Weights - Reps? Sets? Huh? Help a dumbo out. (page 2)

misspeaches

Why thank you kind sir....

But what if I got all Lara Croft looking and posted that avatar instead...Woo hoo!!! Woo double Hoo!!!

I'll chime in a bit here. Being fit is a combo of exercise and diet. For girls, less weight and more reps and lots of cardio. For optimal cardio, take 200 and subtract your age. That should be your target heart rate for at least 20 minutes 3 times a week. That will cut you up and burn off the fat. Weights are good for definition.

When possible, use free wieghts as you'll work stabilizer muscles more than with machines. Dumbells are good for this. Also a workout partner helps alot along with a set routine.

As far as eating, eat smaller meals spaced out, rarely after dark, and no beer or fried foods or fast food.

Also don't skip breakfast. I'm sure you'll look even more beautiful in no time at all.

Best wishes!

misspeaches

Thank you G Money!

Yes I am being very careful with my dietary habits as well. Breakfast (they have a free breakfast at the gym - toast, fruit, yoghurt that sorta thing), fruit for morning tea, salad roll for lunch, small amount of nuts for afternoon tea and then a light dinner - protein and salad. I have been doing cardio work too. LIke stepper machines, rowing machines, treadmills, bikes and aerobic classes (the Les Mills ones if that means anything.)

G Money

Excellent. Just check your heart rate. You want to get it pumping or else the returns are diminished. You can do weights daily and do different body parts and cardio 3 times a week like M W F and outdoors sports on weekends. It all depends on your goals. I've slacked and went from a fit 97 kilos to a sloppy 93 kilos but am hittin it hard again.

Black Sheep

When I was going to the gym there was a rather skinny girl there who was always hard out on the cardio gear.

I was in a position to see her results on the scales one day. "Shit" she said. I took a peek. Her fat % was very high. She may have been fit and skinny, but she had very little muscle.

Muscle burns fat while you are sitting on your bum watching the telly, so, whatever you do, spend a reasonable amount of your gym time on weights so that you can build up muscle.

As for how many reps etc. there are many theories on what is best. If you can't affort a personal trainer, spend some time with Google. Find something that suits you. Don't be afraid to experiment and to vary your routines. If you find a couple of routines that sound sensible, but can't decide between them, alternate.

Experiment with diet too. A diet I found worked well for me was high in animal fat and protien/low in refined foods and fats of any kind. I ate extremely little carbs during the day, mostly from fruit and then pigged out on whatever I felt like after my evening workout. My trainer was horrified but my blood tests after months on this diet were excellent. I have come to the conclusion that 'low fat' is just a religiously held dogma and that the quoted support for it takes similar twists and turns to WT quotations. Check the sources of anyone who offers some kind of salvation.

Whatever you choose to do at the gym, enjoy it. Don't overdo it. Rest is good.

Cheers

Chris

pharisee

Peaches, If you are just starting a workout program, I would recommend researching your workouts. There are a lot of good books and magazines on the subject.

Dont go too hard on the weights to start. Keep the weight low, watch your form (dont swing or bounce the weights). I would recommend about 20 reps for each exercise. The last few reps should be difficult. If they are too easy increase the weight. Make sure you warm up and stretch before starting your weight routine, and stretch after your routine. This will help reduce the risk of pulling a muscle and should help in your recovery time.

lowden

Hey Peaches

I've been a fully qualified YMCA General Populations Personal Trainer for a while now and would advise you NOT to listen to sketchy stuff (by the way stillawjexelder...if you're Bicep Curling with 50KG dumbells you must be the size of the HULK!!!!!! Are you sure you're not mistaken???) Anyway Peaches, be careful. The best books on the market are by a publishing company called Human Kinetics, they also have a website. It's all American stuff (you're the world leaders in fitness science) so your local bookstore will no doubt have some of their gear. Another website you may find interesting is the American College of Sports Medicine ACSM, which is the Fitness Instructors 'Mecca'.

If you're a beginner you need to start with LOW weight, a weight you can manage 20-25 repititions with..just ONE set. Do this for the first 6 weeks.

Carry this throughout the whole body using whats known as Compound Multi Joint Exercises i.e Chest Press, Shoulder Press, Lat Pull Down, Seated Row, Squat. These all use more than one joint to accomplish the move and are safer for a beginner.

It's a very deep subject but the Human Kinetics books will help.

Have fun and if you need any help, post me

Peace

Lowden

lowden

Sorry, i wrote thinking you were in the U.S. but you're in Oz. It all still applies though

Lowden

Billygoat

As far as eating, eat smaller meals spaced out, rarely after dark, and no beer or fried foods or fast food.

I've never understood this. Calories are calories, no matter when you eat them. If you eat a candybar a 10 pm, it has the same amount of calories if you eat it at 7 am. If you exercise the calories off, they're exercised off. I just don't understand WHY time of day makes a difference. *shrug*

lowden

Hey Billygoat,

I think the general idea with calorie burning is that as the day gets older we tend to become less active, that's all. Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Lord and Evening meal like a pauper. But that said, you are right about calorie burning, if you burn it off....it's gone. But be careful...4 calories per gram of protein, 4 cals per gram of carbs, but 9 calories per gram of fat and i've just added loads of cream to my Curry....

Peace

Lowden

Weights - Reps? Sets? Huh? Help a dumbo out.

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