What to aim for?

Doolee

So,
Heres me stats: 32, female, 5'11 and a half, 21% bodyfat, 158lbs.

Over the past 3 months, have worked hard and lost 6 inches from my waist, and 5% bodyfat and loads more so the thing is, i need something to aim for, realistically. i have no major events coming up- not getting married/going on holls etc which is what most girls seem to have in their aim. But actually i think this is a bad idea in some ways as when the event is over, you have to be really quickly to refocus or it can end up being like a full stop with your aims.

Anyway, im not sure what is achievable in say 3 more months. My trainer said he doesnt want to suggest anything, its up to me. Fair enough so I was thinking...I'd love to be able to do just 5 chin ups! Sounds a bit pathetic but its bloody hard for a girl so how long would it take to do this properly? Also, my arms are pretty toned at this stage, and dont really want them much bigger so does it mean i will have Modannas arms! (yuck!) or is a chin up move as much a core exercise as it is an arm one?
I'm told im pretty strong, so maybe is it best just to work on improving my form on the various machines, and doing lifts etc better or what does anyone think?
Rather than aiming for more fat loss (which will come anyway) and saying i want a six pack (which i reckon will also come anyway!) or focusing on how my body looks, im looking for suggestions on form maybe or say on the smith leg press - is that what its called? - i can push 120kgs, so is it achievable to aim for 160 x12 properly in 3 months?

Bit of a long broad thread i know but theres lots of you guys i respect the replies of (Transform, Corkcomp, EileenG, etc to name a few) so would love to hear opinions!

Thanks everyone!

chuck101

Hey Doolee.. Nice work on the progress so far. Your mentality is spot on for consistent improvement.. great stuff.
First off its a pity your trainer didn't mention any events or targets that you could work towards . Do you or have you played any sports in the past (Running,Soccer,GAA,Rock climbing, Swimming, Triathlon,Hockey,etc) ? might be worth looking into even on a casual kind of level..

If thats not your kinda gig then maybe something like this.. http://crossfit.ie/invitational/... would be interesting to train for in may ..

Secondly, i think 5 pull ups/chin ups is well achievable in 3 months also.. get ur trainer to show you inverted rows, assisted chin ups/pull ups( if your gym has one), negative chin ups/pull ups...

I also like to use with my gyms members a progression like this.. can be used for any of the above movements.. do 1 rep,rest for a few seconds(5-8 secs),do 2 reps,rest,3 reps,rest,1 rep,rest,2 reps.... and so on.. trying to ingrain good successful numbers as opposed to trying to max each time you do them and havin to bail on them after about 4 reps...

maybe check your max reps every couple of weeks or so to see how much progress your makin.

some other good movements for improveing your shoulder mobility would be resistance band dislocates, resistance band pulls etc..( have a look at tramsforms vids if ya get a chance .. they explain this stuff alot better)
Hope that helps.
Chuck!

chuck101

Also ( can't believe i forgot these !!:eek:)... if you can ask your trainer to show you how to deadlift,squat,overhead press....... this will be a better gauge of finding out how strong you are over the leg press machine any day! couple of websites u may be aware of but worth checking out anyway..
www.stumptuous.com & www.gubernatrix.co.uk

Bounce Fitness

I think something Sean Burch's Hyperfitness would be excellent for your next step. Body weight exercises mainly with minimal equipment, so no muscle building involved.

http://www.seanburch.com/

I do this type of training all the time and even though it's extremely challenging, the energy and fitness levels you can achieve are astounding.

Good luck..

chuck101

No muscle building...????????:eek: your kidding right?..:(

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

No muscle building...????????:eek: your kidding right?..:(

Not everyone wants to build muscle. Strengthen, yes but not neccessarily build.

chuck101

Bounce. no offence intended but im not sure what u mean by build muscle so?

Ciaran500

Bounce Fitness wrote: »

Not everyone wants to build muscle. Strengthen, yes but not neccessarily build.

Women are not going to build muscle bulk easily and should be lifting big weights just the same as men.

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

Bounce. no offence intended but im not sure what u mean by build muscle so?

Muscle Building (aka Hypertrophy) is the increase in size of skeletal muscle resulting from the increased size of individual muscle fibres.

Muscle Strengtening is the maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can generate at a specified velocity.

Bounce Fitness

Ciaran500 wrote: »

Women are not going to build muscle bulk easily and should be lifting big weights just the same as men.

