Posts by getufit

I wear the same contacts, and I also try to wear them for 3-4 weeks. My eye doctor says this is fine, because the only thing that happens is that as you go past the 2 weeks, your vision may not be quite as sharp as when they were brand new. I have not noticed a difference. Mine start to be uncomfortable after 3-4 weeks, so I know it's time to toss them. She said it depends on how much you wear them on a daily basis. The less you wear them, obviously the longer you can wear them. I wear mine about 7 hours a day on average, some days more and some days I wear glasses all day, especially on my recovery days. She said not to wear them for more than 10 hours a day, though.

Hope this helps!

I recently bought 101 Workouts for Women by the editors of Muscle and Fitness Hers and LOVE it! I am a personal trainer and highly recommend this book. It is well worth the $14.95 I paid for it at B&N. Good luck to you!

I know what you mean! I now eat nonfat greek yogurt (I buy it at Trader Joe's) and add stevia for sweetener. No sugar added! I also add things like blueberries, granola, nuts, and bee pollen. Delicious and super high in protein.

obviously this workout was more focused on back/arms. I had worked chest last workout and was a bit sore, so took it easy on chest that day. I didn't say every workout is to be symmetrical, but overall muscle work should be. A little judgemental, maybe? This was just one workout. Next upper body day will be more chest focused. See what I mean? 

Some days you work certain muscles more than others, but overall you need to work all groups to maintain symmetry. Better to give a sore muscle group an extra day to recover.

As for shoulders, 1 was for posterior deltoid, 1 for anterior and one for medial. It's always good to include compound movements.

wow Melkor. That is a low resting hr. You do have good pathways :)

My resting hr is 48, and that's pretty low!

Yea, afaa's curriculum is definately comprehensive! Pretty proud of myself - I not only passed the 1st time, but aced it! Very challenging.

My goal is to decrease my bf% just a couple of degrees, from 18 to maybe 16 or so. For my age, anything below 21% is considered excellent, below 18%, athlete level. Almost back there! :)

For you age, anything below 16% is excellent, so you must be pretty ripped!

Thanks for the info.

Just read the page on "women and resistance training". Good info. It says what you typed above - 6-12 reps for gain. That's why I said that 15 reps is good for fat loss or maintaining mass, not for gains. And that is for women. For my clients who are trying to loose fat, we do 3 sets of 15. (women) Once goals are reached, we move to 8-12 reps to gain, if that is their desire. Clients who are trying to gain exclusively, we do between 8-12 reps for women, 6-10 for men. And yes, when I work with my 12 yo son, he does 15 reps.

AFAA is not just an "aerobics organization".

Many of their recommendations come from the ACSM, which is the American College of Sports Medicine or the AHA, the American Heart Association. Many scientific studies there.

Any info from AFAA is well researched/studied.  : )  Very scientific. They are one of the top/premiere companies to get certified through. Any trainer certified through AFAA can be considered a well-educated trainer. www.afaa.com

Source is AFAA.

Disagree about more than 12 reps not being enough resistance to encourage muscle retention in calorie deficit. My physique is proof of that. I had a knee injury (torn meniscus) so was out for a bit. Caused me to loose a little muscle and gain about 8 lbs. I have been doing my cardio routine I described in my earlier post, and weights (3 sets of 15, usually)  I am almost back to my previous weight. My muscles are looking great, maintaining great, and I am consuming 1300-1400 cals/day. I am easily retaining my mass while loosing bf. I am 5'4", weigh 125 (goal is 120ish) bf% was 18% last time tested it. Once I get to my previous size and my goal isn't fat loss, I will go back to the 8-12 rep range. I am quite muscular and am having no problem maintaining that with 15 reps.

There is more than one way to accomplish fat loss.

I am a certified personal trainer through AFAA (the Aerobics & Fitness Association of America - a very reputable organization) and I have a few comments.

It is not true to say our recommendations are based on our own ideas and presumptions. I am certified to do much more than on how to "do the moves and what the moves/machines are supposed to do". You do not have to have a PhD to be an awesome trainer, mOm6. Your trainer should be certified by a credible organization, such as AFAA, ISSA, NASM, and a few others. I studied hard for months before I took my final exam, which most do not pass the first time since it is very difficult and you must be knowledgable in many topics:

understanding wellness, exercise physiology, anatomy and kinesiology, health screening and risk appraisal, fitness assessment, cardiorespiratory programming, muscular strength and endurance programming, applied resistance training skills, flexability programming, injury prevention, special populations, nutrition and weight management, behavior modification and communication skills, business aspects, legal issues, and professional responsibilities.

So as you can see, if a trainer is certified through a reputable organization, they are quite knowledgable in much more than just "how to use the machines". Find out if they are certified, who they are certified through and how many hours of training expericence they have.

My general recommendations for fat loss are:

diet/nutrition (this is 80% - so it is a huge part)

plenty of cardio (4-5X per week, and include intervals)

weight training 3X per week (keep your reps higher for fat loss with shorter rest periods between sets, 3 sets of 15 is good)

Remember, you could stick to your workout routine, but if you are not sticking to your diet/nutrition portion, you will not get the results you want, it will be more about just maintaining.

Don't bash us quality trainers! Just keep in mind there are unqualified trainers out there, you just need to ask lots of questions.

Hope this helps!

from a personal trainer's experience...

in order to see the muscle you are building you have to burn the fat off the top. What will accomplish that is:

proper calorie intake/nutrition

cardio 4-5X per week (include intervals)

weight training 3X per week

If you stick to it long term, you WILL loose body fat and the work you are doing will be visible.

Our bodies are all different - it is genetically pre-determined where we loose fat from first vs last. Spot reduction just is not possible. Ex: you cannot do ab work alone to get a "6-pack". The fat will still cover them unless you are also dieting and doing plenty of cardio.

Hope this helps!

I eat my last 'meal' (more like snack - I eat 5-6 meals a day) at 7-7:30 pm, no later. If I am super hungry and can't make it without eating something after that, I eat a cup of either sugar snap peas, baby carrots or sweet peppers. Then I am not adding anything that will ruin my diet all day. That's only between 20-40 calories!  That tides me over so I can go to sleep without eating anything more. My last meal - the one at 7 or 7:30 -  is usually 1 cup of kashi go lean cereal with 1 cup soymilk. That is very satisfying. It's a good feeling waking up and knowing I didn't spoil it the night before! 

Hope this helps!

I eat a very clean diet (probably 98% of the time) and my body doesn't like me either when I eat unclean foods, so I bet that's the problem. That sure helps me stay on track! I spend the next day in the bathroom alot, bloated, tummy ache, gassy, etc. Although, I have found when I switched from cow's milk to soymilk years ago, my body does not like straight milk. That is common. My body has 'forgot' how to digest it, and it's not really the best thing for your body anyhow, soymilk is a healthier choice. Yogurt and some ice cream is fine, just not straight milk. Hope this helps!