Strength Training... UGH :|

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  • BADGIRLstl
    BADGIRLstl Posts: 473 Member
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    Strength training is the best thing I could have introduced to my workouts. I used to burn it up on the treadmill and thought I was doing it big. Yes, that helps health wise...but when I found out that straight cardio DID NOT BURN FAT...that was reason enough for me to stop the madness. I like to do workouts that give me more bang for my bucks - strength training and lifting. I feel so accomplished! My arms and legs are toned...now I am working on the middle and my back. Read up on the benefits of lifting and strength training. My motivation is that I didn't want to be SKINNY FAT. I want to be fit and toned!

    The book I am reading have strength training phases....Basic to Fine Tune Stage, with sample meal plans and shopping list foods for you to keep at home/pantry. The name of the book is

    The Female Body Breakthrough by Rachel Cosgrove... I love this book! She breaks it down so simple. Good luck!
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
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    I've been doing kettlebells and I really like it!
  • KelliW_runner
    KelliW_runner Posts: 150 Member
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    People will usually hate something they aren't either good at or have no knowledge in.

    So true. Someone had told me something about four stages of learning/competence. Being in Conscious Incompetence (knowing you don't know exactly you're doing or aren't very good at something) is the one where most people give up. If you can just deal with the uncomfortable feeling (hard thing to do) and keep progressing and pushing yourself, you will see drastic improvements.

    Amen.

    Also, remember that if your program, be it Chaleen, Body Pump, P90x, whatever...requires you to use weights you can lift more than 5-8 (some say 12) reps...you're not strength training, you're working your endurance. This goes across the board...and includes 99% of those gym programs and workout videos. Yes, you'll gain some strength, but you won't be seeing the same benifits as true strength training with heavy weights, nor will you lose the same bodyfat (assuming your diet is in check for either...you won't see benifits if you just eat as you please). Heavy strength training (to me anyhow) is about hormonal response, and it's not triggered with endurance exercises.

    Chalean Extreme program has you lift heavy and slow enough that your max out or fail between 10-12 reps in the first phase and 6-8 in the second phase so yes this is heavy lifting. And I love it.

    P90X also guides you to lift 8-10 reps in the resistance exercises (except pushups/pullups which are max reps)
  • 5050jnernst
    5050jnernst Posts: 14
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    Probably should consider getting a trainer. Trainers can teach you so much about strength training. I have had a trainer for over a year and he has taught me so much! A good strength training workout can burn more calories than just using the treadmill or elliptical. Strength moves combined with cardio moves can burn way more calories and increase strength and flexibility. This is why a trainer is important, as they know how to put moves together to maximize results. Trainers put strength moves in a certain order for a reason. If one is new to the field of weight/strength training, it is even more important to use a trainer so there is no injury!
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    Chalean Extreme program has you lift heavy and slow enough that your max out or fail between 10-12 reps in the first phase and 6-8 in the second phase so yes this is heavy lifting. And I love it.

    I must disagree. If you can push it 12 times, it isn't heavy. It's still endurance/hypertrophy range weight. 5-8 reps if you're really looking to build strength.
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    Chalean Extreme program has you lift heavy and slow enough that your max out or fail between 10-12 reps in the first phase and 6-8 in the second phase so yes this is heavy lifting. And I love it.

    I must disagree. If you can push it 12 times, it isn't heavy. It's still endurance/hypertrophy range weight. 5-8 reps if you're really looking to build strength.

    I agree...all of my workouts are 5x5, but sometimes...it's just easier to just smile and nod.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Chalean Extreme program has you lift heavy and slow enough that your max out or fail between 10-12 reps in the first phase and 6-8 in the second phase so yes this is heavy lifting. And I love it.

    I must disagree. If you can push it 12 times, it isn't heavy. It's still endurance/hypertrophy range weight. 5-8 reps if you're really looking to build strength.

    I think the kinds of hypertrophy endurance athletes look for is different than the kind bodybuilders and the like look for.
  • Cclancaster
    Cclancaster Posts: 368
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    Chalean Extreme program has you lift heavy and slow enough that your max out or fail between 10-12 reps in the first phase and 6-8 in the second phase so yes this is heavy lifting. And I love it.

    I must disagree. If you can push it 12 times, it isn't heavy. It's still endurance/hypertrophy range weight. 5-8 reps if you're really looking to build strength.

    I think the kinds of hypertrophy endurance athletes look for is different than the kind bodybuilders and the like look for.


