Weights

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Anyone who works with weights - I do upper body work every day or every other day, and lower body work (especially squats) every single day- and the soreness NEVER goes away. Is this normal? I\'m thinking of buying stock in Tiger Balm ...

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have a former coach that would flip if he heard someone doing squats every day. Of course the soreness never goes away, your not giving the muscles chance to recoup from the exercise. Switch to squats 2-3 times a week and spend time on an eliptical thingie (cross between a stair and a treadmill) at a higher angle for the other days.
Also make sure you\'re getting enough protein in your diet if you do a lot of weight work, that and making sure your vitamin intake is also good, supplement if necessary on that last one.
So no...it\'s not normal. It\'s called overtraining.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Got the protein and the supplement thing going on ... it never occurred to me to work LESS hard. I thought as long as I didn\'t increase weight or reps my body would eventually get used to what I was doing and I\'d be able to proceed a little.
Stupid question, maybe , but is this also true for upper body? Does every muscle group need a day off?

[Mtnjim]

When you work out with weights, you are actully damageing the muscles. The strength gain (and size gain) comes when they repair themselves. They want to heal and protect them selves from further damage. This healing comes when you are not lifting weights. If you want to work out every day try a \"split\" schedule, ie. one day upper body, next day lower body. Oh, yes, you might want to have a day where you don\'t work out at all, to recover.

HTH

[MOBLEYC57]

You could get away with twice a week if you\'re doing a total body workout (upper and lower) with two days rest in between for recuperation time FTR. Maybe evern 3 days a week, with a rest day in between, and 3 - 4 sets of 10-12 should do it. Muscles need rest to grow, and recup. The belley can be worked everday IIIIIIF you work upper abs one day, lower abs the next, etc. etc. 4 sets of 25 - 30 reps. Protein in your body immediately after your last rep, and for breakfast are the most important protein windows...and if you\'re really serious, and can afford it....before bed time too. And of course you have to get sleep, and stay off this forum until 4 o\'clock in the morning, knowing you have to be to work at 8. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif Sleep is as important as working out. /ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif Stay with it and your weight should be picking up within a month...and muscles weigh more than fat, so don\'t freak when you haven\'t lost weight. You should be able to see the difference within a month. Two months tops, things should be looking amazing. I take creatine, z-mass, and Tribex 500 as well, but Whey protein is the best on the market for what you\'re trying to do, plus a woman\'s vitamin and mineral supplement. And don\'t forget to shower afterwards! /ubbthreads/images/icons/shocked.gif Tater!!!

P.S. I\'m proud of\'ya!!! /ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Thanks ... it\'s not anything new - I\'ve always been a big protein eater and have always exercised. I really don\'t care about my weight. I like to be as strong and as flexible as I can be, though. No matter what my weight, I\'ve always done yoga or weights. It\'s just that I laid off for a couple of weeks after moving apartments, am getting back into routine, and thinking dammit, I\'m always SORE...

I sleep, I just don\'t sleep long. I nap when I get home for an hour or so, then I\'m good for another 10 hours before I need a couple hour\'s sleep. I don\'t have to be up until 8 a.m. so I can go to bed at 3 and still get my usual 5 hours a night. I\'ve always been like that. I get a lot done at night, would hate to sleep through it.

Why so few reps? I do longer sets, more like 3 sets, 25 reps each. If that gets too easy, I\'ll add weight slowly. Is that wrong?

[Mtnjim]

\"Why so few reps? I do longer sets, more like 3 sets, 25 reps each. If that gets too easy, I\'ll add weight slowly. Is that wrong?\"

Generally, light weights w/ high reps builds strength and shapes; whereas, high weight and low reps are for size and mass.

