Hmm, how to start.... [Forum Archive]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celena

OK, I may not be the most conventional newbie here but hell, what's new, I sure look outta place among some of the beefcakes in my local gym when pushing weights. I'm a nearly-21 year old Caucasian female, who's suffered Anorexia nervosa for the past 4 years, also have something of an exercise addiction, as in, whatever food I put in gets thrashed out again with mega cardio workouts. Well, I started to try and get my head round this last year, joined the gym to gain muscle mass through weight training, started a high-calorie diet like the one was on in hospital only just a tad healthier (not sticking with the chocolate dohnuts they stuff in your face there, sorry, not my style.) I'm on 2,900 cals at the mo, but stopped putting on weight really last summer. I know I do a lot of cardio, hence why I've knocked the calories up to compensate, but still no muscle gain. Am I kidding myself, will I not put on weight no matter how many calories I put in? More'n likely, since the more energy I have, the more I feel I can do. I weight-train 3x/week, with half-hour cardio session on the X-Trainer on those days (pretty hard, burn about 530 cals), 2x days I do really hard X-Trainer workouts for 50 mins (about 850-900 cals) plus half-hour on treadmill after, kinda easy walk (about 120 cals), one day do 10 mins easy X-trainer workout (about 170 cals) and the last day no gym at all. So in effect, 5x intense days workout, one day really easy, short workout and one day I only walk outside/clean the house for exercise. Plus, I walk everywhere everyday (no car) for between 2.5-3 hours in total, and have a cleaning job in the evenings, doing usual hoovering, dusting, mopping floors,etc, for 2 hours. You could say I'm kind of active. But what I want to know is....can I still put on muscle whilst keeping all this lot up, just by eating more? Or will the cardio simply stop muscle growth althogether? I mean, I started 2,900 cals last week and still gained nothing, just maintained. I'm 5"5 (165 cms) and 90.2 lbs (40.9 kgs), was never really a big person (puppy fat at 14-15, really) was a skinny child and have slender parents (well, they're spreading a bit but they're in their 40's now.) Dad had real probelms trying to gain muscle in the RAF, Doc told him he was just the type that just pees a lot! So, with all this info, what can you guys tell me, huh? I guess I already know, just am in denial. Plus, how many reps should I be aiming for? So many different answers, some say 10-12, others 4-8! I know I need to lift heavy weights to the extreme, do I aim for perfect performance on each rep or should the last couple be naff coz muscles fatigued? Need some real advice here, people - hope you can help.
All the best,
Celena