Girl looking for training help.

Helencart22

Helencart22

Helencart22

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1 Jun 2013
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32
My boyfriend recommended me to post on here for some advice, I'm currently trying to gain muscle and lose body fat but I'm not getting any results, I have been doing it for 4months. I have been eating 1700 calories on none gym days 2100 on gym days high protein on gym days.

My percentages are 31% protein, 34% carb and 35% fat and on none gym days my percentages are 23% protein, 48% carb and 29% fat unfortunately I'm a bit of a carb queen I find it hard to reduce my carb, I tried an extreme diet but I just couldn't do it (just eating whole foods). I'm currently 9 stone 5"5, size 8/10 I have short legs and a long body I hold my weight on my thighs but i have a flat stomach my legs are defiantly the area I want to slim down on my work out plan currently is twice a week weights and cardio.

My weight has stayed stable since I started this of between 127lbs-128lbs.

Work out plan:
Thursdays upper body:
20 min run 6mph and 5mins on the stepper.
Incline chest press 4 sets 15 reps.
Incline flys 4 sets 15 reps.
Seated Chest press machine close grip and wide grips 10/10 3 sets.
Lateral pull down's wide grip then close grip 10/10 3 sets.
Seated rows close grip 4sets 15 reps.
Db curls 4 sets 10 reps.
Then spinning for 20 mins at the end and 1000 meters on the rowing machine.

Saturdays lower body:
20min run 6mph and stepper for 5mins
Squats 2 sets 15 reps then 2 sets 12 reps
Leg press 1 set 15 reps low weight, 2 sets high weight 8 reps , then 1 set low weight 15 reps , 2 sets high weight 8 reps and 1 set 15 reps low weight.
Leg extensions 4 sets 15 reps.
Walking lunges 4 sets 10 Meters
Dead lifts 4 sets 15 reps.
Calf press 3 sets 20 reps.
Then spinning for 20 mins.

I was thinking of reducing my calories to 1600 every day but increasing my protein, so ill hopefully loose body fat and gain muscle I have done a rough diet plan and the percentages will be: 41% protein, 26% carb and 33% fat is this a good idea? Or should I stick to what I'm doing?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Is your weight training progressive and high intensity/strenuous?

Also, deadlifts @ 15 reps. Why? Scratch that, why that high reps on any exercise? You're going to have much more success with gains if you keep reps to 10 or less, 12+ simply doesn't stress muscle fibres in a way that stimulates growth.

:edit: also, boobies pls?
 
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Yes I feel that I'm getting stronger and lifting heavier but they haven't improved much I.e. chest press 5kg-7.5. But I can only do a few sets of that.

My cardio isn't really intense but I feel tired afterwards I use to do 40 mins cardio at the start but I was just too tired to lift so I cut it down to 25 mins at the start and 20 at the end.
 
Zefan said:
Is your weight training progressive and high intensity/strenuous?

Also, deadlifts @ 15 reps. Why? You're going to have much more success with gains I'd you keep reps to 10 or less, 12+ simply doesn't stress muscle fibres in a way that stimulates growth.
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That's what the pt's programme stated I do find I get very tired at the 15 reps but I only do that twice then cut it down to 12 reps twice.
 
PTs :(

Performing sets of high reps at low weights will limit your potential gains something rotten. I would forgeteeverything the PT has told you and stick to big compound movements with free weights instead of machines. Squats, dead lifts, bent over row, overhead press, bench press. Forget the incline for now, forget the bicep curls, it'll likely be contributing almost nothing to your goals.

It comes down to doing your known research and asking questions until you really understand why you're doing what you're doing. Posting on here is probably the best thing you can do, really helpful guys in here, some of which have heads the size of planets and filled with all kinds of knowledge.

Make a log in the training logs section!

:edit: more thoughts. You'd be better hitting the weights 3 times per week and ditching the cardio, unless it's HIIT (high intensity interval training - cycles of 20-30 seconds @ 100% followed by 2-3 minutes rest) and even then still probably not really going to be assisting your goals apart from burning the calories you're paying for at the supermarket and potentially encouraging your carb love.
 
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Also I do shoulder press I forgot to add that to my exercise plan, I did think it was too high reps and I was finding myself getting a bit tired so low reps makes more sense and ill try higher weights.

Do you think cutting my calories to 1600 every day high protein is a good idea to loose some fat??
 
Exercise doesn't encourage my carb love exercise suppress my appetite I actually really struggle eating after the gym lol, it's also my diet I'm confused about at the moment I eat 2100 calories on gym days more protein and 1700 on none gym days, but I really want to loose some fat and build muscle which I know is very hard do u think cutting my calories is the way to go eating more protein?
 
you said you have a flat belly and that is like the main place where fat collects on the body, i don't think you're fat i think you have big thighs which is perfectly fine, look into stronglifts 5x5 routine or starting strength.

as zefan said focus on compound exercises and never listen to PT unless you know him well, this is how their earn money and PT's i've see at my gym are rubbish at 90% of the stuff they do.

there was a PT that was teaching a big(fat) guy how to deadlift and he was explaining how he has to keep straight back and so on and then goes to deadlift on his own with the biggest bridge of a back i've seen! the guy even asked why he doesn't keep straight and his answer was "this is how i do it"

lmao?!

tbh pictures would help, for obvious reasons - nothing to perv at lol.

and losing fat and gaining muscle is CRAZY hard at the same time unless you know your body inside out..
 
