Females only - lifting/weight training results?

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Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,443 Member
    bump
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    I would like to cut about 15 more lbs.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    Forgive the multiple posts can't figure out how to put two photos in one post!!!! :#
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 595 Member
    @dbanks80 Your arms look great! What program do you follow?
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    @dbanks80 Your arms look great! What program do you follow?

    Thank you!

    I've been doing one on one with a PT. I also do a Alpha Strong class 3 days a week. All with Progressive heavy lifting.
  • persimmonfig
    persimmonfig Posts: 15 Member
    So many amazing posts here from folks who do really intense routines and have really great long-term progress! I've really enjoyed reading your posts. I also thought I'd share my much gentler home routine and experience as a near-beginner.

    No pics from me right now, but I've been lifting weights at home 2-3 times a week since the beginning of May, when I finished my PhD. I was extremely sedentary when I started. I used to do separate upper and lower-body routines, but I actually do quite a lot of lower-body strength building through yoga and standing HIIT cardio, and was noticing some muscle fatigue, so I've backed off a bit on those during lifting. (I might pick back up in the future to build further strength, but I've decided I need to stick with the intensity of those other exercises for overall cardiovascular health and for weight loss right now.) I built up from 5 pounds while learning the exercises and now lift 15-pound dumbbells in each hand.

    This morning my routine was: biceps curls, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, overhead triceps extensions (only one weight), lateral arm raises, and chest presses. I added in some glute bridges (unweighted) and flutter kicks. 3 sets each of 10 reps.

    I'd never done weight training before I started this. In two and a half months of what I consider very slow and gentle progress, I've lost nearly an inch in my waist, about half an inch in my hips (I hold weight there, it's not that surprising that it's not more), and two inches in my thighs (thanks also to the cardio and yoga for that). My weight hasn't really budged at all, either direction. But I am so much stronger, and I've noticeably slimmed down in my face too! I've just started being more intentional about watching what I eat and am looking forward to starting to see a little validation from the scale as well.

    I used a lot of online resources to help choose exercises (and I do change them up occasionally!) and learn about proper form and motion. SELF has a lot of articles and videos/GIFs I liked about beginner weight-lifting routines, like this one. I also like that they feature diverse fitness models, including diverse body sizes--not only on principle, but because I found it easier and more encouraging to figure out how to do the exercises by watching people with a lot of different body types!
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    So many amazing posts here from folks who do really intense routines and have really great long-term progress! I've really enjoyed reading your posts. I also thought I'd share my much gentler home routine and experience as a near-beginner.

    No pics from me right now, but I've been lifting weights at home 2-3 times a week since the beginning of May, when I finished my PhD. I was extremely sedentary when I started. I used to do separate upper and lower-body routines, but I actually do quite a lot of lower-body strength building through yoga and standing HIIT cardio, and was noticing some muscle fatigue, so I've backed off a bit on those during lifting. (I might pick back up in the future to build further strength, but I've decided I need to stick with the intensity of those other exercises for overall cardiovascular health and for weight loss right now.) I built up from 5 pounds while learning the exercises and now lift 15-pound dumbbells in each hand.

    This morning my routine was: biceps curls, shoulder presses, bent-over rows, overhead triceps extensions (only one weight), lateral arm raises, and chest presses. I added in some glute bridges (unweighted) and flutter kicks. 3 sets each of 10 reps.

    I'd never done weight training before I started this. In two and a half months of what I consider very slow and gentle progress, I've lost nearly an inch in my waist, about half an inch in my hips (I hold weight there, it's not that surprising that it's not more), and two inches in my thighs (thanks also to the cardio and yoga for that). My weight hasn't really budged at all, either direction. But I am so much stronger, and I've noticeably slimmed down in my face too! I've just started being more intentional about watching what I eat and am looking forward to starting to see a little validation from the scale as well.

    I used a lot of online resources to help choose exercises (and I do change them up occasionally!) and learn about proper form and motion. SELF has a lot of articles and videos/GIFs I liked about beginner weight-lifting routines, like this one. I also like that they feature diverse fitness models, including diverse body sizes--not only on principle, but because I found it easier and more encouraging to figure out how to do the exercises by watching people with a lot of different body types!

    Very inspiring! Keep it up!

    I used to be the cardio queen and I used to HATE lifting weights. I started a Bootcamp about 6 yrs ago and the instructor did body building competitions so he incorporated a lot of weight lifting in Bootcamp. I began seeing my body transform and I've been hooked every since. I still love cardio and do a 2 mile run every day but I do a good solid 60 minutes lifting weights. I am hooked!
  • mc62412
    mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
    Everyone looks great. I’m only a few months into better eating, started April 12. I’m currently down 33 pounds. I haven’t really done much exercise yet. An occasional 30 mins here and there.
    I’m really interested in lifting. But I have so many questions. Does it matter what size / weight you are when your start. Where do you start. What is the best equipment to get going. So on and so on lol.
    I haven’t started to research it all yet, but it’s in my list !

