Chicks that lift weights

JennaM222
JennaM222 Posts: 1,996 Member
edited October 3 in Fitness and Exercise
I suck at lifting!!!

Help please ladies. What did you do when you first started? I am looking for advice from those who have noticed major differences in their shape, not necessarily the scale. How much you lift, times a week, etc. I need to tighten this shiznat up!

thank you!

Jenna

Replies

  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    I did CLX a little while back & it changed the shape of my body completely. I have pictures on my blog.
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
    New Lifting Rule for Women....It's the BIBLE of lifting for women. It is complete with a meal plans, tips, and routines.

    It will open your eyes about lifting
  • jperrysunlover
    jperrysunlover Posts: 96 Member
    I hired a personal trainer and she helped me to formulate some various workouts. Now I pick certain days to focus on upper body and lower body.

    Other suggestions:
    Body for Life (book) is a good resource for building weight workouts
    Yoga with Weights - a DVD
    Beachbody.com - Lots of great videos that incorporate weights with workouts.
  • FaithandFitness
    FaithandFitness Posts: 653 Member
    hop over to bodybuilding.com . . . there are lots of "plans" that you can print out that show you what to do. There are even videos that show proper technique if you haven't heard of an exercise before. I love the plans there! And I love weights!
  • mark03264
    mark03264 Posts: 334 Member
    Body for Life (book) is a good resource for building weight workouts
    Beachbody.com - Lots of great videos that incorporate weights with workouts.

    I know both of these are good options.
  • frogmommy
    frogmommy Posts: 151 Member
    Go grab some back copies of Oxygen magazine from the library. It is a magazine totally dedicated to chicks who lift. There are some great ideas in the mag for beginners and pros alike. Very inspirational, also.
  • linda1243
    linda1243 Posts: 166
    I got a personal trainer because I hate my loosey-goosey, flying squirrel arms. I have worked with her for 4 weeks now and my arms have started to develop a shape. The best part, she doesn't do anything fancy so that I can do these things on my own 2 days a week since I only meet with her once a week. She does the biceps, triceps and the upper back each time. We do three sets of each item and we do 10 to 15 reps depending on how exhausting it is. When you get tired, do three more and that will be how many reps you do each set. You can look up online how to do your biceps and triceps with free weights. It's so easy, I keep a 10lb weight in the house and I just grab one and go.

    But then the horribleness. I also have to do 3 sets of 10 pushups each. These are so awful, but I can't not do them since I see the affect they are having. I guess you just have to do it and as you start to notice the little places you arms curve in you will start to like them better. I do pushups twice a week and the other day I do reverse pushups (start lying on the floor and then push your body up and come back to a lying position - try to lift your body evenly, butt and back together) this is supposed to get the other 10% of your arms that you don't do during a normal push up.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    New Lifting Rule for Women....It's the BIBLE of lifting for women. It is complete with a meal plans, tips, and routines.

    It will open your eyes about lifting

    I just started New Rules as well although I'm not new to lifting. I think it'd be a great resource for those who are just starting too.
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    Start light- with a few pounds and over a few short weeks keep adding to the weight. You REALLY don't want an injury because then you're out for several weeks so I recommend you build up to heavier weights and get used to the motion and movements involved. 2-3 lbs > 5 lbs> 8lbs >10 lbs > 12.5 > 15 lbs. Others may recommend very differently... I'm interested to see what people tell you.
  • lesliemk
    lesliemk Posts: 382 Member
    I loved lifting back in HS & college, but didn't rekindle my love for it until I started ChaLEAN Extreme back in January. I feel IN LOVE with lifting all over again and loved that I got a refresher on proper form, tips of how much weight to use, etc...

    With that said I've now moved onto finding other fabulous weight programs to challenge myself with including a bodybuilding.com program that I am doing right now. ChaLEAN Extreme is lifting 3x/wk and cardio 2x/wk and now I'm up to weight training 5-6x/wk. It has completely transformed my body, boosted my self confidence and just changed my whole outlook on strong women. Chicks who lift ROCK!!!

