abcollins1
Forum Replies Created
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You wont build muscle on 1600 cals a day, it just wont happen.
When you diet, your body downregulates your metabolism in response to the lowered energy coming in, or it engages in a little recycling, which is how people can lose lean mass as well as fat. Your body literally slows down your metabolism to a point and stops any unneccesary bodily process (building muscle). Eating too little cals or incorrect macros, can cause the body to break down muscle tissue. So other than those who are just beginning in their workouts (aka newbie gains) your body is not designed to build muscle while it is not getting sufficent calories to do so.
Many people incorporate a 'refeed' each week to negate the downregulation and re-set hormones such as leptin (which controls hunger), T3 and others so that we can continue to burn fat.(often times called a cheat meal or sometimes a free meal)
Lyle McDonald has a lot of information on these processes in his books and on his site- 'A guide to flexible dieting' is a good one if you're interested. He backs his reasoning with real science, very informative and great reading to understand the processes of the body.
If you are dieting, then you dont "eat back" the calories that you burned through exercise. This takes your 20% deficit and makes it more like a 5% deficit. You should be eating the same amount of calories each day, no matter the workout. The workout doesnt make you lose fat, it helps expend calories to make the deficit bigger. You lose weight by being in the correct calorie deficit, not from working out. That 20% and TDEE should take into consideration how much work you are doing each day, so there is no need to eat extra cals or to eat back the calories.
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I have many issues with MFP, the first being that it likes to set every single person who wants to lose weight on a 1200 calorie diet. It did this to me and to a friend of mine who at 5'8 and 300 pounds, definitely should not have ben on the same eating plan..
Second, it tells people to "eat back" the calories they burn from exercise, this is very evident on their forums as well.
Third, a lot of the info for the foods is just plain wrong. With people putting their own info in, there is a lot of room for errors. Some people just put what is on the label, some people are measuring incorrectly, some people just put in crazy numbers. It can be a crap shoot of if the numbers are actually correct.
I have found the most accurate way of tracking is to weigh everything using a digital scale and use good ole pen and paper.
If you have plateaued for 6 months, then its time to look at what is not working, cause thats not a plateau, thats a complete stopping point. From their you look at the way you have been tracking foods, and if you are using MFP, your count may be off. Go back weigh and measure everything, dont rely on MFP and see what you get, Chances are its not what you think. I see this ALL the time!
From there, if your cals are higher than you thought, then try dropping 100 – 200 cals and see if that gets the weight dropping, if not then bring cals up for a couple of weeks, take a deload week on training, and then start dropping cals again.
Again, if you are in the right calorie deficit, then you should be losing. If you are not losing, then you are not in a deficit and you first look at your diet.
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If you are not losing weight, then go back to the diet? What is your calorie level? Are you weighing and tracking all you eat?
You can still gain and maintain weight eating "healthy foods".
Also I find many online programs like Myfitnesspal, to be very inaccurate for tracking calories, lables can be wrong and people can make mistakes.
Walking is very under-rated, Its a great way to exercise so dont let that discorage you, though it generally only burns about 95 cals per mile, so take that into consideration when thinking of how much cals out you have.
At 213, if your calorie level is correct, then you should be losing fine.
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Haha, i guess i should have done more research. I never realized they coated the pole, i put mine up and started using it right away! didnt think it would be an issue, and doesnt seem to have affected anything…
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High reps with low weights do not 'shape' or "tone" the muscle. It does work on muscle endurance however, which can be a good thing to add into the mix. If it did build muscle in any way, i would be huge, i teach muscle pump classes every week. But unfortunately high reps dont build anything but endurance.
A person new to weight lifting may experience a small anount of muslce gain, simply because they are new and the body is adapting to the new work, but they will not build any significant amount of muscle.
And for a normal person, that is not using some form of drugs, adding mass is a very slow process and it will not interfere with flexibility training.
I think if you look at people who combine strength and flexibility you can see that being pretty muscular does not mean you have to lose flexibility. People like Tanji Johnson and Adele Garcia on the ladies end, are pretty muscular for women yet are still very flexible, you can you tube their routines. Then on the guys side, you can check out Steve Atlas, who does a ton of body weight work, carries a very decent amount of mass, yet is one of the most flexible men i have every met.
