Calling all Fitness Gurus!

[despero]

I need some clarification on something. I have been doing cardio/weight training workouts at home. (the Firm) I have always heard that muscles need a break, and specifically, if you're trying to tone, and not bulk up, you need to rest the muscles a day before re-working them again.

I have 2 different dvds that I work out to on a daily basis. I alternate between the two, and have been using weights one day, and none the next, then weights, then none and so on.

I definitely do NOT want to bulk up. I DO want nice definition and tone. Am I headed in the right direction as far as my workouts go or should I start doing the weights everyday with the workouts?
Right now, I can tell my muscles are fatigued. I think mainly because even with no weight, I'm still working my muscles (squats, lunges, etc)
I was thinking maybe I need to switch to just a straight cardio workout on the off days, and stick to the firm videos with weights the other days?

Any advice???

Thanks!!

[stroutman81]

Okay, you're definitely operating under a few misconceptions. Which only makes sense since there is so much BS out there nowadays.

It would be helpful to know your stats such as age, height and weight. If you're not comfortable sharing that information in public, you can privately message or email it to me.

The reason it's important is how someone with 50-100+ lbs to lose should exercise is NOT how someone with 10-20 lbs should exercise.

I have been doing cardio/weight training workouts at home. (the Firm)

I'm not familiar with it. Is this a program that combines weight training with cardio? So it's light weights and stuff that keeps you moving.

I have always heard that muscles need a break,

That they do.

There are two sides to the coin of lifting weights. The application of stress and the recovery from said stress. Lifting weights acts as a stress on the body. The body will adapt positively assuming you also allow for recovery.

Not it's not so cut and dry. Depending on what sort of weight training you're doing, the required recovery will vary. For instance, if you're doing light weight, high rep, low rest (circuit) weight training... you're not going to need as much recovery compared to traditional strength training.

[quoteand specifically, if you're trying to tone, and not bulk up, you need to rest the muscles a day before re-working them again. [/quote]

That's just false.

Let's get a couple of things clear:

Weight lifting is a relatively new concept in the fat loss world. It wasn’t long ago when most felt the only thing necessary for fat loss was aerobics and cardio coupled with a healthy diet. Since then weight lifting has become more mainstream. That said, it still seems a lot of novices don’t understand why they should include weight lifting in their routines. The most common misconception is the idea that weight lifting burns the fat in the specific area you are training, or better yet, it turns that fat into muscle. You will commonly see men and women doing a high rep, light weight stuff hoping to ‘tone up’ or ‘burn the fat’ in a specific area of their bodies. This is not how our bodies work, unfortunately.

A muscle either grows or it doesn't. It is that simple. Toning is a function of fat loss. Fat loss is a function of energy deficits. Weight training really doesn't factor into that equation much relatively speaking. You can't tone your fat with weights.

Next, let's speak about women and weight lifting - another common area of confusion is the idea of women getting bulky from lifting weights. Let’s squash this right now. Go into any gym and check out the women who actually do seriously lift weights. Outside the realm of those select few who have deeper voices than your father, a chiseled jawbone and facial hair… how many women are actually loaded with muscle? Not many. If you think otherwise you’re pretty delusional. I’ve been in the gym scene for a majority of my life and it just isn’t the case.

First things first, most of the women around here are dieting. Male or female… when you’re dieting, packing on slabs of muscle simply isn’t going to happen. Hypertrophy (muscle growth) is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. Calories are energy. If you're not taking in enough energy to support the tissue you currently have (which you're not if your dieting), then your body isn't going to make matters worse by adding a bunch of muscle.

To boot, prime an environment for a woman to put on muscle by way of ensuring things such as a caloric surplus and appropriate weight lifting routine are in place and, even then you're going to see her get bulky. Women are not hormonally dispositioned to build mass amounts of muscle, even when all the variables are aligned for growth. , go to the gym and you'll see many guys who train hard and heavy yet are still nothing spectacular in terms of muscle development. If getting really muscular were as easy as many women assume, people (especially men) walking around with ginormous arms and barrel-chests would be a dime a dozen. This just isn’t the case.

I definitely do NOT want to bulk up. I DO want nice definition and tone.

Hopefully you're starting to see the trend here....

In order to have a toned look, you need to lose fat while maintaining (or even adding) muscle. The goal is to lose fat. Not weight. That distinction is terribly important.

[stroutman81]

Oh, and I'm not a guru!

[despero]

I will be 35 in October. I'm right about 5'1", and weight is right around 155 lbs. I do not have one problem area....its everywhere. Thats about the only good thing I have going for me. I don't gain weight in one focused area. It spreads itself all over, so I don't look as heavy as I am.

