Lifting weights for women! 💪🏻 Advice?

[fevronia]

I weight trained years ago but have just recently gotten back into it , after losing some extra lbs that had slowly built up over a stressful set of years. I have a bit of a hard time looking at my own body objectively. I do not want to gain fat back but now that I’m training more I’m ravenously hungry and my weight is going up a little again.

Is there any advice out there on the best peatyish way to eat and build muscle, not fat? For women? How much protein do I really need, and can I get enough from dairy and seafood? How about whey powder?

To lose the extra bulk as I did a year ago, I upped sugars and cut fat. I felt great! But now I think I need a lot more protein to support muscle growth. So what would the ratio be to carbs?

Thanks!

 

[kYgirl]

I weight trained years ago but have just recently gotten back into it , after losing some extra lbs that had slowly built up over a stressful set of years. I have a bit of a hard time looking at my own body objectively. I do not want to gain fat back but now that I’m training more I’m ravenously hungry and my weight is going up a little again.

Is there any advice out there on the best peatyish way to eat and build muscle, not fat? For women? How much protein do I really need, and can I get enough from dairy and seafood? How about whey powder?

To lose the extra bulk as I did a year ago, I upped sugars and cut fat. I felt great! But now I think I need a lot more protein to support muscle growth. So what would the ratio be to carbs?

Thanks!

Can you expand on the sugar/fat thing? How much fat were you eating and what kind of sugars were you consuming? What were you eating in a normal day? Thanks.

 

[geusterman]

I am a retired gym owner and a well certified retired trainer too. My experience is to have a balance of carbs protein and fat by calorie (also latest Mercola/Dinkov conclusions) and if you’re training hard a little extra protein doesn’t hurt.
As you build muscle you’re going to gain good weight and you are increasing the furnace that burns the fat. You’ll start to see better shape as your muscles begin to dominate over stored subcutaneous fat.
You want to create a pace that will give you a pleasing lifelong hobby that is not overwhelming and you can maintain it for the rest of your life. I am still working out both systemically and orthopedically at age 73. Mine’s a maintenance program that’s primarily motivated by function and a little vanity. Life is much better fit. It grieves me to watch my peers deteriorating so rapidly as they have never adopted a fitness lifestyle.

 

[Bioenergy_Space]

Be careful with overtraining, and take into account your current total stress load when deciding how intensely and often to train.

In my opinion, lifting exercise is a way to trigger beneficial adaptations, and beyond the point where this happens, it can easily become harmful. If you want my thoughts in more detail you can read about them here: Lifting the Hans Selye Way

 

[geusterman]

I think vanity drives the injuries we used to see in the gym. Sports specific or functional exercise with a little vanity thrown in as a nice mix. Exercise is carefully applied injury. That’s its ultimate definition and we use the stress to build a stronger body. No different than a callus is on your hands from doing some gardening. We respond to stress. I think fitness is a skill and deserves some education.

 

[fevronia]

I am a retired gym owner and a well certified retired trainer too. My experience is to have a balance of carbs protein and fat by calorie (also latest Mercola/Dinkov conclusions) and if you’re training hard a little extra protein doesn’t hurt.
As you build muscle you’re going to gain good weight and you are increasing the furnace that burns the fat. You’ll start to see better shape as your muscles begin to dominate over stored subcutaneous fat.
You want to create a pace that will give you a pleasing lifelong hobby that is not overwhelming and you can maintain it for the rest of your life. I am still working out both systemically and orthopedically at age 73. Mine’s a maintenance program that’s primarily motivated by function and a little vanity. Life is much better fit. It grieves me to watch my peers deteriorating so rapidly as they have never adopted a fitness lifestyle.

Thanks for the encouragement regarding gaining muscle weight and how eventually it will take shape as it dominates. I know I am improving because my strength is better, and today I realized I am able to do chin ups again, a skill I had lost from relative inactivity in that regard.

That is wonderful you are still working out even though many of your peers do not as that age. It is a goal of mine to maintain an active and physically fit lifestyle throughout the rest of my life. It seems maintaining muscle and strength is a key part of aging well.

Do you think I should keep fat in the low side for training? I do eat eggs cooked in coconut oil every couple of days. Otherwise I am trying to consume a lot of nonfat milk, Greek yogurts and a little meat with rice, and lots of fruit and juice.

Would you recommend any amino acids? My boss has recommended a Blue Bonnet brand.

 

[fevronia]

Be careful with overtraining, and take into account your current total stress load when deciding how intensely and often to train.

In my opinion, lifting exercise is a way to trigger beneficial adaptations, and beyond the point where this happens, it can easily become harmful. If you want my thoughts in more detail you can read about them here: Lifting the Hans Selye I am not sure how to avoid overtraining yet. I am so in love with how I am feeling when I am able to go to the gym regularly and make improvements in strength. I do try to be careful and lift properly. I am not doing CrossFit or powerlifti

Be careful with overtraining, and take into account your current total stress load when deciding how intensely and often to train.

In my opinion, lifting exercise is a way to trigger beneficial adaptations, and beyond the point where this happens, it can easily become harmful. If you want my thoughts in more detail you can read about them here: Lifting the Hans Selye Way

I haven’t navigated the idea of overtraining yet, but I do try to lift carefully and rest well. I am so Iin love with how I feel when I am able to go the gym regularly and make improvements in strength. I am not doing CrossFit or powerlifting and trying to be aware of long term goals for aging well. Thanks , I will check out your link!

 

[fevronia]

Can you expand on the sugar/fat thing? How much fat were you eating and what kind of sugars were you consuming? What were you eating in a normal day? Thanks.

