Never been serious about body-building, til now ;)

(Denise) #21

Ok, finally took the best measurements I could, feedback welcome on “how-to” if I maybe should have done it different :wink:

Here’s the areas I measured, but not going to list the measurements, you can if you want to, but I’m saving it for when I reach my goal, which I don’t really know what that will be, as I’ll decide when I want to just “maintain” the muscle I’ve built (optimistic aren’t I :smile: ):

Right Bicep
Right Quad
Right Calf
Waist (smallest part)
Belly-button waist
Hips

Thanks all, denise, just for being here :wink:

#22

@Goldengirl52 this was my weight session this morning (uk time) Warm up and stretching as per previous post.

  • 3 x 10 shoulder press (machine) and arm front raises (dumbbells) done in a double set
  • 3 x 10 leg press (m) and squat (no weight) done in a double set
  • 3 x 10 low row (m) and high row (m) done in a double set
  • 3 x 10 leg extension(m) and 3 x 6 dropset slow leg extension (m) in a double set.

We don’t normally use as many machines but I forgot my gym log so we couldn’t remember dumbbell sizes and it’s easier to adjust the machines.

I’ve only got one organised session this week so my goal is to do at least another session on my own. Hope you have a great day

(Denise) #23

Are you taking your measurements to show your progress, or are you maintaining your muscle @thistley? I’m just curious how your workout-type is working? Did you start recently, or been at this for years?

I want to learn from all of you here :slight_smile: I start tomorrow as my gym will be open again. I haven’t done anything here at home, not even walk. I hope I’ll do something today but to be honest, I’m dealing with some depression right now. I don’t want to get off topic and talk about depression though, don’t want to depress anyone else :sweat_smile: just encourage others.

Whatever you are working on, you’re doing great, looks like a great routine. Once I start I want to list what weight I’m on too. Every one of us is different but I’d like to see what other are lifting, only if they want to share that is :wink:

#24

Oh, measurements… I just use my eyes but now I got curious and measured our (my SO’s and mine) biceps as I did in the past but forgot the number… Mine isn’t informative as I have some fat even on my arms now (I never had really fat arms, my extra fat is everywhere else, mostly but a little bit is on my upper arms for sure. my wrist is very skinny, no matter what)… Apparently mine is just like the average for men. Men could do much better if you ask me. My SO has a thinner one, no surprise there.

Today was sleepy and I forgot my workout. Tomorrow will be better as it has to be.
I checked out the video. I had to mute it as the noise is utterly horrible, the exercises are okay, they are mostly familiar but I saw a few I never did myself and maybe I should :slight_smile: I heard about we should regularly change the exercises but that’s such a chore and I barely do my half workouts anyway and skip weeks so I never deemed it very important for me, sometimes I do change them for various reasons. But very rarely. Still, keeping my fav ones and doing them here and there was enough to keep my strength level, it could have been worse… But now I strive to do better. But this brain melting heat is killing me. Today a heat record broke :frowning: And still no rain.

#25

I’m working at dropping body fat so hoping to build muscle but shrink overall. I think you’ve done the shrinking part. I’ve only been doing the gym sessions since the start of July. Before that I occasionally used bands or very small dumbbells in the house. I also practice yoga and I used to run badly until I ruptured both calf muscles (not at the same time fortunately) Weight loss wise I’ve been at this far too long but stalled at my current weight so seeing if building muscle might help.

Weights wise I was using 2 kg dumbbells this morning although I’ve used 4kg for a bicep curl (felt the burn). On the shoulder press with the machine I’m on 9 kg and on the leg press 18 kg. This is after two months but I started on all the first peg baby weights to start with which still felt hard! The machines are easier to control than the dumbbells and my non dominant arm has to catch up. I’m slowly moving up as I don’t want any more muscle injuries or dropping a dumbbell that I can’t control onto my foot.

(Denise) #26

That’s great @Shinita Shinita, I think it will help encourage me as the scales, at least when I was losing the fat (still some to go along with the visceral surrounding organs) are so unreliable. So this time to do a better “factory reset” haha, I wish, I want to pay attention a bit more, but not get to extreme, obsessed :wink:

Once we get back in a routine, it can become like any other. I have a morning routine just around the house, so I need to fit in my workout times again. I did get started with a 2.13 mile walk, which is half uphill. I hadn’t been in a week at least, and I was puffin but made it all the way.

