Building muscle??

smiley1

smiley1

New member
i'm starting a new thread here b/c i think under this title i might be able to get more help on strenght training :)
i would like to know the best way to build muscle. i'm not concerned about bulk like some other women might. i have gotten some great tips under my help thread and have put some to work all ready. :)

i do 3 sets of 15 reps using 5-8lbs weights
my sets look like this
pushupsx15,backx15,shouldersx15,bicepsx15,tricepsx15, lunges/squats15-20

i've been told that i need to up my lbs,which i'll be doing but any other suggestions would be great :)
also other than squats/lunges what other l/body exercise can i do?
(i do cardio 6x a week for 40-60min resistance of 3-8 on the elliptical)
and abs 200 of them.
help :)
 
yea, sorry about the lack of response ... not too many people are into the muscle building ... i would check out our partner site: worldfitness.com ...

however, some quick advice:
break up your training to muscle groups on different days ... ie. chest/triceps, back/biceps, shoulders/legs ...
... when working on pushups & situps, you should be able to increase your reps and sets every couple weeks for at least 2 months if you have never trained them before

ps. sorry about deleting your post ... i clicked "edit" instead of reply ... hazard of being an admin, i suppose
 
i wasn't worried about the lack of response, i'm just motivated to get started :eek:
thanks for the post though, i'll go check out the site today

:confused: why would i need to break up my training? is this a more effective way of doing it?

as for deleting my post...i guess a major butt kicking is in order ;) j/k
 
Not sure what your asking here but 12-15 reps(which ya gotta do to pretty much failure) for toning, sculpting whatever. 6-10 reps for building mass(once again to failure). 1-4 to build strength(make sure you have a spotter on some of the excercises.)

What sort of excercises are you doing for training?
different excercises will build a body part to look a certain way.
And massive amount of protein if your trying to bodybuild(I'm weighing in at about 190 and eating around 250g of protein)
carbs are also important(probably want double the amount of protein, so I would need around 500 g of carbs.)

Again I'm not sure if your trying to build mass or what not but thats a start if you are. Another site I would recommend is bulknutrition.com's forums, they got lotta bodybuilders/fitness people there.

If your going for strength then you'll want to stay under 4-5 reps(not including warmup)
 
Thank's, so i've got to up the weight then b/c i'm no where near failure.
i'm trying to get results some where between toned and body builder (don't think i want to become a major body builder that takes alot of commitment but some where near that would be great)

the stuff i do now
push ups-fly and decline,using a sability ball
lunges and squats-just the regular ones-should i be doing them /weights?
triceps-dips-kick backs and one arm overhead
biceps-regular-open arms and 21's
shoulders-fly's-military press-
back-fly's-not sure what else to do

how important is protein for muscle gain?
thanks for the site, i'll check out :)
 
Great to hear you are getting into strength training. When you build muscle, your body becomes more efficient and you will burn fat. First thing I wanted to say was DO NOT worry about getting huge. This does not happen to women without the use of steroids. We do not have the testosterone to allow it to happen. I've been lifting very heavy weights for about 2 years and I am FAR from bodybuilder physique. I would suggest upping your weights and dropping your reps. You want to make sure you are really getting a good workout. If you drop your reps to 8, you should have enough weight that is challenging, where you don't feel like you can do a few more too easily. Splitting up your muscle groups like AllCdnBoy said is a good idea. It will allow you to work those muscle groups hard. As far as abs, you would train these like any other body part. I train them once a week and do 3 sets of 3 different exercises for 15 reps...some of which are weight bearing.

Here's another great place for some help..

If you need any more help, please let me know :)
 
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thank's for posting fitmom, i have to say not to many women are into this sort of thing, and it could be the best thing for them!
i already new about the looking like a man thing and i've got to tell you that is certainly not one of my concerns :) i have been interested in this since i was 18 just never had all the information i needed.now that i have the net the info's all there,just very overwhelming :eek:
and thank's for the site info, i'll check that out

:confused: do women need as much protein/carb/fat intake as the info recomends for men? or can it be lower?
 
for nutrition, you kind of need to play around with it and see what works best for you. usually, sticking around 40%carbs/40%protein/20%fat works well. i need a little bit more carbs than protein. my body reacts better and you do need some carbs to build muscle. but that could be different for you. you just need to experiment a little. and getting good sources of those foods is important too :)
 
that would be % of your daily cals? the sites i've been to all talk about g's.
protein pwd in shakes? good idea to up the protein?
does that affect the daily cals you get in? i don't need to gain any weight, in fact i need to loose b/f and gain muscle.
 
yes, that is percentage of daily cals. so for example, if you eat 1800 cals, and had a 40/40/20 ratio, you would get 180g carbs/ 180g protein / 40g fat. it's hard to lose bodyfat and gain muscle at the same time, but not impossible, especially if you are just starting out with working with weights. i went down 2 sizes in clothing when i started, but didn't lose any lbs in weight. so i was losing the bf and gaining muscle :) sometimes, just changing the types of food you eat will make a big difference.

protein powder is an easy, convenient way to increase your protein. you can put it skim milk, water, or mix in with some fruit and have a smoothie.
 
hey, thank's for the info!i've been swithching foods around this week and it has made a big difference.as for weight loss if i switch fat/lbs for muscle lbs i would be quite satisfied that's for sure :)
are there any prot.pwd that you can recomend? the types i used were more for meal replacement than anything else.
 
Toning- more reps less weight
Muscle Building- more weight fewer reps

If you are only using <10 lb weights you are not going to build muscle, although you will tone up the muscle you've got.

Try increasing the amount of weight you are lifting until you are unable to do more than 15 reps a set.
 
smiley said:
hey, thank's for the info!i've been swithching foods around this week and it has made a big difference.as for weight loss if i switch fat/lbs for muscle lbs i would be quite satisfied that's for sure :)
are there any prot.pwd that you can recomend? the types i used were more for meal replacement than anything else.
Click to expand...

I use Optimum Nutrition 100% natural whey in vanilla or chocolate. I really like it. The chocolate is textured a little differnetly than the vanilla, and almost needs a blender to mix it will, but the vanilla mixes very easily with a spoon and no lumps!
 
Well if your mixing with a spoon chocolate is horrible but if you use a shaker cup itll mix it perfectly. I use that protein too, on like my 30th pound of it lol
 
Thank's for the info guys! it all has been very helpfull :) and i really apreciate it.
As for the shakes i'll have to dust of the old imersion blender cause i'm a chocolate person for sure :D
 
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