Gym program for strong and lean physique

[Anonymous]

Could you go back to dancing? I take 2 ballet classes a week and 2 barbell classes a week. I am maintaining flexibility and strength. I also did barre classes during the summer (when my kids are home so want to keep workouts short and effective).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could you go back to dancing? I take 2 ballet classes a week and 2 barbell classes a week. I am maintaining flexibility and strength. I also did barre classes during the summer (when my kids are home so want to keep workouts short and effective).

I’d love to go back to dancing but it won’t be fun until I regain some semblance of my old self. That’s my goal though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I just put your stats into a BMR calculator and you are burning between 1900-2000 cals a day with your current activity levels. You are undereating by quite a bit! I would up your calories to your maintenance of 2000 for a couple weeks and see how you feel. Just adding an avocado and a can of lentil soup would get you there, maybe as a post workout meal. Your energy levels should skyrocket.

I honestly would do 10 minutes of light walking and some stretching to warm up the muscles before weights. You never want to deplete yourself before strength training, the goal should be just to increase blood flow to the muscles. I would do longer, more targeted cardio sessions on the off days.

As you age, bone, joint, and core strengthening are really what you're trying to obtain from weights, and machines isolate the muscles too much to truly get you there. YouTube videos and a mirror are all you need to learn proper form. If you start light you will not injure yourself! I would go a bit lighter with weights than whatever you're pushing on the machines so your core and stabilizers have a chance to strengthen and catch up. You can also start with resistance bands if you're squeamish. Just look up the exercises with the word 'banded' in front to see them modified.

I started as a 126 lb weakling who could only handle 3lb dumbbells, and now I can bicep curl 40 lbs with ease. Have the weights light enough for you to do 3 sets of 8 reps per exercise, no more than 2-3 exercises per session. The weights should always feel easy and comfortable to move. No straining or struggling should ever be involved. When you can breezily do 10 reps at that weight, then add 5 lbs to the bar, or however much you can tolerate while being able to again do 8 reps easily and comfortably. Repeat until you reach your goals.

NP. Whoa that's amazing! How long did it take you to go to 40 lb bicep curls??
I have been doing a free weights routine for about 18 months but I'm still on 12 lb bicep curls and find them challenging. I am doing 4-5 times a week at least 30 min each session. I just haven't seen that progression where I feel like I can easily add another 5 lb.

You are probably training too frequently to give the muscles time to heal, grow, and recover. If your muscles are stressed and tired you cannot gain strength. If you try switching to doing arms only once or twice a week, and only doing a maximum of 3 sets per session, you will start to see strength gains. I also encourage you to examine your diet to see if you're getting enough protein and adequate calories. 1 gram per kg of body weight is needed to repair muscles. Lean tissue consumes a surprising amount of calories, so it is very likely you could be undereating for your activity level.

If you google a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator and input your height, weight, and activity level, it will give you a number of calories to consume that may seem surprisingly high, but with strength training will only cause you to feel energized and grow your lean tissue without adding fat. I think the hardest hurdle for women getting into this is giving yourself permission to eat. Unless you eat over your BMR, you're not going to gain fat, even if the calculator says you can consume 2400 calories a day.

Another NP who has been doing weight training for years and I have never gotten anywhere close to 40 pound bicep curls. For a brief period I got to 20.

[Anonymous]

Loving TRX

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I just put your stats into a BMR calculator and you are burning between 1900-2000 cals a day with your current activity levels. You are undereating by quite a bit! I would up your calories to your maintenance of 2000 for a couple weeks and see how you feel. Just adding an avocado and a can of lentil soup would get you there, maybe as a post workout meal. Your energy levels should skyrocket.

I honestly would do 10 minutes of light walking and some stretching to warm up the muscles before weights. You never want to deplete yourself before strength training, the goal should be just to increase blood flow to the muscles. I would do longer, more targeted cardio sessions on the off days.

