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ang

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Hi every one im a 39yo female, checking out some chat and come accross the band assisted dips ( i like). I have been lifting weights for the last 18 months at the gym. now doing at home gym. i'm after size and definition. I do 30mins on x-trainer x5 morns then weights x 3 morns, do you have to get the burn to tear the muscle? i get this on my legs but not so much on biceps. am hardly sore the next day now the trainer not pushing me hard although i do push the limits but no one there as back up incase. now dieting down for definition. going low in carbs.

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do you have to get the burn to tear the muscle?

Some people say you do and some say you don't... there are alot of articles out there on the web if you want to investigate.

As long as you are lifting as heavy as you possibly can and are doing a little bit more each week it will encourage muscle growth.

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I'd say try and lift more often, or make your training more focused on heavy lifting and less on cardio. (as in the cardio is a bonus)

if you're doing too much cardio it can disrupt your protein metabolism and increase cortisol etc and therefore you wont build the muscle you want and might stall fat loss. Also the more muscle you have the more calorie requirement you have so the easier it is to lose bodyfat also your hormone profile will improve etceetc.

Also that a heavy lifting session will also be more fat burning than a steady state cardio session due to its effect on metabolism and the useage of the nutrients from your diet.

In terms of the burn I think you'll find if you play around with rep ranges (being the amount of times you can lift a particular weight before you physically can't lift it again) then you will find it produces a different "feel" in the muscle. I find in heavier rep ranges you get less of a burn and more that you just cant physically lift it. whereas in higher rep ranges it really really burns (due to lactate etc) . In terms of DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness) it isnt always an indication of you growing or not growing, but as a fairly newbie aswell I find that its a good indication of when my body is starting to get used to a type of training, which means I will then switch around my training. Either start lifting heavier, or changing round exercise order, or lifting lighter and doing billions of reps.

The other factor to consider is diet, just because you feel sore in the morning doesn't mean you are getting adequate nutrition to grow, recover and get the results you want, if you want to improve maybe post your diet then we might be able to give you some tips to maximise your results.

I think the best advice is just whatever you are doing make sure you are going as hard as possible, as in you are not just lifting your 15 reps your trainer told you to do then stopping at 15, if you can lift one more rep than what you are supposed to then you're weight is too light for the rep range you have chosen and you have to find your new weight. If you still aren't seeing results or feel you have got used to your training then change your rep range and exercises.

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thank you for that information, i will go heavier and cut down on cardio.

my diet is as follows:

breakfast: 1/4c oats + shake + banana

morning tea: 1/2 hplc bar + 1pc fruit

lunch : 3egg whites & 1 yolk + salad

afternoon tea: 1/2 hplc bar + 1pc fruit

dinner: meat + kumara + veg

supper: whey sup

how does this sound?

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Sound like you got a good recipe going on! just stick at it I reckon and try to change a few little things see what seems to be working for you. consistency is key! just make sure if it starts feeling easy up the intensity.

The diet looks okay, pretty good on the main meals!

I wouldnt recommend having the protein bars as a snack though, try and eat something else protein based instead, like actual cut up chicken, or whey protein and nuts if it does have to be real quick, and I wouldn't recomment the fruit, you're doing well going low carb on everything else but fruit is just variation of fast release sugars and is undoing all the hard low carb work you're doing!! By having the protein bar and a piece of fruit you are probably getting over 40g of fast release carbs, which is more carbs probably than in your main meals and is the wrong kind - spiking insulin and slowing down fat loss.

protein bars are a little bit of a con aswell because they are still like 15% chocolate and contain other ingredients which they don't have to technically list as "Carbs".

Other than that i've seen pro's recommend like cutting them up and putting the pieces in the freezer/fridge to make kinda like little chocolates so when you feel like you wanna cheat you got something there and its not TOO bad.

Also, are you having a whey shake straight after workout? I would recommend this, if you've still got a surplus of protein bars you wanna get through maybe half of one then would be better than at other times.

Hope that helps! Good luck and don't forget to take before and after pics, looks like you're almost there getting this all sussed!

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I'd say try and lift more often, or make your training more focused on heavy lifting and less on cardio. (as in the cardio is a bonus)

if you're doing too much cardio it can disrupt your protein metabolism and increase cortisol etc and therefore you wont build the muscle you want and might stall fat loss. Also the more muscle you have the more calorie requirement you have so the easier it is to lose bodyfat also your hormone profile will improve etceetc.

.

