Professional/Seriously Experienced Weight Lifters, Please?

Hello!

With that topic I suddenly feel seriously intimidated, lol!

There are some really great people here, and I've already learned a lot from reading your advice to others and myself. That advice regarding using heavy, (to me!), weights and higher Protein has worked incredibly well! At 45, it's rather fantastic to me!

I'm now working the basic 5 exercises I've been recommended to do...

Deadlifts-100 lbs. (barbell)

Squats-37 lbs. (curlbar)

Military- 37 lbs. (curlbar)

Bent Rows- 37 lbs. (curlbar)

Bench Press- Don't Laugh!!!- 100 lbs. (barbell)

Just a few inches! Inside the holders, lol!!!

I can't chance injury by lifting it free, exercising alone, so I go heavy/short.

Don't Laugh!!!

All above 3 sets X 10 reps. (To failure for me.)  3 X week.

I just reached 100 vs. 80 with the barbell, and 37 vs. 30 w/dumbbells on the military. Good for me! lol

I have other ab and arm exercises as well as using the weight bench foot to work legs and arms, and the Lat pull down, for a total weight routine of 60 minutes, and mat/ab lounger/power-stand time of another 30.

My problem is I'm losing very slowly, and want to add cardio-but hear a lot of negative about its benefits, and a lot of good about the weights... I was actually ready to do some rebounding tonite, and read some posts that are making my decisions difficult...!

What do you recommend to improve my loss rate best?

I've tried to decide- add Cardio? Modestly? Increase gym work? Split upper/lower body exercises to work daily vs. alternate days?

60 min. full body is exhausting to me- to failure now, so splitting might reduce my 60 min. to 30 min. daily, if I simply couldn't go further- esp. my arms...

I am simply confused about what would be best- what I've been told has worked sooo well! I want to do the best I can, if you'll be kind enough to bear with my ignorance!

Thanks for any help you can give me! 2beittybitty

 I for one am impressed with you - nice progress!

Lessee - you're doing weights, the proper basic lifts for whole-body strength, adequate rest between workouts, and your thoughts about how, when and why to move to a split workout schedule are spot on.

 Have you been peeking in the teacher's manual?  'Cause as far as I can tell you're doing it right :)

 You're doing enough weight work to have gains even while in a calorie deficit, and you're paying attention to your body's signals. so the question is - will adding rebounding to your schedule be fun?

 I rememeber fun. I think I used to like having it :-P And I think everyone should try to do exercise they find enjoyable - as long as you do something that's fun, challenging in a good way and supports your overall goal you're doing it right.

 (Well, as long as the exercise you do involves lifting iron you're doing it right :P )

 Doing cardio and weights on the same day can be counterproductive, and more than 90 minutes a week can also compromise your lifting gains somewhat. So there's that to think about - but you are or should be the world's leading expert on how your body is responding to your workouts. So I think that we're on the "try it and see how that works for your body" end of things :)

Cardio is great!  When you're trying to lose fat, do as much cardio work as you need to make progress.  Not at the expense of hard strength training (that's crucial for preserving lean tissue), but in addition to it.  For example, I do 3 weight sessions a week (Mo We Fr) and 3 cardio sessions (Tu Th Sa).  In addition, I walk at least 5 miles each day, but more for relaxation than exercise.  That's enough that I keep losing fat at an acceptable (to me) rate.  If I wanted to lose fat faster, I'd do more cardio (increase duration, frequency, and/or intensity), and I'd eat a bit more.  But I know from experience that I'm already losing fat as fast as I can without also losing muscle, so there's no reason for me to bother with cardio more often than 3 days a week.

I can't imagine anyone bad-mouthing cardio for purposes of losing fat, provided you're also doing strength-training.  Of course cardio helps.

Experienced lifters will bad-mouth "too much" cardio for people trying to gain muscle:  the received wisdom is that more than 90 minutes of cardio a week severely interferes with muscle growth for most people.  But so long as you're in a significant calorie deficit most days, you're almost certainly not going to gain significant new muscle mass no matter what you do, so there's no reason to hold back on cardio while cutting fat.

BTW, you can get some strength-training benefits while rebounding, by holding light sandbags in your hands and moving your arms vigorously while bouncing.  Dr. Harry Sneider's "Olympic Trainer" book gives many rebounding routines based on this idea.  This is high-volume light-resistance work, more aerobics than strength-training but some of each, and I've found it makes a wonderful complement to heavy lifting.  The Heavyhands program takes a similar approach to combining light hand weights with walking.

 Well, I'm just going to be disagreeing with you on a minor point,Tim - since she's a complete beginner to strength training she can in fact make actual muscle gains while in a calorie deficit due to shock growth and "newbie metabolism" adjustments.

 But other than that, yup.

 As long as there's room for fun in there somewhere it's all good :)

Ah, but I don't believe she's a complete beginner anymore.  She's already lost 30 lbs, and if she followed advice originally given she slowly worked her way up to "to-failure" lifting.  I expect she did gain some muscle over that time, but I figure she's out of beginner's luck by now.

 Point - "Beginner's luck" rarely lasts beyond 2-3 months for an average metabolism.

