Posts by dvmnickel15

There is no hard and fast rule to weights.  You would ideally like between 10-12 reps with a weight that challenges you and makes it hard to achieve the listed reps.  Higher reps builds endurance lower reps with heavier weights can build size and strength.  Alternate the muscle groups you workout.  So don't perform chest exercises two days in a row.  

Original Post by phastphil:

Original Post by dvmnickel15:

I have trained with the crossfit theory.  3 days on and one day off.  So far I do nothing else other than the crossfit workout.  Don't really have time for any thing else.  I also get plenty of cardio with crossfit.  As far as what I expect to get out of the training?  Well strength, power and endurance.  The olympic lifts will build strength and ring training will build upper body strength that cannot be simulated with weights.  I eat very well with strict portion control and no junk food of any kind 99% of the time.  How fast do I up the loads.  Well not too fast.  Since I have just started I am not sure how quickly I will increase the load.  It also depends some what on the Workout Of the Day (WOD)  Some times the lifts are heavy with low reps some times lighter with higher reps depending on the focus.  

 Do you have a CrossFit gym in your area?  Unfortunately we dont have one here.  And there really isnt a gym with rings and kettlebells and whatnot needed to do many of the exercises they incorporate.  The new Muscle and Fitness Magazine has a nice write up fyi.

Phil

No the closet Crossfit gym is an hour away.  The exercises can be performed without the kettlebells and the rings just substitute equipment.  The thing that makes crossfit different is not the equipment.  It is the intensity and the combination of exercise.  You can perform almost all crossfit exercises with dumbbells, barbells, and a pull-up or dip station.  Yes it is nice to have the boxes, the medicine balls, and the kettlelbells but they are not necessary.  The write up in MF is good. (I subscribe)  The crossfit website is better at explaining and showing what to do, however.

REST is important.  NO it will not impact your weight loss as long as you are not hugely over eating.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

I would think it is just doing a lunge without holding any weights, so the only weight involved is that of your body?

Yes a lunge without weights.

I would agree with wvumaniac13.  Good food will be a better choice to over eat on healthy foods.  I was consuming 3500-4000 calories daily.  I did that for about a month and put on very little weight.  About 5lbs.  

Well for starters compound exercises are good choices i.e. bench press, shoulder press, or push-ups, pull ups, squats, lunges, dead lifts, crunches.  Performing the exercises in a circuit can increase the intensity.  Now those exercises are only as good as the resistance used.  Body weight push ups, squats and lunges are good starting points but adding weight to them as you are able is a good idea.  The heavier the weight the better.  So to me the "it" exercises would be the ones listed above.  

Check out www.crossfit.com and Josh Hillis' websites. The crossfit website will show you how to train at high intensity and for a shorter period of time.  If you want to burn fat and  build muscle you need to increase the intensity of your workouts.  If there is a crossfit gym in your are check it out.  You will be amazed at the intensity

If you were eating 4000 calories daily that is why you still have the soft middle.  How long have you been eating 2000 calories per day?  Diet is the best way to uncover your abs.

Upper body lifts will not be as heavy.  If you could work up to benching your body weight that would be real impressive.  Benching your body weight 10 times would be extremely impressive.

Don't think of muscle building and weight loss as separate processes.  You can loose weight and gain muscle at the same time.  That is why the scale can be misleading some times. 

As far as reps there is nothing wrong with any number in of itself.  It depends on the goals.  I would recommend a wide variety of weight and reps.  10-12 is good.  6-8 is good as long as you increase the weight.  There is nothing wrong with 15-20 reps.  What the rest of the people on the site are trying to keep you from doing is use weights that are too light.  That is why they recommend the lower reps and higher weights.  If you use small tiny weights you will not build muscle or burn many calories and the time spent in the gym will be nearly wasted.  As far as the 190lbs on the seated leg press.....how big are you?  1.5-2x your weight would be impressive.  My wife, who doesn't routinely lift weights can press 350lbs on the thigh press machine. (She is about 160 lbs so this weight is a little over 2x body weight.)  The second machine that you described sounds like a hack squat machine.