No one ever said otherwise. The OP stated she didn't want her arms to get any bigger.

chuck101

So back on topic... your tellin us that this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84zHmmIIFFk.. is gonna improve the OP's ability to do 5 pull ups?

also your aware that men have alot more testosterone than women yeah?

chuck101

Are these ladies lookin for hypertrophy or strength? http://thetransformationcatalyst.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/this-is-why-you-are-out-of-shape-part-3/

Ciaran500

Bounce Fitness wrote: »

No one ever said otherwise. The OP stated she didn't want her arms to get any bigger.

You recommended body weight exercises, they aren't going to make you much stronger and will be very limited.

chuck101

Ciaran... to an extent i agree with you .. but i have alot of time for bodyweight exercises.. gymnasts are rarely weak! plus chin ups/ pull ups are body weight exercises.. so there is no way around doin them if the op wants 5 !! but your right they can be very limiting .. thats why deadlifts,squats etc.. should be included at least in some form most of the time!

Bounce Fitness

Ciaran500 wrote: »

You recommended body weight exercises, they aren't going to make you much stronger and will be very limited.

If you think body weight exercises are limited then I suggest you take a peak at Sean Burch's book. It's pretty much the training regime he used to climb mount everest.

And I will take any body builder through a set of body weight exercises and have him on his knees in less than 8 minutes. I know it because I've been doing it for years.

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

So back on topic... your tellin us that this...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84zHmmIIFFk.. is gonna improve the OP's ability to do 5 pull ups?

also your aware that men have alot more testosterone than women yeah?

Not neccessarily. She was looking for something a little different. All I was doing was suggesting something for her to try. It was nothing to do with the pull ups.

chuck101

bounce... your not a fan of barbells are you?!:rolleyes:

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

bounce... your not a fan of barbells are you?!:rolleyes:

Dude, I love barbells. To dismiss barbells would be as daft as dismissing jogging or cycling. The OP wanted to try something different, something away from the norm of bars and dumbells. Her trainer was unable to suggest anythng so I suggested something that she might find challenging, without building more muscle than she wants.

chuck101

Bounce Fitness wrote: »

Not neccessarily. She was looking for something a little different. All I was doing was suggesting something for her to try. It was nothing to do with the pull ups.

fair enuf.. my bad.. i came across a bit heavy there.. agreed she did say she wants something different to try.. she also mentioned pull ups .. thats why i aimed the post at that! .. the burch stuff is very good but just not sure about the fist pumping awesomeness of some of the videos! haha.:D

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

the burch stuff is very good but just not sure about the fist pumping awesomeness of some of the videos! haha.:D

The guy on youtube isn't sean burch... he's just some randomer who can't do the exercise particularly well. I've been doing his stuff for a few years now with clients, and its an addictive kind of training. Girls mainly get a great kick out of it, simply because they're getting leaner and fitter in half the time without the usual 3/4 sets of 8-12, followed by hours of cardio, that most trainers dish out.

chuck101

Bounce Fitness wrote: »

Dude, I love barbells. To dismiss barbells would be as daft as dismissing jogging or cycling. The OP wanted to try something different, something away from the norm of bars and dumbells. Her trainer was unable to suggest anythng so I suggested something that she might find challenging, without building more muscle than she wants.

agreed .. but she never mentioned she wanted to get away from bars and dumbells. i think we may be saying the same thing albeit from different standpoints of interest!;)

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

agreed .. but she never mentioned she wanted to get away from bars and dumbells. i think we may be saying the same thing albeit from different standpoints of interest!;)

agreed!

chuck101

Bounce Fitness wrote: »

The guy on youtube isn't sean burch... he's just some randomer who can't do the exercise particularly well. I've been doing his stuff for a few years now with clients, and its an addictive kind of training. Girls mainly get a great kick out of it, simply because they're getting leaner and fitter in half the time without the usual 3/4 sets of 8-12, followed by hours of cardio, that most trainers dish out.

true.. i've seen the vids with burch in them tho.. and there is stil lots of fist pumpin! anyway/!!!movin on.. .. on a seperate note.. do u use deadlifts , squats etc with your clients or do u find that bodyweight stuff is the best way to get them strong ,lean and fit?

Bounce Fitness

chuck101 wrote: »

true.. i've seen the vids with burch in them tho.. and there is stil lots of fist pumpin! anyway/!!!movin on.. .. on a seperate note.. do u use deadlifts , squats etc with your clients or do u find that bodyweight stuff is the best way to get them strong ,lean and fit?

