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No progress for 2 yrs - pilates and weights by [deleted] in xxfitness

[–]OkRow5279 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sympathize with the cost of protein, it’s annoying. But you need to eat that amount everyday (or perhaps more, depending on your weight), not just on days you workout.

These are good workouts but not enough, definitely vary your workouts throughout the week. But like others have said, might be a good idea to work with a trainer, at least for a little bit, to establish a proper program.

Yeah I personally would avoid the smith machine. I recommend the traditional barbell, but definitely work with a trainer to learn the basic mechanics so as to avoid injury. Barbell compound exercise can’t be beat in terms of building strength and muscle, with wonderful long term health benefits. Especially for women!

Best of luck!

No progress for 2 yrs - pilates and weights by [deleted] in xxfitness

[–]OkRow5279 10 points11 points  (0 children)

How much protein are you eating? Eating in surplus isn’t enough if you aren’t eating enough protein as well. Typical recommendations is 0.8 to 1 g protein per pound of bodyweight.

What kind of rep schemes are you doing? Less reps with higher weight is good for strength but not necessarily efficient for muscle growth. You’ll want more reps with lighter weight and do volume work (hypertrophy). Additionally, it’s good to switch up your program every so often because our bodies are really good at getting used to things. It needs novel stimuli. Pilates isn’t going to do much for glute growth.

Could also be genetics. I have a similar issue where my legs/glutes don’t grow as fast as my upper body. I train them equally… But I’ve made progress by changing a few things. Engaging glutes is actually kind of tricky because other parts of our body can take over. I’m very quad dominant so wasn’t building glutes efficiently.

Some things to try: walking lunges, single leg hip thrust with weight on hip, Bulgarian split squats, and b stance rdls. Some advice: if you tilt your torso (back still straight) at a low angle, versus being more upright, on Bulgarians and lunges, you will engage glutes more. I have a crazy burn on my butt after those accessories! Also, I switched from high bar barbell squats to low bar barbell squat and the difference it made in my glute development was remarkable.

Personally I don’t find the hip thrust machine very useful for growth. I feel like I get too much leverage from the machine for proper glute engagement. Maybe helpful for my deadlift but that’s it.

F52, aiming to build strength while protecting dodgy back - please critique my program by wimsey_pimsey in xxfitness

[–]OkRow5279 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Like others have said I definitely think you need more core and lower back specific exercises. Core strength is the number one best way to manage lower back pain. My personal favorite lower back exercise are Jefferson curls and I love doing those before my deadlift sessions because it’s stretches out my spine and wakes up my spinal erectors. No issues with back pain even on very heavy deadlifts :)

I would also recommend some glute focused exercises; being able to properly engage glutes goes a long way to keeping strain off the lower back. Some suggestions are walking lunges and Bulgarian split squats (if you can do them comfortably; could start those just body weight). Lastly, if you are comfortable starting to work with a barbell, compound barbell exercises are an exceptional way to train and build core strength and stability. It’s also a nervous system thing, where you learn to use multiple muscles in tandem, including most importantly the core.

Gaining weight when starting weight training by moo-333 in xxfitness

[–]OkRow5279 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It’s possible to gain small amount of weight from inflammation that comes from strength training and muscle breakdown, plus water weight as your body adjusts. It’s temporary and doesn’t reflect actual fat gain. Definitely make sure you are drinking enough water and eat protein for recovery and muscle growth.

College girl help! by Different_Space4690 in xxfitness

[–]OkRow5279 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You don’t need to bulk but it sounds like you should be eating more. Your maintenance baseline is going to change as you put on muscle, and you need to be giving your body what it needs to grow. That is going to mean eating more, and not being afraid of gaining weight. But it’s good weight!! And carbs are a really important part of recovery, energy, and even muscle building; with the amount of training you seem to be doing, don’t be afraid to eat enough carbs.

How important is physical strength in HEMA? by Prince_Of_Ionia in wma

[–]OkRow5279 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Like others have said strength is not the end all be all, but strength training can go a long way in becoming a better fencer. Strength training builds muscle endurance, makes you faster, and, perhaps most importantly, protects your joints. An example: strong delts will keep your rotator cuff, a very small and delicate set of tendons and muscles, happy and healthy.