New to everthing & Trying to loose weight

[Pink Space Biscuit]

You can look at websites for exericse examples and we can describe them, but I'd really get a trainer for at least a few sessions so your form is okay, since you are totally new at it.

Here's one directory, there's tons more out there.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

You can also search the muscle and fitness and muscle and fitness hers archives for exercise examples. They have a snippit each month that concentrates on the form of a particular exercise.

Also please ignore the scale! As a beginner you're going to be dealing with adding muscle weight, dropping fat weight and the always fun shifting water weight. Please don't let scale numbers discourage you. Take a picture, remember how certain pairs of pants fit.

 

[makedah]

Re: Thanks guys!

All I need now I guess is an exact beginner workout with some instruction. When someone tells me to do back and rear delt for example...really I have no idea what you mean...could you provide me with specific exercises or something? My problem area is my rear and thighs. Although I need to loose fat everywhere. Also what would be a good weight to start lifting. Does it just depend on what you can do?

You REALLY need to go to that site that I recommended. The page with sample workouts links to different workouts and pics of each exercise. Storing fat on your rear and thighs has no bearing on what kind of lifts you should do. There's no such thing as "spot reducing." For example, doing crunches won't flatten your abs.

The general rule is that the weight you should use to start lifting is a weight that feels difficult at 8 reps or so. You won't know until you try. The weight will be different per exercise because muscles vary in size and strength. Get your boyfriend to help you with this.

 

[Gladiola]

Re: Thanks guys!

I was ruling out lifting because I guess I was under the impression you had to go to a gym and that I was going to end up looking gross...sorry...no offence...

No offense taken - just my sympathies. You believed what almost every women believes (including myself in the past) till she learns what I call, "THE TRUTH"!!!! Lifting hevy & eating clean equals hard & ripped body. Period, end of story.

Actually, I vastly prefer free weights to machinery anyway - you don't need to go to the gym. Get yourself an adjustable bench (incline or flat), barbells, (short ones for 'dumbells' & a long barbell) & some weight plates & you are SET! www.muscleandfitnesshers.com is good for info too.

In order to get "Huge" as in, gain an amount of muscle so significant as to turn heads (without AS - Anabolic Steriods - I mean), you must:
1. LIFT, not only lift, lift intensely, lift regularly, & lift for a period of time (NO ONE gets huge overnight).
2. Eat enough calories & enough protein to support gaining the muscle mass.
3. HAVE THE GENETICS FOR IT!!!

Many people can do #1 & #2 & still not see significant hypertrophy (muscle growth) - witness plenty of ladies complaining they can't get a 'peak' on their bicep. Without the genetics you'll just get hard as anything & ripped with a nice shape. Even with the genetics you won't get huge (I'm a 'mesomorph' - a body type that builds muscle fairly easily & I'm still no monster).

So do cardio in moderation, lift HEAVY - use your man to spot you (while you learn your strength) & help you with form. Do not underestimate your strength - if you reach rep #10 in a set & could do a few more - INCREASE WEIGHT! Think CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN on diet & do NOT starve yourself (that will totally stall any gains). Eat veggies till you feel you'll burst & allow generous portions of lean protein as well (chicken, fish). If you're new to clean eating, you will be amazed how much food a CLEAN 2,000 calories is - you shouldn't feel hungry. You'll see changes quickly - trust us!

p.s. TONE is a NOUN - it is the condition of visible muscle on a body. It is NOT A VERB! There is NO SUCH THING as a TONING Workout - workouts are strength training, muscular endurance training (not your best route to a hard, lean body) & cardio.

 

[we5happy]

Fantastik Information

You all have been extremely helpful! Thank you so much!

When I came home from work yesterday I looked over every site that all of you had in your messages and was amazed at the resoursed available to those who ask for help. The directory that Pink Space Biscuit pointed out was great. It even showed a little clip of someone executing each excercise. That was great!

I have recommended this site to all of my friends and hope they have as much luck as I do. I am going to keep using it and I hope you all keep the information coming. If you have it to give then I want to hear it. Also the modivation factor of the site is awsome.

Thank you all so much!

L

 

[evilqueen]

Gladiola says...

"Without the genetics you'll just get hard as anything & ripped with a nice shape. Even with the genetics you won't get huge (I'm a 'mesomorph' - a body type that builds muscle fairly easily & I'm still no monster)."

Gladiola and everyone else, I am NOT trying to be difficult. I swear to God. But I want to tell this newbie that I DID get "huge"--a regular woman's definition of "huge," which was that I gained two inches on my hips, abs, and thighs WITH A BODYFAT PERCENTAGE OF 15.3 PERCENT.

My measurements went from 34-26-34 to 36 (chest development) 27.5 (squats bulk up your waist) 36. Also, my thighs went from 20 to 22.

Now, perhaps a BB or powerlifter wants these measurements. I'm not arguing; more power to y'all. But I didn't want that at all. And everyone kept assuring me that I'd end up looking faboo. Well, if you want your measurements to go UP, great. I was upset.

I, too, recommend lifting--it's great for your body. But I wouldn't lift extremely heavy unless you're an ectomorph. If you're a mesomorph, like me, proceed with extreme caution.

My two cents. But yeah, it happened to me. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Evil

 

[CaptainMouse]

Gladiola says...

"Without the genetics you'll just get hard as anything & ripped with a nice shape. Even with the genetics you won't get huge (I'm a 'mesomorph' - a body type that builds muscle fairly easily & I'm still no monster)."

Gladiola and everyone else, I am NOT trying to be difficult. I swear to God. But I want to tell this newbie that I DID get "huge"--a regular woman's definition of "huge," which was that I gained two inches on my hips, abs, and thighs WITH A BODYFAT PERCENTAGE OF 15.3 PERCENT.

