I just read it is best to weight train before cardio. I use to do a mild weight training(?) plan just after. The plan consisted of compound movements with weights, (squats/lunges with simultaneous arm presses/curls). The program said for toning it is best to work more than one muscle group at a time. There are 5 compound exercises and then in between 3 sets 8-12 reps per exercise, do crunches. I read it online somewhere, don't know if it was for before or after cardio though. I am naturally muscular, except when I am a complete bump on a log which I have been for about a year. I know I didn't describe my plan in full detail, but does the compound exercises sound like a decent weight plan? I liked it because I could feel it in my whole body the next day and only required hand weights - I don't want to bulk just tone and I know that they say you need to weight train to build muscle because diet and cardio can break down muscle. Also, why is it best to do weight training before?
Weight training Q's
- Thread starter camel
- Start date
We do our weights workout before cardio (or on differnt days) because you need as much energy as possible to lift heavy. if you do cardio 1st, you wont have the energy you need to lift.
Yes compounds are best, they work whole muscle groups, rather than just one muscle at a time.
Tonning = loosing fat to show off the muscle you have built. But you need muscle there to show 1st.
have a read round the forums and the sticky links in my sig, most basic questions are answered there.
good luck.
Yes compounds are best, they work whole muscle groups, rather than just one muscle at a time.
Tonning = loosing fat to show off the muscle you have built. But you need muscle there to show 1st.
have a read round the forums and the sticky links in my sig, most basic questions are answered there.
good luck.
Technically compound movements are any exercise that invloves 2 joints: squats (knee and hip), press (shoulder and elbow), etc. A squat and press is just 2 different exercises done together. You can sequence multiple exercises like that (I believe somebody coined the term "Bear" for this sequence: clean, front squat, military press, back squat, press behind the neck).
theleip
2
Smart training is where the muscle saving lies. A good full body compound routine with some HIIT cardio and a caloric deficit but not to extreme. Lifting helps keep the muscle and HIIT is less straining on muscle. Diet should be clean and smart but not to low in calories and in 5-6 meal intervals if possible. Your lifting sessions should be hard and the bulk of your training. Cardio is just an additive to energy output and metabolism boosts.
Has anyone told you you have a really sexy flat belly?
I'll second that comment.
Lift heavy when you're cutting. keep the reps lower and the weight heavy. forces the body to retain lean muscle because you keep lifting heavy things.
the whole concept of 'high reps to tone the muscle and burn fat' is bullsh*t. toning is nothing more than shedding body fat, which reveals the muscle underneath. of course you need some muscle underneath int eh first place, and high reps of low weight doesn't do much at all for building muscle.
Also keep in mind that as a woman, you'll lack the testosterone needed to put on a LOT of muscle in the first place. in other words, don't even worry for a second about becoming a 'gross, muscular bodybuilder woman'. those women work very hard, and use plenty of testosterone injections to achieve those bodies.
I hope Kiria reads this thread - she showed me an article about women and weight training (written by a woman) that debunked some of the myths regarding lifting for women.
theleip
2
Has anyone told you you have a really sexy flat belly?
You know this comes up often, something about talking about HIIT training get people hot and then of course they look at the tummy.
theleip
2
Indeed. I train very hard and eat a proper diet and my body if very femme.
I completely trust your knowledge and will take all of your advice. I know it can be frustrating posting becausing people think their body is a special case and what works for everyone else won't work for them - I don't think that. I am just going to tell you where I am coming from and what my experience has been and why I would have concerns. Although, I am going to start a 5/6day HIIT training tomorrow, and Wednesday for weight training, just to keep a MWF schedule - haven't fully worked it out yet, gonna pop around the site more.
