xidia Member

I'm a couple of months back into SL after a couple of years off health issues. Today was squats @35kg, bench@ 22.5kg and I skipped power cleans because I was running late :( I've also added 3x10 bench dips to try to sort my tricep weakness out, and man those hurt!

It depends, but as an example, I'm female, 5'4" and weigh 132lbs. I'm not particularly muscular. I eat 1650-1700 on a sedentary day, and up to 500 more than that on a training day. That's maintenance, for me.

The 220-age is an average, but the variation in the population is huge. Go by feel. For instance, I hit threshold pace at about 178-180, sprint intervals into the 190s, cruise at 170-175, and my long slow pace is still around 160. Standing up and walking around is about 95-120, from a resting rate of 64. From those…

In that case, I'd definitely say triathlons are your best bet. I'd advise against pure running, but as one of three components you should do fine. Maybe also pick a club initially based on friendliness and inclusiveness - you can always find a more competitive group once you've built up a social circle. I sympathise…

What exactly have you done to your knee? Stop/start and twists being a problem implies joint stability, which in turn implies physio work should help. Any cartilage/meniscus damage is of course pretty much permanent, but people can and do continue all sorts of things without cartilage.

I have MFP set to sedentary and I don't allow negative adjustments. So Fitbit can take away calories it thinks I've earned, but it doesn't get to touch my base calorie allowance. Admittedly, I've also calculated my BMR and base allowance from observation rather than taking MFP's estimates, so I'm sure that ignoring the…

Stuff I've learned about my Fitbit One and using it: 1) Clip it on your trouser/skirt waistband/belt/pocket if you can. Inside your bra cup is a good second bet, but tends to overestimate the steps for me there 2) Use the timer function for any activity that is not step based, then log that exercise separately in MFP. (I…

Fitbit Zip would do what you needed and should be pretty cheap. The One is much more capable, but it sounds like you don't need its full capabilities.

I run comfortably, for my max distance, consistently and regardless of fitness, at 172-175bpm. When I got an HRM and it insisted I was way into an interval training zone doing that, I reversed the RPE calculation and the heart rate reserve method to get a maximum heart rate of about 217. I plugged that into my HRM ( Polar…

Somewhere, somehow, you're not creating enough of a calorie deficit to lose weight. Netting 1200 seems low, but 1400 for an elliptical workout seems high. Increased cardiovascular fitness does not mean weight loss, or even body fat % change. I went from not being able to run for a bus to running 8 miles over the course of…

I'd throw in - you only need 1g (or 1.5g, whatever) protein per lb LBM if you're lifting heavy and trying to build some muscle. If you want to change your BF %, lift heavy - for a beginner you'll probably melt fat off for the first couple of months. I'd suggest Strong Lifts 5x5 or Starting Strength as a good beginner…

From your body's point of view, muscles are expensive to keep around because they burn calories even when you're sitting still, and fat doesn't. So when you're eating at a deficit, your body will burn fat (to keep your fuelled) and muscle (to reduce the amount of fuel needed in the future). To convince your body that…

No, it's not to make them stronger. It's to make them better at endurance. Go and read up on Type I and Type II muscle fibres.

If you're adding any muscle at all from your elliptical, you'll be pretty much just building endurance (type I muscle fibres). If you want to get stronger you'll need type II, which you get from weight training, whether that's raw strength reps (1-5 per set) or body builder hypertrophy reps (10-20 per set).

Show her some of the "I lifted and got bulky! ZOMG" threads for proof in pictures? Have you asked her what her ideal body looks like, and therefore what she's aiming for?

Beat me to it. OP, Your lifestyle, plus your restricted calorie intake is almost certainly increasing your cortisol. When we're stressed, we release cortisol, which in the jungle would have been burned off by running away form the tiger causing the stress. Now that we don't have jungles or tigers, it doesn't go anywhere.…

Fair enough. The best guide is how you're feeling day to day, after all.

Welcome aboard! The best thing to do at this point is jump into the weights area and get going. I think most ladies brand new to lifting started with the pre-loaded bars or dumbbells (depending what the gym has) before working up to the Oly bar and plates. I used one of my free training sessions at the gym to get someone…

Strength training requires protein to build muscle, but that muscle still needs carbs to function. I lift better when I've had 150g+ carbs per day compared to 100g ish, and if I've done cardio or a lot of walking around it's not unusual for me to hit 200g+ carbs. Protein is fairly consistently around 90-110g per day for me…

Seconding this please as you had a similar starting weight and look to me. You look great!

I take a multivitamin and cod liver oil (although I'm about to switch to Omega 3-6-9) purely because I'm too lazy to fine tune my diet to provide those specific micronutrients consistently. My nails, skin and hair have improved dramatically since I started the omega supplement.. I also use a protein shake and a recovery…

lwoodruff - I was making slow progress on 2x week 3x5 for a few months. I made better progress on 3x week, but life kept getting in the way! If you think your core is holding you back, then 2x week SL and 1x week core sounds like it would do you some real good. Or possibly a month of 2x week core to really build it…

:laugh: :laugh: I know - we're not his niche. I've had a really bad week for casual, every day sexism appearing and this appears to have been the straw that broke the camel's back. </rant before it starts> :grumble:

I can recommend "When you and your mother can't be friends" as a self-help book. I'd also suggest therapy, if you can access it. You can change how you react to her - which is what self-help and therapy will help you learn to do - but you can't change her. That can be hard, and painful to realise. I dropped contact with my…

When he's using "+1 girlfriend" after the programme as an advertising hook, my sexism tolerance drops through the floor...Dude, I get that it's advertising to your chosen niche of the market. But dafuq?!

I ran, does that count? :smile:

I did exactly the same thing when I got to that point in C25k last year. "I'm never gunna do it, it's never going to happen...oh! Top of the world feeling! I did it!" I've just done W3D2 after a 3 month break, and I think I am going to repeat that before trying the full 20mins straight. I'm also totally tagging this thread…

I'm really interested in hearing how this goes. Part of me is put off by the "only" 5lb a month increases, but I'm coming to accept that the weekly increases where every workout is to failure or near-failure even with fractionals might mean I have to get used to that idea. Let us know how it goes over the next few weeks…

Impromptu run today, because the weather is good and I had some energy. It felt good. I get my last PT workout tomorrow - clean+press plus core work. Given the state of my back for squats and deads at the moment, I definitely need the core aspect, much as I hate it. Chiro yesterday. He finished off by prescribing a 30-40…

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=221472307976803&set=a.175925195864848.10709.168905136566854&type=1 Homemade snickers protein bars: Ingredients: 70g good quality non added sugar peanut butter (2 tablespoonfuls) 180g whey protein powder (6 scoops, I used chocolate flavour) 90g rolled oats 30g ground flaxseed (3…