@Thistley , thanks for all your info, I have fat still as I mentioned above to Shinita, so part of my building muscle, and my uphill walks for main aerobic type, will hopefully burn a good percent of the fat off.

My BMI just say 20% now, but it’s more accurate to just “look” at how much I can grab. Calipers didn’t work for me. Mine gathers around my waist mainly, or that’s at least where I notice is most, hard to fit pants for example. Butt fits, waist doesn’t etc :wink:

I loved my bands, and they did tone really well. I just believe now, after hearing friends here say, like @PaulL has always said lift to failure, and I never have tried. I am pretty cautious about “not” injuries myself. Have a little degenerative bone loss, but been working on that when weight bearing body weight type exercise. I’m sure for bone-density which reminds me, they were supposed to call to get me in for that :wink:

I still want to try what @Alecmcq told me about on another thread, I just feel it’s a good way to try since working out in the gym almost 3 years was, I’m sad to say, wasted some time I could have gone heavier. So this time I’ll try something more :wink: but listen to my body all the way for sure :wink:

I’ll quote that reply from @Alecmcq here when I find it :wink: I also like these 4 steps although as @Geezy56 pointed out, the person writing isn’t keto, eats 60% of cals. from carbs, but I think the lifting info can be good :wink:
https://www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/science/kinesiology/4-simple-rules-for-gaining-strength-and-muscle-157949/

#27

You should expect your weight go up quickly in the beginning :slight_smile: Even I had that* and I am so lazy… I took notes and sometimes I look at those, OMG I started biceps with my 3.25kg dumbbells? :smiley: Now it’s 9kg since ages. And I used those small dumbbells for chest exercise too! Not chest press, another one where a big weight is impossible for me so I changed the exercise.

*I mean I considered it quick. It’s nothing compared to many men’s style where they raise weights every week… I am more patient than that - and anyway, when your current weight is, like, 4kg, +1-2kg is a big change!

I only had that with my triceps exercise lately. There is a huge difference between my 2 arms, at least it was the case with the previous exercise, I only did the new one once and I don’t remember what happened. I don’t have such assymmetry with the other muscle groups.

(Heather ) #28

Hi Denise,

Building muscle in my experience is easier on keto, I currently do CrossFit and a little powerlifting.
The key is keep pushing the weights and stay consistent.
I don’t use machines at all - all free weights, barbells and body weight exercises.
I supplement with creatinine- good at my age - guessing we are at a similar age :wink:
I work out with a lot of women and our limiting factor is not our bodies or diet - it’s our beliefs - we are all stronger than we think!

(Bob M) #29

If you’re on Threads, there’s a woman who is “oldladygains”, I think. She even has shirts and the like for sale. I think she’s targeting 50 years and older.

(Denise) #30

Loved this Heather, can’t agree more on the belief part :wink: The only thing that might be a problem is hitting the gym at the right time if I want to do all free-weights, but I do believe that is what I need most to build. Wouldn’t using the weight-machines where you have to push or lift work as well? I know you get more range of motion (helping with balance, and maybe more muscles worked), but I may “have” to use those for a time if it’s too crowded.

I’m 71 so I’ve found about 9 a.m. is pretty good timing for more opportunity to do the free-weights, but I’ll get more familiar with my routine and the gym itself, it’s gigantic, but love the options available there. I love to be in the water after my weights, and maybe eventually try the pickle ball but I do worry about my old bones, LOL!

Thanks so much, your reply was so encouraging Heather :wink:

(Denise) #31

I don’t know what “threads” is Bob?? I do see some ladies my age working out in videos, but just I think I found that does a routine I can follow with dumbells. They have videos from my gym as well on days I just want to follow from home, but they are just on the internet, not my TV. Youtube is good though, just mostly young women doing the full-body workouts with dumbells.

I’ll google “Threads” see if I can find it, but you are welcome to send me a link if you’re around today :wink: thanks so much, denise

(Bob M) #32

Threads is a phone app that is supposed to be a competitor to Twitter/X. If you don’t want another app or you don’t have a smartphone, it’s not a big deal.

She’s more of an advocate, trying to encourage women to lift and get in the gym.

#33

Just saw this thread! Going to enjoy following it.

I’ve been working with a trainer at the gym since last fall. I started with full body workouts three days a week but this spring we switched to two leg days and two arm days alternating.

