Hi Kim,
One big problem I see [in Germany] is convincing females to do hard and challenging training. Most of them stay on the cardio machines forever and do some machine exercises with ridiculously light weights (even for women) and bad form. What are some clues or ways to convince females of the "right" way?
Best regards
Tobias
Tobias -
I'm still struggling with this myself!
It feels close to impossible to change the misconceptions of hundreds of thousands of misinformed females. Yikes!
It's true that most women want to lose fat. And since the general public (especially women) thinks that 'cardio = fat loss', and that 'weight lifting = unattractive, massive muscle gain'... well, they continue to do the excessive treadmill sessions and ineffective strength training exercises. Like hamsters on wheels. Running in place but going nowhere...
I try to let women know a couple things:
#1 - Muscle is the part of your body that burns fat. So, it's not a bad thing to have a bit o' muscle tone. If you add a bit more muscle to your frame, you will be burning more fat at any given moment! Your metabolism will naturally be higher!
#2 - It's really hard to put on gobs of muscle without trying. Lifting relatively heavy weights will not automatically make a woman muscle-bound. It will simply give her workout the intensity necessary to create an 'afterburn'... meaning, she'll burn calories for hours after the workout is over!
#3 - Muscle takes up less space than fat. For instance, five pounds of muscle is a much smaller pile of tissue than five pounds of fat. Therefore, if one replaces their excess fat with lean muscle, they'll be smaller! They may weigh the same... but who really cares about weight? As a woman myself, I'd rather be more compact and look good in my clothes.
It's no secret... I am 5'5" and 145 pounds. No one ever believes that I'm 145 lbs. I don't look like I weigh that much. I have a high percentage of muscle - much higher than most women, so I am not necessarily the norm. I've worked extremely hard to build a muscular physique. Anyway, my weight doesn't tell you anything about my body composition, my size, my metabolism. But the weight doesn't matter, really. And it shouldn't matter that much to any other woman.
Put on some muscle... probably melt off some fat... maintain your weight, but look smaller, tighter, and more toned... AND be able to stay at that body composition easily? Now, THAT's the way to go!!
#4 - Slow, long-distance cardio is NOT an effective way to shed fat. Intense, short bouts of cardio... and intense, relatively heavy bouts of strength training are the best way to create LARGE amounts of calorie burn over a 24-hour period (which is what will ultimately eliminate the unwanted fat).
And even with all this evidence, as well as the proof of all the lean, yummy females that have decided to trust that weight lifting can only help them... you will probably still find yourself frustrated with the resistance of females to the idea of working hard in the gym.
But keep me posted! If you even convince just a small handful to tap into their potential, you have been successful!
Thanks so much for the question, Tobias.
I feel your pain!
Hope my answer helped -
Kim
**Remember!! Any other fitness/nutrition questions can be directed to kim@deliberatemovement.com
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7 comments:
It's no wonder that so many people simply give up and stay over-fat! There is so much conflicting information given out by the professionals it's hard for us mere mortals to figure out what to do.
Just yesterday, I was chatting with a PT at my gym. He's a youngish bloke, fresh out of school. I worked with him once a week for about a year and he's quite knowledgeable.
I laid out my frustration at having not dropped any weight in the last 6 months (I'm down to 210 from 300 over about 2 years) in spite of trying nearly everything. His recommendation?
1. Switch from high weight/low rep to lower weight/high rep (15-20).
2. 30-60 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week (currently I'm doing 3 20-minute HIIT sessions).
3. Increase calories to at least BMR (currently about 300-400 below BMR).
grrrr.....sorry to vent but it is incredibly frustrating trying to figure out what to do or try NEXT. I am motivated - I am committed - I train hard - I don't eat junk - I track my food (accurately) daily - why in the world is this weight not vacating the premises? Let me tell you, I KNOW the definition of frustration!
Thanks for listening. I'll now return you to your previous scheduled program. :)
Dear sybil,
I can understand your frustration about not loosing fat in the last 6 month, but to loose 90 lb in a two year period is more than a lot of the people loose. Most of the people is see in the gym look the same year after year, but your weightloss should have created some noticable results.
Your trainer was on one hand right to change something, because if you don't get the results you want by the way you do you need to change something. On the other hand he maybe hasn't done the right changes. To be mor to the point:
- Stay with the heavy weights/low reps approach and build mor muscle. But most of the people overestimate the effect of a small muscle gain. What does not mean that you shouldn't go for it because it adds up over time.
- Interval training is also a good thing, but maybe you should modify your intervals after some time. It depends whar you are doing right now. You can prolong the intense parts or shorten the time in between.
- For your nutrition, what is your calories per day right now. For a woman 1200 kcal is the absolute minimum. To go even lower leads into "starvation zone". It is better to burn more calories than to go lower. Perhaps you can try the zig-zag method for the next 3-4 month. There you decrease the amount of calories about 700 for 3 day below activity energy expenditure (AEE) and on the third day you eat 100 more than your AEE and you have a deficit of 500 on average for the four days. This is a good technique to keep you metabolism up.
I hope that will help and please don't fall off the wagon. Do yourself a favor.
Best regards
Tobias
Thanks Tobias.