As you age, bone, joint, and core strengthening are really what you're trying to obtain from weights, and machines isolate the muscles too much to truly get you there. YouTube videos and a mirror are all you need to learn proper form. If you start light you will not injure yourself! I would go a bit lighter with weights than whatever you're pushing on the machines so your core and stabilizers have a chance to strengthen and catch up. You can also start with resistance bands if you're squeamish. Just look up the exercises with the word 'banded' in front to see them modified.

I started as a 126 lb weakling who could only handle 3lb dumbbells, and now I can bicep curl 40 lbs with ease. Have the weights light enough for you to do 3 sets of 8 reps per exercise, no more than 2-3 exercises per session. The weights should always feel easy and comfortable to move. No straining or struggling should ever be involved. When you can breezily do 10 reps at that weight, then add 5 lbs to the bar, or however much you can tolerate while being able to again do 8 reps easily and comfortably. Repeat until you reach your goals.

NP. Whoa that's amazing! How long did it take you to go to 40 lb bicep curls??
I have been doing a free weights routine for about 18 months but I'm still on 12 lb bicep curls and find them challenging. I am doing 4-5 times a week at least 30 min each session. I just haven't seen that progression where I feel like I can easily add another 5 lb.

You are probably training too frequently to give the muscles time to heal, grow, and recover. If your muscles are stressed and tired you cannot gain strength. If you try switching to doing arms only once or twice a week, and only doing a maximum of 3 sets per session, you will start to see strength gains. I also encourage you to examine your diet to see if you're getting enough protein and adequate calories. 1 gram per kg of body weight is needed to repair muscles. Lean tissue consumes a surprising amount of calories, so it is very likely you could be undereating for your activity level.

If you google a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator and input your height, weight, and activity level, it will give you a number of calories to consume that may seem surprisingly high, but with strength training will only cause you to feel energized and grow your lean tissue without adding fat. I think the hardest hurdle for women getting into this is giving yourself permission to eat. Unless you eat over your BMR, you're not going to gain fat, even if the calculator says you can consume 2400 calories a day.

I’m confused by this. Do you mean TDEE not BMR? You need to eat above your BMR.

[Anonymous]

Just do the classics with increasing weight. You WILL absolutely get stronger and bulkier if you keep doing these:

Barbell squat
Deadlift/Romanian deadlift
Bench press
Pulls ups
Dips
Shoulder press
Bent over rows/other row variations

Everything else are accessory exercises

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I just put your stats into a BMR calculator and you are burning between 1900-2000 cals a day with your current activity levels. You are undereating by quite a bit! I would up your calories to your maintenance of 2000 for a couple weeks and see how you feel. Just adding an avocado and a can of lentil soup would get you there, maybe as a post workout meal. Your energy levels should skyrocket.

I honestly would do 10 minutes of light walking and some stretching to warm up the muscles before weights. You never want to deplete yourself before strength training, the goal should be just to increase blood flow to the muscles. I would do longer, more targeted cardio sessions on the off days.

As you age, bone, joint, and core strengthening are really what you're trying to obtain from weights, and machines isolate the muscles too much to truly get you there. YouTube videos and a mirror are all you need to learn proper form. If you start light you will not injure yourself! I would go a bit lighter with weights than whatever you're pushing on the machines so your core and stabilizers have a chance to strengthen and catch up. You can also start with resistance bands if you're squeamish. Just look up the exercises with the word 'banded' in front to see them modified.

I started as a 126 lb weakling who could only handle 3lb dumbbells, and now I can bicep curl 40 lbs with ease. Have the weights light enough for you to do 3 sets of 8 reps per exercise, no more than 2-3 exercises per session. The weights should always feel easy and comfortable to move. No straining or struggling should ever be involved. When you can breezily do 10 reps at that weight, then add 5 lbs to the bar, or however much you can tolerate while being able to again do 8 reps easily and comfortably. Repeat until you reach your goals.

40lbs per arm? I've been lifting heavy for over a decade and can bench close to 200lbs and Deadlift 300 and did not manage to get up to 40lbs for bicep curls. That is pretty damn phenonmenal!