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Originally Posted by Lucky 1
Former competitive powerlifter here....and I think keokutah gave you some good advice!
As an old reprobate now...I no longer lift what I used to...but I still lift fairly heavy.....male or female...muscle is muscle...the difference as keokutah said is the hormones backing it up....
My favorite trick for gaining muscle and strength is what I call forced progression...and its work!
first...get a blank spiral note book
Then on any given lift...choose the rep range you want....say you want to hit a minimum of 15 reps and not exceed 20 reps.... and choose a weight that allows you to hit at least 15 reps.....Write down in your note book the number of reps and weight you used for that lift....
Then the next time you do that particular lift....tell yourself that you must get at least two more reps at that weight than the last time that lift came up....and work hard to do that....
So...lets say the first time you do squats you did 50 lbs for 15 reps....the next time try hard to do at least 17 reps with 50 lbs...
and every time squats come up....try to add at least 2 more reps....when you have got to the top of the range you set for yourself (20 reps)...ADD 5 lbs
This 5 lbs will knock your reps back down at least 2 or 3 reps off what you can do in the squat....so now you're trying to add 2 more reps every workout with 55 lbs (remember...keep a log of what you've done on each exercise at every workout)
When you've hit 20 reps with 55 lbs...yep...add 5 more lbs!
The point of this is you build strength and muscle incrementally in small manageable bites.
And use this technique on every lift you do.....
Now....at some point you will peak on a particular exercise and simply not be able to lift more or do more reps....when you hit say two or three workouts in a row that you can't get more...drop that exercise and choose another one for the same body part.
Let say that you've built up to comfortable squatting 85lbs and getting 15 reps with it and you simply cannot lift more weight without dropping lower than your set rep range (15 to 20).....
Stop doing barbell squats and start doing say...using a Leg Press or hack squat machine for legs...or walking lunges....and of course at some point you will peak on those and rotate back to regular barbell squats and find that you are now stronger on barbell squats than when you stopped doing them...that's how this works!
One of my favorites for legs and butt is the walking lunge....get a small dumbell in each hand.....step forward and go down on one knee....push up and step forward and go down on the other knee and repeat...i like to do a total of 25 to 30 steps (15 per leg)...you will definite feels this in your thighs and butt! I personally do walking lunges with a 65 lbs dumbbell in each hand...Of note....always push off from your heals and NOT your toes....pushing from the heal takes the load off the knee and move it to the muscles...you gotta protect those joints!
Don't be afraid of building muscle...it is muscle that will improve your shape and give you the figure you want...and as keokutah said...having the hormonal profile of a woman you're extremely unlikely to build too much muscle....you'll just be more shapley and look and feel stronger and better....
Keep your rep range reasonably high 15 to as high as 25 on some things and you shouldn't get hurt but can progress nicely.
Also..if you are lifting like this...you need to consume at least 10 grams (maybe even 15 grams) of quality protein per pound of body weight every day to support recovery from your lifting...
Good luck in your endeavors!!!
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Soooooooo awesome! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to write all this. It really helps me
It's been 5 weeks of going once a week to the gym. I've actually been doing 40lbs on arm machines and 40 lb squats, bench lunges, dead lifts. I do 30 reps of each workout. At home I just do tons of toning with 2 5lb weights every other day. My comfort level on leg press and inner thighs is like 90-110 lbs LOL how is that possible? Crazy thighs
I see suuuuuuch an improvement. Much stronger, more lean, not bulky, standing tall and upright. Feels great!