I haven't tried the cycling of calories - that's a good suggestion. As far as amount of calories, I've varied it from 1200-1400 up to 1800-2000 in 200 calories increments, giving each range at least a month to see if it makes a difference. The only real difference was that at the lower amount, I was incredibly bitchy, compulsive and overly focused on food. I've also tried variances in macronutrients -with no appreciable differences.
You are right...there have been incredible changes to my body and life with the removal of nearly 100 pounds and there is certainly something to be said about maintaining that loss. I guess I'm just frustrated because I know I'm not at my healthiest YET, that I still have more fat to lose, and some days I just want to throw my hands up and give up. I won't though. I'll keep pushing forward and changing things up and eventually, I've just got to believe, my body will release more fat.
Thanks for your encouragement. It's support from people like you and Kim and others that keep me going!
Hi Sybil,
Congrats on your wonderful achievement! You should be very proud.
I can totally understand your frustration at being stuck. Here are a few thoughts that may or may not apply to you...
* Have you eliminated liquid calories and most processed foods from your diet? It's not just the number of calories but the quality of food that makes a difference. Focus on eating fresh, unprocessed foods as much as possible.
I believe you don't eat "junk" but because of marketing hype, there are foods people consider good choices which are not.
* Do you change your strength training routine every 4-6 weeks?
* Do you concentrate on compound exercises rather rather than isolation movements such as Leg Extension, Hip Abduction / Adduction, Bicep Curls, Tricep exercises, etc.?
* I, too, recommend you stay with lower reps unless you want to consider periodization.
* Are you changing the times of your HIIT? (One day you do 30 seconds hard, 90 seconds recovery. One day you do 60:60, 45:75, etc.)
* Are you really pushing on the hard part of the interval? Are you working at an intensity of 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10?
* Are you slowing down enough to really recover during that part of the interval? I've seen people talk about running 8 mph on the treadmill and then "recovering" at 5 or 6 mph. Craig Ballantyne suggest recovery on a treadmill to be no faster than 3.5 mph.
* If you're not already doing so, I suggest being active for 30 minutes 6 days a week. On your "off" days, do something you enjoy. Go for a walk or a bike ride, play some tennis, go dancing, etc. - anything that won't interfere with your recovery but keeps you moving.
Hope something in there is helpful to you. Good luck.
Hi Mickey-
Thanks for your suggestions. Most of them I already do, but there are a few that I haven't tried so will put them on my list!
I eat primarily a whole-foods diet. Drink consists of water (still & mineral), low-salt chicken stock and hot tea with an occasional glass of wine with dinner (1-2 times per week).
As far as exercise....I haven't been changing my program as regularly as you suggest....either the HIIT or the strength training so I will try that (I'm open to trying most anything!). I'll also push the intervals a bit more although I try not to go past a heart rate of 135 (220-50=170)x80%.
I know that the PT at the gym means well and truly thinks he's giving me the best advice, but after a week of increasing my cardio to 60 minutes per day I can tell you that my 50 year old body is certainly complaining (major hip discomfort). 20-30 minutes of HIIT seems much more reasonable - especially since I do yoga or beach walks most days in addition to gym work.
As far as my strength training - About a month ago I switched from the Fred Hahn Slow Burn protocol (primarily machine based) to New Rules of Lifting for Women (primarily free weights). Although I was lifting quite heavy previously I am amazed at the difference required doing squats, lunges, deadlifts, pushups, rows, etc.
Thanks again for your suggestions. I did a quick visit to your website and want to tell you that it is refreshing to see 'normal' sized women portrayed!
Sybil -
I'm so excited that you've gotten such great advice from your original post! How refreshing to agree completely with the fitness/nutrition suggestions being given :)
My thoughts after the fab discussion:
*During intervals, why do you try to keep at or below 80% of your estimated max heart rate? I would rather you disregard the heart rate monitoring, and decide how hard to work based on your perceived exertion. Go for an intensity of 8 or 9 on a scale of 1-10, like Mickey said!
Remember... 220-age is an estimation for max heart rate. It's not a law that you have to follow. Try ignoring the HR monitor, and push your boundaries a bit. Of course, listen to your body, too!
*I agree w/ Tobias that your PT friend, while having the best intentions, was wrong in his recommendations for more cardio. That much repetitive motion will definitely wreak havoc on your joints, as well as create tightness in the hips (both of which you seem to be experiencing). Plus, if you follow the teachings of Alwyn Cosgrove, he continuously provides research that shows slow, steady, long distance cardio is useless for fat loss!
*I am super happy that you are now following Cassandra Forsythe's lifting program! Especially because she ensures that your workouts change every 4 weeks. Keep up the great work with that... and just make sure you are pushing yourself a lil bit further w/ each workout.
*I like the idea of calorie cycling for you. You can match up your high cal days w/ your hardest workout days - and your low cal days w/ your off days. Let us know how that works, if you choose to try it out.
You WILL make it past this frustration, Sybil... we all know it! Best of luck, sweetheart.
Kim
Sybil,
I totally agree with Kim about that much cardio - it's a recipe for repetitive motion injuries. Go back to the 3 (4 at the absolute most) HIIT sessions a week.
I'm really glad you've switched from machine dominant workouts- you'll get so much more benefit follow NRoL. Because a machine is no longer stabilizing you when you lift, your body has to work harder. Plus, those type of workouts are so much more specific to real life activity.
Thanks for visiting my website.
Hang in there and you will break through.
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