Again, it really depends were your goals and focus lie. Most "bulky" gym dudes dont see the benefits of being flexible so dont put any focus there, The only drawback i can see is that lifting takes a lot of time and flexibility training takes a lot of time, both in practice and in the work. As with anything, splitting your focus in 2 directions is going to mean you are not optimaly doing both. So your flexi work may suffer if you are looking to add major mass, and your mass training may suffer if you are really trying to work on flexi. Its a fine line to walk beteween the 2.
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The others are right, money is not made by doing cool tricks. And men generally dont care about the cool tricks, your hubby is right, they are there to see boobs and bootie. Men are the ones who go and spend the most money, and all they want is a place to watch the ladies and live a fantasy for a while.
That being said i learned how to invert, CAR, and spin from a stripper (with out any kind of mat or strength training on my part. I shudder now about it 10 yrs later, lol). And she was the only one at the club out of 10 girls who did ANY pole work and most of it would be basic to us veeners!
I have been to many strip clubs over the years and really have not seen much "real" pole work. Strip clubs are about the money, the girls will do what gets the money in terms of dancing and pole work.
I will say that i had a sort of opposite situation occur at one club. I was in the stall and 2 of the strippers came in and where complaining about how "cheap" the men were and how they were going to go home if they werent making money. I was with a HUGE group of guys and a couple of gals that night. They looked pretty shocked when i walked out, they thought they were alone. I didnt say anything to them (it was awkward) but i also never mentioned it to the group either. I know they were just venting, and im not getting in the way of anyones money.
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The simple act of lifting weights/strength training will not cause one to be inflexible. Most people equate being inflexible with muscle mass, because usually those who focus on gaining muscle ONLY will usually not focus on stretching or maintaining any flexibility.
My husband is such a case, he NEVER worked on flexibilty but lifted a ton of weights, he is very strong and carries a good bit of mass, but he is so tight! I have been "forcing" (read as bugging and not taking no as an answer) him to do yoga and Felix Cane's stretching DVD wih me, and he is improving his flexibilty bit by bit. We both lift, but i have been working on flexibilty for a long time, so I am way more flexi than him.
I am like veena, i usually stretch after lifting, and with the muscles being warmed up and fatigued, i get great stretches in. But it is something you need to specifically train for, and many people neglect.
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I was having this trouble too, but couldnt tell if it was an issue with windows 8 or the site. right now its more like windows hate! This program is so much trouble!
Thanks for fixing it!
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When you find something new you love, its normal to want to share. However, those that arent into it or dont understand it usually dont want to hear about it. The same thing happens with other people in other hobbies/passions.
The trick of it is just to not let it be an issue where you talk about it non stop and that is the only thing you are capable of talking about. With people who dont get it, then just dont talk about it or make it a big issue. Save the pole talk for the people who are in the know.
It happened to me when i started lifting weights and living a healthier lifestyle. I got a lot of comments on it from family and friends, but now years down the road, they have just accepted it as me. Its what I do and who I am. Added poling into the mix and everyone is like, oh ya know its just her fitness thing, shes into all that… and they go on. Wouldnt say ive lost any friends over it, but i also dont talk about it much, only as it comes up in conversation. I dont really talk about my goals or plans for what i want my body to look like or my plans for competing again. Someone may ask and i will answer, but i just dont really talk about it cause outside of the fitness world, no one understands or cares.
Took and aerial silks class yesterday, put up a post on FB about it and got some positive remarks. The rest just think i am crazy and into anything fitness so they arent worried 🙂
I would say dont forsake your friends just because they havent found the same passion as you. Now if they are negative or rude, then you have an issue, but try and be supportive of their habits too. Dont just expect every one to love and do what you do, just as you wont love and do what others do. I have a friend who is into running half and full marathons, i hate running that much but we have never clashed over the issue, and she has never hated on my love of anything else. I dont think you have to hide it, but just dont let it be an issue.
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This is all basiclly about one topic that has been popular lately, and that is programming. Everything begins with the goal, why are you training and what are you training for. Of course most people here will say "pole" but thats not quite it. You need to know what the overall goal of the progran is: strength, mass, endurance, all three, or something else entirely???
The type of training is going to follow whatever your goal is, and this will also determine sets, reps, rest, and exercise choice. But everything in the program needs to have a reason. You dont throw in sets, reps or exercises arbitrarily.
Another point that i am seeing talked around but not named is progression. