I just started lifting weights last week :bb: and have been overwhelmed with how many sets, how heavy, and how many reps. I hear so many things but am not sure if the sets and reps that men do also can apply to women's bodies. I supose that it depends on what goals you want to achieve.

For instance what difference will it make if i do 3 sets of 12 vs
the "fit for life" way of 12x, 10x, 8x and 6x. both add up to 36 times. does one bulk you up or tone you better than the other?

My goal is to tone my body,especially my arms and legs. what i dont want is for them to get bulkier.

Hallo :)

First off tone doesnt really exist as such. It just means you want to lower your body fat to bring out definition. Dont go thinking that low weights but high reps will tone you...maybe burn a few calories but not as good as a low rep but heavy weights can do for you.
Weights wont make you bulky. They provide shape to your body that CV cant provide and increased muscle mass helps to burn fat even when you are resting or sleeping. The only way you will look bulky is if you eat more than you need... muscle builds slowly so you could always come off it if your not happy (but im sure that wont happen :D), physical changes wont occur the next day so dont worry about it.

IMO women can train the same way as men, and get similar results (maybe slower however when it comes to building muscle) although losing fat will come off from different areas on women than on men.

Personally i go for the 3 sets one. Less time.

I agree w/ reanimated. The goal of lifting weights is to build muscle. If you simply want to burn calories, lifting light weight many times may burn calories, but won't build muscle effectively. Cardio is a better choice for that goal. However, to look more "toned" you need to lower body fat, and building muscle helps toward that goal. As such, as outlined by MAX-OT, muscle only grows when it is overloaded. Take the following as an example.

Susie can bench press 100lbs 8 times for 10 sets.
Susie can bench press 135lbs 5 times for 2 sets.

I would recommend the higher weight, lower reps, this is more overload. Volume != overload.

8 reps * 10 sets * 100 lbs = 8,000 volume.
5 reps * 2 sets * 135 lbs = 1,350 volume.

The second example is less volume, but more overload, and in shorter time!

I suggest you read the MAX-OT document, it will help shed light on these concepts, I read it, I believe it, others here have reported good results, so I just started it after my 1 week break from my previous program. Yesterday, I did my first MAX-OT style workout, and my legs are KILLING me today! Not only that, but I went much heavier than I did before, this is a combination of:

1. I got new weights (olympic). Dunno if this is really a factor, but I spent the money, so let me think so anyway :-).
2. I had a week long break, and my body has recovered from my previous program.
3. I warmed up MAX-OT style.

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/misc/MAX-OT.pdf

Hi Bonnie--

Are you trying to lose fat as well as "tone up"? If your goal is just to get tighter all around and less squishy, and you're already at a good weight and body fat percentage for your height, almost any kind of weight training will help you out if you've never trained before and make healthy food choices. If you have some extra body fat hanging around, it will take a combination of a caloric deficit, cardio AND weight training to get you to your goal.

I do think that programs like Max-OT when combined with a maintenance level or bulking diet will tend to cause greater muscle size increase than pyramid sets like the ones you mentioned (also used in Body for Life). I did BFL weight training and nutrition very successfully for about 5 months to trim down the fat and preserve/firm my muscles, but I'm only seeing actual muscle size gains now that I'm consuming around 2000 calories a day and lifting Max-OT (heavy weights/low rep) style.

Honestly, as women, we have a VERY hard time getting anywhere near bulky. It's just not in the genetic cards for the majority of us to develop big, beefy physiques like the testosterone-producing half of the population. :p

For your goals, well...you might want to go with the BFL training sets.
http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/downloads/exercise_guide.pdf

Here are some of the Before/After pics of men and women who have finished the program. http://bodyforlife.com/success/beforeAfterAfters.asp

Notice that NONE of those chicas have big, muscular arms, but all of them look quite "toned" because the core BFL regimen is essentially a fat-loss, restricted-calorie cutting diet that caused them to shed the excess fat covering their existing muscles while the weight training served to prevent those muscles from catabolizing and atrophying. You will feel your muscles firm up using this plan, but only a small part of that is probably actual muscle growth. I tend to think that the firming of your muscles when at a caloric deficit is due more to the fat cells laced through your muscle fibers deflating as you lose weight, LOL.

Trust me, if you want to bulk up as a woman, you will have to work HARD at it.

Maggie, who is still working on getting Angela Bassett arms

Thanks for all the advice,

Ideally I would like to lose and keep off 5 lbs, which makes a difference becasue i am 5'3" and fluctuate between weighing 125-130lbs. I supose this will change since muscle is heavier than fat. I just want to lose inches off my waist and get rid of my love handles! I think this is the hardest thing for me as well as many other women. It is the first place that "grows" when i put on weight.

