CONFUSED

nickywake

New member
Awards
0
Can anyone help me out, I have been working weights for about a year, although had to take a few breaks due to illness. Guys at gym tell me to do it one way, guy in supp. shop tells me to do it another way, someone else says thats no good do it this way.
Ok guys help needed, instead of changing all the time I need one way of working out and stick to it.

I am female but want to build some muscle and strength, I cant stand and rarely do cardio, I love the free weights.
I have given up waiting around the gym for the weights and the bench so have bought my own and workout at home.

My routine at the moment is HIT and takes me about 30 mins with about 1 to 2 mins between exercises(mainly to change the weights).
I work the whole body in one routine, doing one set at the heaviest weight I can handle to exhaustion.

Apparently this way is supposed to build muscle quickly and burn fat at the same time, I have not noticed on the scales which is what I expected but I also havnt noticed much movement on my measurements.

Any chance anyone could give a difinative answer of how, when and what muscles/exercises I should be doing.

I have entered a 12 week challenge with my local supp store, I started about 5 weeks ago and im not doing too well, I win £500 worth of supps if I can show the greatest improvement so any help would be great.

Thanks guys
 
kingk0ng

kingk0ng

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Don't listen to the guys in the gym or the guys at the supplement shop. Chances are both are giving terrible advice.

Find a routine you like that consists of compound movements: squats, barbell rows, pullups, overhead presses, deadlifts and bench presses.

I would recommend as a girl you stick to about 3 x 8 rep range and push/pull/legs.

Workout 1- Legs
1- Squat
2- SLDL
3- Calf Raises
4- Inversions

Workout 2- Push
1- Bench Press
2- Press
3- Dips
4- Abs

Workout 3- Pull
1- Deadlift
2- DB Row
3- Pulldown or Chinup
4- Leg raises
 

nickywake

New member
Awards
0
still not sure

Thanks for that, some more info though if you dont mind.
I love the HIT probably because it dosnt take too long, I do feel however that I havnt quite done enough.

I agree that when you enjoy an exercise or routine it keeps you interested and motivated.

The problem I have is that not using the gym now I am lacking some equipment and only have dumbells, bar and what sort of constitutes a leg extension and leg curl attachment to my bench, which dosnt really hold enough weight to make it count.

I want to build muscle, my arms build up great and I can get good definition when they are toned (past experience), my legs used to be very strong and could leg press double my weight but again this was in the past and I have lost the muscle.

The exercises you gave me seem good but you tell me what results these should give me, how often do I need to do them and also which muscles they are using. Also because of the lack of equipment, what can I substitute some of the exercises with.

I know this is alot to ask but you seem to know what your on about and even after extensive research Im still not sure.

Your a diamond, thanks
 
kingk0ng

kingk0ng

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
I've been a trainer and RN for three years now and no one on earth has responded the same way from the same program. Everyone is different, but the principles of progressive resistance (adding weight each workout) with those multi-jointed exercises are golden.

The most important thing is going to be your diet and your timed workouts. Carbs pre workout so that glucose is the fuel during workouts and not amino acids. Post workout carbs should be high-GI, so that insulin should be released. Protein in the mornings, post workout, and before bed are important, too.

You should really be training no different than men. Here is an article written by my favorite author, Joe DeFranco: http://www.defrancostraining.com/articles/38-articles/51-should-females-train-differently-than-males.html

Even with dumbells you can do all of those exercises, but you still need a barbell for squats, deadlifts, and more effectiveness.

Workout in the mornings. Waking up and exercising at the same time will cause your endocrine system and circadian rhythms to adjust to that specific time and become more efficient at it.

That means that a couple hours before you get up in the morning, your body will know that the exercise is coming soon, and it'll start getting itself prepared. This offers a lot of functional benefits for exercise: It will make it much easier for you to wake up and not feel so fatigued in the morning.

When you get up and exercise at different times every single day, your body will get confused, so it won't ever be "prepared" to wake up. It can also act as an appetite suppressant for the rest of the day.
 

hardknock

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
The first piece here, to go along with some solid advice given in earlier post, what is your current stats/body and where do you want to be in say 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and at 4 months? !ust start with the first 6 weeks...