    I am not trying to be a body builder just build muscle and hybertrophy builds muscle so whether you want to be a bit of an *kitten* or not lift ing to fail between 10-12 reps causes breakdown of the muscle which then causes build up of the muscle so it is considered strength training.
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
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    I absolutely love training with weights and especially strength training, i.e. training to lift as heavy as possible. But I am trying to remember back to when I first started and probably hated it. To be honest I probably always enjoyed it more than running or box jumps or burpees, because I am naturally better at it than those things. I agree that as humans we generally don't like things we don't know how to do or aren't particularly good at. However the thing about weight training is that you will see improvements really fast, particularly if you haven't really done it before. Once you start seeing those gains, I think you'll feel differently so stick to it!!
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    I am not trying to be a body builder just build muscle and hybertrophy builds muscle so whether you want to be a bit of an *kitten* or not lift ing to fail between 10-12 reps causes breakdown of the muscle which then causes build up of the muscle so it is considered strength training.

    I'm not trying to be an *kitten* at all. Strictly speaking, this is still *resistance* training, but it's not *strength* training. Will it get you stronger...eventually? Of course. Is it the most efficient way to do so? Not at all. Not only will any recognized strength training coach tell you the same, it makes simple sense. If you want to lift something heavier than what you can currently lift, you lift things that are very close to the most you can lift. If you want to train to lift things over and over again, then you lift things that you CAN lift over and over again.
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
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    I am not trying to be a body builder just build muscle and hybertrophy builds muscle so whether you want to be a bit of an *kitten* or not lift ing to fail between 10-12 reps causes breakdown of the muscle which then causes build up of the muscle so it is considered strength training.

    I'm not trying to be an *kitten* at all. Strictly speaking, this is still *resistance* training, but it's not *strength* training. Will it get you stronger...eventually? Of course. Is it the most efficient way to do so? Not at all. Not only will any recognized strength training coach tell you the same, it makes simple sense. If you want to lift something heavier than what you can currently lift, you lift things that are very close to the most you can lift. If you want to train to lift things over and over again, then you lift things that you CAN lift over and over again.

    Totally agree!! I think there's this big general field of "weight lifting" that has alot of different flavours with different purposes. Some are about increasing muscle endurance, some muscle size and some muscle strength. There alot of people who use the term 'strength training' to describe hypertrophy or even Body Pump... they're not strictly speaking strength training regimes (although I think specific hyperthrophy plays a part in an overall strength training regime). It really comes down to what you are trying to achieve.
  • LynC33
    LynC33 Posts: 196
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    I would do light weights - medium weights at home if you want to do weights, but try Pilates Reformer classes. Can do group classes or one on one. They are great for toning the entire body. It elongates the muscles so you look longer and leaner as opposed to bulking up.
  • carlyholly
    carlyholly Posts: 52
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    Bump.
  • Lost_Mermaid
    Lost_Mermaid Posts: 136
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    I always have this thought in the back of my head about dropping a weight on myself. I love bench presses because they're easy and I love feeling the soreness in my arms, but other then that, I just don't seem to have the motivation to push myself, especially when it comes to my legs. I need some simple home workouts that will help strengthen my core and lower body.

    In my profile I have a stupidly effective home bodyweight strength training program listed out. If it looks interesting...and you have questions...feel free to PM me. That goes for anyone else as well.

    Also...for the record...that program lost me just under 40lbs in 3mos....working out only 3x a week.

    I just copy and pasted the workout on your profile so I can try it out. It looks great, thanks for the info.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    So, I need advise on exercising. I could walk/jog on my treadmill for hours. But, I know I need to start strength training on a regular basis too. The problem is I absolutely hate it. Too bad yoga doesn't count as strength training.:P I'm wondering how many times a week and for how long do you do strength training? And, if you've found a way for it to be fun or at least not hate it, I'd love to know your secret.Thanks for any help.

    I enjoy Jackie (Personal Trainer) dvds. you can find them at walmart/target/online for about 10bucks

    I enjoy doing Jillian Michael workouts as well

    when I'm at the gym I listen to music and look at hot guys/athletic girls for motivation, idk what could be better than that, haha
  • Lost_Mermaid
    Lost_Mermaid Posts: 136
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    Almost everyone hates strength training at first. Then, once they see 3x the results in 1/2 the time as all the cardio they'd been doing, they usually change their mind. Some still hate it...but many end up loving it.

    That would be me! I don't find it particularly enjoyable, but I do like when I see the changes in my body shape, or when I'm able to up my weights.

    And heck... I don't particularly enjoy shaving my legs or flossing my teeth, either, but I do it because I know it's worth the effort to get the results.

