Adah_m Member

I think that's an accomplishment itself- changing weight and not losing any lean mass. If I remember the last calculator was estimating my lean mass at 119 lbs. Do you get strength gains without your lean mass increasing? Do your muscles somehow get stronger without getting bigger? Interesting.

What post workout do you use?

Pauline, stronglifts 5x5 is a strength training program for beginners that focuses on building strength with free weights/heavy lifting. (Think things like bench pressing, weighted squats, deadlifts, et cetera.) Here is the stronglifts website. I love it so far. stronglifts.com/5x5/ If you're unsure about heavy lifting,…

This! Excellent advice! It's good to know that as I get used to it, it will be easier. I'm sure it's DOMS- but I have lifted before and participated in sports before and have never even heard of it being so severe and lasting a full week. :( I was mostly anticipating a lot of people saying "Get used to the pain, because…

Just discovered something helpful for my long-femured friends. I was researching the difference between high and low bar squats. (It turns out my bar is too low on my back, hence the shoulder pain, but that's besides the point...) According to this cool science-y article, people with long femurs will struggle more with…

This is the thing I saw the guy in the gym using! Seriously, the guy in this pic is carrying that bar SUPER high. Like, I would be afraid to hurt my neck with it up there. I'm holding it way lower, like 8 inches down from there at least, and more across my shoulder blades. I didn't realize you could keep it up that high. I…

I will definitely try this! Also, regarding the bar digging into your back- I saw a guy struggling with the bar digging into his back today and another guy offered him a weird little device that sat between the bar and back. It didn't look like a pad or cushion. I'm going to look it up now. I haven't had any problems with…

Just wanted to give everyone an update! My legs were wrecked. COMPLETELY wrecked, for almost a full week after my first squat workout. For the days that I was almost too sore to move at all I swam laps in the pool and hit up the spa for some sore muscle relief- but that recovery was brutal. I hope I never get that sore…

I'm going to be so honest with you. I don't know how overweight you are, but I was VERY overweight when I began my journey. 315 lbs, and 130-160 was the recommended range by my doctor. The heavier you are and the longer you've been heavy, the harder it is to conquer appetite and re-gain a healthy relationship with food.…

Here's the thing- a GP won't give you phentermine because they're convinced it's not good for you. I had to go to a weight loss clinic where a doctor there prescribed it for me. Check groupon in your area and look for weight loss clinics and call them to see if they prescribe phentermine. Mine is prescribed through…

Good point about the relaxin, we can probably use it for some pretty sweet flexibility gains, but I'm not so concerned about it with lifting. I'm a week out from 5 months pp and I don't expect gains so big in the next four months that I'll be lifting weight heavy enough to move things around, and I'm also seeing a…

For all the kind people who chimed in with advice, I'm extremely grateful! As an update, I'd be willing to say the weight plus my own body weight was too high by chance. A little over 24 hours after my first training session and my body is completely wrecked lol. I've spent years as an athlete and have spent many painful…

Same issues it sounds like. I got the notion squatting below parallel was important from the strong lifts 5x5 site /videos. In the page for proper squatting and form the guy is really adamant that if you don't squat past parallel you don't work all the leg muscles evenly so you get uneven muscle gain focused in the quads…

Seriously, shop at aldi! Super cheap awesome produce, cheap meats and seafood too. I also like the sales at sprouts. I also hit up publix and combine their bogos with coupons and mix sales, store coupons, and manufacturer coupons. This week I got almost $150 worth of stuff and spent $40. Granted, you don't see coupons for…

I'd like to see a lot more studies centered on women, because it's interesting to know it's doable for a young overweight untrained male. How about a 26 year old overweight untrained female? I know usually our gains are smaller due to less testosterone but I'd like to know more about how women react to heavy strength…

Isaackgmoon, have you seen anyone do it with calorie cycling? I'm okay with slower strength gains if I'm burning fat and retaining the muscle I have. I'm getting my body composition measured this weekend, if you're interested to see how it goes friend me because I'll be posting updates. I'll be tracking composition,…

@whmscll Thank you for the advice! I did the row today with the bare bar and noticed that was a problem that the videos/tutorials failed to mention. I'm sure I did the absolute wrong thing by resting the bar at the bottom of the movement between sets and just doing most of the sets in a row. Clearly the bare bar is a…

Thanks for the tips. I won't be back in the gym until Monday, so if my legs aren't wrecked tomorrow I'm going to practice form at home with a piece of pipe or broomstick or something and see if opening the knees wider and pushing out helps and see if I notice tightness in the lower legs. Also, I'm in total agreement- I'll…

I just checked out his video of the goblet squat- I think I'm going to do it daily in my warmup for sure! I think I might have spotted one of my problems- my knees were not wide enough and pushing out if that makes sense. They were pointed more forward. Also, I think I might have buttwink. I hyperextend my lowerback almost…

Good advice, I actually do squat like this regularly, probably for at least 20 minutes a day throughout the day. I love to squat all the way down while I'm playing with my son because I'm not thinking about it! haha. Usually I'm doing things though and not using my elbows to press outwards on my legs. The difference for me…

Just hopping in here so I can benefit from the same advice. I'm starting IF as well, but I'm starting my fast around 7 PM and keeping it until 7 am the next morning. I know that's only a 12 hour cut, but it works well for me so far because I used to consume a huge amount of calories late at night and now I'm not. I decided…

As far as eating to a deficit- I'm tempted to start a whole conversation on the nutrition piece- but what does your eating plan look like? I always have a hard time because I DO need to lose fat and inches, but I want to build strength. I've had a lot of success in the past with high protein/low carb diets like atkins or…

Yeah I cycle for cardio right now. I'm not and never will be a runner lol. I respect runners, but everything about my body hates endurance training. Even at my most athletic (cheerleading, dancing, and playing soccer in high school) I was a sprinter. I love HIIT because I can get a lot more short badass spurts in than I…

How do you guys track your lifts? I've always had trouble with this and then I lose track of what the last amount I lifted was. I tried carrying a little notebook and that was an awful solution. I could use an app but my gym doesn't have WiFi and there's no coverage in the building. It needs to be something I can use…

[quote="whmscll;35428739"Also, most gym "trainers" know very little about proper weightlifting form, they usually steer you toward dumbbells or machines.[/quote] To be honest, I hate LA Fitness for a lot of reasons and this is one of them. Unfortunately it's within walking distance of my job and my kid's daycare, so I…

This said everything. This is what's in the head of a lot of people who are struggling with weight loss. They want it but they think they don't deserve it. This was in MY head until very recently.

This is a tough one. I used to be very heavy (340 lbs, 5'8'') and my ex of seven years was roughly 420 lbs (6'1''). At some point I decided to start focusing on making my life better, and I got several promotions at work and managed to lose 100 lbs. Unfortunately, my ex just didn't share that vision. It wasn't that he…

Hi! I know this is an old post, but I'm in the Marietta area too and looking for new friends to be work out buddies or just to hang out. Friend me! :)

I'm in Marietta! I've been looking for some buddies nearby!

You're on the right track! At my heaviest I was completely infertile and my monthly cycles stopped completely. After losing 115 lbs, my husband and I conceived in the first month trying! Extremely high ire extremely low body fat in women absolutely affects fertility. Good luck! You will get there!