The Firm is a workout program that incorporates weights and cardio combined. Total body workouts, as the dvd cover says. I bought their work out program years and years ago (vhs) And was very faithful to it. I also saw results, which made it even better. After a car wreck in 04, I stopped working out. Gained weight, of course, had a baby in May of 08, and finally decided I'm done being unhappy with myself. I figured since the Firm worked for me before, I'd try it again. (bought their new dvd set) All the same concepts tho. High energy, cardio + weight training, plus a lot of the high impact bursts (1 or 2 minutes of high impact, then back down, back up, and so on) The weights suggested are 3, 5, and 8 lbs. Beginners, no weights, then as you get more comfortable, pick up the weights, increase them, etc.
I started with no weights, and I'm moving up slowly. I'm using 5 lbs right now. I use the 8s for bicep work, but 5s for everything else.
My big thing is to lose the fat, keep and tone my muscle. My weight in numbers really doesn't matter to me. I'm going more for the look in the mirror. I can weigh the same as I do now, and look a helluva lot better.

So its a little of heavy (ok, 8 lbs heavy ) concentrated, and lot more of the lighter, high rep stuff with the cardio.
There is a 30 minute workout and a 40 minute workout. I've been alternating between the two, every other day, using weights every other day.
So Monday, I did the 30 minute workout with weights, and last night, I did the 40 minute with no weights. Tonight, I was planning on doing the 40 with weights. But just walking around at work today, my legs are feeling a bit fatigued.
What are your suggestions? I want to do the right/best thing.

Thanks again for the info!

Oh, and I'm not a guru!

Guru, expert, info giver...whatever works...

[stroutman81]

I will be 35 in October. I'm right about 5'1", and weight is right around 155 lbs.

Okay.

Here's the thing. If you were my client, I'd ditch the light weight work and the circuit training. It's simply not optimal for your given goals. If I'm reading you correctly, you want to look lean and toned.

As noted before, you don't tone muscles. They either grow or they don't. When dieting, especially when you're a female, about the best we can hope for is a maintenance of muscle mass. That's actually required if you're going to reach that look you're going for.

If you don't do the necessary things to preserve muscle, you're going to be losing a higher proportion of muscle while weight is being lost and what will be left is a smaller, lighter still soft version of your former self.

So the question then becomes, "Well what do I need to do to preserve as much muscle as possible?"

I'll tell you one thing.... the answer is NOT circuit weight training.

In general, the answer is to eat adequate protein and lift weights appropriately.

On the protein side of things, assuming you have not health contraindications, a target should be roughly 1 - 1.5 grams of protein per pound of goal body weight.

The weight training side of things isn't so cut and dry, however, as not everyone should be lifting weights the same way. This goes back to how a fat person should train vs. a relatively leaner person.

Speaking generally I’d like to examine two hypothetical people:

You have two women both looking to lose fat. One is 300 lbs and the other is 150 lbs.

In terms of weight lifting, the heavier woman would probably benefit more from the circuit type of training where you use high volumes of work using lighter weights and short rest. In this event, you're turning it more or less into another form of cardiovascular exercise with a hint of strength training. The reason this would be optimal for her is pretty simple: at this stage in the game, burning the most amount of calories is going to be the primary factor that will contribute to fat loss and circuit training is going to accomplish that better than your traditional strength training routine of heavier weights, lower reps, and more rest. In addition, the higher volume and lighter weights will contribute to more practice using *sane* loads, which makes for safer learning of the movements.

The lighter woman might be better off (IMO definitely would be better off) by sticking with the more traditional strength training stuff using heavier weights and lower rep ranges. Not b/c of caloric expenditure so much, but more for what this type of stimulus/training does to the body. Primarily, it triggers muscle maintenance... it gives your body a reason to hold on to the muscle you currently have. The closer you get to an ideal weight, the more probable muscle loss becomes. This is an important concept. (a) Muscle keeps your metabolism nice and healthy and (b) I think one of the major things most women looking to get tone do wrong is move to lighter and lighter weights and higher and higher reps following the misconception that this sort of training causes toning.

In essence, for the lighter woman, weight lifting transforms from something that gets your heart rate going and expends calories to more of something that triggers muscle maintenance. For her, diet and cardio will be the primary players in terms of establishing the caloric deficit. Don't get me wrong, traditional strength training burns calories too, but it's primary purpose in the 'program' isn't that.

This is a tough pill for some people to follow b/c they feel that if they're not huffing and puffing or sweating... they're not working out hard enough and that's simply false.

I'm sure you have some questions, so let's hear them.

I bought their work out program years and years ago (vhs) And was very faithful to it. I also saw results, which made it even better.

I have a few important comments pertaining to what you say here:

1. In the beginning essentially anything will provide results. Keep that in mind. The more advanced you become and the close to your goal body weight/composition you get... the more attention you must pay to the finer details.