For the first time in my life, I want to be thin, not unrealistically. I have never been fat or even chubby, just thick. I always found it easy to add muscle and reduce fat but hard to merely take off weight. The adding muscle made it hard to shrink my body size because I would be in the teens for body fat -when I went from an intense work out to mild one for about 5 months and no real dieting, my body fat was measured at 19%. I certainly didn't look like a body builder before, and would never want to, but my arms were 12.5" of pretty much all muscle (people would ask me to flex for them) and my waist was 28" (which I know isn't that small but for the size of my arms - getting jackets and shirts to fit!). Girls 30 lbs heavier had smaller arms. I really want don't want arms to stay that big - I know I don't get to change proportions however. I beat men arm wrestling. Now that I haven't been working out, I have turned into a lot of fat even though I am not even 5lbs heavier than before but my measurements are a bit bigger. I still have a decent amount of muscle in my arms and legs. I certainly didn't try to have big arms in the first place, just with sports they grew and grew. I played softball (pitched) and swam, both largely upper body exercises. I just mention my arms because they are the body part most unintentionally out of proportion other than the love handles, I have recently grown. My pitching arm is an 1" bigger than the other - well at least one point it was. I am trying to look at the loss of muscle mass as a good thing in order to be able to slim down more.
My biggest mystery now is what to do about my abs. It is my biggest problem area for fat. I know cardio and reducing over all fat is key along with diet. I read not to overwork them on here and I also read that Chad Waterbury article about over building your midseciton - more crunches builds a bigger muscle and takes away from a feminine look. How often should I work them out? Once a week? I usually do crunches with weights on my chest.
theleip
2
Losing fat is really 80% diet. Its as simple as that. Now I don't know what you diet and caloric intake was like before when you gained all that muscle but I would wager that you were in somewhat of a surplus but active enough to put on more muscle than you did fat. If you really had 12.5 inch arms and it was ALL muscle then it was your diet mixed with all that training. So what you need to do is figure out your caloric intake needs. A simple and close measure of this is using this formula...
Figure out your caloric needs including activity. Unless you are training for hours a day and have a hard labor job it will be around moderate for a normal exercise effort. People overestimate their activity levels alot.
Once you figure that out come up with a good clean diet. Whole foods, complex carbs, lean proteins, good fats. Make your caloric amount be around 500 less then what you would need to maintain your current weight. Strive for a smart nutrient ratio, a good start is 40-40-20. If you need more carbs, more protein, more fat just wait and see what your body needs. Listen to it.
After you get your diet in check focus on a really solid lifting routine and cardio efforts. As far as the Waterbury article I personally have a bone to pick with it one both a personal training standpoint of my own account as well as basic female body structures. However there is truth to it as far as ab training goes. If you want a slender waist, don't train your obliques and don't add weights to your ab sessions. I personally do 1 ab training session a week (which is hanging leg raises) the rest of my ab work I get through solid compound exercises. My chin ups make my abs more worked then anything else. I do core work as well for inner strengthening like planks and tuck ins, but that isn't for strength and muscle as it is for stability and structure.
Read around and put together a solid program. You certainly seem like you have the drive to achieve your goals, which trust me is really the full battle here. With the right information, training, and DIET
you can be thin and not thick. Good Luck.there are many peopel that can get a washboard stomach with NO cardio. just weight training and a great diet program that they stick to religiously.
cardio can be helpful for most when it comes to shedding fat...but don't ditch the weight training. weight training retains muscle. if you only did cardio, your body would burn fat AND lean muscle mass since it sees no reason to keep that heavier lean muscle when all you do is run/cycle/do aerobics.
cardio can be helpful for most when it comes to shedding fat...but don't ditch the weight training. weight training retains muscle. if you only did cardio, your body would burn fat AND lean muscle mass since it sees no reason to keep that heavier lean muscle when all you do is run/cycle/do aerobics.
Thanks for the responses. I had the complete wrong idea about exercise and was going to cardio and crunch my way to fitness. Not any more. After making my last post I realized my problem was I didn't restrict my diet and I believe theleip kind of got that. I wasn't going to follow the Waterbury article, I just found it interesting because it makes sense the more ab work you do, the bigger ab muscles get and that isn't what (most) women want. Thanks again!