now help ME get in shape :D

[magic_dewdrops]

Er yes. I'm kind of what you would call "incredibly weak". I'm female if the screen name did not communicate that, and I am interested in getting much stronger but not bulking up. I also do not want a fully defined six pack. Maybe a slight one. It sounds silly to even say that, but my boyfriend says that my slim figure could easily get a six pack if I so desired. I have little endurance. I'm basically a fat person in a thin body. It's very strange. My wind gives out easily, I get cramps sometimes, and I'm weak. Actually a lot of fat people are strong...ANYWAY! My goal is to be toned but possess much strength. I still wish to retain my feminine figure (extremely important), but I do want BRUTE strength. What I want to work on most are my biceps, triceps, arse and calves (but only to make them shapely! Not bulk up..they already are kind of bulky). Anyway..so now you know. I'm slim, weak, and tire easily. Make me over!! :D Pleasse.. Oh yes..I have a horrible diet..it consists of sugar..and..more sugar. I do not like the idea of taking high protein diet though because I have heard that it is bad for you in the long run. Thanks to the deliverer of any advice that comes my way.

[Toby]

Welcome to the forum.

If it's strength that you're after, then heavy load, low repetition exercises are the go. I have a preference for weights, but you don't have to use them. Example? I do squats and deadlifts for leg strength, but you could try one-legged pistols.

If you really want brute strength, then look into powerlifting and Olympic lifting. If you haven't done much before, then you will build muscle to a degree, but keep the reps low and you'll minimise that. An idea is to buy Pavel Tsatsouline's (horribly expensive) book "Power to the People" and adapt the principles to your chosen exercises.

Other ideas? Maybe yoga or Pilates. I've got little experience with those, although my wife does yoga and used to do Pilates.

Oh yeah, and change your diet. If you start doing strength stuff you'll need protein, although you don't need to go overboard. Get rid of the sugar and get your carbs from vegies.

I'll post more tomorrow - home time now.

[Xebsball]

:D

[Toby]

Here's an idea - try out some of Scrapper's workouts to build up a level of fitness. I've got my wife interested in trying some of them. http://www.trainforstrength.com. From memory, workout #1 will work your biceps (pullups) triceps (pushups), arse and calves (various lunge variations). You'll also get a good cardio workout if you keep the breaks between exercises short. After doing that for a while (like several months) you might want to get into strength exercises using weights. The reason I'm saying this is that a gym membership is expensive and buying your own setup is a big investment when you don't really know what you need. Also, as a beginner you don't want to be training at home so much. You need hands on advice and possibly training partners to help out. If you are interested in weights, say so and we'll help you out with some possible exercises.

[magic_dewdrops]

I'm interested in weights! I'm also interested in how many reps and sets I should be doing for the heavy weights light reps regime.


Total newbie. -bows-

[Toby]

Ooookay, you asked for it! :D

Routines
I and several other forum members use Pavel's PTP routine. As I said earlier, it's a philosophy described in his (expensive, but I'm glad I spent it) book. You can get all the info online, but you'll need to do a bit of searching. A good place to start is the search function here and via Pavel's website @ http://www.dragondoor.com. In short, for each exercise you'll be doing it 5 days a week for 2 weeks. This is a cycle. Start the cycle lightish and do a set of 4-6 reps at a particular weight. Then, 5min or so later do another set at 90% of that weight. Next day, increase the 1st set's weight by 5lb. Continue through the cycle or until you reach failure (can't complete all reps). Lots of variations possible in cycles, variations, etc.

Excellent alternatives would be Westside Powerlifting's programs. They have their own website, but I don't remember the address. Strongest gym in the world.

More info @ http://www.deepsquatter.com or http://www.t-mag.com (amidst the infomercials).


Exercises
You want (and this applies to all exercises) to pick full body exercises over isolation. So, when you say you want to work biceps, I say don't do curls, do pullups which works your arms but also various back muscles. You can do isolation exercises, but usually only to fix a discrepancy. Exercises that are popular here are benchpress, squat or deadlift or both and pullups. The 1st 3 are the power lifts (as used in powerlifting competition). Do these and you'll have good overall functional strength. I (and everyone else) do other stuff too, like I work my forearms and abdominal area on the side, plus I do sprints and bike riding but my main strength workouts consist of the exercises above.

Other excellent ones are Olympic lifts, but you really need coaching to do those.


Time
One reason PTP is popular is workouts are fast. Problem is, you need daily access to heavy weights. That's why I have my own equipment. You would get your gym membership fee's money's worth on PTP, though. Westside's program takes a much longer time. Some people only do 1 or 2 workouts a week and that's enough for them. Up to you.