    Any more questions, shoot me a friend request or message, I chat about my lifting on here every day! :D
  • Kany
    Kany Posts: 336
    I try to lift 4 times a week (alternating days on upper and lower body). I don't lift too hard. maybe 4 sets of 15 with a 30-50lbs weight on a machine. I don't do free weights though I don't know why. I feel stronger and I have slim down even though my weight is barely dropping.
  • Buckychick4ever
    Buckychick4ever Posts: 21 Member
    I agree that if you can find some room in your monthly budget, finding a good personal trainer is a must! I have never had a strong upper body but just by working out with my trainer who keeps my muscles guessing every few weeks by mixing up exercises, reps & amount of weight, I actually have defined biceps, triceps, shoulders, delts, etc.! And even though I certainly don't lift the most weight, the guns are getting better & better every week! :happy:

    One more thing...I have found that working out with bar/dumb/kettle bells has not only increased certain muscles, but actually changed the entire shape of my upper body, something that never happend when I only worked out on machines. Just thought I'd mention...
  • withervein
    withervein Posts: 224 Member
    When I first thought about working out more intensely, I ran across www.stumptuous.com. It shifted my focus from machines to free weights and sent me off on lots of different tracks to do my own research.

    The best part about that site is it's ad-free, female focused, straight forward and doesn't treat you like an idiot.
  • puggleperson
    puggleperson Posts: 740 Member
    bump
  • janetmp10
    janetmp10 Posts: 10
    I agree with Chalene Extreme! I've done it once BEFORE i got pregnant and now am 4.5 months post partum and am about half way through it! I have my 30 day photos on my blog page and a link to Chalene Extreme for more info! I LOVE IT! "GO HEAVY OR GO HOME!!"
    www.janetsfitnessblog.blogspot.com
  • janetmp10
    janetmp10 Posts: 10
    Forgot add...with Chalene there are three 90 day rotations. each gets progressively harder/heavier. There are also 2 cardio days/week and abs/stretching. The dvds are all under an hour (most are about 35 min or so). In my pics you can see a big difference on the front pic and the side pic! Hope that helps!
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    According to my trainer, if at the end of 8-10 reps, you cannot possibly do another, that's a good weight for you to be lifting. I usually do 3-4 supersets working opposite muscle groups at my gym on the machines.

    My gym is full of male bodybuilders and fitness models, so I'm by far the weakest person there, but it doesn't matter as long as you are working the best you can. If you are using freeweights just make sure you are using proper form and have good footwear and posture. Otherwise, just keep pushing yourself.
  • katherines2230
    katherines2230 Posts: 276 Member
    I got a personal trainer then fell in love with lifting weights! It's been 3 months now and when I started I could only lift 5 pound weights. Now I"m lifting with 15 pound weights and just about ready to go up to 20. I will admit though that in the beginning I felt really silly and intimidated lifting in front of those that were obviously in much better shape than myself but I got over that really quickly once I started seeing results!
  • deninevi
    deninevi Posts: 934 Member
    New Rules of Lifting For Women is a great book!
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
    According to my trainer, if at the end of 8-10 reps, you cannot possibly do another, that's a good weight for you to be lifting.
    THIS x a million. My target rep range is 8-12. I was doing a split-body routine (diff muscle group each day) 5-6 days a week from December to now with fantastic results. The key is PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. Google it & read up. This is what you need to build that good-looking muscle that will reshape your body.

    Today I'm switching to a 3-day full-body workout routine to change things up. Lift HEAVY...as women we don't have to worry about getting bulky, especially in a caloric deficit.

    An added bonus of working hard in the weight room is respect from the men...I'm benching more than many of the guys in there. Seriously, chicks who know what they're doing in the weight room are hot. ;)
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
    Question for the lifters...do you build in breaks to your weight lifting routine? I've heard that I should take a full week off from exercise every 10-12 weeks. Do any of you take breaks?
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Jeez aren't you ladies worried about getting bulky? Or are you doing very high reps for toning?












    Ok I'm totally trolling.

