Tuesday 23 February 2016

Ladies That Lift - FAQs

In the month of January, our resident P.T Emma ran a Myth-buster seminar focused on her Ladies That Lift sessions. Every Monday at 7pm, Emma and her ladies congregate around the power racks in the gym, to work on the classic lifts including Squats, Deadlifts and Bench Pressing.
We have seen a fantastic rise in the use of weights with our female members, something we have actively tried to promote. However we often find that there are many misconceptions when it comes to ladies and resistance training. In this blog post, we are going to summarise some of the questions we receive on a regular basis.


"I want to lose fat first with cardio and then I want to use weights to tone-up”.
Well, lifting weights WILL make you lose weight and why would you want to prolong the whole process? Why not do both side by side to increase the efficiency of your training and get quicker results.

“I would like some core exercises to get a flat tummy…”
Regardless of the amount of core work you do it WILL NOT give you a ‘flat tummy’. You would be better off sticking to interval training alongside big compound movements (exercises that use lots of muscle groups). Muscle and fat are two separate entities. You can't reduce body fat around your mid-section with endless sit-ups. This will only work the muscle underneath.

“I want to do work on my triceps to get rid of bingo wings”.
The same rules apply, big upper body movements will be better than targeting this with tricep exercises alone!
“I don’t want to do any chest exercises, I don’t want to lose my breasts”.
Gaining muscle in a certain place does not make natural tissue disappear! If anything it will improve them.
"If I lift will I become bulky and lose my feminine physique?"
It takes a very long time for anyone to build a significant amount of muscle and even more so for females due to their low testosterone production. When you imagine the huge bulky man who cannot see their toes over their enormous chest, they are probably working out up to twice a day 6-7 days a week, with high testosterone levels.
As you will see later on in this guide, different reps, sets and rest time bring about different results, so if you stay within those guidelines you should reap the desired effects. With the hormone difference between men and women, 2-3 training sessions per week will not turn you into the hulk, your curves will stay but everything will be more toned and defined.
If you stick to high reps with a weight to match, this will improve endurance and produce definition and tone (2-3 x 15-20 reps). Similarly if you went low reps with a high weight you would get bigger and stronger but not at the same rate or with the same results as a male.
(Boys throughout puberty put on muscle around the shoulders and chest, whilst woman begin to store fat round their hips and get breasts).
"Will lifting weight make me lose weight?"
The answer is surprising as a lot of people are under the impression that the only way to lose weight is to pound on the treadmill for hours. But the more muscle you have the more fat you burn just sitting on the sofa as muscles require more calories to maintain than fat. This means not only will you burn calories during your workout, you will burn more watching T.V or even sleeping!

"Should I change my eating habits if I start lifting weights?"
When people start to weight train it is important the body has enough protein to repair the micro tears that happen in the muscle when put under resistance. This has often led to people thinking ‘Weight Lifting = Protein Shake’, this is something that is just not necessary.
Typically the body can only process a maximum of 2g of protein per 1kg of body weight i.e. a 55kg woman can only utilise 110g protein per day and this would only be needed for a very high volume of training (5 day split routine).
Breakfast
 
Natural Yogurt 150g – 13.5g
Dinner
2x Egg – 12g
Chilli con carne
2x Bacon- 6g
110g Mince- 16g
2x wholemeal toast- 7g Protein
100g Kidney Beans- 7.2g
 
Cup of rice- 4g
Lunch
Sprinkle of cheese-3g
Large salad
TOTAL:
100g Tuna- 30g
112g Protein- AMPLE!
1x Cup of milk- 8g
 
 
 
Snack
 
30g Mixed nuts- 6g
 


Just make sure you have a serving of protein in each meal, a glass of milk and a handfull of nuts and you will be fine!

"How do I know what rep (repetitions) range I should do and how many times a week can I /should I lift weights?"


Variable/
Training Goal
Strength
Power
Strength for All
Hypertrophy
Strength Endurance
Endurance
Reps Per Set
1-5
1-3
4-5
6-12
12-15
15-20
Sets Per Exercise
4-7
3-5
1-2
4-8
2-4
2-4
Rest Between Reps (mins)
2-6
2-6
1-2
2-5
1-2
30s-1
Training sessions per week
3-6
3-6
3-6
5-7
4-6
7


Everyone who is new to weight training should always start at the highest rep range (20) with a weight to match in order to practice good form. From here depending on your goal you can follow the basic guidelines above just making sure you are adjusting your weights as necessary (each set should be challenging and the last few reps should ALWAYS be tough, this is a good indicator the weight is right).


Endurance: Good for muscle maintenance for endurance athletes, using the aerobic energy system.
Strength Endurance: This would normally be done in a two-way split (upper and lower) this will enable you to lift heavier with more time to recover.
Hypertrophy: This is for growth of the muscle fibres, making you bigger (not always stronger).
Strength for all: The low amount of sets allows everyone to try strength training and it can be used for rehabilitation reasons.
Power: Power is about being able to apply maximal force in the quickest possible time, great for sports that you have to sprint, hit or throw.
Strength: Strength is quite self-explanatory to make you stronger but in this case strength does not necessarily mean growth. 
"Can I do cardio and weights simultaneously?"
The short answer would be yes. However keep cardio short and intense as long distance running/cycling or prolonged cardio of any kind has the counter effect on a muscle's development/growth. Keep it to sprints or cycling/rowing intervals. If you are doing endurance reps it is fine to do long distance cardio, as this would be ideal to maintain muscle mass when doing these types of activities. 
When you lift weights your muscle fibres get tiny tears. Your body will repair this during your rest period, promoting strength. If you do not allow time for these micro tears to repair you will progressively get weaker and weaker as they break-down more and more. This is why different ‘splits’ work well in order to give certain body parts a rest e.g.

MONDAY

Chest and Triceps

TUESDAY

Interval CV

WEDNESDAY

Back and Biceps

THURSDAY

Core and Mobility

FRIDAY

Legs and Shoulders

SATURDAY

Rest

SUNDAY

Rest


OR



MONDAY

Push Exercises

TUESDAY

Hill Training

WEDNESDAY

Pull Exercises

THURSDAY

Core and Mobility

FRIDAY

Legs

SATURDAY

Rest

SUNDAY
Rest


Happy lifting!
 
Emma