Not quite correct - the muscle requires protein after all intense exercise. For years mainstream bodybuilders have been scared to run in case they lose size. Muscle develops and repairs exactly the same way - the impact of protein absorbsion or break down into aminos would not be significant enough to rule out the benefits. I know a lot of successful body builders that run over distance on a regular basis ... Jo Stewart for one ...

drobson164d.jpg

Also - estrogen levels have been proven to substancially reduce after mod/high cardio vascular training at longer intervals > this can have a postive impact on lowering bfat % in the med / long term - generally speaking an increase in fitness can assist most trainers in reducing bfat quicker. How many fat tri-athletes do you see running around - granted they are not generally over muscular but thats also indicative of the dietary regime they follow.

Best thing to do is experiment and find out what works.

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thank you for that information, i will go heavier and cut down on cardio.

my diet is as follows:

breakfast: 1/4c oats + shake + banana

morning tea: 1/2 hplc bar + 1pc fruit

lunch : 3egg whites & 1 yolk + salad

afternoon tea: 1/2 hplc bar + 1pc fruit

dinner: meat + kumara + veg

supper: whey sup

how does this sound?

Your base metabolic rate is apporx 1534.8 cals per day >

Your plan is significantly under spec ... not bad if you want to cut but I'd assume an increase to your protein levels would be a good place to start.

but you'll need to know how you are going to split - ..

offseason plan for building could have a split of ...

prot / carb / fat 50/25/25%

So a 2000cal daily bulk could be 1000cal/ 500 /500 or 250g prot/ 125g carb / 55g fat.

a cut could look like 60/10/30% @ 1500cal = 300g pro / 12.5g carb / 50g fat

...

A bit of research into the food macros and a formula - (not saying main are the right ones - but they work for most people) ... and you'll make quicker progress.

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how regular are you talking?

i ran 7km every day (faster than 4min/km) for 24 days in a row and at the end of it i was fucked, strength went down, lost about 4kg, felt like shit all the time. im sure my cortisol levels would have been really high, had higher than normal liver enzymes (twice upper reference limit).

i do agree that running has a lot of benefits, but from my own experience it can also be counter-productive in terms of building muscle/getting stronger.

guess its all about balance though...

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loss of strength, weightloss and tapped energy = not enough calories / macros may not have supported the training ... (bodybuilder diet is not quite right fit ... need to adjust slightly to accomodate the cardio) - just speculating as I don't know how your meals were structured.

Last possibility was probably hydration - 90% of the time people dont hydrate enough to clear the system of toxins etc. Yes cortisol levels are high - but if you plan your nutrition around the training requirement you can minimise the impact.

A couple of years ago I did a full keto diet and used a regular advanced spin class 3 times per week and alternated with a 45 minute run. I was still able to leg press 450kg for reps, bench over 170kg ....

To be honest I wouldnt recommend this type of cardio routine to anyone - you have to have a very healthy appetite and be very methodical in your programming and preparation of your food intake. Only making small adjustments and measuring what the change is.

Basic nutrition will get you so far - then sometimes its worth while actually going to see a qualified dietician to help figure out the bits of the puzzle that sometimes get overlooked.

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I'd say try and lift more often, or make your training more focused on heavy lifting and less on cardio. (as in the cardio is a bonus)

if you're doing too much cardio it can disrupt your protein metabolism and increase cortisol etc and therefore you wont build the muscle you want and might stall fat loss. Also the more muscle you have the more calorie requirement you have so the easier it is to lose bodyfat also your hormone profile will improve etceetc.

.

Not quite correct - the muscle requires protein after all intense exercise. For years mainstream bodybuilders have been scared to run in case they lose size. Muscle develops and repairs exactly the same way - the impact of protein absorbsion or break down into aminos would not be significant enough to rule out the benefits. I know a lot of successful body builders that run over distance on a regular basis ... Jo Stewart for one ...

drobson164d.jpg

Also - estrogen levels have been proven to substancially reduce after mod/high cardio vascular training at longer intervals > this can have a postive impact on lowering bfat % in the med / long term - generally speaking an increase in fitness can assist most trainers in reducing bfat quicker. How many fat tri-athletes do you see running around - granted they are not generally over muscular but thats also indicative of the dietary regime they follow.

Best thing to do is experiment and find out what works.

I was actually referring to this

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo ... -loss.html

Which is exactly what you went on to describe.

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thanks for the calculations optimass, i'm going to up my protien intake, replace hplc bars & fruit with hand full almonds & shake etc, go heavy sets (back at gym) cut back slightly on cardio "as i still like my cardio" & see how this goes for the next month.

love jo stewarts look :clap:

All the coments been gr8,

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thanks for the calculations optimass, i'm going to up my protien intake, replace hplc bars & fruit with hand full almonds & shake etc, go heavy sets (back at gym) cut back slightly on cardio "as i still like my cardio" & see how this goes for the next month.

love jo stewarts look :clap:

All the coments been gr8,

:clap:

agree with that

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