Posts by cat-girl

I second burpees

I believe that women, like men, should focus on lifting heavy - relative ofcourse to your strength.  This means doing lower reps (5-12) than many women gravitate towards. Especially since you are trying to look more defined ("toned" in layman's common terms), more weight training should help you reach your goals.

I think that you are doing too much cardio - 20 minutes is fine but it sounds like you are doing 40 per workout. There is no particular fat loss benefit to doing this much. On the other hand, lifting weights and increasing your lean mass does have a powerful fat-loss effect.

I like circuit training in certain instances, but certainly not as an every-day workout.  I think you'd get better results if you focused most days on serious weight-lifting  - beginning with large, compound exercises that involved the body's largest muscles and then moving toward smaller, more isolation-type exercises. This allows you to use heavy resistance early in the workout, while you have the most energy.

Hope that helps!

Original Post by cichlidgold:

 If i can continue to grow stronger while having a deficit that is exactly what I wanna do.

Yes, you can totally do that.  Maybe not forever, as progress tends to flatten, but certainly long enough to make a huge difference in your muscle strength.

What karozel said is exactly right.

My way of saying it:  You might not make progress [muscle gain] while losing weight but you will stop yourself [your muscle mass] from falling backwards.

Now, I'm not totally sure what your goals are...are you trying to lose body weight or body fat or are you trying to gain muscle or are you trying to get stronger?  These goals all require somewhat different approaches to both exercise and nutrition. there is no doubt, however, that lifting heavy weights should be part of any fitness plan for any fitness goals!

Since you mention that you "have not been eating enough" I am guessing that you have a large deficit - which is acceptable for weight loss but not great for other purposes.  Absolutely eat more if you would like to gain muscle mass - but remember (as Karozel said) that you can get a lot stronger and more "ripped-looking" without getting any "bigger."

Wow.  I have a feeling that I'd be rather embarrassed to even try this one in a public place .... Maybe start with 25?

Like a combo hanging-leg-raise + pullup?  I haven't done that exactly - but often after finishing a set of chins I'll hold on the last rep and do some abs.  Hard!

Original Post by xsara726:

So when I think of toning my stomach, I think of making it smaller and flatter. However, I've heard toning your glutes makes your butt appear larger (which I'm trying to do lol). But, how can toning make certain areas look smaller, and other areas look larger? Or does it make all areas look smaller/bigger? Sorry if this confusing lol

I think that what you are talking about for your physical goals are really two separate issues.  If you lose fat everywhere you stomach will be smaller and flatter and more defined.  If you build muscle in your butt (through strength training) that part will get a bit bigger.

Basically, you can't spot-reduce fat but you can spot-gain muscle.  Unlike fat, which just kind of 'sits there,' muscle is by definition an active part of your body which can be exercised in a targeted manner.

Heavier weights (10lbs plus)

More calories (2000 plus)

More time (6 weeks plus)

When I work with people whose strength comes primarily from daily life functions (as opposed to the weight-room) these kind of imbalances are very common.

Regarding corrective training, try to lift the amount of weight that challenges the weaker arm but do so in in unilateral movements where the stronger side can't compensate.  This is where dumbbells are far superior to barbells (and fixed- motion machines, ofcourse). Working on compound lifts (not just isolation arm exercises) may also balance your strength faster. 

 At my gym, I've recently started using the Freemotion lat pulldown which allows for unilateral movement - and I'm feeling the results much more than with a traditional bar-style lat pulldown.

Even without a gym there is a lot you can do right now to increase muscle mass and lose fat. Although I don't know what your current exercise progam is, most people can benefit from the addition of High Intensity Interval Training cardio.  No equipment needed - just someplace to run (or even your own house if you do jump-rope or jumping jack intervals). 

Two of the best strength-training moves are pushups and pullups.  Both can be accomplished without a gym. The article Your body Is A Barbell has more good ideas and info. While I understand money concerns, there isn't any reason why you can't find a few dumbbells that will increase your repitoire of available exercises. Either buy them at Walmart or look online/ in the newspaper.  Or maybe a friend has some unused equipment.  Either way, free weights will allow you to change your physique at home.

Regarding fat loss vs. muscle gain questions: Diet is the biggest variable in body composition.  If you just eat maintainance calories, you'll problably make some short-term gains in muscle ("newbie gains") but progress (i.e mass-building) will stall after a while. To really gain muscle size, you need to eat more calories and be resigned to gaining some weight.  When the time comes to strip the fat, diet will once again be the most important element, along with cardio (H.I.I.T would definitely have a place in this phase as well).

Good luck!

Absolutely, you can get stronger without getting any bigger (more muscular).  Since you are losing weight and in a caloric deficit, you won't gain mass but your muscles (and nervous system connections) will become stronger and more efficient. A serious weight-training program can really benefit you!

First off, I think 125 deads are excellent for a woman.

In terms of improving that number, I have a few thoughts.  First, none of us want to hear this, but there may be a limit to how much strength you will gain. Our bodies just max out on us at some point. BUT, I don't think that you are there yet. Since the deadlift is an exercise that incorporates so many muscle groups, you may be able to strengthen assisting muscles and thus improve your deadlift.  I'm thinking arm, forearm, and wrist strength as well as low back muscles. Leg muscles (glutes and hams especially) obviously contribute to your strength.  But I'm thinking that a focus on torso and upper body condtioning might help you pull a few more lbs!

Good luck!

Original Post by melkor:

 Keep in mind that strength doesn't just depend on muscle mass, it's also a trainable skill. A rough figure is that strength and muscle size is only about 2/3 correlated, so you can become significantly stronger without increasing muscle mass by learning to use your existing muscle to its full potential.

Although my situation and goals are little different than yours, I think Melkor is right on target here. I am a lot stronger than most people my weight, and have continued to gain strenth without gaining either much weight or muscle size.

Regarding your original question about cardio, I think that most (though not all) people who are in good physcial condition do atleast some cardio.  Since you are trying to lose weight, it makes sense to keep your daily energy expenditure as high as possible. The good news is that losing weight through cardio/diet does not preclude you from also lifting weights successfully.  Even if all it serves to do for now is help maintain your muscle mass, then you are on the right track!

Absolutely lift heavy right from the beginning.  But remember, "heavy" today may not be "heavy" in a month.  So if 15 lbs for chest press is a challenge now, that's totally fine.  If in a year you are lifting 40's and 45's, that will be great progress!

Stick with fairly low reps and, like Fitnessgirll said, utilize bodyweight to train your muscles and learn safe movement patterns.

ummm, you want your abs gone???

Okay, I'll take this post at face value and try to adress each topic you mention:

Pilates will not make you bulkier. Personally I don't think it will make you much fitter either, but it certainly won't make you huge. If you think that you are bulking up in the midsection, the biggest culprit is excess fat, which can be dealt with through diet and exercise.  It is also possible that you have built up those "dreaded" abs underneath the fat layer and thus your waist looks a little bigger.  But that should be temporary anyway.

Cardio will not maintain muscle mass.  Yes, cardio is important to general fitness and can aid in weight loss.  But it will absolutely not build or maintain muscle. The only thing that builds and maintians muscle mass is weight training.  Why is the world do you not want more muscle?? I'm not talking about getting all huge and bulky...weight lifting will make you look sleek and raise your resting metabolism.  Why not??

In fact, why are you bothering to lose weight at all if you don't want to look better and be in better physical condition? Because that is exactly what " eating junk and being sedentary " will do to you.

So if I read your post right, you want to lose all your muscle and become a flabby and sedentary person with no strength and no abs (or any other muscle)? Is this correct?