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Stuck for 5 months - no weight loss -HELP!

Muscle Gelz Transdermals
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I'm sitting here trying to give an honest answer. The truth would be that I don't know. I've never really tried to do the heaviest weight I possibly can. I'm thinking I can probably get 90 lbs somewhere in that vicinity.
 
Built said:
Honey, you're TINY! You just need some muscle on you.

Stop trying to drop any more weight. Dropping more weight will not produce the look you desire. Let's fix up your training a bit and gradually creep the calories up so you can get a smidge more muscle on you and harden up, okay?

Are you willing to give your training an overhaul and agree to stop trying to lose for a bit? I'm not talking a full-on bulk - rather, a moratorium on losing.

This okay by you?
Click to expand...

This is why I spoke about stop looking at the scale and focus on your BODY COMPOSITION - At the start of a contest prep in 2005, I dropped 8% bodyfat and 2 lbs. Obviously my LOOK changed a lot even the scale didn't. You're at the lower limit of weight IMO, for your height -so you can change your look by increasing your muscle mass - more muscle always makes whatever amount of fat you have look better. If you just continue to focus on "losing weight" you'll end up skinnyfat.
 
Fair enough. Obviously, you all know what you're talking about. I did take the plunge and put myself out there (picture and all)! Ugh. So I am damn sure going to do what I'm told I should do. I don't think I have a friggin' clue what I'm doing. This is intimidating shit!
 
It can all be overwhelming in the beginning but you are in excellent hands with Built and Sassy. Time will bring clarity to the process and soon enough the process will be very comfortably integrated into your lifestyle.
 
Tonight I'm going to do an experiment with the squat weight. See how much I can handle. At the very least I need a reference point.
 
The cave man diet! IT's a staple in any diet. Eat sparingly 4-5 meals(more like snacks) followed By a huge dinner. Keep it up for 2-3 days and return your diet to normal! "Plateu bye bye"

No spam
 
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Ginger1961 said:
Tonight I'm going to do an experiment with the squat weight. See how much I can handle. At the very least I need a reference point.
Click to expand...

Cool.

Ginger, read the link in my sig on "getting started" and do that workout three times a week for a few weeks, okay? I want you to build up all your lifts.

Creep up the calories, an extra 100 daily this week, an extra 200 daily the week after.

Does this sound like something you can do?
 
Built,

I read that article three days ago and thought this would be the workout you'd start me at. Appears I'm a little stronger than I gave myself credit for. Last night wasn't a workout night but just for the heck of it I tested myself and I managed to squat 105 lbs for five. In all honesty I'm sure I can get more than that but I ended up doing it by myself and didn't want to get in trouble by going heavier without the benefit and security of someone being there with me. I can def do everything you suggested. I'll chart my progress and let you know how I'm doing. I totally appreciate everything you and Sassy are both doing. The feedback has been tremendous. Can we pull that pic of me off this thread? :) Looking at the pics of you ladies and a few others around here is making me realize how scrawny I actually am.
 
It's gone. Keep it though; it'll be your "skinny bitch" pic.

We all have these - or "fat bitch" pix. I wish I had taken GOOD starting pix from the beginning.

105 is decent weight to squat below parallel! Good job!

Can you do chins?
 
Thanks. I think I can do better. Skinny bitch pic...I love it. Thank you for removing.

I could do chins a few months back. I went through a little mini P90X phase and bastardized a few of those exercises. Chins were part of it. I have pretty decent strength in my lower half for a skinny girl I guess. (hahaha) Most of my friends won't work out with me because they say I work out like a boy. I also think I may have a little more muscle on me since that pic too. Especially my quads. That pic is about three months old. I started doing a few different leg workouts after vacation. I printed off that workout and taped it to my gym wall in LARGE PRINT...next to it is a calendar where I will record everything.

Oh and you wanna talk about fat bitch pics well i have them too...Imagine 70 lbs of blubber on that frame of mine...NASTY!
 
You'll find as you increase your calls, you'll see dramatic increases in your strength as well. What we call a "slow, lean bulk" is one way to increase your cals, spur some growth but also keep the additional bodyfat to a min - its a slower process but it lets you maintain more of a lean look than feeling like you have to go out & buy "fat pants" to accomodate an "off season".
 
There will be no fat pants here thank you very much. I just had to buy all new stuff twice already inside a year because of the changes in my body. I gave them all away! There's a no return policy on the pants and the fat. Far as it being a slow build. I'm not in a hurry. It took me two years to drop 25 lbs - patience I got.
 
