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Get Strong!

lifting for strength, not just looks

Powergirl
Powergirl g Heidi Hansen
13 Post(s)
13 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

First of all, I wanted to say, I am a powerlifter. I don't do crossfit, or olypmic lifting. I do like to participate in Strongman events and I also have recently tried my hand at the Scottish games. One could say, I LOVE to lift and nothing makes me happier. That being said, I don't think I would like it as much, if I wouldn't get strong and progress from doing it. I don't really do it for the aestethics, that's a side benefit and the fat I am losing is more of a result from my eating habits and the conditioning I do. However, I rarely see many women in the weight room, and the ones I do rarely exert themselves and seem to be lifting the same loads week after week. I think this is a problem,(sure women are lifting weights now because the word is getting out that you won't look like a man,) but it's still prevalent in the gym, but its getting better. However, I wonder why soo many women chose to train in such a way, where they may "tone up," but don't ever get really strong. I admit, that it definitely is more difficult to date when many guys see your strength as a drawback, but that means "many guys" aren't worth your time. I'd like to put it out there that women should not only train just to loose fat and to build a little muscle, but they should train to get strong! Also, you don't always have to stick to higher rep schemes. Sometimes it is very beneficial for each set to have less than 5 reps, and each set can still challenge you. Max strength training is great and I love it! It's one way to test where you are and see what you can do! It's not a bad thing, and it's kind of awesome! I admit, I'm not the thinnest woman, and I haven't hit all my goals, as far as my health goes and my body fat. Training for strength keeps me motivated and it makes me feel good about myself, especially when I increase what I'm lifting. I also want to put it out there, for any women, I would love to help you out and if you have any questions about it, feel free! Right now, as of Thursday, I kicked my squat PR out of the park with a set of 3 at 265, my last bench press max at the end of March was 160, and deadlift max, also at the end of March, was 285. You could say, I'm pretty confident that any woman can get strong!

Powergirl
Powergirl g Heidi Hansen
13 Post(s)
13 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

Oh yeah, and if you want some super nice toned legs, powerlifting will get you those! I know my legs are solid as rock!

michelle_lyons
michelle_lyons g Michelle Lyons
3 Post(s)
3 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: May 5, 2014
Posted

One of my biggest goals is to be able to do 10 pull ups. I can't do one yet but I'm working on it :-)

Powergirl
Powergirl g Heidi Hansen
13 Post(s)
13 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: April 4, 2014
Posted

Michelle,
I think that's a great goal!!! Sometimes women tend to overwork the legs and forget to focus on upper body strength as well, even though for women it is much harder to build strength in the upper body than the lower body. Pull-ups are great and they work multiple muscle groups at once. Sometimes isolation exercises are great for supplementing our workouts in areas where we need extra work, but I always advocate doing compound movements over isolation movements 1. because it saves time in the gym 2. because that's how our muscles work 3. because you build more strength and burn more calories that way.

 

I hope you reach your goal, I know pull ups have also been an area I struggle in. For women, just to be able do one pull up is a great accomplishment and shows a great deal of strength. They are also great for building your lats which are incredibly important in your bench press and deadlifts as well.

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: Powergirl

First of all, I wanted to say, I am a powerlifter. I don't do crossfit, or olypmic lifting. I do like to participate in Strongman events and I also have recently tried my hand at the Scottish games. One could say, I LOVE to lift and nothing makes me happier. That being said, I don't think I would like it as much, if I wouldn't get strong and progress from doing it. I don't really do it for the aestethics, that's a side benefit and the fat I am losing is more of a result from my eating habits and the conditioning I do. However, I rarely see many women in the weight room, and the ones I do rarely exert themselves and seem to be lifting the same loads week after week. I think this is a problem,(sure women are lifting weights now because the word is getting out that you won't look like a man,) but it's still prevalent in the gym, but its getting better. However, I wonder why soo many women chose to train in such a way, where they may "tone up," but don't ever get really strong. I admit, that it definitely is more difficult to date when many guys see your strength as a drawback, but that means "many guys" aren't worth your time. I'd like to put it out there that women should not only train just to loose fat and to build a little muscle, but they should train to get strong! Also, you don't always have to stick to higher rep schemes. Sometimes it is very beneficial for each set to have less than 5 reps, and each set can still challenge you. Max strength training is great and I love it! It's one way to test where you are and see what you can do! It's not a bad thing, and it's kind of awesome! I admit, I'm not the thinnest woman, and I haven't hit all my goals, as far as my health goes and my body fat. Training for strength keeps me motivated and it makes me feel good about myself, especially when I increase what I'm lifting. I also want to put it out there, for any women, I would love to help you out and if you have any questions about it, feel free! Right now, as of Thursday, I kicked my squat PR out of the park with a set of 3 at 265, my last bench press max at the end of March was 160, and deadlift max, also at the end of March, was 285. You could say, I'm pretty confident that any woman can get strong!

