody use? I feel like going to the high end will just put on weight as my metabolism is much slower than it had been when I was younger.

    Not sure if this will help, but my stats were very similar. I’m 41F, and started in February at 145. I planned to lose pretty slowly, as I wanted to maintain muscle mass, and I hate to be hungry:) I generally ate about 1600, sometimes more. I wasn’t too fanatical about it, and the weight loss was slow. But I’m 129 as of today (I had actually stopped trying to lose about a month ago, and haven’t been tracking, but still seem to be losing at a very slow pace).

    I started with walking and lifting 3x per week, and over time have increased my cardio activities and now lift twice per week. I had also been inactive due to injury prior to starting in February. I think I look better now at 129 with lifting in the mix than I did at 120 with just running.
  • mitzib1973
    mitzib1973 Posts: 4 Member
    I just started weight training this week, and I am enjoying it. I'm interested to learn more but when I read a lot of these posts and even listening to others in the gym, it is like trying to decipher another language. Where can I learn more about the science? Thank you!
  • Anabirgite
    Anabirgite Posts: 538 Member
    mitzib1973 wrote: »
    I just started weight training this week, and I am enjoying it. I'm interested to learn more but when I read a lot of these posts and even listening to others in the gym, it is like trying to decipher another language. Where can I learn more about the science? Thank you!

    At the top of this board is a thread or a "stickie" Bookmark Most Helpful Posts - Goal: Gaining Weight (Must Reads)...They have wonderful information links for you to do research. I am new to lifting myself and have started at my gym going to a group fitness lifting class. It has been very helpful to me since I was at a zero in my lifting knowledge and strength. Good luck.
  • Anabirgite
    Anabirgite Posts: 538 Member
    jaroby wrote: »
    Trouble shooting question:

    I just posted this in another thread but knew this group of lifting ladies would also have good insight. :D

    I’m 31 5ft6in 194lbs. Mama of 3 kids. Baby is 14m weaned him 6 to 8 wks ago.
    When I breastfeed I have to maintain min of 2400+ cal or the milk dries up FAST.
    My body put on fat *after* he was born. (I think I need a certain bf% to nurse the little humans.)
    I start with all this b/c it’s possible the hormones are still at play and from past experience my body is quite sensitive to them.

    Onward with other info...
    I workout 30-40mins a day M-F with fitnessblender.com weights, cardio, etc. sometimes I skip a video & go run cuz I like it.
    My TDEE according to various calculators runs from 2400-3,000 depending on my estimated daily activity level.
    I’ve been reducing my calories down by 100 every 2wks and have been sitting at 1800 a day for the last month.

    I weigh the same. No loss. 194. It’s what I weighed at 9m pregnant last year. :smiley: It’s been 75 days of tracking, 4wks of those at what I thought was a good deficit (1800). My clothes fit different tho so inches must be losing? I am ALL FOR NSV’s! But the thing is, I don’t want to recomp. Ha! I’m happy with my muscle! I can *see* it in my leaner spots under the extra 20-30lbs.

    Must I drop to an even greater deficit?? MFP has my “lose 1lb a week” somewhere around 1700. I’m not sure if my activity level as a mom is active or lightly active so I’ve just pegged my cal at 1800 and here and there I plug in my exercise cal’s and eat them back.

    I know the scale can get stuck sometimes and I know not to put a lot of stock into it but man alive, I’d like to drop to around 170/160 and see how I feel. I don’t have the mental stamina to recomp a whole freaking 20lbs. That’s why I slowly dropped to really close to “lose 1lb a week” cal goal and held it there for a month thinking I’d reassess and make a new plan if needed. I was hoping not to have to do a deeper deficit.

    Am I completely off my rocker or do I need to drop even lower!? And then again, how *much* lower!?

    -I’m going to start taking measurements every 2wks to track a different progress point.
    -I strive to eat 4.oz protein at every meal + veggies and fill in the rest with heavy hitter carbs & fat. I drink 100oz+ water a day.
    -I weigh everything with a food scale or measuring cups if it’s liquid.

    Sorry this got so long, wanted to give as much info as possible to better help anyone willing to shoot some advice my way. :smile:

    Thanks in advance!!

    A number of years ago when I was breast feeding i definitely had trouble losing weight during that time...I though Darwin was more concerned my child would grow and survive then any want or need on my part. Magically 2 or so months after I quit, the hormones finally normalized and the weight just melted away. Hormones definitely play havoc with our weight. As I now have entered the perimenopause/menopause phase I magically gained weight again and am fighting to lose. You may need to talk with your OB/Gyn about your hormones. We have a pharmacist where I live who just specializes in women hormones she was recommended by my neurologist and has helped me with several hormone problems.
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  • jayemes
    jayemes Posts: 865 Member
    @fairylover0092 most gyms will give you a free trial workout. Try a few close by and see what fits you best
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    edited August 2019
    I feel like I'm back on track again...for the moment anyway. Ok, so it did not post my picture. Here's today's workout:
    Squat 155 5x5
    Bench 100 5x5
    OHP 65 4x5
    Deadlifts 170 4x4
    Pull ups 3x3
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    tina9572 wrote: »
    I started lifting about 4 months ago and I really like it so far!
    I started exercising (mostly cardio at the time) and eating in a deficit in March, since I'm overweight.
    A lot of people here on the forums claim that one should start lifting during weight loss for the best results, so I did, and I don't regret it one bit :smile:
    Since I started lifting, my weight loss has slowed down a little bit, but since then I can really see the difference in the mirror! According to online calculators my BF went down about 36lbs, and I 'only' lost 33lbs on the scale! I know these calculators are not absolutely accurate, but this gives me confidence that at least I'm not losing too much of my muscle while losing weight :smile:

    I'm mainly doing the compound lifts from the stronglifts program, and add in some extra hip trusts, abs and tricep exercises. I work out at home and recently maxed out with my dumbbell set (2x30lbs) for some of the lifts.
    Since last weekend I have a barbell setup so I'm hoping to break some PRs soon !