Just finished my first full workout. Wow that was quick. Stayed with the 105 for the squats for tonight. Just until I get a feel for everything. Bent over rows 60 lbs; deadlifted at 70 lbs and pressed 85 pounds; I gotta say holy shit that was fun.
G
 
and then comes the cold hard pain of the day after...I can just imagine what tomorrow will bring. . . I got this!

Hmm and another thing, I seem to be getting hungrier as the days go by since I've cut out the cardio. Could this be my metabolism kicking in? I'm never usually hungry. I'm like the goddmaned cookie monster the last two days (without eating the cookies of course). :)
 
what macros are you running?
 
Never mind. I wasn't eating enough. Actually did up the guzintas (added it all up) was under calorie for the three days. Added some food and I'm good to go. I think I'm in cardio withdrawal though. One thing I have noticed is that I'm sleepin' like a friggin' log the last three / four nights. I was having an awful time staying asleep very very restless, like I couldn't relax at all. Waking up tired and dragging my ass to the spin bike. Whomever suggested the cortisol, I think you were bang on because I'm noticing some major changes in my rest patterns. I was damn close to burnout I think.
 
Have a quick question for Built or Sassy...I've been training with the same weight last week and half but noticed today that I could go for 2-3 more reps in each set. In what increments should I increase? Doing great by the way! I'm really diggin' this workout. My bf swears in just a week and a half he's seeing changes in my POSTERIOR! If nothing else, I'm feeling stronger; I'm not as tired and my body doesn't feel so damned beat up. All goods in my book.

Thanks a bunch
G
 
Increase the weight, drop the reps back to 5 and proceed back up to 8 reps. Then drop the reps and increase the weight again. The reward for going heavier is fewer reps.

I'm so glad to hear this feedback from you - nice work!
 
Built said:
Increase the weight, drop the reps back to 5 and proceed back up to 8 reps. Then drop the reps and increase the weight again. The reward for going heavier is fewer reps.

I'm so glad to hear this feedback from you - nice work!
Click to expand...

Same as well - I find generally I can increase my reps a little every time I repeat the same session (e.g. muscle group). If you're working in the 5-8 rep range, consider 5 to be your goal for a 'heavier weight'. When you can hit 8, try going up the next weight increment. If you can do 10 that means you're a solid candidate for another weight increment or two. You can also vary things like the speed of the rep (i.e Time under Tension, or TUT) or work the negative more. I find this is something I can work with when I'm at the top ofa weight range that I can do, but start to lose form if I go up more, or if its an unsupporte lift (like a squat) that I'm not comfortable doign w/o a spotter. Another good example is pull ups - If I can't do a full ROM pull up, I can jump up and work the negative or go as high as I can (w/o a jump) and work the negative. Same w/ things like tricep press downs. People tend to lose form on these by snapping the rep to use momentum instead of a controlled rep - which is a recipe for tendonitis (I did it in around 1992 when I coudlnt' get past 1-arm 25 lb cable tri extensions .. started snapping the rep to get it, got the rep, then also got tendonitis .. which never really goes away) YOu can make the same weight that seems easy, burn like a mofo if you reduce the rep speed or hold it on the contraction longer.

I look at training in terms of the sum of volume (weight & reps) + intensity. Intensity can be varied by explosion or TUT. Volume can be varied by weight or rep.

Also for unsupported lifts like squats where you top out and can't increase w/o a spotter, consider supported alternatives like smith machine, Power Squat, hack squat, etc. Or you can go to alternating leg options - e.g. Bulgarian split squat, standing lunges, alternating leg press. E.g. when I cap out at a weight I can no longer get my foot placement set up on leg press w/o blowign out a knee w/ no spotter, I will do alternating legs, w/ drop rep sets since its hard to get out of the seat & strip plates w/o killing your momentum. I'm up to 8 plates / 4 per side for 1 leg for drop sets of 6->4->2 reps. HUMBLING! Regular bar deadlifts can be replaced w/ rack pulls as well as alternating Dumbbell exercises (e.g. 1 leg romanian DL).
 
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^Excellent info.

Ginger, stick with keeping it simple for now. In about a month, come back and read this post - and apply the principals Sassy so generously outlined.
 