Hehe! I don't do any fist pumping!! My product is generally bodyweight exercises done extremely quickly, which gives you a resistance and cardio workout in one. And there are so many bodyweight exercises that you can do. From something as simple as sitting down on the floor and getting back up again. Do that over and over for 1 minute and who'll know what I mean!! It's hyperfitness with a twist, if you like!

I absolutely love squats, especially as there are so many variations of them that you can do. I tend to be a little more wary of deadlifts because technique needs to be spot on.

Doolee

Yikes!

Nothin like a heated discussion !
Better clarify what the hell i was bangin on about....
In 3 months time id like to have an idea of how heavy i should be able to lift basically. Whats a good weight to aim for in the following exercises (the names of which i dont really know so will describe)?

Smith leg press: My trainer gets me to do these every week when doing lower body workout and i think they are brilliant. Love pushing the weights up!
Currently can do set of ten at 120kgs. Aim for ?

Lunges: Again its a standard part of lower body workout and carry dumbells from 8kg to 10/12 i think. Aim for?

Squat/Clean/dip/barbell lift thingy??? No idea exactly what its called. A tricky move to get right and did it for first time last week. You hold the barbell, (cant remember max weight i did) down at arms length then quick as you can sort of flick your wrists as you squat down on your honkers and your body is lower than the bar which is shoulder height, then as you stand up, lift bar to shoulder height. Not sure if i described it properly but its a great one, felt really good doing it though will take a while to perfect it i think. So again,
Whats good to aim for?

I mentioned the whole chin up thing to my trainer so we were working on that last week which is just brilliant. I was crap at it! But he used a rubber springy ropey thing which once he attached to sides of bar, i stood on so it gave me a bit of a push up towards the bar i was hanging from. Im going to just try perfecting my form on each machine/move so thanks for all the advice ye BOTH gave me. Sorry if i confused everything. I dont think I'll get really muscley being a gal and my trainer keeps reassuring me of this.

You guys were talking about cardio there too. I only do i total 12 minutes of cardio in an hour with my guy. 6 mins walking on a good incline at a 12 speed on the treadmill or 6 on a speed above 50 on the cross trainer or maybe 6 on a bike and thats it. The results have been great and i definitely feel body weight/strength work gets you faster results. I do a little cardio myself every morning, just a fast walk/pathetically slow jog/both so maybe that helps but i reckon stength is where its at! So thats my tuppence worth!

So, hope ye two are friends again! No more argueing. Ye are both right and sayin the same stuff anyway so thanks again;)!

chuck101

Bounce...
thanks for the reply but your mention of the words '' my product'' and ''bodyweight exercises'' in the same sentence don't fill me with hope but everyone to their own. personally i find the squat to be a bit more tricky than the deadlift to coach but thats another thread!

Doolee...
first off i think it would be best to ask yourself how strong would you like to get..then you can set some targets..
in the meantime..

Leg press :
Thats a pretty reasonable weight your currently using.. if i were you though i'd ask your trainer to introduce you to deadlifts asap.. leg press is good but i have a feelin you will gain more benefit from deadlifts and deadlifts variations.

Weighted Lunges : this depends on how much you can handle with good form. if you can keep good tech on these you can go as high as you want.. again though this loops around to what may be the objective ie. strength,speed,power etc.. just something to keep in mind.

Squat/Clean/dip/barbell lift thingy??? aka.... Squat clean( from the ground) / hang squat clean( from the hang position at the waist which you mention).. an awesome exercise and great that your learning it . though again i would be wary of putting the weight up much until your tech on this lift is well dialled in as well as seeing how solid your form is on deadlifts if your doin full from the floor squat cleans .. here's a vid that will help a little with technique. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMSBwPUSzBg

the band assisted chin ups/pull ups are great to do and you'll find success soon with some good determination with them.

couple more vids
http://www.youtube.com/user/Gubernatrix?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/11/yGS_Z6JbpiQ
&
http://www.youtube.com/user/Gubernatrix?blend=2&ob=1#p/u/10/En--QeteErg..

anyway.. hope that all helped! sorry!












http://gubernatrix.co.uk/2008/12/strength-standards-for-women/

Doolee

Chuck!

Thanks a million for all that, its fantastic advice. Makes sense. Have done deadlifts the odd few times but not recently so will suggest them to my trainer next time.
Will check out the vids and blow his socks off next time we do them!

