Hi All~New Here

[niki]

Hello! Am new here, but have been lurking and reading like crazy. I have lost 90lbs and have a ways more to go. I have always loved weights (but am ignorant) and always hear my mother's voice in my head - about not getting too muscular. I put on muscle easily, as a teen was taken to a doc and found to be high in testosterone. I was pulled out of sports because she said my thighs were getting too big. I look at pics and think, 'huh'? Anyway, I am sick of fighting my body, sick of cardio (love the high), and so on and so forth. Was a tomboy, and I miss life and the things I love to do....

My first goal is to lose. I am 37yrs old. Was stuck on a god-awful rut for three months, found out a classmate was a personal trainer, and hit him up for some advice and dropped 15lbs in 3weeks and continue to lose a minimum of 2-3lbs per week. (thanks, buddy!) I work out 7 days a week, alternating intensity, doing different muscles each day, different types of cardio, but cardio is an hour a day, 5 days a week, and 30 min the other days. Unless it is more. I listen to a lot of metal...lol I NEED the daily workouts for mental health.

Diet is good - I eat very cleanly (hope I am using lingo correctly). I punched it in to the link Built provided yesterday and this is what I got: Protein 140.7, Carbs 64, Fats 68.4. I'd say at minimum 90% of my carbs come from raw fruits/veggies. I rarely do grains. I have blood sugar issues that I discovered last summer and have experimented with diet until I am pretty much within normal range all the time. Oh, and calories for the day were 1397.

I have one other mitigating factor: joints. I have had my left knee scoped and an acl reconstruction, ankle surgery and foot surgery also on the left side. Nothing recent. Oh - and I'm clumsy as hell. Which may explain the injuries....

Really excited about finding this place, and meeting everyone. Thanks in advance for any input here.

 

[Built]

GREAT to have you here!

 

[niki]

Thanks! Am getting ready to head to the gym, with my boys....ages 15 and 17....I need help with breaking into the 'free weight' area of the gym, and yes - I've read the article probably a dozen times.....lol I need hands on guidance so I don't fall over....

I am excited - going to leg press today....(one of my favorites)

 

[Arnold]

welcome, its always nice to get more females here!

 

[Gena Marie]

We are very happy to have more females on the board. This is no longer just a mans world

 

[niki]

Thanks everyone! I feel very welcome. I haven't been around here long enough to notice a lack of females.....glad to +1 to the ratio......

 

[sara]

Welcome to Iron Magazine!

 

[klc9100]

Welcome & congratulations on your hard work and results so far. Keep up the good work. . .

 

[niki]

Thanks! And I definitely will - my entire life has changed, there's no going back now.....back to studying the training videos.....lol.....I wish I were better at translating what I see visually into actual movement...

 

[klc9100]

Thanks! And I definitely will - my entire life has changed, there's no going back now.....back to studying the training videos.....lol.....I wish I were better at translating what I see visually into actual movement...

i know what you mean. i found out i was diabetic about 2 years ago. i started eating right and working out like a mad man. i've dropped about 40lbs, but added alot of muscle too. i'm 42, and in the best shape i've been in since highschool. i don't even take the diabetes meds anymore. you're right, it's a "lifestyle" change. it's a mindset, know what i mean?? i know you do. don't "study" all the training stuff too much. if you over analyze it and make too much out of it, you take the fun out of it. i made that mistake and actually quit for about 3 months. it has to stay fun. you have to be able to be passionate about it. if you ever get to the point that you dread or hate to workout, you're screwed. i look forward to it and actually hate my rest days. yes, you have to take rest days too. i use to tink the more i worked out, the better. i was wrong. when you work out - WORK HARD. but then get your rest. it's very important. anyway, sorry to babble. again, welcome and good luck.

 

[niki]

klc - wow, that's such an encouraging story! I have never been on meds, but I can tell you that since my friend helped me with my workouts, my bloodsugar control (which was good) became a non issue. Its such a great feeling. My passion is nutrition and supplementation - among various other interests. I have a feeling that this new direction,bb, will add depth and dimension to my focus. Just don't tell my mother!

Working out is how I deal with stress, and what I use to replace my emotional eating habits. Today, I am 'resting'....I maxxed out on leg press yesterday for the first time since highschool. (I was careful, had a spotter, worked my way up, etc) OMG - it felt so good! I am SORE today, but no knee or ankle pain, so feel golden. I just did some low intensity, steady state cardio today for 45 min, just to kind of move around a bit. And I gotta admit I will probably do some abs tonight......that's my 'rest' day. No lifting. Once my school semester starts again, rest days are no problem - as I have to work around a ridiculous schedule and there is at least one day in there where I just can't make it to the gym.

I am one of those sick fools who studies for fun. I can't stop analyzing. It's just how my brain works. To each their own, right? One of my greatest pleasures in life is to consume vast amounts of information, and sift it down into an applicable, personally useable unit. I'm in the medical field, so it comes in handy. Now, when my brain is fried - I can go to the gym and do some phsyical damage.....