    LOL

    another thing I thought of that nobody likes but you just have to do: laundry and dishes :)

    ...but anyway, I've actually really enjoyed lifting since the first time I tried it, which was years ago, before I had my kids. I loved how it made me feel, but I still had no idea, by way of structure and form, to what I was doing lol. Then I stopped as my pregnancy progressed and I'm just starting to get back into it, but this time I'm finding out a lot about it thanks to mfp!
  • micls
    micls Posts: 234
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    Ok, so I've been putting off proper strength training for a while now, a few excuses, gym is intimidating, the guys don't speak english so can't help and I don't feel like I know what I'm doing.

    But, they're really just excuses I guess. Gonna try to convince a friend to come and give it a go together. A few questions though for anyone who can help :)

    1) How quickly can you see results? I ask, because I'm getting married in July and after that my life is going haywire for a while so I probably won't get back into it for 5-6 months. So is it worth starting now for 2 months, will I see any results? Or should I just wait til January wherever I'll be then?

    2) If you think I should go for it, should I go for Stronglifts or starting strength? All I've done before is a few bodypump classes so I'm a complete beginner. I'm a 5'7" 145lb girl if that helps any.

    Thanks for any help, need to go do my research!
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
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    Ok, so I've been putting off proper strength training for a while now, a few excuses, gym is intimidating, the guys don't speak english so can't help and I don't feel like I know what I'm doing.

    But, they're really just excuses I guess. Gonna try to convince a friend to come and give it a go together. A few questions though for anyone who can help :)

    1) How quickly can you see results? I ask, because I'm getting married in July and after that my life is going haywire for a while so I probably won't get back into it for 5-6 months. So is it worth starting now for 2 months, will I see any results? Or should I just wait til January wherever I'll be then?

    2) If you think I should go for it, should I go for Stronglifts or starting strength? All I've done before is a few bodypump classes so I'm a complete beginner. I'm a 5'7" 145lb girl if that helps any.

    Thanks for any help, need to go do my research!

    Absolutely worth starting now, regardless of your wedding!!

    In terms of whether you will see results, it really depends on what results you want to see and where you are now. If you are already lean and just need to build muscle your results will show a little more than if you're talking about weight-loss results first. Either way though, just start today!!
  • ifyouknew
    ifyouknew Posts: 68 Member
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    I'm the same way- I love my cardio but I always hated the idea of strength training. For 11 years I've been in a relationship with a guy who is the opposite- loves weights and doesn't like cardio. We are hilarious because for years I've been reminding him of the health benefits of cardio, and he has been reminding me of the importance of weight bearing exercise, and neither of us would budge an inch!

    Until last year. I got hit with a horrible, disabling episode of sciatica and even missed a few days of work as a result. For two days all I could do was lie in bed and whimper. It turns out I have degenerating discs in my back- a common problem that almost everyone will get eventually. I am usually ridiculously healthy and this was a real wake-up call for me. My friend is a sports-medicine doctor and told me that it was time to start working on my core. It turns out that even if you have crappy discs, if your core muscles are super-strong, they can help support your spine and prevent pain. So I started (very gradually, for fear of aggravating something!) a bit of physio and stuff, aimed at stengthening my abs and back, but it was a pretty time-consuming routine.

    After a year of this, my boyfriend pointed out that dead lifts are one of the best exercises for core strength, and you can do them just twenty minutes once or twice a week. The lazy part of me realized that this would be more efficient than doing a couple of hours of core exercises every week, so I've started and am gradually working up to a higher weight. And here's the thing- it really does feel as good as he's been telling me all these years! Lifting weights is a bore, but it only takes about 20 minutes, and about 10 minutes after I finish I start to notice this incredible feeling of well-being that lasts for hours! (I won't say it's as good as afterglow, but maybe close!) So I guess I'm motivated by that great post-weight-lifting feeling as well as my fear of sciatica returning. (And it doesn't hurt to know that the more muscle I have, the higher my metabolism will be!)
  • micls
    micls Posts: 234
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    Absolutely worth starting now, regardless of your wedding!!

    In terms of whether you will see results, it really depends on what results you want to see and where you are now. If you are already lean and just need to build muscle your results will show a little more than if you're talking about weight-loss results first. Either way though, just start today!!

    Thanks for the advice.

    As for where I am. I'm happy enough with my weight, but could do with reducing bodyfat percentage, so I'm still eating at a small deficit (.5 pounds a week technically but in reality I don't stick to that and go over a bit).

    What I'm looking for is more definition, when the bodyfat is low enough to see it I want there to be something to see! Toning basically. Also, just for strength reasons. We're going on a fairly strenuous 10 week trip through Africa for the honeymoon. There'l be backpacks, trekking to see gorillas etc. I want to be fit enough to enjoy it, rather than writhing in pain!

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