Training/Rep Question

[tripleblonde]

i know this should prob. be on a diff. board, but I thought I might get some quicker replies here....

my ? is how important is the number of reps you are doing? is the more is better rule in place here or just the quality of the lifting?

i've always done way too much cardio and not enough weights....trying to change that, but am unsure about number of reps and if you should continually be building up to do more or just increase your weight?

any help is mucho appreciated, thanks

 

[sweed]

i would say arund the 8- 12 rep range... get form down first. i not an expert in the woman program, but im sure a few higher rep workouts would be effective as well

 

[tripleblonde]

i would say arund the 8- 12 rep range... get form down first. i not an expert in the woman program, but im sure a few higher rep workouts would be effective as well

thanks sweed....i wasn't really sure the number to do, but I've basically just always done 10 of everything, so that sounds like i'm about right

 

[superqt4u2nv]

TripleBlonde what is your goal?

 

[CFZB]

more wieght + less reps = big muscle (but you gotta go hard)
girlies usualy dont want to-to big (right?) so i would think as much as you can do for 4 different exersises per body part, for 8 -12 reps

 

[supersizeme]

another thing to note that i don't think a lot of people who are new to lifting don't realize is that when you're talking about a rep range, it doesn't just mean do 8-12 reps of any weight. you pick a weight that you can just barely squeeze out 12 reps of on your first set, then 2nd you'll get 10, and third around 8. it's not picking up a weight you can probably do 20 reps of and doing sets of 12,10,8. if you're not pushing yourself, you don't progress.

i rarely see women in my gym pushing themselves. it's usually the 10 rep set where they look like they still have about 30 more reps in them when they put down the weight after the 10th rep.

 

[tripleblonde]

TripleBlonde what is your goal?

to be honest i'm not sure girl....it's always been about being thinner till I really started realizing that girls who may weigh more, but have a lower body fat, high lbm looked hella lot better....so that has been my focus to lower my body fat, gain some muscle, and get that lean look that I think is really sexy on a girl...right now i weigh 127 not sure what my body fat is, but i've been lifting a lot more and am already seeing a difference

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Gaining muscle ok get rid of the scale and stop the cardio (at least for a little while.) I found no cardio hard as hell but I took advice from an old pro the lady knows her shit two weeks no cardio heavy lifting. Results are un real. I am doing the 5x5 training for me it works great. I suggest you give it a try.

 

[tripleblonde]

Gaining muscle ok get rid of the scale and stop the cardio (at least for a little while.) I found no cardio hard as hell but I took advice from an old pro the lady knows her shit two weeks no cardio heavy lifting. Results are un real. I am doing the 5x5 training for me it works great. I suggest you give it a try.

that's good advice.....giving up cardio though would be the hardest thing i would have to do....the stairmaster and I have a very close relationship

 

[superqt4u2nv]

that's good advice.....giving up cardio though would be the hardest thing i would have to do....the stairmaster and I have a very close relationship

Do it for a month trust me you will be shocked. Eat really clean oh and NO DRINKING. If you are serious about gaining muscle you will have to give up drinking for a bit. It is well worth it I am telling you.

 

[tripleblonde]

Do it for a month trust me you will be shocked. Eat really clean oh and NO DRINKING. If you are serious about gaining muscle you will have to give up drinking for a bit. It is well worth it I am telling you.

okay, i take that back....giving up cardio would be the second hardest thing...

lol...jk

actually, i hadn't had a drink for 3 weeks, then had some shots on sat. night....it was okay, but nothing special, i wasn't really missing much so i think i'm going back to my no drinking sabbatical, which sounds like i need to for this training routine

 

[bran987]

the long answer for me the best results come from mid-rep range on upper body 6-10 reps.. and higher reps for lower body.. 15-20

the short answer is the quality of the reps and the extent to which you push yourself is MUCH more important.

 

[powerslave]

the short answer is the quality of the reps and the extent to which you push yourself is MUCH more important.

Bam! That for me is what it's all about. Alot of times I do not count reps. I go by feel.

 

[Smurfy]

TB - dont be afraid to push yourself to failure or near failure. if you want results, you have to work for it. if it's easy, then it's not worth it IMO

 

[Sub-Zero]

another thing to note that i don't think a lot of people who are new to lifting don't realize is that when you're talking about a rep range, it doesn't just mean do 8-12 reps of any weight. you pick a weight that you can just barely squeeze out 12 reps of on your first set, then 2nd you'll get 10, and third around 8. it's not picking up a weight you can probably do 20 reps of and doing sets of 12,10,8. if you're not pushing yourself, you don't progress.

i rarely see women in my gym pushing themselves. it's usually the 10 rep set where they look like they still have about 30 more reps in them when they put down the weight after the 10th rep.

oh shit, no wonder im weak!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

TB....

Cardio IS hard to give up, it is a psychologial "fallback" many girls (myself included) feel they can't give up. Cardio isn't what helps you lose weight though - it is diet. Change your diet and you'll change you body.

Another idea is to not give up cardio, but CHANGE how you do it. Try doing 3 days a week of cardio - but make it HIIT (high intensity interval training). Do your normal stairmaster (HIIT can be done on anything). Warm up for 5 minutes. Then do 20 minutes of intervals. Try 1min HARD and 1 min RECOVERY. Repeat for 20 min (total will be 10 hard int, 10 recovery int). Cool down for 5 min. (total 30min) If you pushed yourself AS HARD AS YOU CAN GO for the hard intervals, you will be WIPED.

Then lift heavy 3 days a week. Don't be afriad to go heavy, women have about 1/10th the amount of testosterone as men. We very very very very rarely can build large muscles without steroids. Even then, it ain't easy. Focus on BIG exercises - squats, lunges, pushups, pullups, things that use a lot of muscles at once. Try aiming for 8-10 (at the most) reps. If you train alone, it is hard to hit TRUE failure. So your last rep should be nearly impossible to lift. Number of sets are usually about 3 working sets.

Take 1 rest day - total rest day.

 

[big4life]

Yep, don't be afraid to lift heavy. You're not going to bulk up. Just push yourself and have fun. If it's not fun you're not going to keep it up.