Has it really been that long? Cool!

Wow! I'd given up, thinking I was too late posting this! I REALLY appreciate the late answers!

I've went ahead and enjoyed a wonderful hour of rebounding- feels GREAT with 30 lbs. gone... I have been concentrating on troubles of life and getting the weights in, and really feel a difference now!

melkor- Thanks! My 'teacher's manual' has been learning from folks like tgpish, seriously! Along with a few others, I've learned 'all I (may seem) to know'...lol! Purely 'borrowed', and valued highly- 'cause what they've told me is really working! You're very encouraging

tgpish- Thank you! That makes perfect sense to me. I simply want to protect myself from long-term muscle loss, and gain some strength if I can. My loss rate is barely a lb. a week, since the first month, now 5 months. With 70 to go, I believe it's time to adjust the exercise somehow, to lessen such a possibly unnecessarily-long low-cal load on my body. I feel much better, with 30+ gone, and the new moderate level with CC's ratings vs. the severe I was, indicate it's time to adjust things, to me. I just really hate to possibly mess up now, lol!

I may bump this tomorrow to try to catch reassurance and thoughts from other folks, too, and possibly add a question or something, as I'm printing all the advice and help I  receive and placing it in a 'Weight-Loss Journey' notebook. This is to share with my internet-deprived mother and friends, and to help me maintain my loss 5, 10, 50...lol!...years from now! I want to have a good reference of what is working now, for any need later...Soooo, you are now 'Immortalized'... sorta'.   

I hope you, (and any others!), don't mind!

Thanks for all the good advice!

2beittybitty

You should get all the advice you can -- just ignore any that doesn't agree with mine .

Your strength will increase even if you aren't growing more muscle, and getting stronger is also rewarding.  Many factors go into strength besides muscle size (for example, improved coordination between muscle groups in compound lifts, the ability of the brain and nerve pathways to "convince" more muscle fibers to contract, and increased vascularization (richer blood supply to the muscles increases their capacity for work)).  Of course you can get stronger faster when eating a calorie surplus, but you may be surprised at how much stronger you get anyway!

If you count my walking as "aerobics" (I usually don't, but it is low- to moderate- intensity aerobics), I do about 16 hours/week of aerobics, and I refuse to lose so much as an ounce of muscle.  If I can get away with it, you can too -- I'm 10 years older than you .

Thanks! That's really encouraging! I could feel old around here with so many young folks...wish I'd been doing like them, when I was their age!

I have increased muscle- visible! And coordination is really nice, when you've always been a tad clumsy...if I'd only known how well some weight work could help me!

I've always been the sedentary/brain-type, married to the deceptively-slender/brawn type... (Do you know the story of the turtle and the rabbit? Imagine the rabbit deciding to marry the turtle! Odd match, indeed! I believe God has a wonderful sense of humor! )

By the Way... THANKS for NOT Laughing!  at my 'bench press,' lol!

Hey, taking sensible safety precautions for your situation is nothing to laugh at - while you could probably have developed a bit more pectoral muscle doing the full range of motion it's just not worth taking the injury risk when you're working out alone.

And you're using proper free weights, not heathen idols machines that are evil limiting in the joint angles you can train and promotes unnatural acts overspecialization to a limited movement pattern, what's not to like?

True! I've been 'set straight' on that machine issue here, lol!!!

I have a home gym, thanks to a house fire, 4 years ago. I'm SOOO GLAD I spent some of the insurance money on proper basic equipment, though I've not used it consistently before-discouraged!- now I can, and am, since I found CC!

Love CC!

I love cardio and I lost alot of weight only by doing cardio and eating fewer cals than I burned -- fast foward a year I quit smoking and gained some of those lbs back then started doing weights last summer - now I weigh the same as I did a year ago but wear 2 sizes smaller in jeans.  I don't have the calorie deficits I'd like so I can lose the "quit lbs" but having more muscle mass makes me look leaner. 

I do some weights most days working different body parts and do cardio everyday for the heart health benefits and mental health benefits and I like it.  I do a aerobics class 2 days a week and do the recumbant bike the other days.  I have a home elliptical thats been neglected recently but I plan on getting it back to work.

I miss my long weekend walks but do to shin splints those are on hold indefinately.

Like the others have said do workouts you enjoy.  If you have fun and keep yourself challenged it doesn't seem like a "work"out"" 

From my OWN  personal experience its been impossible to lose lbs without having a calorie deficit.  On weeks when I am real good about following my eating plan I lose weight -- on weeks when I find myself eating over my calorie burn I gain or maintain weight.

Thanks! That helps!

I have maintained an avg. of about 1250 cals. and always have the extra 150 I need for my protein shake- with cocoa!- on my weight work days. That will probably increase this months' avg. as I'm up to 3X a week now.

My age and small bones, don't allow me a lot of calories, and my future goal weight only allows 1400 sedentary!

Adding some amount of cardio, or more weight work, seem to be my only healthy options to increase my loss rate... the tools here say I should be losing more, but, after 5 months, with less than 1 lb. a week for most of them, I believe they must be over-estimating my burn rate

It's always been 'Impossible' for me to lose without starving or extreme cardio...CC has made it 'Possible' without either! I lost sooo much muscle that way! I now want to lose faster- but in a healthy, reasonable, 'Life-Style-Changing-Way!'

