Weights are for (almost) everyone

[dangerousfish]

Anyone sick of me and weights yet? Well, here's a big post on weight lifting and then I promise to shut up about it (unless you ask ^^). It's just my experience that many of the overfat and especially women of all sizes fear the weights because they'll "bulk".

Don't want to listen to me talk (*sob*)? Here are some sites that can help you.

An About guide to free weights
About lady tells women to lift!
Exercise RX is a great resource for finding new exercises, list of weight training myths, weight loss tips, etc (favorite)
stumptuous is a site deticated to women and weights but is good for anyone wanting to learn. (favorite)
About Guy and myths about female lifting.
Another, hey! lifting is good article.

Remember that I am just some chick on the internet who lifts and I don't know you. Talking to your doctor and trainers is best. This is just a guide and will hopefully make you want to lift, rawr!

Especially if you're a form of adultlet, I know even less about you. I don't know how the information would change, just that it would.  

[dangerousfish]

DEFINITIONS:

Repetition: Abbreviated "rep" and means how many times you can lift and lower your weight. One rep is both the lifting and lowering - those aren't counted as two reps.

Set: A set is how many reps you do per exercise before resting and doing another set or just moving onto an opposing muscle group.

Temporary Muscle Fatigue:
The goal of lifting is to reach a point when you can't do another rep, using proper form, with the amount of weight you're using (nooo, says your muscle). Then you rest for 30-seconds to a minute and can work the muscle again. Most people will do their number of reps for three sets but I've read fitness people say that 2 may do you just as much good (I still throw in the third one most of the time as it doesn't hurt, 2 is just a time saver for the busy).

Resting Metabolic Rate: How much you burn just sitting on your butt

Basal Metabolic Rate: How much you burn each day just to stay alive.

Tone, Sculpt, Build (oh, my!): "Toning" is one of the most evil words in the fitness world as it tricks women into thinking they should only lift light weights at high reps. Everything you do with weights to your muscle is build more muscle - that's the goal. Lifting more challenging weights is how you're going to see the most gains and quickest results. You won't suddenly wake up with giant muscles.

A note of the myth that the muscle you build will turn into fat if you need maintain it - you can't turn apples into oranges. Less muscle mass means you're "fatter" than you were (even if you don't gain "weight") and that usually means you're clothes will fit worse and other fat side effects. But the muscle didn't turn into fat, your fat just became more dominant.  

[dangerousfish]

STARTING A LIFTING ROUTINE:

Lifting is the same as cardio and diet changes, first you start slow and when you've built yourself up to a higher level start going harder. When I tell people to "go hard" I don't mean run out and try and lift a giant weight you could hurt yourself with, what is "heavy" is different for each of us so a better phrase would be "choose a weight that is challenging for you.". Each muscle group won't use the same weight either. I do 8-10 reps with a 15 pound weight for a bicep curl but 5 pounds for a tricep extension. If you can start out with 2 pounds, 5, 10, or no weight - that's all good. Even with no weight you can learn the movements and proper form - doing the motions with no weight will still help your muscles because it asks them to do something that is challenging to you personally.

I started doing 10-15 (usually 12, that's what I see rec'd for beginners) reps before getting more confident (not to mention learning more about lifting) and lifting more at lower reps. If you can lift the same weight until the cows come home your weight is too light.

Starting slow and working up will make you less likely to get hurt or discouraged and quit and will allow your muscles to get used to starting to work

Start Slow!, (then) Go Hard!  

[dangerousfish]

FINDING WEIGHTS TO LIFT:

free weights are pretty cheap - less than a dollar per pound. You can find them in your local Super Store (meijer, target, walmart, etc) and in Sporting Good stores. Learn some exercises, go to the store and lift different weights until you find the right ones for you. You'll probably end up with three sets of different sized weights. I started out with 3, 5, 7. My roommate started out with 2, 5, and 7.

If you're starting out very light you can lift soup cans, water bottles, and the like for pretty much free. You can save gallon jugs and fill them with varying levels of water and lift those.