;>}

[xxxPantero]

actually, definition comes from high muscle and low fat content

if you want to see the shape, lifting light weights with heavy reps kind of serve as a fat burner, but not a very effective one. you can either get heavier weights for more muscle, or as most women prefer, keep the same weight, but add more cardio to burn off fat covering the muscle.

they are absolutely right about resting to gain muscle and avoid soreness. if you workout, get at least 6-7 hours of sleep MINIMUM.

but don\'t split upper body and lower body - your entire body is linked to each part of itself, so you want to give your entire body a rest. to illustrate: when you get a cold, do you just need to rest your nose and sinus, or your entire body? think about it - each part affects the rest, although we tend to overlook that fact with muscles - but human beings aren\'t a machine with separate parts functioning independent of the rest. we are interconnected with each part of our body.

so rest completely one day in between or just until the soreness goes away. think about it... if your entire body is up to it next time because it\'s fully rested, don\'t you think you\'ll have a much mroe productive workout, instead of cheating through the reps, or not doing as much as you possibly can? of course not.

so get your rest, do some cardio, take time off to recuperate, don\'t wear any pheros to the gym- sweat will really activate the BO smell, and then get in shape and have some more sex /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Babe, I\'ll be 46 in less than a month. Old people don\'t need much sleep ...

but the \"have more sex\" part I\'ll see what I can do about !

[MOBLEYC57]

3 sets of 25 rep!!? Doing what? You can\'t be curling, tricep extensions, pushups, lateral raises for 25 reps unless you\'re using two pounds. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif Growth and toning range is from 8 to 12 reps. You complaining/saying that you\'re old...not! 10 to 12 reps should be your goal. If you\'re doing 25 reps, you could add some serious weight. You shouldn\'t be too sore after a two week lay off...in fact, you should lay off a week after 12 to 16 weeks of working out just because. Add more weight, up your sets to 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps for about a month, and tell me what you think. It\'s like mones...experiment. Don\'t know if you said that you were a member of American Singles, but if you are, look up UMMMYUMMY...that\'s me. The pic with my shirt open was taken in February when I had a six pack, but had a girl that kept me from the gym mentally. We broke up 14 January, I quit smoking 4 March and stayed in the gym. The pic without the shirt was taken in late April. See the difference? Tater!!

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I do upper body work at at least 30 pounds. I can do three sets of 50 squats and three more sets of deep plies with my feet turned out. I\'ll do three sets of 25 flies or lat pulls at 30 pounds to 50 pounds -- I\'ve had to start back at 30 after laying off awhile. Think that\'s why my shoulders are always killing me? lol Seriously, though, I sit at a desk my entire life. I have to work my upper body or it will just cave in. You know the thing in the gym where you sit down and you push the weight out with your feet? I can do that at 100 pounds easy in small sets, say 15 or so, and do 3 sets, and it just feels good to me. My thigh muscles, arms, and lower back don\'t bother me but my ass muscles and my neck and shoulders hurt all the time when I\'m working out steady, which is most of the time. But Mobley, it\'s got to be done -- I don\'t want my ass dragging the ground. Like I said, I just laid off for a couple of weeks after the move, it took me awhile to get completely comfortable in the new apartment and back in the groove, and I\'m sore all over again. I\'ll never bulk up, being female -- but I enjoy being strong, and I often need to be. I moved my entire apartment by myself. Couch and all. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif My parents were down here for a visit and brought me some furniture - my stepdad was all sweating over getting the china cabinet on a dolly, I said screw it, just pick it up, and I carried my end with one hand, not breathing heavy. His eyes popped out of his head.I\'ll add weight and do smaller sets and see what happens. But ... what I\'m asking is, is there ever a point at which you stop being sore if you work out every day or every other day?

[EXIT63]

I love a strong woman...Now come over here and give me my medicine. My birthday\'s next week and I want 42 over your knee...I\'m beggin you to make me beg you for mercy..LOL.. /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif

[druid]

OK FTR some of the advice I have seen so far is good some of the advice I have seen is complete BUNK. So here is my advice.
1)Diet and Sleep -- These are at LEAST as important as working out -- probably more so. Eat your protein (I am a carnivore and I like whey). Stay away from soy. Avoid trans fats, and cycle your carbs. ie do a period of 3-5 days low carb and follow with 1-2 days of high carb. Take in some carbs in the morning and afterworkout (combined with protein). Sleep, sleep, sleep. I usually shoot for about 8, but get 10 whenever possible. Sleep is so important. Don\'t short yourself on it.