I keep having things happen that interrupt my progress. First a foot surgery last fall that put me out for about 8 weeks. Then three eye surgeries that each knocked me back about 10 days. Then I got Covid in the spring, and that put me out completely for 2-1/2 weeks but at the end I fell in my driveway and bruised a few ribs too. That caused a few weeks delay and limited what I could do. Then I broke my toe this summer :rofl: and that messed up my leg day for a month. And now? I’m struggling with a severe case of tennis elbow in one arm (caused by spring planting/spading of over 400 seedlings) that has been getting worse since May. I’ve been without any arm days for the past 8 weeks now and it’s driving me crazy. I did PT for a month and it only made it worse. It’s killing me not having four full days in the gym. And two other women I work out with have had no injuries and the difference in progress is amazing. I’m so jealous watching what they can do and I feel like I’ve been knocked back to square one for me arm days compared to them. If none of this had happened to me it would be amazing where I’d be today with an uninterrupted, four day a week routine for 9 straight months.

So now I’m resting my arm completely and trying to just not use it at all. I need my arm days back, but even lifting the hex bar on my leg days irritates it. Gah!

I need to reverse my severe osteo at least some. It’s pretty bad so the best I could do is go from a -3.7 T-score to maybe a -3 but I’m really wanting to go to a -2.5. It’s hard to improve it at all when I keep getting interrupted like this year. I feel like I’m climbing a hill and getting inches from the top and then someone kicks be back down the hill and I have to climb back to where I was, over and over.

It makes me viciously and angrily determined though, so I won’t give up. :joy:

#34

This is the image I keep in my favorites folder to look at often. I used to look like her on the left. The right is what she did after teaching herself. She was 47 on the left and 53 on the right, however she got close to the right after only 4-5 years. I’m 59 now, but I still believe this is possible at my age. I am not aiming to be a competitor or even achieve what is on the right, but this is what motivates me every single day.

Screenshot_20230204-134504_Pinterest
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(Denise) #35

She sounds really good, but I don’t even use my X account, mostly Youtube. Maybe she’s got something on youtube as well, I’ll look, thanks Bob :wink:

(Denise) #36

I’m much older, but I see woman older than I am, like the pictures above, and I’m definitely not looking to compete, but I guess you never know. I agree it’s never too late (with those that say that :wink: ) to improve our health, and I still believe in those that say yes, I can still build muscle. It’s just going to be harder for me to do so.

By the way, does anyone feel when your muscle start improving, that it feels sort of weird to actually feel the muscles in your body? I wonder how people that are so muscled up how it must feel to walk around, like the guys that can’t put their arms down? I think hard-body is so popular, but not sure how much “hard” muscle I want, end up walking funny and not looking feminine anymore. At my age, pretty sure I don’t have to worry bout that happening :wink:

#37

No natural female bodybuilder has any reason to worry. Even men can’t get super muscular without steroids, it’s just not how the human body is.
I know I would love more muscle than what is possible for me but I will be happy with whatever lazy me can get :wink:

And even if one finds the normal muscular body too much, the muscles won’t just suddenly appear. If it starts to get too much, one can just stop raising weights and keeping what they have :slight_smile:
I personally find the possible (for younger ones, at least) most muscular legs too much, at least I did last time I saw some women with super muscular thighs. But maybe it was the dryness (they weren’t super dry, they looked good enough but maybe a little bit fat would make them looking better in my eyes). It’s my taste so I may not focus so much on my legs - but considering I dislike leg exercises and I don’t cycle so much especially not uphill (we will see if I ever will be able to run a decent amount), I probably don’t need to worry about that. For all the other muscle groups, I want whatever I can get!

(Denise) #38

I think we can all do well to not put ourselves down. I do it too, just did it awhile ago calling myself an “old lady”. I know I need to treat myself like I want to treat others who I don’t run down, and would never call them the names I call myself :wink:

(Bob M) #39

As a former “body builder” (wanted to be like Arnold Schwarzenegger), it takes a while to gain muscle. It took me years – I mean YEARS – to bench press 315, and even then I did it maybe a few times. That’s 6 years in her case.

It’s a slow process, but I find it decreases stress a lot. More than pretty much any other exercise, at least based on a comparison of time. In other words, 20-30 minutes of body building/weight lifting/body weight training reduces stress more than 45 minutes-1 hour of jogging.

(Denise) #40

Yes, I do think about how long it will take, but it will keep me nice and busy, which is very healthy for me, if I’m busy doing something healthy :wink: