I Need Professional Help PLEASE!

Training Beginners
1

I am a 5’3" female, 124 lbs. My body fat percentage is 22.1% I’m not FAT, but I do have 1-1.5 inches of flabby-ness that seems to cover my body especially in the trunk region which is extremely irritating. When compared to obese America, I feel so close, yet so far away to my goals. Ideally I would like to shed the flabby fat and build killer glutes so that I won’t have to spend yet ANOTHER summer being thick in all the wrong places. What should I do?

I have read that first you bulk then you cut. Is this plan realistic for a woman? Especially one who has a hard time losing fat in the first place?
-Or-
Is it possible to lose the fat, since I don’t have tooooo much, simply by lifting and building muscle?
Since you need more than your daily caloric expenditure to gain muscle, and less to lose fat - what in the heck is a girl in my situation to do in 5 months?
I need help figuring out what direction I should be moving in before I waste even more money and time on supplements and plans that won’t work for me. And I have read so much contradicting information on the internet it’s making my head spin!!

2

What are your goals? Do you want to be model thin or look like a figure competitor?

3

Forget what you’ve read on the net. T-Nation is an amazing resource.

Diet:
Do a search for Nutrition for Newbies 1&2 and the 7 healthy habits of highly effective nutrition(or something like that). It will help you get your diet in order which is going to be a huge part of your weight loss goals. As a beginner it’s possible to build muscle and loose fat depending on how out of shape you are to begin with but if your overall goal is fat loss extra calories aren’t your friend.

Workouts:
I’m assuming you are new to lifting based on your profile(0 years training). It would be a good idea to look up some of the beginner strength programs(again the search feature is your best friend) or one of the fat loss targeted programs. I’ve had good luck with The Complexes for fat loss routine although it’s pretty brutal but its very effective.

I’m no pro but these are pretty much the same questions everyone had(myself included) when they first got here. You might also want to check out the Muscle Sorority for female specific info/advice.

PeterD

4

skw- a little of both actually, I want to def. be thinner, sexy thin, not runway thin, and I want to build up certain points such as my hiney

5

You don’t need professional help, you just need intelligent help. The nutrition articles are good ones, read those. Buy Starting Strength by Mark Ripptoe and devour the pages. He explains, blow by blow, exactly how to perform the majority of the exercises you will ever need.

He also includes a bit about beginner programming, which you would be doing. So good food choices + doing the compound movements with some good weight on the bar = path to your goals. Also, search this site and read an article by Dan John(genius) called goal setting for hard asses. He has a few others that might be useful. If you have questions, pm.

6

Since you are just a beginner(zero years training) the most important thing to remember is to save your cash!(you won’t get the most out of the supplements if you can’t shape your body on your own). It would be a great idea to search up articles on this site like everyone is advising. I also suggest that you open up some time in your day to just sit at your computer to read three or four articles(theres so much info that reading randomly will still give you tons of advice).

I would give more applicable advice(routines, foods, etc.) but I think that these should be left for when you are ready to hit the gym. Right now your focus should be collecting info and processing it, but, don’t worry too much because this initial stage only took me about a week and I’ve lost 20lbs of fat since I joined(only a few months ago).

Good luck

7

I’d say eat clean (check out some of the diet advice on T-Nation) and adopt a beginners 3x5 routine.

As a beginner you will have at least a few months where you can likely build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Squats & Deads are going to give you good muscle shape on your legs & ass and they’ll also help burn off the extra few pounds of fat (along with good nutrition) that you want to lose too.

More info would be good though. What do you currently eat? How often can you train and what equipment do you have access to?

8

Read the seven habits of healthy eating article:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459493

If you have access to a proper gym, you should do a routine like Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength.

Ideally, you should buy the book, but if that is not possible, here is a great summary of his routine and the lifts involved:

If you have no access to weights, you can still get a great workout with bodyweight exercises:

trainforstrength.com/workout1.shtml

And for cardio, it is best do do some form of HIIT, on non-lifting days:

trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml

9

i am a member at peak fitness, today I began my routine…

Woke up ate 1 egg and 1 egg white 2 pieces of turkey bacon

took vitamins, phentermine etc…

went to gym: 5 min elliptical stair climber, squats 50 lbs, leg curls 45 lbs, leg presses 70lbs, calf raises 70 lbs, and stiff legged dead lifts 35 lbs

had a protein shake- isopure 0 sugar 0 carb 50 gms protein 210 cal

ate 1 serving of grilled chicken 100 cal

ate grilled chicken caesar salad

another protein shake

all meals 3 hours apart- 1 gallon of water throughout day and some green tea

tomorrow i will do some cardio
wed. I will do some upper body - im honestly trying to avoid a lot of chest exercises I have sub muscular implants that aren’t a year old yet maybe some bench presses pulldowns, abdominals, curls etc
thurs- cardio again
fri- different lower body/butt again

10

[quote]devinrae55 wrote:
i am a member at peak fitness, today I began my routine…

Woke up ate 1 egg and 1 egg white 2 pieces of turkey bacon

took vitamins, phentermine etc…

went to gym: 5 min elliptical stair climber, squats 50 lbs, leg curls 45 lbs, leg presses 70lbs, calf raises 70 lbs, and stiff legged dead lifts 35 lbs

had a protein shake- isopure 0 sugar 0 carb 50 gms protein 210 cal

ate 1 serving of grilled chicken 100 cal

ate grilled chicken caesar salad

another protein shake

all meals 3 hours apart- 1 gallon of water throughout day and some green tea

tomorrow i will do some cardio
wed. I will do some upper body - im honestly trying to avoid a lot of chest exercises I have sub muscular implants that aren’t a year old yet maybe some bench presses pulldowns, abdominals, curls etc
thurs- cardio again
fri- different lower body/butt again

[/quote]

Try doing normal deadlift and not stiffed leg one. Your joints and knees will be grateful.

Also I would suggest some basic things you can take during the day to take of fat and stay healthy like fish oil and green tea.

For good behind :slight_smile: I would also recommend doing Lunges and some Good mornings.

Anyways keep up the good spirit and results will come. Don’t rush it or expect quick results cause most people fail at that point.

Keep your workouts hard and your diet clean and i don’t think u will have any problem getting to your goals.

Also little personal tip. Don’t think of your workout or strict diet as a punishment for you being “fatty”, make it privilege and enjoy it cause baby, it all up the hill from there :smiley:

11

As HvRv says, normal deads would be better as would some lunges.

Are you purposley keeping your carbs ultra low (Atkins springs to mind)?

Could you elaborate a bit more on your leg workout that you outlined? How many sets x reps are you doing at that weight? Are you finding it easy?

Fish oil would be good too (not first thing in the morning) or some flax seed oil.

I have no idea about training chest after implants I’m afraid! Olesya did an article a while back about choosing what sort etc. but I don’t remember if it had advice on post op training. Someone on MWA will help out on that score I am sure.

12

Hey there!!! Welcome to T-Nation. What part of NC are you from? Im in SC.

You will defenitely have to join us over in the Powerful Women forum. Lots of great ladies over there who kick ass on a daily basis. They can give you tons of advice.

Best of luck!!

B-3

13

This is all great advice, the quality of which always surprises me no matter how many times i see it on this site.

Some other things to think about:

get some fish oil. It’s the only “supplement” you “really” need to spend money on at your level. The benefits are to many to elaborate here.

Also think about the fact that you are indeed a woman. You have a higher body fat survival point than a man. Your body fat will start to maintain very hard at about 16-18%. This is because of your estrogen levels and is healthy for you. The most important thing here is to BUILD a HEALTHY body. This high bf% set point might worry you but worry not.

You can work your way around your hormonally dictated fat levels by thinking about making your muscles underneath larger. this way your muscles will show through the fat and also end up lowering the % (in a roundabout fashion).

From what I have noticed (and I am good at this) women who train regularly look eceptionally fantastic at about 18% bf. So it won’t be a worry. Just worry about building your body instead of trying to lose fat and you will notice the difference in appearance.

Also, a great “ass/heiny” workout that also functions as much funner “cardio” than elliptical is to do 400meters worth of walking lunges. Your ass will grow so fast if you do this once a week it will look like you’re riding a duck.

Have fun and make this your log. Keep us updated.

