Feedback please

[mehere]

Hi All. I'm new to this forum, and have been doing a lot of research on the "right" way to do things- however I seem to find tons of conflicting information, and lots of stuff that isn't very specific. I apologize in advance if I ramble, give too much detail, or am doing something alarmingly wrong. Please be kind

I'm 32 and have been lifting weights for 2.5 months, 5 times a week and about 60 minutes a session. I've really increased the amount I can lift, and I try to lift as much as possible even if I can only do it 10 times. I started off weighing 113 and am now about 117. I'm 5'1". This is still taking some getting used to and I try to just stay off the scale. I'm at 22% body fat as of a few weeks ago. I can definitely see some changes as compared to December. My abs are more defined when I flex, you can see the upper "4 pack" and the little side muscles. My legs are getting stronger and I've lost about an inch in my butt measurement.

I'm up to doing 200 lbs on the leg press, 180 in the hip adduction and abduction, 130 on the ab twist. My arms are def my weakest part, and all my fat is in my butt/hips/lower abs. I know I need to branch out to free weights, and doing movements with free weights (I'm doing pretty much all weight machines). I'm not doing much cardio at all, mostly I'm pretty beat after lifting for an hour or more and if I did legs, forget it.... So I'm doing about 20 minutes of high intensity cardio following my lifting. I also don't want to go too far past that "post workout" period cause I want to get home and drink a protein shake.

Just looking for some feedback. Side note: I'm allergic to milk so I have to drink brown rice protein shakes. However, my diet is extremely healthy. I cook everything from scratch and eat lots of meat and veggies. My cholesterol isn't high, I'm in good health (other than some arthritis and disc problems). I also take the birth control pill, not for contraception but because otherwise I get terrible bleeding and cysts. So, I haven't had a period in almost 2 years because I don't take the sugar pills. I only mention this because I wonder what impact, if any, my hormones have on my muscle gaining process.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks everyone! -Beth

 

[CML0915]

Hi All. I'm new to this forum, and have been doing a lot of research on the "right" way to do things- however I seem to find tons of conflicting information, and lots of stuff that isn't very specific. I apologize in advance if I ramble, give too much detail, or am doing something alarmingly wrong. Please be kind

I'm 32 and have been lifting weights for 2.5 months, 5 times a week and about 60 minutes a session. I've really increased the amount I can lift, and I try to lift as much as possible even if I can only do it 10 times. I started off weighing 113 and am now about 117. I'm 5'1". This is still taking some getting used to and I try to just stay off the scale. I'm at 22% body fat as of a few weeks ago. I can definitely see some changes as compared to December. My abs are more defined when I flex, you can see the upper "4 pack" and the little side muscles. My legs are getting stronger and I've lost about an inch in my butt measurement.

I'm up to doing 200 lbs on the leg press, 180 in the hip adduction and abduction, 130 on the ab twist. My arms are def my weakest part, and all my fat is in my butt/hips/lower abs. I know I need to branch out to free weights, and doing movements with free weights (I'm doing pretty much all weight machines). I'm not doing much cardio at all, mostly I'm pretty beat after lifting for an hour or more and if I did legs, forget it.... So I'm doing about 20 minutes of high intensity cardio following my lifting. I also don't want to go too far past that "post workout" period cause I want to get home and drink a protein shake.

Just looking for some feedback. Side note: I'm allergic to milk so I have to drink brown rice protein shakes. However, my diet is extremely healthy. I cook everything from scratch and eat lots of meat and veggies. My cholesterol isn't high, I'm in good health (other than some arthritis and disc problems). I also take the birth control pill, not for contraception but because otherwise I get terrible bleeding and cysts. So, I haven't had a period in almost 2 years because I don't take the sugar pills. I only mention this because I wonder what impact, if any, my hormones have on my muscle gaining process.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks everyone! -Beth

First off welcome to the world of lifting!!
I think you need to pick a lifting program and stick to it. Using just machines is kinda random. I've done push/pull and legs split before. Right now I'm doing a pretty intense program that has me lifting 5 days a week, some lighter days and some really heavy, low rep days. Id suggest a beginner program for you which consists of the big lifts bench, squat, rows, deadlifts, over head press, pull/chin ups, dips.
If you're trying to build muscle id def keep the cardio to a minimum, a couple HIIT's a week will do it.
The most important part is diet though, without a spot on diet all your work in the gym will be useless. Saying you eat extremely clean and make everything at home means nothing. You need to figure out your maintenance calories and adjust depending upon your goals (gain or lose). Most women's maintenance is around 1900-2200. I like to keep my macros at 50-30-20 but you have to play around with what works for you.
And yes, being on BC may affect your ability to gain muscle and lose fat, it's different for everyone.
I hope I helped a little. Hopefully Psizzle or one of the other ladies pop in and have some more helpful suggestions for you

 

[shirlene29]

youre bodyfat is honestly largely determined by your hormones, and your diet (sorry about the first one)

do you have a true milk allergy? because whey is lactose free...not that its neccessary anyway, just throwin it out there.
and...your cyst/cyclic issues....Im sending you a pm

 

[psizzle_8]

youre bodyfat is honestly largely determined by your hormones, and your diet (sorry about the first one)

do you have a true milk allergy? because whey is lactose free...not that its neccessary anyway, just throwin it out there.
and...your cyst/cyclic issues....Im sending you a pm

^^^ what? Whey does indeed have lactose in it! That's why so many have digestion issues on whey, every human has SOME intolerance to lactose.

 

[mehere]

Honestly I'm sort of afraid of the deadlifts and few other of the free weight moves because of my disc problems. I've got discs hitting my spinal cord and pinched nerves. I don't truly know what's ok and what's not though. I do chin ups and dips but I guess you're right cml it's kind of random what I'm doing. cml do you have a link where I can figure out how to incorporate some of the stuff you mentioned into my lifting? Also, I thought I had to eat more now to feed my body for the muscle building? I did count calories for a while, when I was doing almost all cardio so I was able to get an idea of what to eat in a day to hit my calorie goal which at the time was 1200+ whatever I burn for the day. So for example if I burned 300 calories doing a cardio workout I'd have to eat 1500 that day. I'm not counting anymore, and I'm eating more. Thanks!!!

Shirlene- I can't tolerate whey because it's milk protein. I can't have any milk protein. Just to give you an idea, if a restaurant accidentally puts a small amount of butter in the pan when preparing my food I'll get hives and have gastrointestinal pains and bloating which doesn't stop for 2-3 days until it's completely out of my system. Sucks

 

[psizzle_8]

I hear you girl...I'm lactose intolerant myself.

 

[shirlene29]

Honestly I'm sort of afraid of the deadlifts and few other of the free weight moves because of my disc problems. I've got discs hitting my spinal cord and pinched nerves. I don't truly know what's ok and what's not though. I do chin ups and dips but I guess you're right cml it's kind of random what I'm doing. cml do you have a link where I can figure out how to incorporate some of the stuff you mentioned into my lifting? Also, I thought I had to eat more now to feed my body for the muscle building? I did count calories for a while, when I was doing almost all cardio so I was able to get an idea of what to eat in a day to hit my calorie goal which at the time was 1200+ whatever I burn for the day. So for example if I burned 300 calories doing a cardio workout I'd have to eat 1500 that day. I'm not counting anymore, and I'm eating more. Thanks!!!

Shirlene- I can't tolerate whey because it's milk protein. I can't have any milk protein. Just to give you an idea, if a restaurant accidentally puts a small amount of butter in the pan when preparing my food I'll get hives and have gastrointestinal pains and bloating which doesn't stop for 2-3 days until it's completely out of my system. Sucks

gotcha, thats a different animal....my last daughter was born with an enzyme deficiency...she couldnt even handle breast milk. Had to be put on an amino acid formula...she eventually developed the neccessary enzyme and is eating chocolate as I type.

I was thinking of whey isolate (and honestly muscle milk instant) psizzle....don't flog me


with disc issues ( I have 9 herniated discs c-spine to l-spine at last count) you have to work up slow and low.... pay extremely strict attention to form. Leg press actually can really eff you up lumbar disc wise if you don't keep your ass firmly seated
not a ONE of those discs bother as long as I stay active...My husband has two lumbar discs that like to move around and the single best thing he has done for that is nail his squat and deadlift form.
Think of it this way, strong muscles support your spine..weak muscles leave your spine vulnerable to further injury.

I would looking into starting strength (google it) and start with the bar at first even if you feel silly doing it then add 5 lbs a week (or day if you're feeling good about your form)...doesnt seem like much but it ads up fast.


also, yoga...I can't recommend it enough for a bad spine but you NEED an instructor for this and a good one that's aware of your issues (you wont be the only one).


lastly....hip thigh and lower tummy fat (and muffin top in general) are estrogen fat receptor sites
I sent you a pm regarding that.

 

[psizzle_8]

Fuck I'm pacing

 

[shirlene29]

thats it...Im kicking your ass........................

 

[shirlene29]

psiz...give me karma.. I gave all mine away when I was bant