Another thing: I noticed there were some body builders in here. As most people know, muscle not only weighs more than fat, but it burns fat. I believe it's like fat burns like 10 calories while muslces burn 50? Or something along those lines. I can't remember exactly. My question is... if I want to gain muscle to assist in fat/calorie loss.... but I most definitely do not want to bulk up and definitely don't want muscular arms..... what areas should i focus on/What exercises should I do? Does gaining muscle necessarily mean weight training? Or can it mean resistance as well?
Excellent work, but remember to give yourself a day to let the muscles recuperate every so often. At least that is what my trainer says... I am not a professional by any means... Just listening to the fit and toned people that I pay my hard earned money too. )
sounds like you just want to tone.. you wont bulk up, it takes a lot for a girl to bulk up, we just dont have the testosterone for it.. lol.. but you can tone..resistant bands and light weights if you prefer will tone you up.. But I would kill to have some summer arm defination.. haha!..
here's a hot tip for you all and pretty cheap at that. I got a New Balance pedometer for xmas(link shown below). I have been wearing this thing day in and day out. I did skip a day or 2 on a weekend due to a lil drinky drinky! :beer4: LOL VIA Active USB - New Balance Sports Monitors The killer part about this thing is I wear it all day and this tracks so many different things it's crazy. Then I just got done downloading the (free)software from the same site and I can log all of my total steps, calories burnt, cardio steps and more. It keeps all of it separated by day, week, month and year, so I can monitor what days I was killing it on the workout days and what days I was doggin it. After reviewing the results I think I need to up my daily steps.... kinda is making my goals look a lil easy right now. I was just so stoked about this thing I had to pass on the info. I run a forklift for a living and the bouncing around hasn't affected the results either
OK here is the scoop on that darlin...it isn't so much the type of training you are doing it is the weight/resistance you use combined with the # of reps. I.E, if you want size do higher weight with less reps(25lbs w/8-10reps) if you want tone and fat burn do less weight(or the same weight more reps(20-25lbs w/12-15-20reps). Either way you should be struggling to finish the last 2-3 reps in whatever workout you do otherwise you are just taking to long to get the same result. Yes muscle burns more fat but in order to build muscle you have to burn the fat first. So you are at a loss either way. You have to burn up that fat and there are specific ways to do that or to help that along. Do NOT diet... crash dieting is the WORST thing you can do to your body as it sends it into a tail spin and your body tries to over correct for what it is used to having. The trick to it is discipline. You can maintain eating the same stuff you are used to but use smaller portion control and ween your self into better eating habits giving your body time to adjust. I don;t mean taking months either. Usually a week will do, and at most 2 weeks. When you are working out more than you normally have in the past there is a peak recovery time after working out depending on the type of workout you are doing. Cardio= roughly 1 hr recovery time and muscle(building)=1/2hr or less. You need to think about this when you are doing your workout and what you need to eat/drink for recovery as well. Cardio/fatburn= eat low calories, high fiber and protien and drink a TON of water or enhanced water to rebuild your electrolytes.(rice cake and peanut butter, mixed nuts, apples, bananas) Muscle(build)= high protein!!! and lots of water!, fish(tuna or salmon are best), eggs, venison steak) The difference is this. Your objective is to burn fat fast. Well your body needs to be able to first burn fat, so you have to push your muscles are to the point of oxygen depletion(cardio or higher) and then it starts to look to the fat stores for "energy". That is when it starts to kill off the fat. So when you do a work out do NOT take long breaks in between sets, only 1 minute max and constantly shake muscles/body to keep them loose. When you are done you HAVE TO drink as much water as human possible. This is where you expel the waste/fat that was burnt. If you don't then it just enters back into the blood stream and gets deposited in another are that was "hurt" during the workout to "repair/save" your body in the future. Peeing is the only way to detox your body of waste, sweat is not!!! that is just your body's way of cooling and is all water loss. Peeing is cause of the body filtering waste or burnt fat through your kidney and out of the body. You can tell the amount of excess you have in your system when you judge by the color of your urine. The darker the color of urine is equal to the amount of sugar/toxins within your blood/body. The more clear the urine you have the better you are filtering. Keep in mind that for a fully hydrated person, you should be urinating on average every 1 hr! It seems like a lot compared to what you would normally do but that is just to be fully hydrated.... you should be going even more often to try and detox. Hope that helps?
