Please help.. Weight Lifting but no results

[makedah]

Like sassy said, I think 2lift needs to say more about what her immediate and long term goals are. ("more toned and more musclar" is really, really vague)

2Lift, what kind of results do you want to see RIGHT NOW? More strength, bigger muscles or a leaner body? Speak in pounds, inches and/or feats (no, not 'feet' ). Because you are not obese, my guess is that it will be hard for you to get bigger muscles and lose body fat at the same time for very long.

2lift have you been here: www.stumptuous.com/weights.html ? There is some great advice there for women who are starting to lift.

 

[JJFigure]

Here's my two cents:

Training:

An upper/lower body split is fine, but 2 days/week is not enough training - with the right nutrition, you can train 3-4 days/week to develop mass. You're also completely neglecting certain body parts and are only using isolation movements for your lower body. You're doing no back work (pulldowns, pullups, rows), no tricep work (tricep extensions, dips, close grip bench press), no shoulder work (military presses, dumbbell presses, rear/front/side lateral raises), no trap work (shrugs, upright rows). For lower body, you should be using compound movements like squat, stiff leg deadlift (SLDL), front squat, leg press, step-ups, and my favorite, deadlifts.

I highly recommend heading over to the training board and checking out the sticky for the different training methodologies. You may find a split that interests you that incorporates these type of lifts.

Nutrition:

Not enough protein. You need to eat protein if you want muscle - bottom line. I eat 1.5 grams of pro per 1 lb. of bodyweight in protein - most of which comes from whole food sources (not protein drinks). I only drink protein post workout. At the very least, strive for 1xbodyweight for daily protein intake. You also need to make sure you're consuming some essential fatty acids (EFAs) like flax oil, olive oil, canola oil, and fish oil. And keep the simple sugars as limited as possible.

 

[2lift]

First of all, let me say thank you for these excellent suggestions and comments. I will definitely make the necessary changes in my diet and cut down on the sugars. It also sounds like I need to make some serious changes in workout frequency and techniques.

My goal is to be both physically strong and muscular. I want it to show that I work out and no doubt about it. I like big arms on both men and women too. So I want big arms biceps and triceps meaning, I want to see some muscle without having to flex (especially for the arms). A strong chest, tight abs, tight glutes, strong and muscular back, legs and calf's. Almost forgot about the shoulders, want those too.. strong and muscular shoulders. Currently, when I look at my arms they just look like a regular pair of arms for a basic female who doesn't work out, but who isn't over weight either (just kinda average). To look at me you wouldn't even know that I lifted any weights at all. What I want is for muscle to be noticeable at a first glance, no flexing required and still noticeable. Not so much to show off, it's just that I admire being muscular, sting and healthy and would like to become that way too. That is what I am trying to accomplish.

 

[2lift]

Just to clarify that's...Big but lean muscle. If it's possible to achieve both at the same time?

 

[makedah]

2 lift - I'm not the expert, but everything I've read says that obese people and beginners can gain muscle and lose fat in significant amounts at the same time. (And even that is a limited-time offer! ) Other folks will have to choose which they're doing at the moment. This is why bodybuilders (and some other folks as well) have "bulking and cutting" cycles: months of building muscle and eating more (bulking - which not only adds muscle, but some fat as well) alternated with weeks or months of dieting (cutting).

It doesn't sound to me like you are overweight. You talked at length about building bigger muscles, so maybe you should focus on that right now and then "tone up" ("cut" aka diet so that your muscles are more visible).

So how do you do that? There are lots of methods. Read the sticky and see which one works for you. It is likely that you will have some trial and error.

Finally, if you were like me when I started lifting, you may be underestimating how much you can lift. I would hold back, thinking that if I went all out, I wouldn't be able to finish the workout. Basically - I was cheating myself. The only times that I havent' been able to finish a workout is if I haven't eaten properly before I hit the gym. JUST TRY a heavier weight on your moves and see how it feels. Of course, use caution when doing this. We don't want you to hurt yourself!

 

[Gymgurl]

I can only tell you what has worked for me and I know that EVERYONE is different. When I stoped using the"pink" weights and the machines (though I still use them for some things) and started working one - two body parts 4 days a week and doing cardio after my weights I began to notice a big difference. I didn't notice any difference weight wise or muscle for 4 months the other way. I have lost 30 pounds and went from 29% to 20% body fat in about 4 months. Please don't be afraid to go heavy on the weights.....it makes a huge difference

 

[makedah]

Congrats gymgurl and you are RIGHT!