What a great post @powergirl, it is true that most woman do not like to lift heavy, but that is because of all the misinformation out there that says if you lift heavy you will get HUGE MUSCLES! We all know it doesn't quite ork like that. There is much more involved and it is also very possible to gain loads of strength and stay the same size.

 

I am so proud of you and it looks like you have indpired another Lady Hermanite to post! Loving it!

 

PS: you should crop your thumbnail photo for your profile. @walkthrough will show you how to do it!

 

Have a great week!

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Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: michelle_lyons

One of my biggest goals is to be able to do 10 pull ups. I can't do one yet but I'm working on it :-)

An ambitious and obtainable goal!

 

This video should help!

 

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Impulse
Impulse g
209 Post(s)
209 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: March 3, 2014
Posted

Chicks that lift > *

Eric // Impulse Bachelor's Degree of Kinesiology Current Study in Human Nutritional Sciences ACSM Certified Personal Trainer NSCA-CSCS and CPT
Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: Impulse

Chicks that lift > *

#HARDCORE

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cr3ased
cr3ased g Crystal Ang
4 Post(s)
4 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Lose Fat Date Joined: January 1, 2014
Posted

It's nice to see fellow females who lift weights too! I always get weird stares when I head over to the weight racks at the gym. My goal is to build muscle and lose fat. Being able to do a couple of pull ups would be great too!

SavvvyD
SavvvyD g Savvvy D
54 Post(s)
54 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2014
Posted
Posted By: cr3ased

It's nice to see fellow females who lift weights too! I always get weird stares when I head over to the weight racks at the gym. My goal is to build muscle and lose fat. Being able to do a couple of pull ups would be great too!

I have the same goals :) I tried pull-ups...still too weak lol! I actually started lifting last year to feel better first and to look good second. I am now working on training my weaker areas as a goal. Triceps glutes and posterior delts are always lacking in development for me.

jmboiardi
jmboiardi p John M Boiardi
2.6K Post(s)
2.6K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: October 10, 2013
Posted
Posted By: cr3ased

It's nice to see fellow females who lift weights too! I always get weird stares when I head over to the weight racks at the gym. My goal is to build muscle and lose fat. Being able to do a couple of pull ups would be great too!

Crystal,

 

Who cares about people and their weird stares. I say more power to you :-) If you lift at any of the California Fitness gyms in Singapore like me, you see a lot of people who really don't know what they are doing or train based on old concepts so it doesn't surprise me that you are getting odd stares. When I train, I don't care about what the others are doing or how they are working out and sometimes I even get people mimicing what I do :-)

 

John

34 years of lifting and nutritional experience and resident "old man" :-) MS Athlete and past Super Hermanite since 2013.
michelle_lyons
michelle_lyons g Michelle Lyons
3 Post(s)
3 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: May 5, 2014
Posted

At my old gym I used to get stared at (mainly by women at the cardio area!) but I think it's just because some places aren't used to seeing women lift anything other than a pink dumbbell!

Borderlilly370
Borderlilly370 g Shawna Donovan
6 Post(s)
6 Post(s) Gender: Female Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: July 7, 2015
Posted

I've been working off my 1RM on all my major lifts. I'm following a rep scheme from the T-nation site on building strength and I'm working 70-80% with 5x6 reps within that weight range. I'm wondering for strength and size if that is enough for squats on one of my leg days. I want to keep building everything. I feel pretty lost. I know I'm getting stronger and bigger but I want to get the most out of my work outs. If I should be doing more I'd like to know.

Scott_Herman
Scott_Herman a Scott Herman
7.1K Post(s)
7.1K Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Bodybuilding Date Joined: August 8, 2008
Posted
Posted By: Borderlilly370

I've been working off my 1RM on all my major lifts. I'm following a rep scheme from the T-nation site on building strength and I'm working 70-80% with 5x6 reps within that weight range. I'm wondering for strength and size if that is enough for squats on one of my leg days. I want to keep building everything. I feel pretty lost. I know I'm getting stronger and bigger but I want to get the most out of my work outs. If I should be doing more I'd like to know.

Now that you're working on training legs three times a week, as long as you are doing enough sets per workout, it should be brining in results. I would probably mix up the percentages and rep ranges though - for example maybe 2 heavy days and one hypertrophy day with higher reps. Start the week with a heavy workout because that's when you'll be your strongest.

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muscular strength
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