A sudden big change in carb intake is likely to make you feel pretty crappy and low energy for awhile but if you want to build up muscle and reduce general body fat then reducing carb intake and increasing protein will help.
 
Ok we'll that sounds good ill try lifting heavier and lower reps, I like having cardio at the start so ill try doing some hit training instead.
Do u think cutting calories would do any harm?
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Zefan said:
You'd be better hitting the weights 3 times per week and ditching the cardio, unless it's HIIT (high intensity interval training - cycles of 20-30 seconds @ 100% followed by 2-3 minutes rest)
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The principle of HIIT is that it becomes anaerobic when you build up an oxygen debt. Resting 2-3 minutes between bursts is going to be counter productive.

A 15-20 second burst followed by a 30-40 second rest is a good balance. Increasing, decreasing the rest periodically between bursts to keep you on your toes. A longer rest simply isn't HIIT, just regular interval training.

Helencart22 said:
Do you think cutting my calories to 1600 every day high protein is a good idea to loose some fat??
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Personally I would try to keep calories as high as possible so that you have a buffer should you find you've exhausted other options. Best to gradually trim calories off than come in too low to begin with.

I would say that adding some HIIT/Tabata and a change in your resistance program (try to keep the workout as aerobic as possible) should help you get through your plateau. Dropping calories isn't always the answer :)

Couscous is a great carb option as it's very filling, pretty low calorie and quite low carb content in relation to the volume of food.

Ratio's I'd advise (p/f/c):

Moderate: Training days: 40/20/40
None: Non Training: 45/45/ 10 (trace carbs from vegetables)
High: Once weekly on a training day: (30/20/50)

For example training Mon/Weds/Fri:

Mon: High
Tues: None
Weds: Moderate
Thurs: None
Friday: Moderate
Saturday: Moderate
Sunday: None

Avoid two no carb days back to back when possible.
 
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Ah ok I wasn't sure on what tabata was but its like circuit training then I might try that, so kettle bells might be a good idea? It's mainly muscle I wanna build but it's just a bit if fat on my legs i really wanna loose.
 
grudas said:
you said you have a flat belly and that is like the main place where fat collects on the body, i don't think you're fat i think you have big thighs which is perfectly fine, look into stronglifts 5x5 routine or starting strength.

and losing fat and gaining muscle is CRAZY hard at the same time unless you know your body inside out..
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Men and women store fat differently. It goes to our stomachs first and to women's legs/hips/butt. Burning fat works in reverse. I have lost most of my body fat except on my stomach- for the OP'er their legs/hips/butt will probably be the last place that fat will be burnt from.

Your other point is true.
 
Helencart22 said:
Ah ok I wasn't sure on what tabata was but its like circuit training then I might try that, so kettle bells might be a good idea? It's mainly muscle I wanna build but it's just a bit if fat on my legs i really wanna loose.
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Yeah, you can do Tabata with pretty much anything, skipping, jumping, rowing, running and also any weighted exercise also (although this is less common)

Helencart22 said:
Can I do the 5x5 routine also with the other exercises I do? Or just 5x5?
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The 5x5 routine is supposed to be a stand alone, it's never something I really looked in to personally.

In my opinion a more hypertrophy specific and aerobic routine would be better suited to your more immediate goals but that's just my two cents.
 
I'm not sure anybody's picked up on the main problem here:

You are trying to accomplish two contrary goals at once. Lose fat, and gain muscle. Yes, it may be possible for rank beginners to gain muscle and lose fat at once, but this tends to be in those carrying a considerable amount of fat - genuinely overfat beginners. At most, you might be able to gain some strength while losing fat (neuromuscular adaptation to exercise), but you're not going to see any particularly worthy-of-mention muscle growth. For a simple reason, too - you cannot create new tissue out of thin air. The general rule of thumb is you need sufficient calories to permit hypertrophy.

Let me ask - when you say you've had no results... in what exactly? I see you've had no results in dropping weight, but also no results in gaining strength? Has anything worked?

At any rate, let's say that dropping fat is what matters most to you at the moment. Your current calorie consumption is around 1700 on rest days and 2100 on workout days. Let's say you work out 3 days a week, maybe. You'd be consuming on average somewhere just below 1900 a day in a 7 day cycle. Now, as an active but small female at a bodyweight of 128 lbs, your MAINTENANCE calories are going to be in the range of 1600 to 1900 a day. That's a pretty good estimate. In view of this, you are not EXPECTED to lose much if any fat at all with your present calorie consumption. You have just not created an adequate caloric deficit. It really has absolute squat to do with the macros. You seem very focused on the dietary macronutrient percentages, but they have nothing to do with this problem at all. And again, the problem is that you are not in enough of an energy deficit to lose any fat.

