Military and firefighting fitness articles.

I guess I selected correctly. ;)


Hrm...I'm not even sure what is considered lower or higher weight for women. For example, among many things, I use 15lb barbells for chest press (more if on the machine), 40lb seated row and 60lb lat pull down. I do 2 sets of 16 reps along with cardio, crunches, stretching, etc, etc. I often see women in there with the 5lb weights and I wonder what it's accomplishing.....though, I don't know if 15lbs is really anything to brag about either. :o

.....Kelly :)

With the amount of reps you're doing, I would consider those lower weights.

As far as the amount of weight people are using - for some people, if that's the only way they can use correct form and pace in lifting (i.e. not bouncing the weights up and down like a mad person), then that's fine. If, however, they're just bouncing the weights all around, and there's no resistance or effort, then they probably should be trying slightly heavier weights.

Then again, it all depends on how you feel (or, if you're working with a licensed, experienced personal trainer, what they think you should be doing).

And it depends on your goals. A very good friend of mine who is orthopedic surgeon suggested, since I am doing a high protein/low carb thing and need to increase my metabolism that I should use the highest weights I can and lift to failure, even if it's only 8 reps. By "lift to failure", he means do reps until until you can't do them anymore, your muscles are incapable of doing one more. He said it's a quick way to build muscle fast and increase your metabolism. His thoughts were that if you're doing as many as 30 reps of something, you're not using enough weight. By doing it this way, you are creating microscopic tears in the muscle. You release Growth Hormone to repair those tears and, that greatly increases your metabolism. I have used this method over a period of time twice now and it seems to be what works best for me. You cannot do weights like that every day. In fact, he said I absolutely have to wait at least 48 hours between weight workouts to do it this way.

Exactly, and I'm a good example of how that could change. Before I started law school, I was lifting mainly for strength and building "quality" weight. I was pretty thin and had really low body fat (around 7-8%), so I was doing the high weight/low rep workout pretty frequently.

Now, after three years off from working out, I'm trying to cut down on the excess fat, so I've moved to doing more reps and more cardio. Many of the exercises are the same, but I've changed the way I do them.

Like AGDee said, it's dependent on your individual goals and where you want to go with your overall health.

Yeah, for the "recreational exerciser", it probably doesn't matter, but I've competed in Figure so I take it a bit seriously and hard-core. That is all.

Forgive my ignorance, but what's Figure? Figure skating?

Which makes perfect sense. And I'm now frightened of you.

I also find that if I do cardio first, I'm more tired when I start the weight routine resulting in being able to lift less/do fewer reps which I think, personally, makes me more prone to injury because I lose focus and get lazy, using less safe body mechanics. I've heard some trainers go so far as to say "Core first", meaning abs first, then the rest. If you're tired when you do abs, you tend to use your back instead and risk a back injury.

Anyone have any suggestions for a site similar to GC, but for fitness? Also, any idea about healthy eating websites? I need something to help me track what I eat, and since I have a technology addiction, I think a web-based something would be a good thing. Free is preferred!

sparkpeople.com is awesome. There are food trackers, different interest groups, like forums, based on your age, particular challenges, etc. You put in your goal weight and when you want to reach it and it tells you a calorie range to shoot for each day. You can track how much water you're drinking. It's a great site! And, totally free!

ETA: The food trackers have foods built in already so if you eat a McDonald's cheeseburger or something like that, brand name frozen foods, whatever, it has the calorie counts and nutrition info already in there. You can add things that aren't in there already if there's something you eat regularly. Different groups have different challenges, where you earn points for staying in your calorie range, drinking your water, exercising, etc., so there is some fun built in. The only downfall to the site is that you'll get several emails every day from them.

You can try http://caloriecount.about.com/ to track what you eat, what you earn and to ask questions.

.....Kelly :)

Google any or all of these names to find out what "Figure" is, and who some famous "Figure Competitors" are:

Monica Brant
Elaine Goodlad
Jenny Lynn
Mary Elizabeth Lado

It's basically "Bodysculpting Lite" (and that's "Lite", not "Light")

Also, how your physique looks is 80% attributable to nutrition (sorry to ruin the party), 10% to training and 10% genetics. There is a lot to be said for "Clean Eating". There's a reason why slow-cooked oatmeal and egg whites is the breakfast of champions.

Ah ok, thanks. The figure skating comment wasn't meant as a slight - most of the figure skaters I know are in tremendous shape and know quite a bit about sustaining workout and nutrition schedules.

I"m on the path to losing some good weight- 6 pounds as of last week. But it's getting really hard to get to the gym these days. I saw Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred- it looks good for a circuit program (which I've been wanting). Any reviews/opinions?