2. It's critical that you assess progress/results using appropriate metrics. So many women get caught up in chasing a lower and lower number on the scale. This is dead wrong as the scale doesn't measure what you're interested in improving. If your goal is to get lean, what you're interested in, as mentioned probably too many times before by me, is losing fat while maintaining muscle.

The scale, however, doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle loss. It also weighs everything else such as water, glycogen, bone, connective tissue, bowel matter, etc, etc. So it's not a good gauge of progress. It's a tool, sure, that you can use... but it shouldn't be relied on heavily.

Rather, progress should be determined by what you see happening in the mirror and pictures. I'm a fan of taking progress photos in the same light, same time of day, same positions about once every two weeks. I'm also a huge fan of taking measurements with a tape measure of chest, belly button, hips, thighs, arms and calves about once every 2-3 weeks.

These metrics provide better ideas of how things are going. They also allow you to see if what you're doing is working or not, as this is a continual touch and feel process where we have to constantly update and revise our approach based on the feedback we're getting from our results.

[despero]

To clarify, what I saw in the way of results were not numbers on the scale. What I noticed was definition showing up in my arms and legs. Specifically, I remember putting on a new shirt, and turning away from the mirror when something caught my eye. It was my upper arm, and that little curve you get on the outside...I don't know if thats the outer bicep muscle or what. But anyway, there it was, and it looked great! Same with my legs. They had definition, not just 2 big hamhocks hanging off my bottom half.
Not to mention, my clothes were fitting differently. These are the things I use to gauge success. How I look, feel, and how my clothes fit. If I always wear a size 12, and they're tight, and one day I put them on, and they are considerably looser, then I'm doing something right. When I got married, I weighed right around 140/145, something like that. But I looked good, despite the "high" scale number. It is a very hard thing to break, because we all want "small" numbers for everything...weight, pant size, shirt size, etc.

But I did get away from using the scale to measure my success. And I'm pretty open to new things. The type of workout I'm doing doesn't matter too much to me, as long as I'm going to produce results.

So what you're saying is that I need more focused weight training? Can you please explain further? Heavier weights, more reps, less reps? And what about the breaks in between. Should it be a day or does it matter much?

[stroutman81]

To clarify, what I saw in the way of results were not numbers on the scale. What I noticed was definition showing up in my arms and legs. Specifically, I remember putting on a new shirt, and turning away from the mirror when something caught my eye. It was my upper arm, and that little curve you get on the outside...I don't know if thats the outer bicep muscle or what. But anyway, there it was, and it looked great! Same with my legs. They had definition, not just 2 big hamhocks hanging off my bottom half.

Right, but this goes back to what I said about ANYTHING WORKING FOR A NOVICE.

That's simply a fact. The body responds positively to a stress placed on it that it's unaccustomed to. If you're not accustomed to any sort of physical, structured activity... well guess what, you're going to see progress.

I wasn't suggesting that you were chasing a number on the scale or the progress really wasn't worthy. I was simply mentioning things to be cognizant of.

To boot, as you progress and your body gets used to exercise, things need to change. You need to get more specific in your approach. Simply doing the same thing forever will not get you to where you want to be.

It's as simple as this:

We (as researchers) know what maintains/builds muscle and we know what causes fat loss. We also know we need both of these things to happen if we're going to get lean.

For someone who has some experience and success under their belt, especially a female who isn't overly fat, circuit training probably isn't the best course to take.

That doesn't mean it won't work. If it's absolutely what you enjoy and don't want to do anything else, ... I'm not going to twist your arm. It's no skin off my back at all. Just remember... I'm not talking about something working or not working. There aren't many absolutes in this "game."

I'm talking about the degree of something working. Some things will be much more optimal for a given goal than others. In some cases this difference will simply lead to slower progress towards a particular goal. On the other hand, sometimes this difference will lead to suboptimal results. Results are still there... just not as good as they could've been.

Hopefully I'm being clear.

But I did get away from using the scale to measure my success. And I'm pretty open to new things.

Excellent.

The type of workout I'm doing doesn't matter too much to me, as long as I'm going to produce results.

I have to apologize... I'm pretty new here and people will get used to this from me. I have a very bad habit of replying to a post as I read it. I put the cart before the horse, lol.

With what you say here, you can pretty much disregard what I said above. That's okay though, maybe someone else will take something positive from it, so I'll leave it.

So what you're saying is that I need more focused weight training? Can you please explain further? Heavier weights, more reps, less reps? And what about the breaks in between. Should it be a day or does it matter much?

These are the kind of questions I'm happy to hear. You're getting it.



First, what tools do you have at your disposal? You have those light dumbbells and a few workout videos... anything else?

Have you ever considered joining a gym?

It's not mandatory but it certainly makes things much easier.