If you're in a gym and have access to machines sometimes they can be kinda wtf? to I do with these. A trainer person should be happy to help you get set up (and with free weights). Paying for a "getting started" lesson would probably be worth it (if the trainer tells you women will "bulk" that's your clue to gtfo.)  

[dangerousfish]

PROPER FORM:
Proper form is so important while lifting because otherwise you can really hurt yourself. The links above have good resources but talking to a professional would be best.

Ever see those guys in the gym straining and arching their back? They're lifting too much weight (or doing too many reps). Stand with your feet about hip width apart, knees with the slight bend of good body mechanics. Start your exercise, slowly lifting and lowering your weight (2 counts up, 2 counts down is the general rule). One rep is both the "lift and lower", they don't count as 2 reps. Exhale while lifting and inhale while lowering. You should be able to lift your weight without arching your back, swinging the weight, or falling over. When you can't lift in proper form anymore you've reach temporary muscle fatigue! Take a rest (30 seconds-1 minute(general rule) and start another set and/or move onto an opposing muscle group for your next set. Just thinking about isolating the muscle you're working on and picturing it working can increase what you get out of the exercise.

Machines are different than free weights, they often also trick people into thinking they can lift more than they can. If you're dropping your weight instead of slowly lowering - it's too heavy.

I like free weights better because my stronger side can't compensate for my weaker side. Free weights require my body to use the core more and retain balance. They work the muscle in a more "dynamic" way - more how'd you use your muscles in your everyday life. Machines tend to work only one muscle in a "static" manner, not how you would really use the muscle.

Machines can promote safety and lifting, which is good for beginners. You also don't need a spotter since the machine is set up to not kill you if you drop a weight.  

[dangerousfish]

WHY NOT TO WORK THE SAME MUSCLE EVERY DAY:
A common lifting routine is a full body workout every other day. The reason for the off day is so your muscle can repair itself. When you challenge your muscle you put tiny tears in it, your body repairs those tears and in the process makes them larger and stronger because it knows you need more strength now. They don't know you need them to lift weights rather than making a shelter so you don't die. It's during this recovery that makes you stronger and builds some sexy muscle curves - not when you're lifting and ummm, "breaking" them down, for my mind blanking on a better word.

Some people work different muscle groups every day. These are called "splits" and they annoy me too much. xd I like my full body every other day but whatever works for you.

I also tend to work my arms more than my legs since my knees aren't the greatest and cardio is engaging my legs more than my arms. But man, are squats totally fun when you get good at them. 3nodding

Much like starting slow with your program if you like machines go with machines.  

[dangerousfish]

WHY WEIGHTS HELP YOU WHILE YOU LOSE:

Your muscle is the powerhouse of your body and burns more calories just to keep itself going than your lazy fat that needs less calories to maintain itself. This isn't a omghuge! amount of calories but everything helps. People with more muscle have a higher RMR and BMR so they naturally burn more calories just by living.

Us of the many fat do burn more calories during exertion because A)Our body is willing to let go of fat because it is concerned we may not be able to run away from a lion B)Our body sucks more at knowing how to effectively workout because we don't do it enough the side effect is it starts throwing out calories hoping we don't die. Plateau happen when even though you're doing everything right you just can't seem to lose anymore without ramping it up. That's the point your body says, "Well, we can get away from the lion now but we need some extra fat to survive the cold winter and/or grow a baby (that takes a lot of work).". My personal plateau is 180 pounds, curse you! The next time we meet I will defeat you.

Ever have nightmares about losing weight and having saggy skin? Lifting weights while losing fat will help prevent or reduce that risk. Many people, especially women, think they'll lose their weight and then "tone". The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl lady lost almost 200 pounds and one of her recs is too start weight bearing exercises at the beginning to prevent wing arms.

Remember you can be over"weight" more but if the extra weight is muscle, not fat that's totally not the same as being "overfat". Here is a guide to body fat for adults. Sorry, kids, tweens, and teens. I couldn't find one for the growing probably because the range would be so much larger and the fact you're supposed to have baby fat until some point in puberty.

I'm more looking to get my body fat around 20% and not so concerned about my weight (although obviously weight does mean something).

