women who lift heavy

I lift 4 to 5 times a week. Rotating areas of the body. Legs one day, arms and chest another, back and abs the next. Take two days off and then back in the gym.

My squat max is 400, but for everyday lifting/training, I the highest I go is 225. Bench is 135 and dead lift is 225 as well.

I eat between 1800 and 2000 calories a day. I lean towards a lot of protein, but also eat plenty of carbs.

In all this, I have only lost 30 pounds, but I have lost 10 pant sizes. Like someone said, when building muscle, the scales are not the best way to measure yourself. Instead, get a sewing measuring tape and measure yourself once a month.

I too am doing NROLFW, I am into my second week. I deadlifted 50 kg yesterday for a set of 15 (110 lbs) and shoulder pressed 20 kg. 3 times a week.
I am loving it! I am eating around 2000 cal a day, and I am losing (well it seems I have in my first week anyway)
It really is true you need to eat more to lose

oh, and i forgot to add; my fiance told me to use a weight i can only do 3 to 5 reps with perfect form, and do up to 5 sets with it, or until i cant pick it up. Do this once a week for 2 weeks (per muscle group) and then add weight. hate to say it, but it works. I add up to 10lbs every 2 weeks. Never thought id be able to curl 25lbs 100 + times all at once, but now i can

Nothing hotter than a woman who can lift me up and press me against the wall too Bonus points if she can carry me up the stairs!

LOL. I don't think the Fireman's Carry is in the NROLFW, which is what I just started a few weeks ago. If you tell us how much you weigh we'll all have something to work toward.

Question for those using the olympic weights/bar: do you factor the weight of the bar into your numbers? eg. for the deadlift I use 20 kg on either end of the bar and the bar itself weighs 40 lbs (40 lbs = 18.14 kg), does this mean I deadlift 58.14 kg?

You're lifting it, aren't you?? OF COURSE! :drinker:

**Edit to say: most Olympic bars weigh 45# lbs. Not saying the one you use does, but you might want to check just to make sure.

I'm doing New Rules of Lifting for Women too, 3x/week. My stats aren't nearly as impressive as others, but I'm not even halfway through the program yet.

The scale has hardly budged, but 2.5 months in, I've lost a couple of sizes and see a ton of muscle definition. It's pretty awesome!

Bump

LOL I weigh 205lbs but if you do the fireman's carry you're able to lift way more than you think!

Yep I factor in the bar, ours weigh 20 kg.
I used this bar alone for my shoulder presses yesterday.

2000 a day on lifting days/3 times a week tops. My theory is, if you can do more than that you're not lifting heavy enough. I'm usually so sore the next day I wouldn't be able to lift if I wanted to. My schedule is Tues/Thurs/Sat. I run on Mon/Fri and I take Wed and Sun off.

bump

Figure there are plenty of these threads so I'll just throw my question in here instead of starting a new one.


I know free weights are the way to go, but how bad or good are the machines? I work out alone and am far too shy to ask any stranger for a spot so I always do squats (leg press, I suppose) and bench press because I don't want to hurt myself. I typically lift at a weight to failure on the final set, hence needing a little help, not in the mood for any jugglar crushing. Is there a better or different way I can be doing those instead of machines?

I was a competitive powerlifter in college 30 years ago. I still lifted here and there over the years, but not as much. Jan 2010 I decided to get my *kitten* together, and went back to the gym regularly. I used MFP's calorie guidance, using a heart rate monitor, and so far I've lost about 45 pounds. I started at 170 and I'm 5'4" tall. My starting body fat was around 29-30%, and it's now around 18%. I've recently switched my diet to Steve's plan found here in the "Eat" article:

www.body-improvements.com

So I now just eat 1350 cals a day and try to hit my macros. I don't fuss with exercise calories anymore. I'm doing this to try to get the last few fat deposits off, since I've been stalled for a while. My trouble spots are love handles, inner thighs, and butt.

My lifting routine is 5 days a week. I rotate through legs and arms, chest and back, shoulder and abs, repeat. I do some cardio (20-30 minutes) every day since I have a lung disease and I'm trying to improve my breathing. I do several different exercises depending on my mood. The bulk of my routine is powerlifting work, with some machines and free weights added as assistance exercises. As I've gotten older, I've developed degenerative disk disease in my lower back, so I'm still working on my squats. I do the following pretty regularly. Once I can do 6 reps on anything, I up the weight. I usually do pyramid sets.

Squat 90x8; 135x4
Leg Press 200x10; 260x8; 320x6
Leg extensions; leg curls; calf raises
Bench press 95x3
Chest flies 20x10; 30x8; 35x6
Cable chest work
Push-ups - regular style and I'm trying to get a one-armed PU; not there yet!
Seated lat pulldowns and rows; bent-over rows 40x6
Lat pullovers 20x10; 30x8; 40x6
Dips and pull-ups
Back flies; shrugs
Bicep curls; bicep 21s; concentration curls
Tricep push-downs, bench tricep extensions with 50 pounds in lap
Forearm curls
Shoulder press; front and side raises
Front shoulder raises 40x10; 50x8; 60x6
Deadlift 135x10; 225x5; 275 1 RM - hoping to break 300 before year's end! (Profile pic is me pulling 275 last week.)

Elliptical and stairmaster; HIIT 1-2 times per week for fun.

I don't do all these exercises every time - I pick and choose different assistance exercises depending on what I feel like doing that day. The only things I do every time are squat, BP, and DL (not every day, just every day I'm working that body part). My routine could probably use some fine-tuning from a good PL coach, but there isn't one around here, so I'm just making it up as I go along! I've only been on the new meal plan for a month, so I don't know if it's working yet, but so far, so good. After a few months, if my BF hasn't dropped, I'll re-evaluate.

Sorry this is so long! Obviously, I love to lift, and I've gotten great results from it. My best advice to you is to lift as heavy as you can without sacrificing form. Personally, I feel that anything over 10 reps is too much; anything under 6 reps is probably too heavy unless you plan on competing in PL or OL.

Good luck!

Figure there are plenty of these threads so I'll just throw my question in here instead of starting a new one.


I know free weights are the way to go, but how bad or good are the machines? I work out alone and am far too shy to ask any stranger for a spot so I always do squats (leg press, I suppose) and bench press because I don't want to hurt myself. I typically lift at a weight to failure on the final set, hence needing a little help, not in the mood for any jugglar crushing. Is there a better or different way I can be doing those instead of machines?

If you're pushing yourself with each set/rep and not just lifting something that's too easy, it will be good, you'll get stronger and get muscle tone. The difference between that and free weights is that machines don't work the stabilising muscles, all the other little muscles that help you balance the weight. Squats work so much more, and give you a far better burn than leg press will - same goes for the other comparable lifts. Also, the balance that improves by using free weights will help you in real life when you apply the strength to other daily situations.

If you can't get a spotter there are alternatives you can do.
Bench press: with dumbells instead of a barbell (they get put down to the side when you can't lift anymore)
Squats: Use in those squat stands that have the bars put across on either side (I don't know the proper name) but basically if you get down and can't push the weight back up, you can leave it resting on the bars.

Thank you very much for that. DBs seem so obvious for chest... I'm not the brightest crayon I've thought about using the squat bar thing you speak of but was still worried about the safety. I think I will give it a go next leg day, thanks for the info

All these heavy lifting women are making my test rise...................

All these heavy lifting women are making my test rise...................

LOL was thinking the same.

Some seriously strong women around here.

Question for you all: who can do a pullup or a chinup? And if for reps, any weighted ones? It seems to be quite a difficult task for women (and men as well I guess )