    One day ... I’ll get there.
  • stuffyknee
    stuffyknee Posts: 13 Member
    What a great thread! I just got back into MyFitnessPal because I'm trying to build more muscle and get a bit of fat back on after a stress-related loss. I decided to start taking part in the community, and I'm so glad!
  • persimmonfig
    persimmonfig Posts: 15 Member
    mc62412 wrote: »
    Everyone looks great. I’m only a few months into better eating, started April 12. I’m currently down 33 pounds. I haven’t really done much exercise yet. An occasional 30 mins here and there.
    I’m really interested in lifting. But I have so many questions. Does it matter what size / weight you are when your start. Where do you start. What is the best equipment to get going. So on and so on lol.
    I haven’t started to research it all yet, but it’s in my list !

    One day ... I’ll get there.

    As a fellow newcomer, I think a lot of this is just up to you and what you feel most comfortable with/what your goals are! I linked to this article in a post above, I found it really helpful. There's a link in there too at the very beginning of that article about how to know what weight to start with. I started with 5 lb weights for my upper body and am up to 15 now for most exercises. I found I could use much heavier weights for lower body, which seems to be normal. I use adjustable dumbbells that I was given as a hand-me-down from my brother, which makes it easy to control what I'm lifting at home. But you can also easily find fixed-weight dumbbell sets. There are also alllll sorts of other things you can use for strength-building (water-fillable weights! kettlebells! resistance bands!). Depends on the exercises you want to try.

    I think it's really good advice to carefully practice the form of any exercise before you start--with no weights, with a water bottle, with a can of beans, whatever you can to get used to the movement. Once you can do that comfortably, start trying it out with a low weight. Then you can work up from there. More on that linked in the article above, as I said.

    I don't think your size or weight should matter much at all. I mentioned in a previous post that I like SELF's resources because they feature a variety of body shapes (not so much in the one I linked, but just poke around a bit and you'll see it!). It's probably much more important to know whether or not you have any kind of past injuries that you might need to be particularly careful about--like a lower back injury, for example. That way you know when to be extra cautious. I don't so much mean about form (you should always be careful with that!), but about when to take extra rest or not push yourself quite as hard for a while so that you don't risk repeating the injury or worsening any pain you might feel. That's probably pretty similar to most other exercise, though.

    All my advice is oriented towards trying this yourself, at home, and I'm basing this off of what I've read from a lot of online sources about beginner lifting and from my own experience. Some of it might not work exactly the same for you, and of course, if you have access to gym equipment and/or trainers, you might take a very different approach! Good luck! You can do it, and it will feel great!
  • mc62412
    mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
    mc62412 wrote: »
    Everyone looks great. I’m only a few months into better eating, started April 12. I’m currently down 33 pounds. I haven’t really done much exercise yet. An occasional 30 mins here and there.
    I’m really interested in lifting. But I have so many questions. Does it matter what size / weight you are when your start. Where do you start. What is the best equipment to get going. So on and so on lol.
    I haven’t started to research it all yet, but it’s in my list !

    One day ... I’ll get there.

    As a fellow newcomer, I think a lot of this is just up to you and what you feel most comfortable with/what your goals are! I linked to this article in a post above, I found it really helpful. There's a link in there too at the very beginning of that article about how to know what weight to start with. I started with 5 lb weights for my upper body and am up to 15 now for most exercises. I found I could use much heavier weights for lower body, which seems to be normal. I use adjustable dumbbells that I was given as a hand-me-down from my brother, which makes it easy to control what I'm lifting at home. But you can also easily find fixed-weight dumbbell sets. There are also alllll sorts of other things you can use for strength-building (water-fillable weights! kettlebells! resistance bands!). Depends on the exercises you want to try.

    I think it's really good advice to carefully practice the form of any exercise before you start--with no weights, with a water bottle, with a can of beans, whatever you can to get used to the movement. Once you can do that comfortably, start trying it out with a low weight. Then you can work up from there. More on that linked in the article above, as I said.

    I don't think your size or weight should matter much at all. I mentioned in a previous post that I like SELF's resources because they feature a variety of body shapes (not so much in the one I linked, but just poke around a bit and you'll see it!). It's probably much more important to know whether or not you have any kind of past injuries that you might need to be particularly careful about--like a lower back injury, for example. That way you know when to be extra cautious. I don't so much mean about form (you should always be careful with that!), but about when to take extra rest or not push yourself quite as hard for a while so that you don't risk repeating the injury or worsening any pain you might feel. That's probably pretty similar to most other exercise, though.

    All my advice is oriented towards trying this yourself, at home, and I'm basing this off of what I've read from a lot of online sources about beginner lifting and from my own experience. Some of it might not work exactly the same for you, and of course, if you have access to gym equipment and/or trainers, you might take a very different approach! Good luck! You can do it, and it will feel great!

    Thanks ! I’ll take a look at that article !