I think I am going to try doing 3 sets of 12 and see how it goes. Several months ago i was sucessful in losing and keeping off the 5 lbs through just cardio alone, but then i got sick and the holidays became great excuses to not go to the gym (bad move).

this time around i want to have more defined arms, legs, and butt, as well as a smaller waist so i am lifting as well.
Hi Bonnie--

Are you trying to lose fat as well as "tone up"? If your goal is just to get tighter all around and less squishy, and you're already at a good weight and body fat percentage for your height, almost any kind of weight training will help you out if you've never trained before and make healthy food choices. If you have some extra body fat hanging around, it will take a combination of a caloric deficit, cardio AND weight training to get you to your goal.

I do think that programs like Max-OT when combined with a maintenance level or bulking diet will tend to cause greater muscle size increase than pyramid sets like the ones you mentioned (also used in Body for Life). I did BFL weight training and nutrition very successfully for about 5 months to trim down the fat and preserve/firm my muscles, but I'm only seeing actual muscle size gains now that I'm consuming around 2000 calories a day and lifting Max-OT (heavy weights/low rep) style.

Honestly, as women, we have a VERY hard time getting anywhere near bulky. It's just not in the genetic cards for the majority of us to develop big, beefy physiques like the testosterone-producing half of the population. :p

For your goals, well...you might want to go with the BFL training sets.
http://bodyforlife.com/exercise/downloads/exercise_guide.pdf

Here are some of the Before/After pics of men and women who have finished the program. http://bodyforlife.com/success/beforeAfterAfters.asp

Notice that NONE of those chicas have big, muscular arms, but all of them look quite "toned" because the core BFL regimen is essentially a fat-loss, restricted-calorie cutting diet that caused them to shed the excess fat covering their existing muscles while the weight training served to prevent those muscles from catabolizing and atrophying. You will feel your muscles firm up using this plan, but only a small part of that is probably actual muscle growth. I tend to think that the firming of your muscles when at a caloric deficit is due more to the fat cells laced through your muscle fibers deflating as you lose weight, LOL.

Trust me, if you want to bulk up as a woman, you will have to work HARD at it.

Maggie, who is still working on getting Angela Bassett arms

Hi again,

It sounds like you need to lose a bit more body fat to get rid of the midsection. What is your diet like?

My problem areas are my legs, not my waist, but I can tell you now that it took a serious commitment to clean eating, regular weight training, and (ugh) extra cardio to finally get the fat to leave them.

Maggie


Thanks for all the advice,

Ideally I would like to lose and keep off 5 lbs, which makes a difference becasue i am 5'3" and fluctuate between weighing 125-130lbs. I supose this will change since muscle is heavier than fat. I just want to lose inches off my waist and get rid of my love handles! I think this is the hardest thing for me as well as many other women. It is the first place that "grows" when i put on weight.

I think I am going to try doing 3 sets of 12 and see how it goes. Several months ago i was sucessful in losing and keeping off the 5 lbs through just cardio alone, but then i got sick and the holidays became great excuses to not go to the gym (bad move).

this time around i want to have more defined arms, legs, and butt, as well as a smaller waist so i am lifting as well.

Yep, as everyone here has been saying, losing body fat and lifting as heavy as you can along with some cardio will help you get definition and lose those love handles.

It is VERY unlikely you will get bulky no matter what routine you use! Getting really bulky requires a LOT of effort and often a little 'medicinal' help. :P

Here is my diet
Breakfast- breakfast bars, i like granola w/ yogurt.
Lunch- salads or sandwiches with chips and fruit.
Dinner- it really depends- most of the time Rice with stir-fry (usually
a mixture of chicken or beef with veggies).

what does your diet consist of? I am having trouble finding reciepes that are actually good- that dont consist of canned tuna and cottage cheese :lol: - which seems to make up half of the reciepe forum....

Right now my biggest problem is keeping my energy level up. 5-6 hours after i work out i am super tired and start falling asleep in class. Do you think this is becasue of my diet? I think it could be not having enough protein or too many carbs.

I am not to into the protein shakes or bars- but a place near my gym makes really good smoothies and you can add a protein boost in them- but i cant justify paying $5 for it everyday- is too much for a student like me.

Hi again,

It sounds like you need to lose a bit more body fat to get rid of the midsection. What is your diet like?

My problem areas are my legs, not my waist, but I can tell you now that it took a serious commitment to clean eating, regular weight training, and (ugh) extra cardio to finally get the fat to leave them.

Maggie

I am having trouble finding reciepes that are actually good


Ingredients:

Cottage Cheese
1 x Tuna (canned)

Get a bowl, put in the tuna, spoon in some cottage cheese (as much as you want), get a fork, mush tuna and cottage cheese together and voila.

:D

Here is my diet
Breakfast- breakfast bars, i like granola w/ yogurt.
Lunch- salads or sandwiches with chips and fruit.
Dinner- it really depends- most of the time Rice with stir-fry (usually
a mixture of chicken or beef with veggies).

what does your diet consist of? I am having trouble finding reciepes that are actually good- that dont consist of canned tuna and cottage cheese :lol: - which seems to make up half of the reciepe forum....