Equipment
I have my own power rack, most people use a gym. For squatting, you need either a squat rack or a power rack, no questions. Use free weights, too, not machines. Lots of benefits to using free weights. I would pay off my power rack in a few years gym membership, so it depends on whether you'll be doing this for a few years. You can always sell the stuff later, or buy 2ndhand. Whatever you do, if you start going heavy respect the weight. Accident potential is high, no matter how long you're around heavy weights.


Form
Deserves its own section, related to the respect thing above. Form is very important, especially while you're learning. Start off light while you learn the ropes and concentrate on good form. It will be worth it in the long run for your health. Especially concentrate on back position because squats and deadlifts can be dangerous. This is why experienced training partners can help. Having said that, I don't have one and I started both DLing and squatting by myself and I'm not too bad at either. Just be careful and listen to your body. Also, don't get yourself into a bad position e.g. stuck on the bench with no spotter or spotter racks and a heavy barbell on your chest.

More later ...

[Toby]

Hmm, forgot to say that to increase in PTP cycles, you start the new cycle 5lb heavier than you started the last cycle. Provided you didn't go to failure on the last cycle. Also forgot to say that you pick your PTP exercises. Pavel recommends 2, floor press (really benchpress with a limited ROM) and deadlift. This covers most of the body. I do it with benchpress, squat, deadlift and pullups. Squat and DL overlap, as do DL and pullups so I'm pushing it a bit, but it works for me. You can do whatever exercises you like. As I said, there's lots of potential variation in the routine - exercises, cycles, weight increases, etc.

Also forgot to say, kettlebells (also popularised by Pavel) are a craze at the moment. Check out Ford Prefect's recent thread. Also check out the sticky thread at the top of this forum.

[magic_dewdrops]

Hmm I don't know if I should be doing little reps big weight. I was talking to my instructor today about this and he said that lifting big weights and getting muscley arms will make you lose flexibility and it's better to do many many reps with light weight. ??

[magic_dewdrops]

Actually..well..my boyfriend he weight trains and he is incredibly strong with bulging biceps. He is very flexible though. But is one example enough to deem it wrong?

[Toby]

Originally posted by magic_dewdrops
Hmm I don't know if I should be doing little reps big weight. I was talking to my instructor today about this and he said that lifting big weights and getting muscley arms will make you lose flexibility and it's better to do many many reps with light weight. ??
Point 1 - flexibility myth. Ironfist will provide you with stories of huuuge guys with good flexibility. Just make sure to have a good stretch program as well as lifting.

Point 2 - size myth. Strength training won't make you big. It will increase your size over your untrained size, but it won't make you a bodybuilder. Size is gained from total volume i.e. medium weight for lots of reps. Strength is gained from low reps heavy weights.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by magic_dewdrops
Hmm I don't know if I should be doing little reps big weight. I was talking to my instructor today about this and he said that lifting big weights and getting muscley arms will make you lose flexibility and it's better to do many many reps with light weight. ??

Hi, welcome to the forums. Let me explain some of that.

IronFist's first rule of fitness: don't get fitness advice from martial arts instructors :)

Ok, ready? Let's look closer at what you said.

I was talking to my instructor today about this and he said that lifting big weights and getting muscley arms

Big weights does automatically give you big muscles. Gaining muscle size is very hard to do! Look at how many people you see in the gym who are trying to get "huge," but who look the same year after year. It's not easy. It requires 3 things:

1. A weight lifting program geared toward hypertrophy (muscle growth)
2. A diet designed for hypertrophy
3. The right hormones.

Now I'll explain all those.

1. There are many ways to lift weights. In order to gain muscle size, the program has to have the proper amount of weight (not too heavy or too light), the proper amount of intensity (amout of sets, amount of reps, and amount of rest between sets), and the proper volume (total amount of work done). Without those three things in the right amounts, you won't gain muscle size.

2. Most people who are trying to gain size fail, and it's not because of their training. Most people do not eat properly to gain size. In order to gain size, you have to eat a lot of calories, and a lot of protein, and you have to get enough sleep. Even if your training program was perfect, if you don't eat like a bodybuilder you're not going to get big like a bodybuilder.