Wow Sassy, that's crazy weight! Can't imagine on this 5'4" frame I could ever do that in my lifetime. I knew I came to the right place with you and Built. I'm learning lots about my body and how it responds as I go. I'm also learning that once I get over the initial fear of loading up the bar for a squat that I'm a lot stronger than I gave myself credit for. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it but once I started pushing that weight back up to finish my first squat, the confidence sored. I don't do any squats without a spotter. Because I work out in my home gym, IMHO it would be stupid for me to risk getting in trouble alone. I'll keep tweaking this workout for sure. One thing about my bf, he pushes me beyond. If he thinks i'm not getting low enough in the squat, next one will be lower...He'll sometimes put his hand out and say when your ass makes it to my hand push back up. Although I think there may be an alternate motive there. I guess I'll let him have his fun. He's a huge supporter. He's very happy I've found this site. I'm so not frustrated anymore. I have not been on that scale since I gave it to him. Although I think I'll be checkin 'er out soon. I'm curious.

Thank you to the both of you. Hopefully it won't be too long and I'll be able to show you a picture with some results. :)
 
Hey, good job - you sound stoked!

PS I've rarely trained with a partner, and I have never squatted with a spotter - and still, I've managed to get my squat up to 205 for a triple (okay, twice ever, but it happened!).

Keep the weight to a number you know you can squat. There is no need to push for failure.

In your home gym, does your squat rack have safety bars/pins?
 
Nope it does not but it is on the list for Mr. to do for me. He's working on a few things in there since the change up with my training. Wasn't so much of a priority since I wasn't working with heavy weights before. I think he likes sticking around a bit too because he's got this fear I'm going to hurt myself. He'll get comfortable with it soon enough. And yes I am stoked. I've not been this excited about working out in a long long time.
 
You are only limited by your mind.


NPC Lightweight FBB Jen Cowan:

Stats: 5'4", off-season wt: 130 lb, competition wt: 115 lb

An interview w/ her:

Jennifer Cowan - aka the Beast
YouTube Video



From a PL meet:

Jennifer Lynn Cowan Squat 407
YouTube Video


Jennifer Lynn Cowan Deadlift 407
YouTube Video



Apparently she rounded out that meet w/ a 187 lb bench for total of 1003!
(PLers measure themselves by weight class and the weight totals of their meet bench + dead + squat).

This competitor is also interesting in that she's a bodybuilder & a powerlifter - one of the biggest on-going arguments is about who is stronger, a BB or a PLer because BBs are all about the look while PLers are (obviously) not always about the look, but definitely about the explosion.
 
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All that heavy lifting sure made her look all manly and stuff!

Thanks for posting that Sassy. I'm using this next time a woman complains to me that she doesn't want to get "too big".

I'll tell her to stick to the heavy compounds, like I always do. And I'll show her these vids.
 
That is truly incredible! I have been spreading the word to friends of mine about this workout. Unfortunately, most of it falls on def ears. My own sister, 2 years younger than me, is trying to knock off about 20 lbs. She's def overweight and I swear to great jesus "thick as a brick" in the head. She will not listen to a damn thing I try to tell her. She refuses to lift weights with the exception of her "dumb bell tree" - "dumb" being the operative word. She thinks she's going to look all manly. Told her she was crazy. That it was impossible. It's funny how so many women truly believe that's what will happen if they pick up a weight. I suggested she increase her protein a bit because she was depending way too much on carbs for her daily cals. Finally, I talked her into incorporating protein shakes and eating a lower carb protein bar. She sent me an email yesterday saying "I don't know how you can eat like this, I'd rather the taste of a Mars bar and cheeseburgers". My response back to her was this and I quote
"I always have my down days where diets and fitness are concerned BUT when I go out the door wearing a size 2 at age 41 and look younger than girls that are 10 years my junior that, my dear, tastes better than any Mars bar in my books".
 
This is just a little update for Built and Sassy...i'm doing great following the routine. Getting in about 3-4 sessions a week and definitely feel myself getting stronger. I have gone up about 4 lbs in weight but i'm not panicked at all. Some of that is definitely muscle. I'm going by the tape measure and my eye. If I was gaining fat at all my waist is the first thing that expands. It's actually sitting around 26 " which is slightly smaller than when I started. How that happened I have no idea. I'm seeing most of the definition and growth in my upper body. Specifically my shoulders and neck. Makes sense I guess. I struggle the most with the shoulder presses and that seems to be wear i'm making the most visible gains. Oh and did I mention my butt...I love what the heavy below parallel squats and deadlifts are doing for that particular area. I think this program is amazing. Just goes to show that if you stick to the basics, it works.

G
 
Ginger, that's great.

What macros are you running for your diet? The weight gain may simply be glycogen in your muscles, or perhaps some local inflammation if you're at all sore. It should drop off you fairly soon.
 
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