Your choices, in that case, are as follows: you can start a lower calorie diet, or you can dramatically increase activity.

An alternative would be to forget about the fat loss for now, put on some serious muscle (which WILL mean some weight and fat gain as well), and then diet back down to 128 lbs. You will then be more muscular and far leaner, but at the same weight.

One way or another, you need to pick a sensible plan if you're to achieve any of your goals. Currently, it's all over the place.

So for starters, please forget about the macronutrient percentages. Percentages are not even a particularly helpful way of looking at it, as a certain percentage of something for somebody of a certain weight may be entirely wrong for somebody at another weight. The most important thing macro-wise is to get adequate protein, as this will be the muscle-sparing factor on a diet.

I am happy to answer any questions and feel qualified to do so having worked with numerous people in your predicament and achieved good results.

I will say right now that, unfortunately, these things CAN just simply SUCK for women, because they are smaller and therefore have far lower metabolic rates. Which just makes dieting an absolute PAIN in the jacksie. I mean, I can lose all the fat I ever need to on a diet of 2,300 calories a day and easily. If I had to diet at 1,300 or so, I don't know what I'd do. So you have my absolute sympathy, it is a MISERABLE experience to eat at those sorts of calories. But goals are goals, and what has to be done has to be done in order to achieve them.
 
BigPecsPeter said:
I'm not sure anybody's picked up on the main problem here:

You are trying to accomplish two contrary goals at once. Lose fat, and gain muscle. Yes, it may be possible for rank beginners to gain muscle and lose fat at once, but this tends to be in those carrying a considerable amount of fat - genuinely overfat beginners. At most, you might be able to gain some strength while losing fat (neuromuscular adaptation to exercise), but you're not going to see any particularly worthy-of-mention muscle growth. For a simple reason, too - you cannot create new tissue out of thin air. The general rule of thumb is you need sufficient calories to permit hypertrophy.

Let me ask - when you say you've had no results... in what exactly? I see you've had no results in dropping weight, but also no results in gaining strength? Has anything worked?

At any rate, let's say that dropping fat is what matters most to you at the moment. Your current calorie consumption is around 1700 on rest days and 2100 on workout days. Let's say you work out 3 days a week, maybe. You'd be consuming on average somewhere just below 1900 a day in a 7 day cycle. Now, as an active but small female at a bodyweight of 128 lbs, your MAINTENANCE calories are going to be in the range of 1600 to 1900 a day. That's a pretty good estimate. In view of this, you are not EXPECTED to lose much if any fat at all with your present calorie consumption. You have just not created an adequate caloric deficit. It really has absolute squat to do with the macros. You seem very focused on the dietary macronutrient percentages, but they have nothing to do with this problem at all. And again, the problem is that you are not in enough of an energy deficit to lose any fat.

Your choices, in that case, are as follows: you can start a lower calorie diet, or you can dramatically increase activity.

An alternative would be to forget about the fat loss for now, put on some serious muscle (which WILL mean some weight and fat gain as well), and then diet back down to 128 lbs. You will then be more muscular and far leaner, but at the same weight.

One way or another, you need to pick a sensible plan if you're to achieve any of your goals. Currently, it's all over the place.

So for starters, please forget about the macronutrient percentages. Percentages are not even a particularly helpful way of looking at it, as a certain percentage of something for somebody of a certain weight may be entirely wrong for somebody at another weight. The most important thing macro-wise is to get adequate protein, as this will be the muscle-sparing factor on a diet.

I am happy to answer any questions and feel qualified to do so having worked with numerous people in your predicament and achieved good results.

I will say right now that, unfortunately, these things CAN just simply SUCK for women, because they are smaller and therefore have far lower metabolic rates. Which just makes dieting an absolute PAIN in the jacksie. I mean, I can lose all the fat I ever need to on a diet of 2,300 calories a day and easily. If I had to diet at 1,300 or so, I don't know what I'd do. So you have my absolute sympathy, it is a MISERABLE experience to eat at those sorts of calories. But goals are goals, and what has to be done has to be done in order to achieve them.
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you sure about that? ;)

and i agree with you, also try not to over complicate it all.. i see a lot of people are complicating thing soooo much it gets crazy! huge excel food logs and stuff like that.. tbh all you need to do is eat enough to grow(in a case where you want to actually gain mass) and don't over eat to get fat.. if you train hard and eat enough you'll grow no matter what.

if you don't train hard enough or at all and eat like a pig you'll get fat simple.

any'ore listen to the guy i quoted lol.
 
grudas said:
you sure about that? ;)

and i agree with you, also try not to over complicate it all.. i see a lot of people are complicating thing soooo much it gets crazy! huge excel food logs and stuff like that.. tbh all you need to do is eat enough to grow(in a case where you want to actually gain mass) and don't over eat to get fat.. if you train hard and eat enough you'll grow no matter what.
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Exactly! I literally gasp when I see the extent to which some try to micromanage every little detail. The real answers are always far simpler than some try to make out.
 
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