How soon until visible results?

F

Fire Girl

0
Patience is a virtue... that I apparently do not possess.

OK, I have been lift weights regularly again for about 8 months. The last couple of months I have increased my cardio (in the hopes of reducing body fat). I put in at least an hour of cardio per day, if not more and I lift weights 3 times per week. I do abs each time I do cardio.

I can feel some hard stuff now (arm is especially a problem) but I do not seem to be able to see nice cut, etc. How long do I have to wait for this to occur? I have lost a considerable amount of weight since I increased cardio (probably 10#).

I am 28 years old and fairly fit.

Thanks!!

Dawn
 
What kind of reps and sets are you doing? What kind of exercise program are you using? Are you using selectorized equipment (i.e. Nautilus, Cybex) or free weights. Are you lifting sufficent weight?

For any weight training program you want what is called momentary muscle failure. What that means is by your last repetition, you are struggling. If you get to say, 10, and you feel as though you could do 2-5 more, your weights are not quite heavy enough.

If you are looking for the "cut look" free weights are the way to go. They allow you to work through different ranges of motion, changing how you target the muscle group. Thereby, giving you more definition. Generally speaking, a variety of exercises per muscle group and per work out session are the best way to achieve this look.

In order to acheive muscle growth, you need to schock your muscles. Changing your reps and sets on a fairly frequent basis are one way of accomplishing this (oh course increasing wt is the other). I hope that I have helped answer some of your questions. Good luck in your goals!
 
perfect post lex ... couldn't've said it better myself. I find found the key points to be exerting yourself to muscle failure and to shock ur muslces by changing your exercises, reps, and order of exercises.
 
Sorry... I never seem to give enough info.

I am lifting free weights. I have been doing low weights high reps so that I can tone. I don't really want to bulk up... but I seem to build muscle anyway!

I have set myself up 2 different workouts. I alternate them every 2 weeks. I can feel a change but I am looking to see some good cut here and it doesn't seem to be happening. I keep track of what I lift so that I can try to increase for the next workout. Is there anything different that I can do that I am not doing? Or perhaps I just need to be patient and keep plugging away.....

Thank you!

FG
 
well, here's a question: do you have the muscle size that you want and just not the definition? if so, then you may want to go into a maintenance workout ... you will still need to stimulate your muscles by changing exercises, but you will only need to work out about twice a week ... spend the extra time doing more cardio. Have you had your BF% measured?
 
you say you do cardio at least an hour a day? is that 7 days a week? try taking one or two days a week off, as rest is just as important as exercise. also you don't mention what kind of diet you have and nobody asked, that I saw. but the truth is your diet will directly affect your results. too many carbs and or fats and it will be difficult to cut up like you want. DON'T go on a low carb diet as you'll have no energy to work out amonst a slew of other reasons. it's hard to give advice with such little info about you to go on but diet and rest are things you may not have given much thought to that you should reconsider.

vegwedge
 
Yeah, I usually do an hour of cardio per day, or more. I don't like to take a night off because I feel lazy! You are likely right... I should take at least one day of rest. I will try it.

Diet- I THINK I have a good diet. I usually have oatmeal for breakfast, fruit and yogurt for a morning snack, salad (spinach, avocado, tomatos) for lunch, fruit and a granola bar for afternoon snack and maybe chicken fajitas for dinner. I don't eat a lot of protein... I don't eat red meat at all and I don't eat much of any other colour either. I don't believe in no/low carbs as your body needs them. But I think you have to choose your carbs wisely! Sometimes after an intense workout I will eat a protein bar... but that often replaces a meal.

They have one of those machines at the gym for measuring body fat%.. I don't know how accurate they are. Anyway, I think I am around 24% now. I know that can go lower.

I open to any advice you have to offer. I'm glad you aren't into radical diets...like carb free etc. I took some nutrition in school and know that your body needs a balanced diet!!

Thank you!

FG
 
Unlike you I didn't take any nutrition in school, but I like to think I picked up a bit from my friend who majored in health/fitness/nutrition all that jazz.

How many calories do you eat per day? approximately.
How many grams of protein do you eat per day?
How much water do you drink per day?

these along with others are all (hopefully obviously) very important factors with regards to your results.

If what you said is all that you eat, and you exercise the ammount you say I'm surprised your not skinny as a rail. But then you didn't mention your weight so I guess you may be skinny, but as you said not toned . Whatever your situation it doesn't sound like you eat enough, especially protein.

You need ample protein to maximize your lean body mass. The more muscle you have the more calories you'll burn off time and the leaner, more toned, you'll be.

...
 
I wanted to say a bit more but I'm not allowed to post long messages. If you still want to hear more and answer my questions I'll have more to say. Also how much do you weigh? I forgot to ask that.

David
 
sounds like you have a pretty good diet. I actually believe all the Atkins stuff ... to a point. I agree that we don't need as much carbs in our diet as most people have, because carbs are for energy and most people don't use all that they eat ... therefor it gets stored as fat. However, my diet is very similar to yours :) ... add a protein shake in there and some protein with the yogurt and it's almost identical.

As for the exercise ... you really do need a day off. You may feel lazy and that it's really only 1 day off, but your body does need it.
 
I don't know how many calories I eat in a day, nor do I know how much protein I eat in a day. I would have to say that I don't eat enough protein... could that be a reason why I am not getting good results? I was drinking 2L or more per day but my doctor told me to cut back... he said I am the first person he has told that too. He said that I am not very big and shouldn't need that much water!

The diet I described would be an average day.... I do cheat occasionally on the weekends with beer.... a killer for sure! I am 5 ft and 124#. I think my body fat % is around 24... I know that could be lower. That's the other thing that is frustrating... I don't know why it's not!

I am fairly stocky and always have been.. I play soccer too! I am working out like a maniac. Maybe THAT'S that problem. I will try the day of rest thing... but it's going to be hard. On days I don't "workout" I ski, play soccer, ride my bike.... I am always on the go. I have a lot of energy and feel the need to burn it... if I don't, I find it hard to sleep at night.

Thanks so much for your help!!

FG
 
cut back on water? hmm, never heard that before, either. I usually drink at least 2 L before lunch. It's only 10, and i've already drank 1L ... i don't think it can cause any harm, your body just 'releases' any unused water. It may give you some water retention, but i think you get that by simply staying hydrated.
 
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