What am I looking for?

[nangiggles]

So.... as many a,lready know I'm about 5'1 and 159 pounds, I'm in pretty decent shape as per calves and arms but need to work everything else in between since am 31% BF and most of that is in abdomen/belly, thighs and butt, when at the gym what am I looking for? heavy repetitions done slow/normal, light but rapid repetitions, a lot of weight, normal weight, low weight, etc....? I obviously want to lose weight but also want to tone and possibly get mass but obvioously first need to get rid of fat....

So for all you ladies who know best.... what am I looking for?

 

[*ebony*]

well the faster you build muscle, the faster the fatloss process should be with a good diet. muscle mass=heavy+lower rep range. personally i prefer it that way. i like to take things nice and slow(gives me a sense of control, power). but there are also fast and slow twich muscles that respond better with different training.

Slow twitch are muscle fibers are "hit", or engorged with nitrogen-rich blood, during higher rep training, specifically in sets of 12 to 20 reps. This type of training is often neglected by bodybuilders.

fast twitch are more common. these fibers assist with short, heavy lift requiring short bursts of power. They are not effective in longer-term training, but are very useful in brief, high-intensity training like the ones in bodybuilding or powerlifting.

just vary your workout and see what happens, stick with it and then change it up again. variety is the spice of life.

 

[nangiggles]

I usually do fast/many reps on leg press, chest press and thigh-wise excersize, the rest I mostly do slow/normal with heavy lifting...

 

[slat1]

All my results come from my diet. It doesn't matter if I lift heavy or go light and for reps. I am constantly tweaking the little things in my diet to get more results.
Of course, if I put more time in at the gym I would achieve my results quicker.
Best of luck with your goals.

 

[RottenWillow]

All my results come from my diet. It doesn't matter if I lift heavy or go light and for reps.

Nailed it.


Diet is the ultimate catalyst of bodyshape change. Without getting it exactly where it needs to be, your training will yield far less than optimal results.

 

[slat1]

What they said +100. It is AMAZING how the slightest tweaks can yield a tremendous result when combined with consistent physical activity.

If I eat what most would consider minimal carbs I hold mad water. It took me years just to eat 50 grams of carbs a day. A pro told me he would kill himself if he ever ate that little.
I am super sensitive to carbs. My body seems to respond better to using quality fats in their place. That is one little thing I learned over the years.

 

[myway]

If I eat what most would consider minimal carbs I hold mad water. It took me years just to eat 50 grams of carbs a day. A pro told me he would kill himself if he ever ate that little.
I am super sensitive to carbs. My body seems to respond better to using quality fats in their place. That is one little thing I learned over the years.

I'm the same way. My first 3 meals have carbs but NONE after that. I don't eat any carbs after lunch. If I do, I look like a balloon.

 

[*ebony*]

wow all you low and carb limiters and eliminators. my energy plummets if i don't get in enough carbs, same thing with fats.

 

[RottenWillow]

Damn, my head would implode if I had to survive on that small amount. But as you said, it's a learning process and you gotta find what works for you.

you get used to it, but it can take time. After an extended amount of time on restricted carbs something seems to happen metabolically. Your body appears to get better at synthesizing energy from fats. Your desire for carbs slowly begins to diminish and your energy improves.

It really can take a while though depending on the person. A lot of Lyme Disease patients are on really low carb diets so I've talked to a lot of other people like me who've done that diet for several months, or even years in some cases. Eventually though your bodyfat can begin to get like almost scary low, assuming your thyroid hormones are in check.

 

[myway]

wow all you low and carb limiters and eliminators. my energy plummets if i don't get in enough carbs, same thing with fats.

oh, no worries. I get my fats,lol. Carbs after lunch make me WAY more puffy than fats all day long.

 

[ironwings]

Hang in there girl. As everyone else has said it takes diet to pull it together. 80% diet, 20% what you do in the gym.

I find interval training with weights and plyometrics to be most effective in someone with your stats and body shape. Later today I'll post some of the tabata style training I am doing in my journal - you might want to try some of the techniques and see if they work for you.

 

[myway]

Hang in there girl. As everyone else has said it takes diet to pull it together. 80% diet, 20% what you do in the gym.

I find interval training with weights and plyometrics to be most effective in someone with your stats and body shape. Later today I'll post some of the tabata style training I am doing in my journal - you might want to try some of the techniques and see if they work for you.

+1! I was just talking about tabata the other day. It's the BEST, IMO.

 

[nangiggles]

Wow, was reading on Tabata training and sounds pretty tough love I can't go to the gym this month so might consider doing these at home with what I have available.... by the way, any useful workouts you can recommend at home? I have a medium yoga ball and one of these http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/110/353110_290708_benchpress.jpg with 2x 20 pound discs, I can do my normal chest press and leg lift on it, but am open to anything else that may be sueful

 

[myway]

Wow, was reading on Tabata training and sounds pretty tough love I can't go to the gym this month so might consider doing these at home with what I have available.... by the way, any useful workouts you can recommend at home? I have a medium yoga ball and one of these http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/110/353110_290708_benchpress.jpg with 2x 20 pound discs, I can do my normal chest press and leg lift on it, but am open to anything else that may be sueful

No weights, but u WILL feel it:

 

[*ebony*]

No weights, but u WILL feel it:

dude crossfit stuff is brutal!! i "attempted" twice doing a beginner workouts and i almost died....both times.

 

[myway]

dude crossfit stuff is brutal!! i "attempted" twice doing a beginner workouts and i almost died....both times.

I think they say you should start off only doing it once a week or so until you adapt. If you are thinking about it, I would highly suggest it. Its great for when you are short n time. Sure, the first 10 times, you think you're gonna die but after that, it gets easier WAY fast. I have been doing tabata for about 2.5 years. Now, I wear a weight vest when I do my squats. It DOES get easier and its WAY worth it.

 

[Redrocker13]

Hi B-Mom...I was wandering thru threads when I read this. I read thru it 3 times just to try and make sure I got the gist. It sounds as though the boys were doing a plyo excercise. Don't know if they were doing it on purpose of course. But it sounds like they were. We use that one in footbal quite a bit for core power explosions and improvement of vertical jump as well as stride length. Just thought I'd throw that out. Then again, maybe they were just screwing around.

Regardless of what activities you choose - BE CONSISTENT. Meaning, even if you do something different every single time you are active, make sure you keep at it. Don't give up.

There is no "one way" to achieve a goal, but there are definitely wrong ways to go about it ie - crazy intense contra-indicated movements/activities that put you at great risk for injury.

Yesterday afternoon (no exaggerations) I saw to young men. Couldn't have been over 30. They had an aerobics step platform (the kind where you can adjust the height by adding/substracting risers) up against on of the columns that supported the ceiling. They were jumping (both feet) to see how high they could go (each time adding another riser) to see if they could keep landing, both feet, on the riser without grabbing onto the column to stabilize their landing.

I tried REALLY HARD not to stare.

What THE HELL were they thinking?

Aside from sheer stupidity like I just quoted above, keep changing it up every several weeks. The human body adjusts very quickly. Vary the intensity/frequency of cardio. Engage in activities that you like to do - get some result and a sense of satisfaction. Also activities that have least amount of risk for injury. Activities that are more difficult, should be worked up to slowly.

I've been in the gym for more than 25 years. And yet when I was out for two weeks with a virus it took more A FULL MONTH to get back to where I feel strong and productive.

Slow and steady wins the race. Consistency is key.