Undecided...and need help!

[Smurfy]

Ladies....Help!

Im undecided on my focus these days. A while ago i decided to really focus on learning about and increasing my bench press as well as learning deadlifts and free weight squats. But as a woman im constantly thinking about bodyfat and getting leaner (ive put on about 25 lbs in 2 yrs which consists of fat and muscle of course).
I dont know if i should focus more on cleaning up my diet and getting leaner or focus more on learning and working the big 3 lifts.
I dont think i can manage doing or focusing on both. Any suggestions?

 

[slinky]

Then focus on cleaning up your diet as you're learning and working with the big lifts.

Which is what you should be doing. IMO. By working on the three big lifts, you will be gaining not only strength, but LBM. The additional LBM will help in picking up your metabolism; therefore, burn fat. Visually, you'll see a change in composition by the distribution of sleek muscle that will be uncovered when the fat begins to dissapear. You can certainly build your program around these three lifts (which is what I do) to help in enhancing them.

As a woman: you should be concerned about getting stronger...functional. Same as a man. When your focus shifts to that one goal: all else will seem sooo insignificant.

So, just eat clean and train intensely.

 

[Smurfy]

thanks SLINKY for putting it so eloquently.
im gonna try cleaning up the diet AND working the 3 big lifts and see how i do.
i guess i just need encouragement

 

[FitFossil]

...As a woman: you should be concerned about getting stronger...functional. Same as a man. When your focus shifts to that one goal: all else will seem sooo insignificant....

Amen to that! That's the whole point of my mantra "Stronger, Faster, Better" that's on the end of my posts. I'll repeat those words to myself when I train (or eat yet another chicken breast ). For me, it worked better to focus on making myself a better athlete rather than focusing on how I looked. In the end though, by eating and training like an athlete, I got the added bonus of looking like an athlete.

Good nutrition is the FUEL for better more intense training, increased strength, and muscle mass. Add increased muscle mass to being able to train at a higher intensity, and you have some powerful tools for burning bodyfat. Once you get the diet piece down, you won't believe how much easier everything gets. I tried my absolute darndest to train "around" my lousy diet, and it took many wasted years to learn that all the training in the world couldn't make up for it.

 

[slinky]

Awesome, FF.

I like your mantra, too.

 

[Buffy Beffy]

Focus on cleaning up your diet, and as you lift, your increased muscle mass will increase your metabolism, thus decreasing your bf.