    On a serious note, good to see ladies hitting the iron like you're supposed to!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    Question for the lifters...do you build in breaks to your weight lifting routine? I've heard that I should take a full week off from exercise every 10-12 weeks. Do any of you take breaks?

    If you're progressively overloading, which it sounds like you are based on previous posts. I would absolutely deload every 8 to 12 weeks.

    Recommendation that I read over at bodybuilding.com was to deload at maximum of 50% workload, as low as 0. So in other words, take a full week off OR take a week at half volume OR take a week at half intensity (full volume, 50% load).

    At any rate, give the CNS and the body a break from overload.

    I'm currently on a deload now, and not lifting SUCKS, but it's very beneficial long term.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    Question for the lifters...do you build in breaks to your weight lifting routine? I've heard that I should take a full week off from exercise every 10-12 weeks. Do any of you take breaks?

    Yes. Every 9 weeks, I do a non-lift week just to allow my body some down time.

    My schedule is as follows:

    Monday: 60 minutes cardio
    Tuesday: legs (inner + outer adductors + hams + quads + calves)
    Wednesday: 60 minutes cardio
    Thursday: chest, abs, upper back + 30 mins cardio (usually Thursday is my boxing day)
    Friday: Arms + glutes
    Saturday: circuit training (30-60 minutes depending)
    Sunday: rest day

    When I first started, I couldn't lift more than 2 days per week, but I slowly built it up. Rest days are really important.

    To the OP: As for non-scale results, my body fat percentage has gone from 47% to 28%, which makes me feel completely badass and awesome.
  • stubbysticks
    stubbysticks Posts: 1,275 Member
    LOL'ing at the getting bulky & toning. I swear I cringe every time I see those words in posts.
    If you're progressively overloading, which it sounds like you are based on previous posts. I would absolutely deload every 8 to 12 weeks.

    Recommendation that I read over at bodybuilding.com was to deload at maximum of 50% workload, as low as 0. So in other words, take a full week off OR take a week at half volume OR take a week at half intensity (full volume, 50% load).

    At any rate, give the CNS and the body a break from overload.

    I'm currently on a deload now, and not lifting SUCKS, but it's very beneficial long term.
    Yep on the progressive overload & I'm coming up on 10 weeks since my last break, but I've got a week-long vacay scheduled at 15 weeks so I'll prob wait until then.

    So to both of you, if you skip the lifting altogether, do you still do any cardio? I've heard that I should take a break from running too to allow the CNS to recover. Appreciate the responses!

    And Elizabeth, you ARE badass. :)
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member

    Yep on the progressive overload & I'm coming up on 10 weeks since my last break, but I've got a week-long vacay scheduled at 15 weeks so I'll prob wait until then.
    Very good move on the above. I always try to schedule deloads around events/vacations/circumstances that already mandate my gym absence for a few days. Miss fewer workouts that way :)
    So to both of you, if you skip the lifting altogether, do you still do any cardio? I've heard that I should take a break from running too to allow the CNS to recover. Appreciate the responses!

    I don't do cardio because I don't enjoy it. My understanding/what I've read is that cardio is fine on deloads.
    And Elizabeth, you ARE badass. :)

    She can blow bubbles with Beef Jerky.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    LOL'ing at the getting bulky & toning. I swear I cringe every time I see those words in posts.
    Yep on the progressive overload & I'm coming up on 10 weeks since my last break, but I've got a week-long vacay scheduled at 15 weeks so I'll prob wait until then.

    So to both of you, if you skip the lifting altogether, do you still do any cardio? I've heard that I should take a break from running too to allow the CNS to recover. Appreciate the responses!

    And Elizabeth, you ARE badass. :)

    First of all, I :heart: you and am happy to meet some other chicks who are into lifting and getting stronger :smile:

    Secondly, I do a lot of cardio, but not intense. I have a heart conditon that sometimes makes it uncomfortable to get my HR up too high. Cardio helps me burn more fat and calories. I'm still losing weight so cardio is important as well.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member

    And Elizabeth, you ARE badass. :)

    She can blow bubbles with Beef Jerky.

    That's Chuck Norris. I kicked his *kitten* last week. BOOYAH!
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