My measurements went from 34-26-34 to 36 (chest development) 27.5 (squats bulk up your waist) 36. Also, my thighs went from 20 to 22.

Now, perhaps a BB or powerlifter wants these measurements. I'm not arguing; more power to y'all. But I didn't want that at all. And everyone kept assuring me that I'd end up looking faboo. Well, if you want your measurements to go UP, great. I was upset.

I, too, recommend lifting--it's great for your body. But I wouldn't lift extremely heavy unless you're an ectomorph. If you're a mesomorph, like me, proceed with extreme caution.

My two cents. But yeah, it happened to me. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

Evil

If this happened overnight and did not take you more than a year to accomplish then I think you are lying or something is wrong with you physically, like a Thyroid problem or something making you bigger.

 

[Gladiola]

Gladiola and everyone else, I am NOT trying to be difficult. I swear to God. But I want to tell this newbie that I DID get "huge"--a regular woman's definition of "huge,"

Well, I never said women CAN NOT get huge. I said in order to get huge, you must do #1, #2, & #3.

If you're not a mesomorph, you can do #1&2 to your heart's content & rest assured that you won't get huge.

If you ARE a mesomorph, you still have to do #1&2 to get huge. I have seen lots of women lift & lifted with women. VERY few lift intensely. VERY few. & so many are already afraid of getting huge that they will not put forth effort in their lifting. Even those WANTING to work hard don't often really push themselves. Heck, Arioch works with serious athletes & he'll tell you any day of the whining he hears & sometimes lack of motivation. The last thing a newbie needs is ANOTHER excuse not to work hard.

Also very few are careful with diet. Even fewer manage to keep up the diet & training more than a couple months. (I'm sure we can round up some stats on that.)

I also highly doubt that muscle will pop up so quickly as to SURPRISE you. How many women do you know who DON'T spend time analyzing the shape & size of their bodies?! I can't fathom a women not noticing if she's growing (particulary if she's already afraid of it!).

Besides - even if someone gains more muscle than they want - stop lifting & POOF - ATROPHY! It's far from permanent.

So to wrap up here - scientifically, I agree. BUT - being that I deal frequently with the general public in a fitness setting (i.e. NOT PLers, BBers or serious athlets) as I'm an aerobics instructor - I have my reasons for stating what I do.

 

[evilqueen]

No thyroid problem.

I track what I eat on fitday--40/30/30.

Cut back on weights. Not lifting the pink dumbbells--I'm not the type--but no more squats.

I would not lie, CaptainMouse. I have no reason to lie. I don't know why you guys can't honor what I'm saying. I'm not saying YOU'RE lying. I'm just saying that this is my experience, I write regularly about health and fitness, and I'm not just some schlub off the street. And I think this newbie deserves to hear the other side, because no one told it to me. Not just you guys--the people at my gym, too.

And spats, I'm not sure what you think you are accomplishing by reposting my threads. I remember them well. They start out with me being reasonably happy and become increasingly distressed because of my Depo issue. Why would you voluntarily point out someone else's pain? Is it that you are trying to insinuate that I'm unbalanced? In those posts, I consistently state my bodyfat is 15 percent. I just got it measured May 4, far after all my complaints about getting "big." So if it ain't fat, it must be muscle.

By the way: I'd advise you, spats, to use your considerable intellect trying to understand the Depo issue. More and more women are taking this stuff, and it's about to come to the fore as a major issue in feminist health politics. I think you'd find the politics--and the physiology--fascinating.

It's amazing...saying anything that deviates from the gospel, and you're a pariah. Oh well. I'd rather be a pariah than misinform someone else that way I was misinformed.

 

[Dingo12]

Also for a woman to get big (or a man for that matter - just look at all those 'hard gainers' out there on the male board!) you need #4 - Excess amounts off drugs!

I eat like a horse - I do put weight on. I squat like a power lifter and look great. I also take test - I am still not huge. My diet is pretty groggy at the moment, I'm going through some distressing personal stuff at the moment and have just spent the last 6 weeks eating bowl after bowl of muesli and drinking 6 pints of strong cider every day. Now I have just managed to hang onto the gains I have made over the last 12 months by doing the bare minimum training. I am still no huge - OK so I have developed a rather noticeable 'beer' belly, this by the way is where fat goes on primarily for me. But I am still not 'huge'. I believe the muscle mass I have built up over the last few years has helped keep me looking firm and helped burn at least some of the excess kcals off.

Now I am looking to move forward, start serious cardio, get the diet sorted and lift even heavier than before. The fat will come off and I will get back to where I was before and probably even better for the rest.

What I am saying is lifting and building muscle is good - it gives you a foundation from which to build a good healthy body and once you have got it, you never lose it. BUT it takes time - quick fixes i.e. trying to lose lots of weight at once, backfire and leave you with metabolic legacies or rebound effects.

Guess I had better stop preaching now!

 

[we5happy]

wow!

I thought I would give you an update...

It has been a week officially since the start of my diet...or should I say life change! I was on the scale and in a week I have lost 6.5 lbs. Just from changing my diet to include more protien and waaaaay less carbs. It has been very hard but its paying off already.

I bought the Xenadrine RFA-1 yesterday and started those today...(see my new Xenadrine vs. Hydroxycut thread) and hope these give me the extra boost I need.

I saw that there was a little tension in the previous posts and want to thank you all. I really enjoy this site and just want you to know that I want to hear all of the opinions...good and bad...I am to modivated to be discouraged at this point...but I want all of the knowledge I can. Im like a sponge, eh?

Anyway...I think I am on the right track! Although I still want to hear your feedback. Keep it coming, I love it!