Replicas of fat and muscle both 5 pounds but the more dense muscle takes up less space than the fat.

HOW TO MEASURE BODY FAT:
The most accurate way is by full body water submersion and measuring the displacement. I think they do something with air these days, too.

I bought a scale that can measure body fat (a tanita) and while this isn't as accurate I can do it in my home and it will still tell me gains/losses.

If you have someone around you that is good with calipers (pinch, inch tes) you can measure fat that way. The results will vary by who does the readings and if they are good, bad, or mediocre at using the calipers.

Of course the good old tailor tape measure is a good test too. The roommates and I get together and measure ourselves every 6 weeks.  

[dangerousfish]

EATING FOR MUSCLE:
This is when I put another note that I don't know you or your nutritional needs. Moreover, if you are an unadult I don't know what you need even less.

Muscle needs to eat protein to maintain, fix, and build itself. Most lifters eat/drink some protein after a lifting workout to give their muscles the fuel they need. Lifters tend to eat a larger amount of lean protein than people who don't lift. How much protein you need is individual. For someone who lifts and exercises a kinda sorta formula is 1/2-1 gram protein per pound of body weight. I try and get over 100 grams everyday. There's also the 40-40-20 method (40% carbs, 40&#xpr;otein, 20úts make up your daily calories) which is more for non-lifters though, I think (but don't know).

Lean proteins are found in many foods:
cottage cheese (low fat Michigan brand is my favorite)
lean meats
legumes (beans, lentils)
tofu and other soy (which is a legume^^; )
protein supplements

Most lifters eat small frequent meals to give their muscles a more constant level of food. I really try and always eat a complex carb and a lean protein together.

If you go supplement route (I make my own shakes from powders) make sure they aren't full of sugar or fat. Some shakes are designed for lifters on a gaining phase and are more full of calories than a fat loser would want. Also, putting a crap load of sugar in your product just isn't healthy and is a cheap trick a lot of "weight gain" products use.


My Protein Shake:
2 scoops designer whey protein powder
1 scoop unflavored genisoy soy protein powder

Both added to a shaker crammed full of ice and then mixed/shaken with water.  

[dangerousfish]

WHY I LOVE LIFTING WEIGHTS:
When I started lifting, especially after I started going more seriously (less reps, more weight) the changes in my body were so much more noticeable and more quickly visable to the eye than the scale. My beautiful curving arm muscles: My traps (neck muscles) meeting my deltoids (shoulders) meeting biceps (upper arm). And oh god, my triceps (back of the arm) learning how to hold up their own weight. It's so motivating and makes me happy.  

[dangerousfish]

bumped for penguin.  

[Statistical Anomaly]

Huzzah, a fellow female lifter! We seem to be few and far between.

I've been lifting seriously for about 2 years now, and I've loved every minute of it. I started for health purposes, but I'll admit, the aesthetic value of lifting weights is a definite bonus. That, and there's nothing quite as satisfying as the feeling of a completely exhausted muscle.  

[dangerousfish]

Statistical Anomaly

Huzzah, a fellow female lifter! We seem to be few and far between.

I've been lifting seriously for about 2 years now, and I've loved every minute of it. I started for health purposes, but I'll admit, the aesthetic value of lifting weights is a definite bonus. That, and there's nothing quite as satisfying as the feeling of a completely exhausted muscle.

Totally. I'm on a bit of a crusade to help women know that it is okay to lift, you can't put on the bulk like a higher testosteroned man without some serious work (maybe some drugs) but you can build some seriously sexy muscles.

If you have LJ there is a femalelifters community with many different kinds of users, serious lifters for strength or even bulk, people wanting to lose fat and get help by lifting, men that like women who lift (haha, sometimes they peek out but they mostly stay out of the way).

I love lifting, it is so much more satisfying that cardio, to me. Doing the slow up down count and watching the muscle contract and flex is a really great feeling for me. Plus, when I drop fat the most satisfying thing about that is seeing the muscles underneath so more muscles are a great thing to have. : D

Glad to meet you! whee