 

[klc9100]

klc - wow, that's such an encouraging story! I have never been on meds, but I can tell you that since my friend helped me with my workouts, my bloodsugar control (which was good) became a non issue. Its such a great feeling. My passion is nutrition and supplementation - among various other interests. I have a feeling that this new direction,bb, will add depth and dimension to my focus. Just don't tell my mother!

Working out is how I deal with stress, and what I use to replace my emotional eating habits. Today, I am 'resting'....I maxxed out on leg press yesterday for the first time since highschool. (I was careful, had a spotter, worked my way up, etc) OMG - it felt so good! I am SORE today, but no knee or ankle pain, so feel golden. I just did some low intensity, steady state cardio today for 45 min, just to kind of move around a bit. And I gotta admit I will probably do some abs tonight......that's my 'rest' day. No lifting. Once my school semester starts again, rest days are no problem - as I have to work around a ridiculous schedule and there is at least one day in there where I just can't make it to the gym.

I am one of those sick fools who studies for fun. I can't stop analyzing. It's just how my brain works. To each their own, right? One of my greatest pleasures in life is to consume vast amounts of information, and sift it down into an applicable, personally useable unit. I'm in the medical field, so it comes in handy. Now, when my brain is fried - I can go to the gym and do some phsyical damage.....

awsome. you go girl

 

[Spunout]

Welcome! you picked a good place... It sounds like you're doing a great job, keep it up!

 

[niki]

Aw, you guys are such great encouragers! I wish I had stumbled across this site earlier in my journey. It's really great to meet everyone.

 

[sassy69]

welcome! Another metalhead! I've been lifting for 3 decades now, competing for the last 11, and frankly I'm sorta burnt on lifting right now (too many aches & pains that need some time to heal), but what I do look forward to going to the gym for is my hard metal playlist on my iPod. 2 hours of uninhibited metal mania that I can play as loud as I want (not real loud actually.. cuz its going thru my headset straight into my head...) and no one else has to listen! Altho I'm sure when I break into a little posing routine or have to do the air drum solo, people might stare, but fuck 'em baby! I'm rockin! A little Judas Priest (or more recently .. Five Finger Death Punch) fixes everything!

A thought I had about your joints I'm 45 right now, never had an true injury in the gym (except when a 25 lb plate fell on my big toe 2 yrs ago....) but the litany of joint and tendon pain and inflammation that I have is too long to recite. I would highly recommend that you make time for good stretching or pilates or something. It goes a LONG way towards overall body support and health. Your joints & tendons are the weak points in the system, and also most likely to suffer from wear & tear, and various flavors of repetitive movements. The Foam Roller is a GREAT thing to add to your workouts.

I religiously do the following, depending on upper or lower body muscle group that day:

Scroll down to Joe DeFranco's Agile 8 for legs / hips warmup:
DeFranco's Training ..:: The Ultimate Way To Become A Better Athlete ::..

Video for Joe's Shoulder / Rotator warmup -- again religiously before I do anything upper body. I also do some light cable work and front / side raises w/ a light weight to get the blood flowing in my shoulders. I've had some severe rotator / shoulder issues since 2006 and this has been a saviour:
YouTube - DeFrancosGym.com - Joe DeFranco's Upper body warm-up routine


And my last suggestion is to include fish oils in your diet. They do amazing things for joint support. I've tried Glucosamine... couldn't tell you if it really did anything but I swear by MSM - you need to run it for a while, but it also helps.

And if you're ever feeling tendonitis (esp forearms, wrists, elbows, always remember that your ice pack, a little ibuprofen and a lot of water (i.e stay hydrated!) are your best friends!

 

[Anabolic5150]

niki, Welcome to IM.




Sassy-Thanks for posting the upper body stretch from Joe DeFranco. Been looking for something along those lines.

 

[IslandGirl]

Hi niki! Welcome to IM! Awesome to have another lady on board!

 

[niki]

Sassy - thanks for the links! I will add them to my education for today...(am on break from school so am absorbing as much as possible before next Wednesday, lol). I really need some info on stretching. I hear you on the music...I love everything, really, broad interests, but lifting is all about metal.....what can I say? My list right now includes Strapping Young Lads, Slipknot, Nightwish, Behemoth, etc) My oldest son makes my playlists for me..

I am BIG into supplements, and nutrition is my passion - have been doing fish oils for years now. I also take krill oil. MSM and DMSO are my FRIENDS...lol I also have a joint complex. Ice has become my best friend since January......when I picked it up a notch at the gym. Amazing what icing can accomplish.

Am pretty excited/anxious today, am gonna start one of Built's training programs, even tho' I can't translate all the acronyms yet.....dragging my 15yr old with me - poor guy.....(he's a great coach) You know what I wish? I wish I could just bring my laptop into the free weight area so I can watch the vids for form right before I do the damn exercise!! That would make it SOOooo much easier.

Thanks again for being such a welcoming group - and, might I add, you ladies look amazing!

 

[niki]

Wasn't sure if I should post this here - or in a different area, or a new thread....I'm new to this forum business.....I've got a question, and didn't come up with anything on a preliminary search: is there anything special I need to do about squats with my old acl issues? Squatting is on the agenda today.....I have never tried them before.

