____asdfghjkl

I started lifting with my boyfriend. It's only been a week so we are still trying to figure out what works for me. I think it's pretty fun and I picked up stuff pretty quickly. I'm mostly in the novice level of weightlifting performance standards, not like I'm going to compete or anything. I'm still pretty strong for myself even at the weight I am now. At least I think so, I'm not embarrassed about where I am at. I mostly just want to push myself and see how much weight I can lift. I am still sore but I am not complaining - feels like those good old gymnastics and swim team days. hah. I was sweating more than when I do cardio.

My goal now is 130 squat, 175 deadlift, 85 ohp. idk about bench press maybe 110. I think those numbers are around intermediate for me. I wanna get my press handstand back and I wanna rock climb! We do different things on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It's good that we do different things since I get bored pretty often.

I know I probably won't get as big as those body builders (not that I want to) but I was pretty built when I did gymnastics (a little smaller than Alicia Sacramone's body) and I ate pretty unhealthy when I was younger. hah.

I probably won't stick to a strict meal plan like my boyfriend. I'm less picky about what I eat and I think I have a more developed palette than him (if that makes any sense lol). I eat pretty much what my parents make - we almost never have packaged/processed foods or anything in the house when we are making meals. The only foods we make are either vietnamese or chinese food. We have a lot of candy, chips, soda, sunny d, nutella though. It's not difficult for me to stay away from them.

I have a hard time forcing myself to eat after I work out or eating meat (I'm not a vegetarian). My boyfriend tells me that as soon as I get done working out I should eat. I never feel hungry after working out so I just sit around for 5 hours before eating. :/ I'm not allow to drink alcohol on days that I worked out but that is okay because I rarely drink anyway.

How can I achieve results faster? I know things take time. What should I be eating? Are protein drinks really necessary? I'm not interested in them. How exactly does "cutting" work? How can I cut body fat? My body fat percentage is not where I want it to be. Is it also bad to stretch when you weightlift because flexibility compromises strength?

I wanna look intimidating.

late

Find a beginner's program and stick to it.

There are several mistakes people make. The first is to not
schedule breaks. You need some time off every few weeks to
let the tendons and ligaments catch up.

Too much too soon. You can cure this and the previous problem with a periodised program.

You want to avoid trendy stuff like the plague. Cutting, extreme workouts, and many of the unusual
exercises.

The last is to sweat the details. Do every lift properly, and it is quite likely you are doing
some of them wrong. Most gym rats (like me) wind up with crap shoulders (or worse) because of that.

My favorite exercise these days is the straight leg deadlift. I use dumbells and start from the top,
rather than the bottom. Perfect technique is crucial. A lot of beginners have trouble with squats and deadlifts and skip them.
They are the 2 best exercises.

A classic that is good for size in the chest is to find a big pole ( or something easy to grab hard)
and with your hands around head height, simply pull down. Once a week is enough.

____asdfghjkl

Yep, I think after this week I'll have figured out what my routine is going to be like. I don't think I'm ADD about this stuff but I'll change something if it doesn't work or it hurts....like when I tried dips. I don't think I'm going to do dips again for a while.

Right now, I'm just doing deadlift, back extensions (I think I was doing it with 25lbs), overhead press, bench press, dragon flags, lunges with weight, pull ups, chin ups, arm hangs - i think they call it flex arm hangs? squats ... they call them ass to grass lol. I do front squats because I always feel like I'm tipping forward. I also have plates under my heels so it feels more even. I think I'm doing everything right...my boyfriend has been doing this for almost a year. Is that long enough to be experienced? Maybe I'll make videos and check my form.

Do you think working out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday is too much? I "rest" on Wed, Sat, Sun...I might swim few laps at the pool.