Right now my biggest problem is keeping my energy level up. 5-6 hours after i work out i am super tired and start falling asleep in class. Do you think this is becasue of my diet? I think it could be not having enough protein or too many carbs.

I am not to into the protein shakes or bars- but a place near my gym makes really good smoothies and you can add a protein boost in them- but i cant justify paying $5 for it everyday- is too much for a student like me.



Well, one thing that will help you with both the fat loss and preventing that drowsiness in class is breaking up your meals into 5 or 6 smaller meals spaced 2-3 hours apart during the day. I used to get incredibly drowsy 45 minutes after a meal when I was eating three larger meals a day with large gaps between each one, esp. lunch and dinner. Eating small, frequent meals will prevent the ups and downs in your energy level and help your body make the best use of the nutrients from the food without overloading it with too much at once and forcing it to store the excess as, you guessed it, fat.

I also think you aren't getting enough calories to support your workouts if that list above is your regular daily meal plan. It sounds a LOT like what I used to eat in college after I got out of the Army, except I had cereal with milk for breakfast instead of a bar. Not many calories at all when you add them up, and yet I was wearing size 12 jeans and feeling generally flabby at 147 lbs and 5'6".

Check out the sticky guide to nutrition for fat loss in the "Fat Loss" forum for more information about which foods are best for cutting.

A typical cutting diet for me is around 1400-1500 calories a day, with something like the following:

M1: 3 egg white, 1 whole egg veggie omelette and 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal (250 calories)
M2: Thai chicken pasta salad (240 calories)
M3: Homemade strawberry crunch protein bar (240 calories)
M4: 3/4 c. cottage cheese with 3/4 c. strawberries and 1 packet Equal(180 calories)
M5: Low fat kung pao chicken stir fry with broccoli and 1/2 c. brown rice (300 calories)
M6: 3/4 c. cottage cheese with 1/2 c. Kashi GoLean Crunch, 1 packet Equal and 1 t. cocoa (doesn't taste like cottage cheese at all)

I also add in a multivitamin with iron and a calcium supplement daily since it's tough to get in all of the nutrients you need sometimes.

If you need/want more recipes that will work for fat loss and aren't digging the cottage cheese, check out the 1400 calorie/day recipe file in my post on the Recipe forum:
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=10500

The meals are all easy to prep (under 10-15 minutes generally), and the only non-standard ingredients used are whey or soy protein powders.

Maggie

Definitely need to tidy up the diet, to see the results you want ;)

Here are some of my recent menu's that I eaten the last few days. My plan from my nutritional trainer cycles fat and carbs but my protein stays constant at 30g/meal. These are my lower carbs days.

Wednesday
1.Litecakes(6 eggwhites,.5 c oats,1 sc pro pow) low carb yog.
2.Litecakes(same as above) IF do cardio after measurements
3.cottage cheese, 2 tb sun seeds, wht germ, sf syp, celery
4. grilled PTenderloin,broc,red&gr peppers, onions
5. eggwhites with veggies or cottage cheese w/wht germ, sf syp
*may shift meals 2 and 3 so that the carb comes post workout whenever it may be.

Tuesdays Truffles :drool: Dont I wish!! :D
1. Litecakes(6 eggwhites, pro powder, oats, cinn!!) apple, low carb yogurt.. Could do muffins
2. 1 C Cottage cheese, .5 c oats, sf syrup, wht germ
3. chicken breast, spinach, salsa , sun seeds
4. Salmon, stir fried broc, onion, mushrooms
5. Eggwhites with veggies or 1 C CCheese with wht germ and sf syrup

[u]Morsels for Monday
1.Litecakes(6 eggwhites, .5 c oats, 1 sc pro powder)
2. cottage cheese sprinkled with 2 tb sun seeds, sprinkle of wht germ and sf syrup.
3. Tuna fingers(eggwhite, 2tsp wht germ, horseradish mustard,finely chopped onion pan "fried") horseradish mustard for dipping,swt tator, carrots
4.chicken br,gr beans,salad,salsa
5. pro pudding or Cottage cheese with wht germ

Thanks for all the meal ideas, they sound really good.

I met with a trainer recently and he put me on a new workout plan. I got my body fat measured and was surprized to find it was at 28%!! so my goal is to lower that doing core exercises.

I am now off the fit for life plan and doing arms, legs, shoulders, butt, and abs and cardio all in one day 3x a week. Lots of the exercises are centered around strenthening the core and require a swiss ball. I am lifting weights only for my arms and shoulders.

I just did my first workout yesterday and feel great today. many of the exercises are also simular to pilates. Has anyone had any sucess with pilates? I bought the video (winsor) when it came out, used it for several weeks, then it got boring.... love the way it made me feel though.