-chris

14

squats & deadlifts, squats & deadlifts, and more squats & deadlifts.

i get comments on my buttucks all the time because of squats & deadlifts. Heck, i have a hard time getting my pants up my waist because of my huge deadlift ass lol. Make sure to employ a perfect form.

Dont worry about your BF % and scale numbers as women tend to keep a higher level of fat than men. Worry more about how you look.

And as for fat loss, it’s very easy. Like others said, have a healthy diet and employ proper supplements like fish oil and green tea!

You’ve taken the right step in asking for advice and you’re at the right place. Always remember, easy come… easy go. Lasting results take time to buildso be patient.

15

Thanks guys I will buy some green tea, and fish oil, and I did start posting on the mwa forum, I was just new to the site and didnt know that half existed. I seem to get good advice everywhere so I am happy.
As far as reps and sets go,
Squats: 45lb x6 55x6 55x8 55x10,
leg curls: 40x8 45x8 45x8
Leg presses: 70x30
Calf Raises: 70x10 70x10 70x10
Deadlifts: 35x6 35x8 35x10

Kinda wussy but I havent lifted in a year

16

[quote]devinrae55 wrote:
Thanks guys I will buy some green tea, and fish oil, and I did start posting on the mwa forum, I was just new to the site and didnt know that half existed. I seem to get good advice everywhere so I am happy.
As far as reps and sets go,
Squats: 45lb x6 55x6 55x8 55x10,
leg curls: 40x8 45x8 45x8
Leg presses: 70x30
Calf Raises: 70x10 70x10 70x10
Deadlifts: 35x6 35x8 35x10

Kinda wussy but I havent lifted in a year[/quote]

If you’re deciding to work the upper/lower split. You can try and fill your movement selections with more compound movements. Multi joint movements will garner you quite a bit more progress at the beginner stage. Lifts such as overhead squats (even with just a broomstick), lunges, single leg work and box-jumps/other plyo work.

I would say that I have seen more clients advance faster with these types of movements than machine-based movements.

You might want to get a skipping rope as well. It beats the hell out of tooling away on the elliptical.

If you are choosing a low carb diet then be sure to get an equal amount of fats in your diet. Otherwise your hormone and energy levels will be rock bottom. Olive oil, red meat and fish are great sources.

-chris

17

[quote]devinrae55 wrote:
Thanks guys I will buy some green tea, and fish oil, and I did start posting on the mwa forum, I was just new to the site and didnt know that half existed. I seem to get good advice everywhere so I am happy.
As far as reps and sets go,
Squats: 45lb x6 55x6 55x8 55x10,
leg curls: 40x8 45x8 45x8
Leg presses: 70x30
Calf Raises: 70x10 70x10 70x10
Deadlifts: 35x6 35x8 35x10

Kinda wussy but I havent lifted in a year[/quote]

Kinda wussy? The weight is going to be important but whats more important right now is that you are back to it and taking some advice so well done from the outset.

Have you thought about doing some HIIT? There are some good articles about it around here somewhere!

18

[quote]Renton wrote:
devinrae55 wrote:
Thanks guys I will buy some green tea, and fish oil, and I did start posting on the mwa forum, I was just new to the site and didnt know that half existed. I seem to get good advice everywhere so I am happy.
As far as reps and sets go,
Squats: 45lb x6 55x6 55x8 55x10,
leg curls: 40x8 45x8 45x8
Leg presses: 70x30
Calf Raises: 70x10 70x10 70x10
Deadlifts: 35x6 35x8 35x10

Kinda wussy but I havent lifted in a year

Kinda wussy? The weight is going to be important but whats more important right now is that you are back to it and taking some advice so well done from the outset.

Have you thought about doing some HIIT? There are some good articles about it around here somewhere![/quote]

I’d also second this as the optimal form of energy systems for women. Any type of steady state cardio work will only leave you depleted and tired. Also I find that steady state work gives you that soft look whereas HIIT gives you more of a ‘hard’ look because it makes muscles work harder and facilitates more intramuscular blood flow, which is as close to spot removal as we are going to get.

Plus the all tie best part is a good HIIT session never takes more than 15 minutes.

-chris

19

Hey Kiddo! Hope you are still hanging in there.

B-3