[despero]

I have 3, 5 and 8 lb dumbells, I have several workout videos. Some just cardio, some weight + cardio. I have the big ball, a step type thing. I also have 2 interchangeable dumbells. I don't know the correct terminology, but its the one where you can change the weights on it. I have 2 lb and 5 lbs. I think I can make it a total of maybe 14 lbs...something like that. I think I also have some of the resistance bands. (never used them much) If I need other weights, let me know. I can usually get them pretty cheap.

I thought about a gym, but right now, it's financially not an option. So I've got to make the most of what I have at home.

[stroutman81]

I have 3, 5 and 8 lb dumbells, I have several workout videos. Some just cardio, some weight + cardio. I have the big ball, a step type thing. I also have 2 interchangeable dumbells. I don't know the correct terminology, but its the one where you can change the weights on it. I have 2 lb and 5 lbs. I think I can make it a total of maybe 14 lbs...something like that.

Okay... this isn't a bad start.

There are a few principles that you must understand in order to fully appreciate the applicability of resistance training. The three I want to cover here are as follows:

• Specificity
• Overload
• Progression

Pick up any 101 level strength training book and it’s going to cover these basic principles with regards to resistance training. For a program to be on the ‘right track’ in terms of design it must contain these elements. It’s important to note that these principles relate to all forms of training really, but the following text is in relation to resistance training.

SPECIFICITY

This principle is simple. It states that the adaptations you experience are specific to your training variables. If you want a high level of muscular endurance in your legs, you’re going to stick with high volume (lots of reps) and low rest intervals using exercises that target your legs. Bodyweight squats would be a prime example of this if you performed 3 sets of 25 reps. The training is specific to the goal. Therefore the adaptation will be specific to the training, i.e., you will increase the endurance capacity of your leg muscles. Running could even be considered endurance resistance training; your body weight supplies the resistance and the number of strides supplies the volume. Put differently, if you were looking for muscular endurance in your legs you wouldn’t resort to heavy, low-rep, high-rest bench pressing, would you?

There are many different qualities you can train with resistance and they all involve strength. Again going back to specificity, the strength quality you train for depends on what you are looking to get out of your training. There’s a spectrum that we won’t spend a lot of time on but at one end you have strength endurance and at the other you have maximal strength. The former involves working your muscles during long durations with little to no rest. The latter involves maximal effort muscle contractions associated with things like heavy weight lifting (powerlifting). Both involve lifting weights but both are trained completely different and each has completely different endpoints.


OVERLOAD

When we train with weights, what we’re really doing is trying to force our body to adapt. For instance, if someone wants bigger muscles they must give their body a reason to develop them. This reason comes by way of resistance training. However, simply lifting a weight isn’t going to force adaptation to occur. The load lifted (the stress imposed on the body) must be greater than what it is ordinarily accustomed to. Our bodies don’t like being challenged beyond its normal workload. If you apply appropriate amounts of stress that is beyond what it’s accustomed to (OVERLOAD) it is going to change (adapt) in a way to make the load more manageable in the future. As noted above, these changes come by way of increased strength, increased muscle mass, etc.

So we know we have to challenge our bodies in order to get a response.


PROGRESSION

Progression is closely related to overload. You have probably heard of progressive overload. All we’re saying is the adaptations associated with overload will halt as soon as the load no longer stimulates a required adaptation from the body. Put differently, as adaptations occur the overload from a given load becomes smaller and smaller.

For example, if 10 lbs was providing an overload a month ago, you’re body adapts to the stress and today 10 lbs is no longer an overload. It simply maintains your current strength and muscle attributes. In order to generate further adaptation you must PROGRESS the load.

In theory, we’re trying to stay ahead of homeostasis, our body’s natural tendency to maintain a stable state or condition. It's important to keep in mind that there are multiple ways to increase overload... it's not always about "weight on the bar." You can progress with volume, greater time under tension, more work in less time, etc.

These fundamental principles apply to any well-rounded routine out there regardless of goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re training for fat loss, muscle gain, strength, power, high reps, low reps… whatever.

Are there any questions with this? If not, we'll move onto discussing specifics in terms of "program" structure.

I thought about a gym, but right now, it's financially not an option. So I've got to make the most of what I have at home.

Fair enough.

[despero]

Ok, been pretty sick these last few days....which SUCKS because I haven't been excercising either. I did the first day or two, then got overwhelmed with a sinus infection. Blah...

Anyway, read your post, and yes, definitely have some questions.

On specificity, I think I get it....

On overload, this is what I got: If I continue to lift a 5 lb weight for bicep curls, it isn't going to do anything for me, because I'm accustomed to lifting much more (25 lb toddler for example) on a regular basis. So I would want to increase the weight I'm lifting for my biceps, right? Same would go for my legs, butt, etc., correct?

Then for progression, I would keep going up in weight, until I'm satisfied with the results? Then just maintain?