I don't think I'm going to fall into the plague. Hope my ego doesn't blow up. haha.

papedaler

Doing your workout M, T, T, and F isn't too much, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T WORK THE SAME MUSCLE TWO DAYS IN A ROW. When you work a muscle you cause small tears in the fibers and you should give it 48 hours to rebuild. You could do deadlifts on Mon, and Thurs, and maybe bench presses on Tues and Fri, and that would work.
One problem is that you mention that you don't like to eat after you work out, but that is the time you should be eating. In order for the muscles to rebuild they need nourishment, the sooner after you're finished the better. If you don't like to eat a good idea is a simple protein shake. It's easily digested and the body absorbs it quickly.

Carbonfiberboy 

If you want to climb, keep the body weight/protein gain down. Look at rock climbers on Youtube. They have well developed backs, but relatively skinny arms in spite of being able to do 1-armed chins. Relatively skinny legs, too. You can find climbing-specific exercises on the web. Google. Most focus on pulling work, rather than pushing, and on flexibility. I've ridden with a few climbers. They're good and quite skinny. Females who tend toward a thin body type frequently out-climb their bulkier male counterparts, partly I think because females tend to be more flexible in their hips.

You don't feel like eating after working out because your blood sugar is low. Very common. With far-gone diabetics, one has to sit on their chests while rubbing jam on the inside of their mouths. Have some sports drink or other carb to start with. Hunger will probably appear. It is important to eat after a workout and not eat within a couple of hours before. Bring a sports drink and sip it between sets.

electrik

I'm intimidated already...

Protein drinks aren't necessary but, you should be upping your protein intake. Do you eat eggs? Milk?

____asdfghjkl

We work different muscles everyday.

This is what we have been doing.

Monday: Bench press, bench dips for triceps, pull ups, push ups, chin ups, flex arm hangs.
Tuesday: deadlift. Is it normal to feel lightheaded when you do deadlift? Woahhh. Then we do leg curls and step ups.
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: OHP, bench dips, arm hangs, pull ups, chin ups
Fridays: squats, dragonflags, back extensions, lunges, prone bridge

Okay, we'll stick to this and see what happens. How does this schedule look? We swim after every work out too. I don't feel or look any different. I'm not expecting to yet. Haha. I feel mostly sleepy after.

I have been getting better at eating after working out. I started filling a bottle with orange juice, diluting it with water and a pinch of salt. I don't like sports drinks that much and can't stand the sweetness in juice anyway. My mother used to do that when I was doing gymnastics for 6 hours a day. I rarely drink milk and I think I'm lactose intolerant now but the weird thing is if I drink organic milk I don't get any symptoms.

I feel like I'm getting weaker as the weeks go by. Why? Is it because I increased the weight on the exercises? Not eating enough protein? or not eating enough? I don't know. I don't even sweat after a workout I don't know why I feel so disappointed when I don't sweat from working out. ah oh well.
My boyfriend says because I am so flexible that is why I am weak. Is that true? I am pretty flexible. I can stand on a chair 10 inches above the ground and touch the floor. He also said no stretching so I'm pretty much dying. haha

DataJunkie

Flexibility has nothing to do with it. I would increase my food intake and play around with the carb \ fat \ protein percentages. I try to hit 50\20\30 but everyone is different. Strength training is different than cardio in that I rarely sweat too much as well.
If you do not give your body enough nutrients to rebuild your muscles you will progressively feel worse.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, way intimidated. Dragon flags, eh? You are obviously well beyond beginner.

Your sports drink sounds fine. About 100 cal./hr in the gym is usually about right for me. You say you feel weaker, but you also say you are increasing your weights. It's been 3 weeks. Time for an easy week. Use less weight and fewer reps, about 2/3 of what you've been doing. And take an extra day off. Then see how you feel.

Yes, it's normal for deadlifts to make you lightheaded. Especially if you do a lot of reps. Blood pressure drops off faster than your blood vessels can tighten up to restore it. Also, watch that blood sugar. If you feel faint, put your head between your knees. Usually a sign you should be drinking more carbs. That should get better with the weeks as your system gets used to it.

