Ugh, everywhere I look someone or some book or article tells me something different. I want to weight train to increase my metabolism and build a little bit of muscle. I do not want to get bulky. I also love the stationary bike and eliptical trainer. Having said this, can anyone tell me how often I should be training? I did biceps and triceps Thursday and I want to go again this morning and I was thinking shoulders chest and back after about 25 minutes of cardio. Anyway, how often should I be working out, and how long do my muscles need to rest? I am very good with my form, so once I get a routine established I will be on my way!!
A good rule of thumb is to give the musle you worked at least 24 hours to recover before working them again. Shoulders, chest and back also work your biceps and triceps so today would not be a problem.
Also, do cardio after your weight training.
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Ugh, everywhere I look someone or some book or article tells me something different.
Its dependent on what is optimal for your time constraint and your goals. Some people lift twice a week, 3 times, 4, and sometimes more than that. Training frequency should determine the volume (ie sets and reps) and therefore length of each workout.
With that said, what works best for you? 2,3,4 times a week?
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I want to weight train to increase my metabolism and build a little bit of muscle. I do not want to get bulky.
What are your current stats (ie height, weight, age, bodyfat % if you know)? Also, you will not get bulky, that is a myth and while we're at it, take a look at this article that explains common gym fallacies:
I also love the stationary bike and eliptical trainer.
I hate these things lol. Do you by any chance like the ergonomic rower? When youre on these machines do you perform straight cardio, or do you do high intensity interval training (ie 20 sec sprints, 40 sec jog, repeated for about 5-8 times)?
Also, post your diet, as much of any aesthetic results are heavily diet-driven.
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One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet... work your legs!!! And not just leg extensions and leg curls. Squats, deadlifts (stiff-legged, sumo, whatever)... compound movements....
And oh, anything Gq tells you to do, do. (well maybe not EVERYTHING!)
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I am female, 5 7" 158. I guess I should have mentioned that I want to lose about 20 pounds. About 3 weeks ago I tested 30% body fat. At that time I wasn't weight training, only cardio. I feel my clothes getting looser, but no weight loss yet. I enjoy working out, and I have a very flexible schedule, so I can go anytime but I want a routine so can get results. With regard to my diet, I eat a lot of lean proteins, rarely any sugar, no caffeine, but I do like a few glasses of wine so, thats my vice. I sometimes do interval training on the stationary bike and , but I hate the rower!
That link that Oldguy posted is Cap's training log, you might want to put one up to make sure your doing things correctly and have people check your progress and point out anything weird.
Also dont equilibrate weight loss with fat loss. If you lose fat and gain muscle then you might weigh more or feel like your net weight loss is low but yet you still look good. The reason is because muscle weighs more that fat. For example, my mother (48yr old 5'3 175lb with arthritis)lost about 5-8 lbs in 12 wks but she ended up losing 6 inches on her waist and has redefined her leg and glute composition so shes able to get into size 12 pants where she was previously stuck at 16s. So just keep in mind the weight loss fat loss connection. You might want to take a few pics of yourself (front, back, side views) every month or so so that you can check your progress because oftentimes we dont notice how drastic our gains have been.
Training-wise I have had friends use turbulence training. Craig also sells services for this and I have no doubt that he can help you reach your goals faster. http://www.cbathletics.com/issues/80.htm
If you never done any of those exercises, you might want to take a week practicing them before jumping into a routine. Let us know the ones your unfamiliar with and we can posts video clips of what they should look like.
Diet-wise, Ill leave the floor open for others. But you might want to check out the diet forum and lookup the Adam's Diet posts and stickies. Many people (including myself) have been able to lost fat on this diet.
__________________
"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
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