Exercise & Nutrition Q&A - 10/4/2013

Been getting some great questions. Let's see what we can help out with today!

Hello Keith-

Thank you for the posts!!  I am the laziest person on the face of the Earth but I am joining a gym.  I would like some tips, if you don't mind, about how to tone muscle without building it- especially in the abs.  I had a c-section years ago and the weight loss on top of that has made my midsection look like melting taffy.  I am looking to get in to the whole routine but am totally lost on how often, how much weight, reps, etc..

Thanks!!

Sue

OK, I used to be the laziest person on earth so I have a very good tip for you for the first week or so of your gym time. Do not spend any more than 30 mins at the gym. Find a couple of exercises or machines that you enjoy, do your 30 mins and get out. Do this for 2 weeks. 30 mins is nothing it goes by in the blink of an eye. You want to train your brain and yourself to think "that wasn't that bad, I can do that every day and more if I want to" Then after 2 weeks start a serious routine. The key to starting out is to keep it to 30 mins and to find at least 1 thing that is fun for you or that you enjoy. If you are going to go and just do 30 mins of cardio at first, split it across 3 machines so it is 10 mins on a treadmill, bike, eliptical, rower, stairs, etc.

Next on the strength, why don't you want to build muscle? Your objective should be more lean muscle, more lean muscle burns more calories at rest, so more muscle is a good thing. If you are worried about bulking up or gaining weight because of muscle, don't. First it is very difficult for women to actually bulk up because most women do not have enough testosterone to build muscle like men. So whatever you decide to do in the weight room you are going to get stronger. Do not be afraid to build muscle though. I have been working out with heavy weights for 4 days a week for over a year and I maybe have gained 3 or 4 lbs of muscle. Its hard to build muscle especially if you are not 20 or younger. As for what and how much weight, you will need go figure out how much but basically you want to work your major muscle groups together. The general strategy is to strengthen muscle you will do less weight and more sets/reps, to build muscle you will do more weight/fewer sets/reps. My recommendation is to do both. I work my muscle groups in the following way:

Monday/Thursday - Chest and Shoulders

This consists of bench press, chest flys, bent over reverse flys, military press, standing row, and tricep pushdowns. You don't have to do these specific exercises but that covers the muscle groups for chest and shoulders. I do 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps. I rest for 1 to 2 mins between sets.

Tuesday Thursday - Legs/Back/Biceps

This consists of squats, leg extensions, calf raises, lat pulldowns, seated row, dumbbell hammer curls, and barbell curls. Again I do heavy weight 4 sets of 8 to 10. 

Weds - Abs

This is crunches, russian twists, and planks and sometimes I will get on a cable machine and pull a bunch of weight down using just my ab muscles. 

In addition to my weight routine I also run and attend a high intensity interval training that is a cross between weight and cardio.

So that is a lot of info and I would like to see you get through 2 weeks of intro to the gym and conditioning your mind and body to get it used to regular enjoyable visits to the gym before you get into any sort of hardcore routine.

I can give you a detailed routine when you are ready but it will be very similar to what I put up above and will most certainly include bench press and squats because they work your biggest muscles and are the core of all strength training. We can come up with a few others that are more girly, for example I don't think lat pulldowns are great for women (although they do strengthen the part of your back that supports your boobs) because I don't like it when women get wide cut backs but we can replace that with a close grip pulldown that will not cause that and still work your back. I would replace the tricep pushdowns with bench dips. I have some ideas. Let me know once you join the gym and I will put together a simple enjoyable routine and you can decide if you want to go for strength or build!

Thank you very much!!  I have copied, pasted, and printed this out. 

The whole "building muscle" issue is more about not wanting to look all bulky.  I have seen it from time to time and I don't find it attractive for me. 

After surgery I never exercised so I lost almost all of my muscle mass and would like to gain strength again. 

Sorry I am so fragmented right now.  I am thinking about your post!

Again, thanks so much and I will do exactly as you say!!

I cannot emphasize this enough. You will not get bulky. First it takes a very long time for women to get bulky, second you have years of being overweight to compensate for, and finally you are losing a ton of muscle by having had surgery. Finally the women you do see getting bulky either have unnaturally high testosterone levels or they are taking something. You could workout like a mad-woman for the next year and all you will see is that you have tightened and toned. The only way for you to gain your muscle back and therfore strength if with weight training. So I would suggest both of my approaches. Two weeks heavy weight low reps, two week lighter weight and more reps. Its is going to take you a year just to get into a decent amount of weight let alone the amount of weight it would take to bulk.

I have been working out for a year and when I was 30ish I could bench 220, I started a year ago at 90 and I am just now at 135. With eating low carb and the few calories we get it is very hard to pack on muscle. I can show you a ton of women who do cross fit and they are squatting 225 and cleaning 155 over their head a bunch of times and they do not have any bulk. So you will be fine. 

First order of business is to get you signed up, going as often as you can and starting out slow and fun, then we will get to work.

I appreciate your time and will do the two week swap.  I am joining the gym tomorrow and will start with the 30 minute cardio intervals.  I am juicing up my mp3 player as we speak.

I am concerned about proper form while weight training- like Russian Twists.  I don't seem to have the body strength at this time to execute the proper form necessary to complete one of those dastardly things.  Do you have a suggestion for that?  Obviously, I am not starting these yet but have thought about it.

Thanks again!

Sue

Form is very very important for all exercises. Key components to good for are good posture at all times and strengthening your back. Specifically for things like Russian twists you need to strengthen your core. Start with planks.