____asdfghjkl

Yeah, I'm figuring out what foods to eat but I'm not picky. I eat calories that are good for me with nutritional value. At least I try.
I have a strong core and lower body. My arms are weak. I had to work my butt off for upper body strength when I did gymnastics.
Thanks for the advice guys

I did the BodPod test thing today. Don't know if posting the results are TMI.
Height: 59in/151 cm
Density: 1.035 kg/l

Percent fat: 28.2%
Percent lean: 71.8%
Fat weight: 37.2lbs
lean weight: 94.6lbs
Total weight: 131.8lbs

dolanp

Cutting is just basically doing plenty of cardio and calorie restriction to burn the fat. Weight lifting is important for maintaining and growing muscles but it's a pretty inefficient exercise for burning fat. Combine both and you'll achieve the hallowed "body recomposition".

____asdfghjkl

bumping this old thread. I deadlifted 145 but I always feel like I'm going to faint.
and today I lifted 155, 5 reps and passed out for sure. it was embarrassing. is there anyway to fix this?
took forever to recover.

electrik

Hmm, have you had problems with fainting before? Maybe stick to 145 for a while and allow more time for adaptation?

____asdfghjkl

Well when I was younger I used to faint because I got my heart rate up too high (i think, sometimes it feels that way if i'm riding my bike and climbing a hill) and running in the heat for track team. But it wasn't even hot in the gym or anything. I guess it's the same thing when you are sitting down and then getting up too fast. the weight wasn't even heavy at all.

jrhii

I have vague ideas, but this definitely sounds like an issue to talk to a doctor with. Also, I hope you are still going to the gym with your boyfriend, or you have someone else around, because fainting while lifting is dangerous. I don't want to sound preachy, but I would debate doing anything that might over exert you until you can get more information about your condition.

Did the fainting hit you quickly, or is it something you could feel coming on for a few seconds beforehand, such as if you have ever fainted when giving blood or any other blood loss.

Lamp-Shade

I second CFBoy. Have you considered using a kettlebell? They are much more consistent with cycling goals, while offering the benefits of weight bearing exercise.

____asdfghjkl

Uhm the fainting took place almost a few minutes after resting the weights. almost 3-5 minutes after. i rested for like 20 secs after each time i lifted. I lifted with someone but they didn't seem to notice the signs. when i looked in the mirror my lips started turning pale. all they said was to get up and do dumb bell presses well i did stand up but sat down again because my vision/hearing got weird and started getting real clammy.:/ i dont think they recognize the signs of fainting. do i have a crappy heart or something?

I get embarrassed when I pass out. I talked to my doctor before but they said it was normal - they said my blood pressure was normal too.
I also used to get lightheaded when I tumbled for gymnastics or sprinted.

valygrl

I would go ahead and see a cardiologist.

jrhii

I would see a cardiologists. If you help avoid it through sitting down, and you feel it coming on, try laying down and elevating your feet. It may be useful information for a doctor to know if that helps. Also, try increasing food and sugar intake before hand (will see if there is any connection to hypoglycemia). You don't have to binge or anything, just make sure you have a complete meal sometime before hand and maybe drink a gatorade or similar while lifting. On a side note, if you eat differently than the average american (healthily) you may have cut off too much sodium. normally we have way too much, but not enough can mess with your blood supply.

Finally, once again, not a doctor. I would recommend clearing it with one. These little tests may help narrow it down before hand if you talk to one and clear things up.

bluefoxicy

I don't have weights. I just lift people. Notably, myself.





Although girls seem to prefer lifting other people.

____asdfghjkl

thread got weird now lol.

jrhii

derailed

electrik

Try to get into a cardiologist and then do the weight routine when they strap a monitor to you... it might be positional(you're clamping an artery with a muscle) also or due to the force exertion... passing out while really exerting yourself is common, but it might be a sign of something to take more seriously(TIA). It might also be a real big drop in BP after you relax... if so try dropping into a ball and leaving your head hanging low in an attempt to keep blood moving to your head.