2)Exercise -- I don\'t like doing lots of cardio so I try to make my count. I do moderate pace for 15-20 minutes on a steep incline. I like doing after weights -- but I don\'t do any on leg days. And FTR you give overtraining a new meaning. Squats are the single most INTENSE exercise you can do. Deadlifts are a close second. You should by no means do them every day. I do them only once a week. I do 2-3 sets when I do them and I pyramid the weights. I usually finish with a set of 225+ for about 3-5 reps taken to FAILURE. I sometimes substitute leg presses. I would suggest doing them on a smith machine, unless you have a couple of spotters. xxxPantero is right about the body, when u do squats for example your entire leg musculater particpates, and even your abs stablize. But the reason to split your body apart is because to work the entire body properly would be too much in one session. Your body only has a finite abilty to recover from weight lifting (which BTW is the most intense exercise you can do). So basically you should warm up, then go to failure. Just enough to stimuate muscle growth, and that is it. Instead of doing all you can, do just enough. And remember cardio is a form of stress so doing to much of it can generate a lot of stress related hormones that tear muscle down. Look at your average marathon runner and compare with your average AIDS patient. And you being a women you don\'t have as much anabolic (muscle building) hormones as a man (ie TESTOSTRONE) so you can overtrain even easier. Also you should do leg presses sometimes in place of squats. I like to alternate (ie this leg workout SQUATS next leg press, etc.) I used to do both in a single workout and I could hardly walk for the next couple of days. So I stopped and I went from doing 360 pounds on a leg press for 8-9 reps to 450+ for 7+ reps.

MIKE MENTZER is turning over in his grave! Squats everyday, my GOD in haven! /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif I would suggest you take some time off (a few days at least) to recover. And FTR you are not working out any less, you are working out harder in less amount of time. BIG DIFFERENCE!(HIGH INTENSITY LOW VOLUME)

[sophie]

I learned a lot reading \"Body for Life\" by Bill Phillips but I am not a pro like all of y\'all. Just getting my feet wet, but I found his book very helpful to learn some basics and get started. I already eat lowcarb, just working on the balance of nutrients for optimal results. I love feeling strong too.

Thanks for the info about doing belly work everyday!! That should motivate me in that area. I mix in a few Pilates in my ab work, feels great.

P.S. any opinions on Body for Life? Is it bunk, or OK?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I keep carbs real low - 40 grams or so. It messes with my blood sugar and body chemistry to eat a lot of carbs -- it will promptly give me a yeast infection. Women - don\'t know if you know this, but high carbs/lots of simple carbohydrates, will bring that on. Also carbs just make me groggy at work. I eat eggs, meat, nuts, and salads mostly. Fruit sometimes, but mostly berries.

Although about every two months I\'ll go on a sweets binge for a weekend.

I don\'t go to a gym. I have a Total Gym and weights at home that I use, and weights is all I do (Total Gym uses your own weight, you have to figure the percentage of your body weight you\'re lifting from the height at which you place the incline).

Is everybody here sleeping 8-10 hours a night? I can\'t do it, I just can\'t. I hope it\'s not as important as you\'re saying it is. I feel fine on the amount of sleep I get.

Sophie, I\'ll check your book out, it sounds good. I need to do more bellywork too.

[druid]

well I have never read body for life but if it is weight lifting and low carb (40% or less of diet from dietrary carb -- like the Zone diet) then it must be at least pretty good. The important part is you have a dietery and exercise plan ready and are always refining it. I would suggest a cyclying diet. 4-5 days low carb (real low like atkins -- about 20-30 grams a day and it is possible to get away with more but you will have to experiment to find out) then 2-3 days real high carb (just don\'t go too low with fat). on the low carb days u get maximum benefit of hormones like HGH and test. (yes women have some too just not as much) and on the low carb day you get an insulin surge which can be (and in this case is) anabolic. then when you are about to start storing fat again from too much carb you start the cycle over again. I got this from \"The Metabolic Diet\" by Docotor DiPasquale. The anabolic effect of this diet was made to compare to steriods, and was designed to be a safe alternative to steriods.

