More weight, reps, or sets??

hi-
I'm completely new to the whole weight lifting thing.  I do about 30-45 minutes on the elliptical machine about 6 days a week.  I've always thought that excercise had to be aerobic to really count, but have now been convinced that some weight lifting is pretty much necessary (especially if I'm going to try and fill out the loose skin on my arms...).  With that said, I've only been doing about 10-15mins 2x/day with my arms (I do some minor lifting while driving in the car!).

For the past month or so, I've been using 3# weights with my arms - with about four different exercises.  I do five sets of ten reps of each exercise on each arm, M-F - 2 exercises on the way into work and 2 on the way back. 

I definitely want my arms to be more toned, but I wouldn't hate having some moderate sized arm muscles either.  So, to keep this going, what should I be looking to increase and in what timeframe?

thx!!


lara

Hey Lara,

   Welcome! A great question.... Here are my thoughts:

When it comes to lifting and strength training, you HAVE to realize that rest is almost if not more important than actually lifting. When you lift weights, you tear muscle fibers, your body needs time to grow those fibers back, and if we have eaten right and taken in our proper amounts of protein, the fibers will repair slightly bigger than they previously were. That's how we gain muscle. But, when you work out THE SAME muscle every day, not allowing your muscles to repair, you can actually experience atrophy, or loss of muscle. I see it everday at the gym. Some 20 year old kid benches (Incline, decline, flat, chest press, dumbells) everyday, and in the year and a half that I have been going to the gym, he has not gained ANY muscle mass... case and point.

It's funny to hear bariatric patients, including myself, talk about "Toning". I lost 200 pounds in about a year, and subsequently lost all my muscle mass as well because of the rapid and dramatic rate I lost my weight. So, it doesn't make sense for me to say, "I really need to tone up"... There is nothing to tone!!! LOL. You have to build some muscle mass, then tone or cut that muscle mass. Here is how you do it...

You need to increase your food intake. (Good foods, or in other words Fuel) Remember that no excercise regiment can compensate for a poor diet. Increase your protein, I take in about 150-200G of protein daily. Without proper fuel or food, your muscles will not grow properly. Easy rule of thumb: Heavier weight with fewer reps GROWS muscle, lighter weight with higher reps defines or "Cuts" muscle mass. When growing muscle, you need to learn about things like carb intake, recovery fueling, carb/oxygen/blood  transport to muscles, and other supplements that will help you reach your goals like protein, glutamine, creatine, Nitric oxide, fish oil, brewers yeast, antioxidants, etc...

After you have done a Muscle Mass building cycle, it's time to cut that mass. Increase intake of lean meats, increase water intake, decrease fat intake and switch from heavy reps to lighter reps. I could write a novel about what I have learned, but to keep things simple, stick to these basics. Best of luck in your goals...

FYI... An unfortunate part of WLS is that in most cases, no amount of muscle building will "Fill in" your loose skin. And no amount of excercise will make it go away either. Just reach your goals and if it's necesarry, look into plastic surgery.

One last thing.... only work out each major muscle group 1 time per week if you are bulking...

Thank you!  Wow, lots to think about!  One (for now) more question... if I'm only lifting a little amount of weight (the 3# I mentioned), do I really need to only do it 1x/week?  Seems like a little amount to have to really "rest" from... kwim?

What are you trying to define with 3# weights? Repetitive lifting on the same muscles everyday IS NOT GOOD! Why not try to work on your whole body and not just the arms? Core strength (Yoga), legs, shoulders, back ? Alternate through all of your muscle groups every week, maybe one each day, rather than the SAME muscles everyday and neglecting the rest of your body. Most of the time, people stick to their routine at the gym because it's comfortable and familiar. If you read ANY Muscle and Fitness Magazine, all those guys that look like they could bench press your car excercise each muscle group, no more than 2 x per week TOPS! They also use "Cycles". You should change your routine every 6-8 weeks because your body gets used to the same thing over and over and needs a different challenge to continue muscle gains / definition...One last thought.... If you don't feel like you need to rest after a workout, you have to ask yourself if it was even really a workout or is it really even benefiting you at all... Take care.

hmm - good question!  I don't know what I'm trying to do with 3# weights... I thought it was a good thing - you know, starting small??  :)

thanks!!

I didn't mean that as a "Bashing" type statement, I was trying to show you that you are ready for more of a challenge if you are not sore or feel like you don't need rest from your workouts...Best of luck.

As a woman, I don't necessarily want to bulk, but I certainly do understand building something where there was nothing!  It's shocking to me the difference in my strength before WLS vs. after.  I still think I'm She-Ra at times, able to move small buildings with my big booty.

What you've said here makes a lot of sense to me.  Do you have any favorite resources I could look to for guidance?  I'm trying to figure out how many calories per day I should be getting; currently I'm eating 1600-1700 per day, but I fear that's not enough based on my very low energy level.  I haven't lost a significant amount of weight in the last month even though my exercise level has increased, could I be going into starvation mode?

Currently, I run ~10-12 miles per week and attend a 1 hour bootcamp class 4 days per week.  I have a pretty sendentary job.  I get plenty of carbs right now; I'm going to work in more protein in hopes this helps things out.

Dan,
  Thanks for the awesome info! 

   I started with weights a few weeks ago.  I like the feeling the next day, not so sore that i will never go back to the gym just a  gentle reminder that i am doing my body good! 

 I am saving your info for future reference.

Take care,
Michelle

Dan, what a wonderful post. Thanks for the info. I had surgery May 26. I've been walking a mile 5-6x/week. I just started lifting weights. I use 5 lb free weights, it's about all I can lift. Do you think it would be best to just focus on upper body strengthing training one day and then lower body the next? Yesterday, I focused on my arms, back and shoulders. Today I focused on my legs, just squats and lunges.

Before I started training for Triathlon, I was lifting weights and in about 10 weeks of lifting I put on 14 pounds of lean muscle. I used a split routine:

Monday: Shoulders (Military, shrugs, lateral arm raises, etc...) Tricepts & Abs

Tues: Back (Hyper extensions, lat pull down, wide grip pull ups, etc...)

Wed: off

Thurs: Chest, Bicepts, & Abs (Ben*****line / decline, dumbell press, fly's, preacher curls, dumbell curls, hammer curls, etc...)

Friday: Legs (Squats, dead lift, leg press, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, etc...)

If you don't like a split routine, you can focus on one of these muscle groups each day and have a 6 day single routine, or combine more muscle groups into 1 day and use the other days for group aerobic, yoga, pilates, spin classes. Good luck with everything...