Hi, are you referring to when I lost my extra weight? I got really serious about it and decided to lose the weight quickly and get it over with, then I planned to start building muscle again afterwards. I used an app to log in all my daily foods, so I could easily see the macronutrients breakdown. I set it for a calorie deficit then stuck to it. Lowering fat allowed me to eat more food, and the carbs and sugar actually kept my energy going through the day. I tried to eat mostly peaty things , except I did eat chicken too. I would have rice, potatoes, nonfat milk and yogurt with honey or sugar, and lots of fruit and water smoothies with collagen and sugar . Sometimes an egg, or small amount lean beef. If I splurged and ate something rich I would just not eat as much the rest of the day. It was a much easier way to lose weight then when I did keto years ago. I drank Mexican cokes sometime or ale8s whe I needed an afternoon snack. And a stick of string cheese. Gelatin snacks too.
After I lost the extra weight I first went to maintenance calories, then I stopped logging my meals. I didn’t gain any weight back u til just recently when I have been lifting heavier weights. But my body still looks lean so far. I am just not sure how much weight to expect to gain as I put on new muscle. . I love having a smaller waist again and feel very energetic.
I will never ever keto or low carb again. Those diets made me cranky, tired and affected my thyroid. The low fat , higher sugar/carb diet made me feel great and was sustainable.

 

[geusterman]

Fevronia said:
Do you think I should keep fat in the low side for training? I do eat eggs cooked in coconut oil every couple of days. Otherwise I am trying to consume a lot of nonfat milk, Greek yogurts and a little meat with rice, and lots of fruit and juice.
Dietary fat is not necessarily stored as fat. It is your muscle's first choice of fuel and if your glycogen stores in your muscle are depleted during the workout (and they are) your balanced diet will restore it and fat gets burned while you sleep. The nice thing about fat is satiety. Assuming you are metabolically healthy you are burning carbs and fat fine. If lowering body fat is a goal try three months of time-restricted eating to be a better butter burner. Keep fat around 30% of calories if you can. Keep food clean and don't fuss too much. Takes away the fun. When you get a physical include a bigger scope of tests, like hormones, thyroid, metabolic panel...I just attached a sample I give my buddies. Switch hormones and ask you doc for any additional based on your history. Make adjustments slowly and validate with some documentation. Food diary and how you feel is helpful. Blood tests. Fitness tests. Blood pressure...we are unique but not so much.

Would you recommend any amino acids? My boss has recommended a Blue Bonnet brand. Good amino acids before a workout are valuable for recovery. Also, especially for women, creatine is very beneficial. Women lack the testosterone and "muscle candy" creatine is very helpful in building lean mass. Even on non-workout days. Some great studies on that. Strong girls last a long time.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

I would suggest lifting weights is almost always not worth it. It deconditiones the actual movement your body has evolved to do. I would look up functional movement.

 

[fevronia]

Fevronia said:
Do you think I should keep fat in the low side for training? I do eat eggs cooked in coconut oil every couple of days. Otherwise I am trying to consume a lot of nonfat milk, Greek yogurts and a little meat with rice, and lots of fruit and juice.
Dietary fat is not necessarily stored as fat. It is your muscle's first choice of fuel and if your glycogen stores in your muscle are depleted during the workout (and they are) your balanced diet will restore it and fat gets burned while you sleep. The nice thing about fat is satiety. Assuming you are metabolically healthy you are burning carbs and fat fine. If lowering body fat is a goal try three months of time-restricted eating to be a better butter burner. Keep fat around 30% of calories if you can. Keep food clean and don't fuss too much. Takes away the fun. When you get a physical include a bigger scope of tests, like hormones, thyroid, metabolic panel...I just attached a sample I give my buddies. Switch hormones and ask you doc for any additional based on your history. Make adjustments slowly and validate with some documentation. Food diary and how you feel is helpful. Blood tests. Fitness tests. Blood pressure...we are unique but not so much.

Would you recommend any amino acids? My boss has recommended a Blue Bonnet brand. Good amino acids before a workout are valuable for recovery. Also, especially for women, creatine is very beneficial. Women lack the testosterone and "muscle candy" creatine is very helpful in building lean mass. Even on non-workout days. Some great studies on that. Strong girls last a long time.

Thank you this is very helpful! I think I am pretty metabolically healthy now. I will look into keeping fat around 30%. It seems like a lot! But I want to support my new muscle development. I will also look into creatine . That’s the kind of help I need. I really want to get the nutrition right.

 

[fevronia]

I would suggest lifting weights is almost always not worth it. It deconditiones the actual movement your body has evolved to do. I would look up functional can functional

I would suggest lifting weights is almost always not worth it. It deconditiones the actual movement your body has evolved to do. I would look up functional movement.

Can functional movement training coexist with weight lifting? I would think so. I also do martial arts and dance, and have often done some calisthenics too, so I appreciate the body’s full range of movement potential. But weight lifting is a big part of my focus, I am really enjoying everything about it. My energy is improved and my strength is increasing. My body feels and looks better, still feminine but less fragile. Building and maintaining muscle seems to be an important part of aging well.

 

[geusterman]

Can functional movement training coexist with weight lifting? I would think so. I also do martial arts and dance, and have often done some calisthenics too, so I appreciate the body’s full range of movement potential. But weight lifting is a big part of my focus, I am really enjoying everything about it. My energy is improved and my strength is increasing. My body feels and looks better, still feminine but less fragile. Building and maintaining muscle seems to be an important part of aging well.

Strength from overload training enhances every activity, increases metabolism and VO2max. It converts our bodies from an anchor to an asset, ready to go. Psychologically it converts mountains to molehills. Oh yes and it looks nice.