Thanks again

shootermacg

Hi
Chin-ups are hard! I don't seem to be able to do more than 10 ever.
Sorry for the mini thread hijack.
I've been stuck on 10 for ages. Any1 have any advice on improving this?
We don't have an assisted chin-up machine at our gym, so I don't think I can do sub sets. Maybe if I added some weight and lower reps I could break 10?
Thanks for any replies.

Edwardius

shootermacg wrote: »

Hi
Chin-ups are hard! I don't seem to be able to do more than 10 ever.
Sorry for the mini thread hijack.
I've been stuck on 10 for ages. Any1 have any advice on improving this?
We don't have an assisted chin-up machine at our gym, so I don't think I can do sub sets. Maybe if I added some weight and lower reps I could break 10?
Thanks for any replies.

I spent a while doing sets of 5 across with weight and it didn't do a lot for unweighted ones (think it was around 20kgs). What tends to work for me is a good few sets of less than 5 reps unweighted and staying well away from failure. I could do 17 strict pullups after this (up from around 13) although I'm not arsed with training pullups as an end in itself anymore. This is pretty much the same as Pavel's "grease the groove" method where you do around 50% of your max for several sets every day and test your max in a few weeks.

Yo Chuck, I thought you were giving up the internet! STUNG

shootermacg

Cheers Ed!
Only reason i ask is I'm doing Doug's 4DS at the moment and it calls for 12/10/8/6 reps of wide-grip pull-ups. I can do seven or 8 wide grips MAX! dunno how I'll ever make it to twelve ^ ^.

Dead Ed wrote: »

I spent a while doing sets of 5 across with weight and it didn't do a lot for unweighted ones (think it was around 20kgs). What tends to work for me is a good few sets of less than 5 reps unweighted and staying well away from failure. I could do 17 strict pullups after this (up from around 13) although I'm not arsed with training pullups as an end in itself anymore. This is pretty much the same as Pavel's "grease the groove" method where you do around 50% of your max for several sets every day and test your max in a few weeks.

Yo Chuck, I thought you were giving up the internet! STUNG

Doolee

shootermacg wrote: »

Hi
Chin-ups are hard! I don't seem to be able to do more than 10 ever.
Sorry for the mini thread hijack.
I've been stuck on 10 for ages. Any1 have any advice on improving this?

For what its worth, my trainer is built like a feckin mix between He-Man Master of the Universe (im showing my age now!) and Michaelangelos The David and he said he would struggle to do 20, so ten is pretty amazing, IMO. He also said its as much about back strength as it is arms, so maybe improving on these areas might help?. Good luck!

shootermacg

Doolee wrote: »

For what its worth, my trainer is built like a feckin mix between He-Man Master of the Universe (im showing my age now!) and Michaelangelos The David and he said he would struggle to do 20, so ten is pretty amazing, IMO. He also said its as much about back strength as it is arms, so maybe improving on these areas might help?. Good luck!

Cheers for the advice, I found I ramped up from one or two to ten pretty quickly but haven't been able to make eleven ^ ^.

I think it's great that you are going for chins Doolee, it's a big ask for a tall person. I'm quite short 5'7 with short legs so it's easier for me to touch my toes and chin, whereas you're quite tall and I hear chins can be a lot harder for tall people.
Keep it up and when you complete your first bask in the knowledge that you'd hammer me in an arm wrestle ^ ^.

Doolee

shootermacg wrote: »

I think it's great that you are going for chins Doolee, it's a big ask for a tall person. I'm quite short 5'7 with short legs so it's easier for me to touch my toes and chin, whereas you're quite tall and I hear chins can be a lot harder for tall people.
Keep it up and when you complete your first bask in the knowledge that you'd hammer me in an arm wrestle ^ ^.

Thanks!
Didnt think the height thing would matter. I can still touch my chin to my toes!
Its not going to be easy and i wonder is my trainer just humouring me by getting me to try them now but hey, nothing worth doing is ever easy!
Theres a girl i work with who was pretty much born with major muscle so when i can beat her at an arm wrestle I'll let you know!

shootermacg

Doolee wrote: »

Thanks!
I can still touch my chin to my toes!

Woot!

Doolee

(Probably shouldnt mention i used to do gymnastics as a kid and am trying to get the splits right again then!...better say nothin, keep that one to myself)

shootermacg

Doolee wrote: »

(Probably shouldnt mention i used to do gymnastics as a kid and am trying to get the splits right again then!...better say nothin, keep that one to myself)

Don't worry! Your secrets safe with me heh.

cyberfitnessgur

It all depends on your needs.

Some people should aim for muscle tonning while others need weight loss.

Everyones diffirent.

Go with what works for you.