So, current stats body and goals for 6 weeks?

Also, I would recommend that if you are a novice/starting new then I would suggest reading "starting strength" to give you the proper instruction for form. This especially if you are going to do dead lifts and free squats. Also, stiff leg deads are great if you know what you are doing but can be dangerous if you do not know how properly..

.if you do not find the book I have an ebook of the book and can give it to you.
 

nickywake

New member
Awards
0
Just over a year ago I had a personal trainer in another gym I went to, this cost me £250 for 10 sessions so about 5 weeks. I am quite good when it comes to the form. I am however a novice when it comes to the deadlift. I have tried the deadlift and followed the instruction that I had read, I lifted quite heavy and did loads of reps until basically I got bored. Obviously im not doing it right, a bit of info on this would be a help.
As for stats, well god knows where I am at the moment, I weight and measure every Monday and to be honest im so fed up with the results ive stopped doing it.
6 weeks ago I wanted to see even a little improvement and tone with smaller measurements around hip, waist area. Im not so bothered about the weight its the look and tone of my body that is more important.
I am going to post my stats and before pics on my profile when I have more time, thats how determined I am to improve my physique.
I will try and find the book but to be honest I have read so much literature on this subject and have had so much different advice im bloody dizzy with it.
I will take on the advice from the earlier post but as I explained I am still unsure of which muscles I should be working and how often.
Thanks again I cant believe I used to pay a fortune for this kind of advice.
 
JoHNnyNuTZ

JoHNnyNuTZ

Well-known member
Awards
2
  • RockStar
  • Established
I believe with that posted workout, it could be like 3, 4, or like 6 day routine. I personally like the 4 day split my self. for 3 day it would be like mon. wed. fri. And do it in that order, like push , pull legs, or whatever. or you could do it all in a row in six days(doing each routine twice). But for me thats too much. Ive tried it and by the end of the seconf week im done for. But I personally like the 4 day split. Being mon. tues. Thurs. fri. This means you will be hitting a different body part twice a week. So lets say mon legs, tues push, thurs pull, friday legs. and the following week would be mon push,tues pull, thurs legs, and fri push. and so on. This is what works for me, but like it was stated everyones different.
 
Type O Hero

Type O Hero

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
Use the search function to find older threads that may help you out. There are plenty of threads about this exact topic.
 
killamac27

killamac27

Member
Awards
0
What are you trying to do? Lean out? Bulk up? Just be relatively athletic looking? Whatever you pick its going to depend on the diet your on. You can lift all you want but without the proper diet and rest you wont see a significant change on your scale. Muscle doesn't just magically produce itself. You need the building blocks which come from proper diet. As far as exercises go, if you want to get big as fast as you can. You have to do squats. You can do a lot with db's. Check out www.bodybuilding.com/exercises if you don't know what to do with your db's. Also how often you should work a body part depends on how fast your body recovers. The only person that knows the answer to that will be you. Listen to kingkong if you want to get bigger. Squats, DL, Bench. You can do all three of those with db's.
 

nickywake

New member
Awards
0
I am on the case now, just starting to write up a new routine. I love having muscle and building it (the feeling after a workout is amazing). I have an athletic build when it is built. My diet consists of a good level of protein/carbs taken together to make the effects last longer. I take natural whey in the morning with oats for example and throughout the day have small meals such as nuts with fruit, yogurt with oats or fruit or some chicken or ham and a good balanced meal at night.
When training I have whey with 2xcreatine then whey with 2xcreating and a small carb after training. When not training I take just 2xcreatine a day.
I take a good spoonfull of essential oils blended as a sports supplement oil a day, so basically my diet is pretty good.
Dont get me wrong I dont want to live by training and need a life aswell but I am just finding it amazingly frustrating at the moment.
I have already took some info from the bodybuilding.com website and have found it a good site, I will be going back to it to help me with my new routine.
I am not what you would call a girly girl, I try and lift as heavy as I can, I grunt and groan along with the rest of the guys at the gym and will always try and be the best that I can.
Anyway thanks for the extra info, it is so much appreciated.
 

Similar threads


Top