Another thing FTR and all the other ladies reading this, don\'t buy into that crap about how women should do low weights/high rep crap. You should being progressing through the weights and increasing your strength just like the guys. Nature did not intend for one sex to be weak and the other strong. You will not bulk up like a female bodybuilder, because u generally need 2 things to do that (this applies to guys also)
1)Great Genetics
2)Potent drugs (Growth Hormones, and steriods)
Women who lift weights naturally are very toned and firm and ummmm /ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif. Like Trish Stratus from the WWE. <drool....> Women who are natural keep that layer of fat that gives them womanly curves and drives us guys crazy.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Ok, Exit -- it\'s not my style, but just for you, 42 whacks -- IF you\'ll give me 46 minutes of massaging my sore gluts with warm oil next month when I\'m 46...

[druid]

FTR if your shoulders are bothering you--
1)It is probably from overtraing -- strop working out so much!!!!!!! 3 or 4 days a week is plenty. It is like getting some sun. Some will get u a nice tan with some healthly skin. Too little will leave you pale or worst pasty white. Too much will leave you burnt or worse with skin cancer. weight lifting is a form of stress, muscle is the barrier your body erects to protect from this stress but these barriers can overwhlemed. The trick is to get the optimal amount. No more No Less. There is a lot of controversy over what is the optimal amount. It really depends on genetics. Back to the suntanning example there are some people who can tolerate lots of sun and not get burnt (dark skinned people). There are some who can tolerate very little (light skinned people).
2)Don\'t do any behind the neck presses, behind the neck lat downs, or behind the neck pull ups. It is bad for the rotoar cuff muscles.

I used to own a total gym -- it is a great piece of equipment expect for one FLAW. It is hard to progress with weights. That is why I work out with mostly free weights. I love the feeling of heavy iron barbells. That is why I would suggest a GYM. For me it makes me go because I paid for a membership for so long so I get off my a$$ and go.

And stop doing so many reps, except for one or two light warm up sets (about 15-20 reps). Then go for a set where you FAIL at 8 reps or so. If it is less that is OK, just make sure you go FAILURE.

[MAJORSOB]

Yup..full nude hot oil body massage is the key to doing away with stress and sore muscles..not to mention ive yet to meet a woman who doesn\'t just melt when you rub them down after a relaxing hot tub visit..too bad you live so far away dollface!! LOL

[proteus]

Probably a good idea to supplement with glutamine and moderate amount of creatine, and get in that whey protein too. I find these (esp. glut. and creat.) help with post-workout recovery and really helps minimize muscle soreness, although have to be careful with how much creatine is used or lots of water-retention begins.

[druid]

yeah i take those too. I am just started taking ZMA. I like whey protein better than others, because it has more BCAA\'s and it mixes thinner in milk or water.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

What\'s the most effective lower ab exercise you can do?

[druid]

well my favorite ab exercise is crunches on a ball -- but that is probably more for upper abs. I like to do leg raises but on that thing you use to do knee raises (you can also use a pull up bar). the only differences is on knee raises you bend your knees and bring them towards your chest and on leg raises you keep your legs straight and bring your legs up so that they are perpendicular with your torso.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Did you tell me you also had a Total Gym? It\'s easy to incorporate crunches into almost anything you do on it, but I can\'t figure out how to use it for lower ab work. I don\'t go to a commercial gym -- I just don\'t have the money. What can you do that doesn\'t take equipment or that you can do on the Total Gym?

[EXIT63]

Lie flat on the floor with you heels touching. Palms on floor also. Lift and lower your legs several times. Can you feel it?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Yeeeouch, yeah!

[druid]

i will look in my \"complete book of abs\" for some good ones. that one exit63 told you about is good. that is the same exercise I told you about but lying down instead of hanging. One tip -- never let your heels touch the floor after you have started. Keep your heels just above the floor.

[CptKipling]

...and then rest, but with your feet in the air, say 6\". Maybe not a rest then...