    I would like some more lifting friends so if anyone would like to add me as a friend please do!

    Awesome! Keep up the good work!
  • kara_tastic
    kara_tastic Posts: 38 Member
    edited October 2019
    I started lifting a few months ago and love it! I started going to Bootcamp and wow! I really enjoy it!
  • Alia_R
    Alia_R Posts: 410 Member
    CherylAW1586 wrote: »
    usyuinubi4e4.jpg
    Good morning ladies.
    Ive been training on and off for the past 6 years now.
    Trained hardcore for 3 of them and had 2 years off.
    Been back since April.
    Just started to bulk again after doing a cut.
    Going to do a full years bulk to try add alot of mass and size on. Plus I love food too much so any excuse really ha ha
    Nice to see so many women taking this lifestyle up.
    Fantastic. Keep up the good work girls 💪🏽💯

    You should be an inspiration for all women here! You look amazing! 😱
  • MsGenXodus
    MsGenXodus Posts: 9 Member
    Hello Women who Lift,

    I turned 50 in 2019 and have been looking for something to shake me out of my ennui of aging. I'm fully into menopause now and the symptoms are starting to subside a bit now. Still taking HRT, but I'm taking the smallest possible dose.

    I did some physique work back in the day. I started lifting back in the 1980's when Jane Fonda was all the rage. I saw a magazine with Cory Everson on the cover and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. xm73d4hm0wpz.png

    I took a weight lifting class when I was in 9th grade and became hooked quickly. I was one of 3 girls in that class, and the only one who wasn't a student athlete.

    These days, I'm working on body weight exercises and HIIT for cardio. It's been since 2004 since I lifted seriously. I got into cycling in the 2010's and packing on muscle is pretty much mandatory for legs, but my superpower was intense cardio and endurance training. The lighter I was, the easier the hills were to climb.
    (Stock photo of lady on bike)
    43av8cwtc3b5.png

    I'm not much of a workout buddy, but am inspired to see all the hard working women on this forum. Cheers!



  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    I started Stephanie Buttermore's Beginner 3 day full body beginner program on Monday. However, on Monday I ate back half of the calories my Apple Watch said I burned because I was following MFP's NEAT and not TDEE. Well today I calculated my TDEE with exercise set to moderate (3-5 days a week), which is 2044. I subtracted 500, so that puts me at 1544 calories for the day. Is that too low of a calorie goal while following a lifting program? Would it be wiser to set a less aggressive deficit?

    My main goal is to lose weight/fat, but I want to get strong. I know that as a noob I can build muscle right now b/c I have plenty of fat stores, but in the future I would have to follow more of a traditional cut/bulk scenario.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    500 is pretty aggressive, depending on how much you have to lose. It might work in the beginning. If you feel your hunger increasing or your strength/energy decreasing, bring your deficit down a little. This is where you have to be very careful with your logging because it's easy to wipe out a small deficit with a few logging mistakes.
    It shouldn't make much difference with method you use, both should end up with a similar calorie goal in the end.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    500 is pretty aggressive, depending on how much you have to lose. It might work in the beginning. If you feel your hunger increasing or your strength/energy decreasing, bring your deficit down a little. This is where you have to be very careful with your logging because it's easy to wipe out a small deficit with a few logging mistakes.
    It shouldn't make much difference with method you use, both should end up with a similar calorie goal in the end.

    I have about 20 pounds to lose and I would love to have majority of that off by the end of April.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    If you actually stay at 500 deficit every day, jan-april, then you will lose about 16lbs (off the top of my head). But this is an aggressive rate of loss for a relatively small amount of weight(and decreasing each week). So, you would actually have to keep lowering your calories on order to maintain that rate. Probably not the healthiest or safest way to go.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    edited January 2020
    I chose the rate prior to starting lifting back in December when I decided it was time to get it together. My concern was whether it would be healthy or feasible to keep such an aggressive deficit while doing such a taxing workout. I appreciate the time you've taken to answer my questions. I will slow it down to a 250 deficit.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    You wouldn't necessarily need to bump it up 250 calories right away. You could just increase a little at a time, depending how you feel. Just remember that your rate of loss will also decrease. But you will hopefully maintain more lean mass this way and not suffer other negative side effects (like hair loss).
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    You wouldn't necessarily need to bump it up 250 calories right away. You could just increase a little at a time, depending how you feel. Just remember that your rate of loss will also decrease. But you will hopefully maintain more lean mass this way and not suffer other negative side effects (like hair loss).

    I ate very close to 1700 yesterday and felt good with that. I will stick to that for now and see how things progress with my energy, strength, hunger, scale, and adjust as needed.
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