 

[Built]

Go to the link in my sig on getting started and look at the goblet squats. Try that, unweighted, holding the edge of the cage for support. Weight goes through your heels. Sit back - it's not a deep-knee bend, it's more of a butt-back-and-down.

 

[niki]

Thanks! I remember seeing a video on those, with the guy holding on, so will hunt that up again. I went ahead and did day 4 instead (baby got back), since my quads were still pretty sore from leg press and I wanted to hear back before trying squats......my knee was a bit ketchy today, before workout, and I iced several times. I think I will leave off the lunges for another week or two, while I adjust to the other lifts. If anyone thinks differently - feel free to input. I'm hoping that building up the muscles around that area will add some stability. Thanks, Built!

 

[sassy69]

Thanks! I remember seeing a video on those, with the guy holding on, so will hunt that up again. I went ahead and did day 4 instead (baby got back), since my quads were still pretty sore from leg press and I wanted to hear back before trying squats......my knee was a bit ketchy today, before workout, and I iced several times. I think I will leave off the lunges for another week or two, while I adjust to the other lifts. If anyone thinks differently - feel free to input. I'm hoping that building up the muscles around that area will add some stability. Thanks, Built!

You've got good music, good information and good "go get 'em"!

If you've got tweaky knees - I've had issues since 2006 when I did an overly heavy leg extension and my right knee popped. Amazingly nothing actually happened except some bursitis. I had it MRI'd and the doc basically said its wear & tear from patellas that don't track quite right over the knee joint. This is a common situation and can be the result of a dominant quad or ham throwing off the push/pull balance.

For any consistent pain, as you've called out, ICE ICE BABY! But I get random tweaks that make me feel like the knee joint is just going to buckle even under the weight of just a bar. So in addition to the DeFranco leg warmups, I also do a bunch of butt to the floor bodyweight squats - this is very much along the lines of the squats Built is recommending - the point is just to do a functionally correct move that sort of gets all the moving parts warmed up & aligned. If I can do a bunch of those w/o pain, then I can probably go into a heavy squat w/o issue. But other times if things just don't feel right, I might be better off changing up to a different bodypart that day. It can be as simple as stepping the wrong way or going up the stairs (to the weight room in my gym) and something just gets tweaked.

Here's another thought -- I've come across A LOT of people my age who have plantar fasciitis - this is very similar to a bunched up muscle in your upper back or anything that produces those tight spots or knots in your back -- except in your foot / ankle. Similar to the foam roller, you can roll your foot on a tennis ball (or better - a frozen bottled water .. frozen in the bottle - and roll your foot on it) - works as a massage to release the tension in the foot muscles. The problem w/ plantar fasciities is that it can contribute to yet another type of push / pull imbalance when you start to favor the sore or tight muscles in your feet and start producing sore calves or shins, and these can propaget up to your hips (e.g. IT band, piriformis, etc.) So yet another good reason to stretch and warmup.

 

[niki]

Sassy - so when you mention the plantar fasciitis, it's in relation to the knee issues? I ask because the four ortho surgeries I have had include: scope of the knee at age 16 (cleaned up torn cartilege), acl reconstruct (no injury, just 'went'), ankle (multiple sprains, finally broke it), and foot - where they did a release for plantar fasciitis - thank GOD no more heel pain! I started out with a tennis ball, and worked my way up to a golf ball, to break down the scar tissue from the surgery. Painful and effective. So you are suggesting that I start those up again, or does the lack of heel/pain surgical history mean it won't help?

My whole left leg has been a problem.....when I say my knee feels ketchy, what I mean is that there's some 'off' lateral movement that I usually don't feel, it can mean I have to be careful to not hyper extend, and make it worse, or that I need to just step right, not use the stairs, etc....I got that yesterday. I was careful.....extra lateral movement makes me a bit jumpy.

I've never used any wraps, so am wondering about those....I've also never used squats or lunges because of my knee issues. Not because of anything other than fear that they would make things worse. What I seem to be reading now, is that working on the musculature around the knee, should help things a bit.....just need to take it slow. I get overly excited, and end up injuring myself - which is very discouraging. I'd like avoid that this time, if at all possible.

And GUESS what?! I am watching the vids on my phone before doing the lifts. It isn't my laptop - and it is tiny, but it works. hehe

 

[Built]

You poor thing - so much knee grief! Very interesting about the plantar rolling. I gotta try that too, my ankles lack mobility and this can only help. Good idea for the vids!

 

[REDDOG309]

My wife who is a big runner has planter fac...and the doctor has her freeze a water bottle and roll her foot on that for 20 minutes a day while watching tv and she says it does help her foot feel better. Hope this might help some of you.

 

[niki]

I never had foot problems until I spent about two years working on concrete - even with excellent shoes, it got bad enough to opt for the surgery. Frozen water bottles are the bomb. Surgery did the trick tho' - I had tried stretches, wearing a boot at night, etc, etc.......it's awesome to not be in pain the moment your heels hit the floor in the morning....If I don't get better knees in my next life, I'm asking for a refund. My dad had both of his replaced in his early fifties. Eeek.

 

[999]

This is no longer just a mans world

This is the case however in reality.