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genezapharmateuticals
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RESEARCHSARMSUGFREAKeudomestic
napsgeargenezapharmateuticals domestic-supplypuritysourcelabsRESEARCHSARMSUGFREAKeudomestic

Thighs and cardio...

I just read your lifting approach - 3 days a week with a day of rest in between is a good approach - helps prevent over-training. I'm a firm believer in low reps (3-6)/heavy weight/multi-joint movements when adding muscle. I started lifting 11 years ago, and luckily I started off with a trainer who believed in low reps/multi-joint movements, so my entire lifting history has incorporated this approach. Too bad in those early years I didn't also know you were supposed to eat protein - I had a carb based diet back then. Lessons learned. :-)
 
I will go out on a limb here -- but please do not think I am issuing a debatable tone here.

At 5'8 and 106 pounds...these "thigh things" that you are referring to....are you sure you are not being a bit critical? We tend to see ourselves more critically than others do. And it seems that you must have a really racing metabolism to eat the way you are and be that slim.

I would check out on cardio for a while. There was a BRIEF moment in my life when I just was losing weight rather quickly and eating ALOT all the time and ALOT of garbage. At 5'7 I dropped from 140 pounds (little muscle) to 127 -- trust me, I was eating for 5! I could not put on muscle (nor lose the saddlebags either).

My trainer strongly suggested losing the cardio for a while....and it did work. I kept up my 4 days a week lifiting schedule and started eating more protein like close to 200 grams possibly more (I had thought was already eating a fair amount of protein before).

I am just thinking at how thin you are ... and your body instinctively is holding onto what it feels it needs. Just my uneducated 2 cents!
 
MS said:
Sooooo if you want to store up body fat, eat lots of fruit. If you want to lose fat eat lots of fibrous veggies. [/B]

does this include low gi fruit such as apples/pears and berries..they have low carbs and low gi?

i usually have an apple before training...you think i should drop it if trying to cut?
 
These post are quite depressing :bawling: But really, I think I am critical but the rest of my body has come such a long way just those DAMN outer thighs!!!!

I am sceptical of an anabolic diet for my body I think I actually may do well on a higher carb plan but am frankly a bit worried to try. I guess I will have to experiment a bit more.

Is 200 g protein for my body weight too much? I am worried about overstressing my organs. Also about the carbs- is it possible to eat too few carbs thus hindering muscle gains? This is my main concern, I don't want to cut them out and sacrifice my gains.

Thanks again for the replies :)
 
Spatts,

It is definitely to put on muscle. At the moment I am more on the "skinny fat" side than being built and hard! I would really like to stay with my bodyfat % at the moment (around 14-15%) maybe even drop it slightly put add much more muscle to increase my weight to a healthy range for my height (5'8).
 
If you're trying to gain muscle, you do need more carbs than 20-30% of your diet. Carbs convert to glycogen, which is your muscles' preferred form of energy. To get the most out of your training (and therefore muscle growth), your muscles need carbs to function at their optimum. Just stick to the complex (like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc.) and fibrous (veggies like spinach, broccoli, etc.) and limit the simple carbs like bread and fruits.

As for wanting your legs to shape up - how are you training them now? What rep range?

Cardio 6 days a week is a lot. As low as your bodyweight is for your height, all that cardio could be catabolizing your muscle. When the body is overstressed due to insufficient calories and/or overtraining, it will start shedding muscle (to lower metabolism) in preference to losing fat so it can conserve the most energy. Also, a higher proportion of incoming calories may be stored as fat, because the body senses possible famine.

I'd cut out some of those cardio days. On the days you do cardio, don't always go at the same pace. Try doing an interval sprint session (e.g. alternating betw easy and hard pace). This is great for leg and glute definition. 20-30 minutes is plenty and never more than 2x/week as intervals are very taxing.

If you tend to do cardio before weights (and you don't eat something before lifting), either switch cardio to after weights, or eat something after cardio before starting weights. If your body is drained from cardio, you won't get a very effective weight workout.
 
When I train legs I usually hit for btw 8-12 reps. Once a month I will throw in a 100 rep w/o just for variety. I don't think I train my legs with the same intensity as i hit my upper body so I may need to work on that. Exercises are: squats, one legged squats, leg press and isolation exercises.

I just had my body composition checked: i am up 2 % body fat(ouch!!!!!) at 16,7% with a 600g muscle LOSS and a 600g fat GAIN. This is really bad news. I am going to change my diet to higher carbs (40%) and lower fat (20%) se if that helps, I always suspected my body worked better with carbs and the test just confirmed :( Anyways I'll see how this goes.

Michelle
 
I need my carbs too :) What I do is cycle my carb intake - higher some days, lower on others. It keeps my body guessing, and I never get any cravings. I work it so my higher carb days are right before a heavy training day like legs (Monday) or back (Thursday).

When you say you usually "hit for btw 8-12 reps" on legs, does that mean the weight's heavy enough so you couldn't do another rep (w/ good form) after 12? If so, that's good. So many women are afraid to lift sufficient weight - esp w/ legs because they think they'll explode with muscle. A few might, but they're the minority. You never know until you try. My legs got smaller and more defined from heavy training/sprinting.

You can also experiment with other rep ranges like 6-8, 12-15, etc. to see how they respond. Right now I'm training legs once a week, alternating betw a heavy week (8-10) and a light week (15-20). I change my whole routine every 2 months or so.

Since you're looking for overall muscle gain, concentrate more on "compound" movements like squats, deadlifts, bench press, pull ups, etc. and less on isolation movements. You can still do some iso moves, but you'll get more growth and strength mileage from the compound exercises, because they work multiple muscle groups.
 
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