Love CC! 2beittybitty

 

* bump *

Anybody Else? I Appreciate all the help I can get!

 Well, I'm not someone else, but - if you want to try something new, here's a version of the bench press that uses dumbbells instead of the barbell : http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/PectoralStern al/DBBenchPress.html

 It's safer to use dumbbells for those of us who work out alone, even if you can't use nearly as much weight doing it that way. And maintaining safety is a must - losing training time to injuries just isn't what I'd call fun :)

 But aside from playing around with variations of the exercises you do, I don't see that there's anything to change in your new program. Well, if you can think of anything else that sounds like it would be fun to try, go ahead - when Low Blood Sugar Melkor isn't taking over my keyboard I rememeber to write that if what you're doing feels fun, keep doing it. If it doesn't, maybe it's time to try something new, 'cause at the end of the day having fun and enjoying what you're doing is what keeps you coming back for more. 

 Well, you could maybe take a look around Stumptuous.com and read about other women who lift iron for fun - Krista has a lot to share :)

Thanks! I'm going to see what I can do with that style of bench press tonight!

LOT OF LAUGHS!!!

Bench Press 100???

How about... Couldn't LIFT 25's above rib level...!

Or, 20's more than 1 set of 10, (Almost Failure!), and 1 set of 5...!!!

I Finished... * whimper! * With 15's at 1 set of 10, 1 set of 5...

NOW, I'M LAUGHING!!!

Thanks, it WAS still GOOD for me!!! I'll work on it, lol!!!

Bitty nothing wrong with those numbers. I bet a few guys would be happy with them -)

 

Dumbbells are harder so you'll end up lifting less weight. With a barbell you can cheat and let your strong side handle more of the weight. Dumbbells  won't let you do that. Plus they take more effort to just balance them.

 

If you're trying to get more cardio benefit then I'd add the following.

 

1) Step ups. Grap those dumbbells and go at it.

 

2) Breathing squats.

 

You're working alone? Do you have a cage for the squats and bench press?

 

Personally I'd drop the arm work. You're getting plenty of arm work with the compounds.  

Thanks! Seriously good for my wounded Ego!

Uncertain of what 'breathing' squats are...?

Mine use the curlbar- barbell was 7 foot long...! and too heavy empty!- placed across back of neck/shoulders, squatting low-as-comfortable/effective/safe for me, and pushing back up through heels. Dumbbells, (15's), hurt my shoulders when I couldn't handle the curlbar weight yet, so it was nicer when I could go to it. A straight bar might be nicer, as my wrists complain about the distance on the curlbar- I would like to move them a little farther out, but the weights are where my wrists want to be!

These are better now, but cardio...?! They took my breath strongly at first! They seem to compress the rib cage, actually, so deep breathing is restricted? Heart rate, etc. felt high, so I do them earlier in my routine now! Much easier to do, now, probably need to add weight soon 

I don't have a cage? (Or rack for mounting/dismounting the barbell- wish I had that!) I've never used a public gym, so I only know what I found at Hibbets' Sports store, when I bought my equipment, 4 years ago. I have an olympic style/size weight bench with the foot weight area, barbell holder, lat pull down pole, and preachers' curl cushion on a frame like a large 'C' shape with a weight bench coming from back/center of the 'C'.

For arms, I do Bicep curls/reverses, and lateral raises, (+lat pull downs- just 12 at 50 lbs). These seemed to help my arms really change- but, I don't know if the compounds did that? I want to maintain 60 minutes of weight work, so dropping whatever I can still manage after the compounds is scary!

For women, years ago, I learned the first sign of aging was a loss of upper arm strength, and I never had much! So, I've been working them all I could bear!

You've really got me thinking and wondering- Thanks!

I've been using the dumbell presses for quite awhile for exactly the safety issue you raised bitty...Although I'm never alone in the wgt room, the guys have been reluctant to give me a spot...I guess they think it will some how wuss-afy them!

As a bit of history...many years ago when i was actually working in the gym I was the very first woman to ever bench 100 lbs!  LOL I was not only the first women to ever do it, but the oldest!  And to this day, I believe my record of 225 still stands...

Keep at those 15's and 20's and you'll do fine...I've been using 40's for awhile and I think I might be maxed out...I may not ever go heavier...that happens...You could reach a point where you just can't lift anything heavier!  But I don't think you're there yet :)

If you're working alone I'd stick to dumbbells for bench and for squats. You really don't want to get stuck beneath a bar. Or worse .

http://www.amazon.com/MegaTuff-7ft-Squat-Cage -Commercial/dp/B0006U86E6

 

That looks like a nicer one. I don't have the ceiling height so went with something simpler. But I'm moving soon and when I'm settle next year I'll be getting something like that.

http://bodybuilding.com/fun/likness23.htm

 

Breating squats are explained near the end of that.

 

 One more thing. If you're having trouble with the weight of the Olympic bar you could get  a cheap standard weight set. The bars will be much lighter.