I worked out this morning before work. Sure wish my body would start to cooroperate more. Frustaded for sure.
hahah True! I always forget that! I'm so hard on myself. I try to stay focused and just forget to take a breather! lol. I'm still sore and it's nearly 8pm! Thanks!! I'm not saying any arm muscle is gross.... but it just scares me because I see women with like super sculpted arms and legs and I really don't want to look like that. I like being thick. I just want to be a better thick. Still working off this baby weight. I have a resistance band somewhere.... I'm gonna have to find that little guy! lol wow! you guys are awesome!! I don't even know where to start to respond. My thing is..... well without making this a long story... I will just say that only a few months ago I went into cardiac arrest(not my fault. I was healthy.... the doctors screwed up) and I've had issues ever since. I've been seeing various specialist to try to find out the problem. I just can't do too much without being in horrible pain. I can do a whole hour of zumba.... sometimes two hours.... but when the pinching starts I have to take a break for a song or so. It kinda feeling like the pinching when you run..... but times like 100 on crack. lol. I had an internal bleed (doctors fault) underneath my ribs... and that's where my pinches is. My friends who work out say it's just the cramp you get when you run. However it is in the same spot as from when i had my surgery/bleed. I haven't worked out at all today and it still hurts. So I get kinda scared that I could be bleeding internally. I had to get two blood transfusions before and they were NOT fun. I understand what you mean about water intake/peeing. I drink so much that I pee almost as much as I was when I was pregnant. I actually even took a pregnancy test because I thought I was due to always having to pee. haha. I will keep drinking a ton of water though! I just put a case in my car so I always have some! I'm also addicted to XXX by Vitamin water. Sucks because it has 100 calories a bottle. I swear I could drink 20 of those in one day if it weren't for the unneeded calories! As far as weight/exercise.... I'm obviously a squat lover.... but I'm worried about having huge quads. I'm not a tiny 150 pounds.... I'm over 200. I feel like my body weight is like the equivalent of doings squats with a heavy barbell. lol. I do a minimum of 100 deep squats a day.... all the way to the floor.... with a maximum of about 4-500. I do about 200 crunches(various kinds) and then 200 reverse crunches. then I don't know what they are called but I do about 100 of what I call "rolling crunches". I don't know the name but you lie on your back, feet in the air, knees bent 90 degrees, and you go as far as you can left to right and back without your shoulder coming off of the ground. I just do those, Zumba, and a minimum of 30 minutes on the elliptical(I do try to change the resistance/include/total time as I feel I'm progressing.). I don't believe in diets. I can never give up something permanently. Before I got preggers I lose 75 pounds in a few months by solely doing zumba. I ate whatever I wanted. The weight stayed off until I got pregnant. Even at 9 months pregnant I still weighed less than my pre zumba days. I just downloaded this app where i put in what I eat and it automatically knows the nutritional value of it.... even tv dinners and restaurants. At the end of the day it tells you what percent is carbs, fat, protein, etc. I completely agree about portion sizes. I learned to eat smaller meals after a nutrition class I had. They taught us that a happy meal here in america can feed a family of 3 in europe. CRAZY! I was doing great with small meals. Even to the point where I was so stuffed I couldn't even finish a small burger. But now thanks to thanksgiving and christmas I can eat a whole lean cuisine and STILL be hungry. I will slowly decrease the size of my meals until I don't even notice it anymore. I recently added frozen fruit, a ton of cranberry juice, peanut butter trail mix, and a lot more fresh veggies to my diet(since a nutritionist once told me that veggies are a "free" food and I can eat as much as my heart desires.) hehe I definitely am going to buy some rice cakes! I forgot about them! Haven't had any since the fall. Thank you all so much for your input!! I appreciate it!!
I haven't checked in in a couple of days but I have been eating right and working out! Sipping on a glass of wine right now, but I am still within my range for the day.
This may sound stupid... but here it is.. Being ex military I use to be very fit.. and now I'm old I'm not.. but you know what I can't get over... I think I look stupid & ridiculous when I work out. last year I was getting a pretty good routine going and my sister and mother were visiting and we did the Zumba together, I looked over at them and I swear to god I couldn't stop laughing...laughing so hard I was crying and almost peed my pants, and now everytime I picture myself doing anything.. I just can't get that picture out of my mind.. Does anyone understand what I'm saying.. Many times I see a routine or exercise and think I can do that and picture myself doing it..and the Wam..I think I would look stupid doing that.. I know I'm by myself but I just can't get over it..