Check out Josh Hillis' website.  Check out the www.crossfit.com website as well.  The way to a shorter workout is to use compound exercises.  These exercises would be dead lifts, squats, lunges, bench press, push ups, pull-ups, and abdominal exercises.  Performing these exercises in pairs in a series will increase the intensity and the calories burned.  For example: pair the push ups with lunges, the deadlifts with pull ups etc.  Basically pair a lower body exercise with an upper body exercise.  The workout session will only be shorter as long as there is not a lot of rest in between the different exercises.  It is also important to note that proper instruction with form and technique is a good idea before trying to perform most compound exercises.  Hope that helps.

Usually the soreness is worst 2 days after lifting.  You have DOMS delayed onset muscle soreness.  Some light stretching might help.  Warm up prior to stretching.  And no you do not lose the benefit of the exercise just because you do not get right back into the gym.  I only train my arms once per week.  If the soreness is in your shoulders and arms lift weights but focus on a different muscle group like the legs. Then get back to the arms later.

    Well lets see....Your maximum heart rate is 220-27 (your age)=193.  Is the heart rate at exercise taken by your HRM? Or manually by you?    If it is the machine it may be wrong.  You are exercising at 97% or your max heart rate when you say that your heart rate hit 188. Your average heart rate would place you at exercising at 90% or your maximal heart rate. You should have felt like you were going to fall over any minute.  If you took your heart rate manually I am not sure what to tell you.  You must have the VO2 max of Lance Armstrong to maintain a heart rate that high and not feel like you were about to burst.

    I will pronounce your F11 HRM after you supply more info.

I assume you are female?  When you say bulk up, what do you mean?  Are you implying that you will have legs that look like a female bodybuilder that is taking steroids?  Bulking is not usually a female problem.  You don't have much testosterone in your body and therefore you will never build huge amounts of muscle.  You will build muscle but not anything like you see in a lifting mag.  Most likely the only thing the spinning class will do for you is help you lose weight and build cardiovascular endurance.

1.)  How do your clothes fit? 

    Your scale may not be showing new and lower numbers but you could be shedding body fat any way.  If the fit of your clothes is still the same as before then well you have hit a plateau.

2.)  How many meals do you eat daily?

    5-6 smaller meals daily can help ramp up metabolism.  Not depriving one's self is a good idea.  Eating after 7 PM?  This is not going to help unless this is to keep you from mindlessly snacking.  If you are weight training and running a small snack before bed that is low in carbs high in protein and moderate in fats will be okay.  Almonds, protein shake etc.  Food consumed at night doesn't magically get turned into fat, that is if you are not consuming more that you need prior to the snack at night.

3.)  Calorie manipulation is a good idea.

4.)  When you strength train do you perform major compound movements? ie bench press, squats, lunges, etc.  Also do you use weights that are heavy or are you using light weights.

    Incorporating compound exercises in a workout routine is going to make sure you use the largest muscle groups in the body and thereby burn more calories when you lift.  Make sure that you are working out your legs with squats, lunges, or deadlifts.  You legs and butt are the largest muscles you could work out.

5.)  Do you do cardio or weights first?

    There is some evidence that weights first and cardio second will help burn more calories.  Although I think that some would debate this.

6.)  Is the exercise routine posted a new routine or one that you have been performing for over 6 weeks?

    Changing up your workouts every 6-8 weeks is a good idea.  Also steady cardio is less than perfect at burning fat.  Try incorporating HIIT training (High Intensity Interval Training) in to your cardio schedule.  The calories burned after HIIT training are greater than those burned after steady state cardio.  This will help keep your muscles off balance.  The body becomes efficient at exercise over time and that is why you burn less calories performing the same exercises at the same intensity.

Ok.  That is all I have for now.  A long answer.  Hope that helps.

I would not rely on cardio alone to drop body fat.  I would suggest that you incorporate weight lifting.  It will help burn fat along with any cardio that you perform.  It also will generate muscle tone which helps improve appearance even if fat is covering the muscle.  

If you are curling 20 lbs for 8 reps that is good.  Could you bench 30lb dumbbells for reps?  If you want to gain mass keep increasing the weight as long as you can maintain good form.  I would keep the reps in the 6-8 rep range if building mass is what you are going for.  Having said that make sure that you are using a weight that only allows you to perform 6-8 reps.  You only need to perform 3-4 sets.  Shoulder presses are good exercises for the upper body.  Ever try a dip before?  They are great tricep and chest developers.  Keep up the heavy lifting and you should start to see gains as long as you feed the muscles.