3. You're a woman. Men have like 20 times as much testosterone as women, and look at how much trouble most men have with gaining muscle. Even if your training and diet were perfect, you would have a VERY hard time putting on significant muscle size because of the fact that you're a woman. Now, I'm not trying to discourage you at all. It's just a lot of women think that if they lift weights they're going to wake up and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger the next day. I absolutely guarantee you that's not going to happen. :)

getting muscley arms will make you lose flexibility
Gaining muscle size doesn't make you inflexible. I've seen pics of pro bodybuilders doing the splits. Now, say it with me: "lifting weights and/or gaining muscle size does not hurt flexibility."


and it's better to do many many reps with light weight. ??

For the most part, doing lots of reps (15 or more) with light weights is really quite worthless. For some reason people think it will help you "tone" or get more lean, but it doesn't. The ONLY way to get more toned is to lower your bodyfat, which weight lifting will not do.

Anyway, what Toby was talking about, doing only 2 sets of 5 reps of weight lifting, will not put on any muscle size at all. In fact, that routine is known for it's ability to greatly increase strength without adding size (for example, a boxer who wants to get stronger but stay in his weight class).

Also, look at the 120lb Olympic lifters who are stronger than a lot of 200lb bodybuilders. They are only 120lbs, don't have much muscle size, but they are VERY strong.

So, the moral of this story?

Lifting weights doesn't necessarily make you big unless you train that way (and eat that way!), it doesn't make you inflexible, and it's a good idea :)

[IronFist]

And the only other thing I wanted to add, is that if you start lifting weights, you might notice the muscles you're working are getting swollen or bigger during your workout. This is referred to as a "pump." Your muscle is not gaining size when you have a pump, it's just that since you're making it work, your body sends in extra blood to the muscle. It will go away a few hours after training. A lot of newbies think that a pump is actual muscle growth, but it's not. Muscle growth and repair occurs when you eat and when you sleep, not when you're in the gym.

Just so you know :)

[freehand]

Regarding size gain: if you get stronger, your muscles will get bigger. But it may be a very small increase, although it will look slighter more if you are simultaneously losing fat. Being female, you are unlikely to gain much in bulk; most of us males have to work like heck for years to gain any significant size (like most, I am training for strength, not size). If you are one of the few females that respond like magic to iron, then that's great! If you don't want to get too big, just cut back on the volume of iron work you do and put your new-found strength to use in your MA workouts.

Typically, most slender females can double their strength in a few years and not gain any total mass - they will gain 4-6 pounds of muscle, and lose a similar amount in fat. They ripple more, and jiggle less:)

When I was in the Navy back in '84, they were just starting to test for bodyfat. There were four of us renting a house offbase. The youngest and skinniest of us was disgusted to find out he was also the fattest. He had been playing softball every weekend, and thought that counted as exercise <snort>. We other three were older, and lifted weights, ran, and I did my kung fu forms. At medium male builds, we ranged from 11% to 13% bodyfat. A comparable female would be 16% to 19%.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by freehand
Regarding size gain: if you get stronger, your muscles will get bigger.

Actually you can lose muscle size and still get stronger.

[SCFalken]

Grab a copy of Stew Smith's(LT, USN) "Max Fitness", or "Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness".

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578260981/qid=1078606205/sr=5-2/ref=cm_lm_asin/102-0283166-9621754?v=glance


He's all about functional strength/endurance, rather than "Mighty Thews". The Navy SEAL Fitness book, which I have used (12 week prog) doesnt use weights at all, just calisthenics and bodyweight exercises (pushups, pullups, crunches,etc) and lotsa running.

Max Fitness is a more standard 365-day program using weights as well as body-weight and calisthenics.

He has an advice column on the Forums at www.getfitnow.com


Good luck.

Mike

[abobo]

Start conservatively. Heavy weights are good and can do wonders for strength and body composition, but as a relatively untrained beginner resistance is resistance and anything you can do consistently is good.

Free weights are good, bodyweight exercises are good, jumping rope is good. As long as you can do it consistently and don't get your routines from some clueless source.

I say don't rush into lifting heavy weights because as I see it the way to get stronger goes something like:

1) Perfect your form
2) Consistently exercise in a way that creates a lot of muscular tension

As a beginner you can get #2 from bodyweight exercises whereas a Mr. Alreadyreallystrong wouldn't use these exercises to the same extent since he can already generate a lot of tension - to the point where it takes something heavier than conventional bodyweight exercises to challenge him.

Plus you are only as strong as the weakest of your muscles, tendons, and form. Starting off conservatively will let you prime all three for the heavy weights you will need later on.

For aerobic conditioning, I am a big fan of jumping rope. Easy to do, hard to master, great for the heart, lungs (arms and calves too). If you want to look fit, it should help.

As for diet, I like the Mediterranean food pyramid.

I can get more specific once you understand everything mentioned so far.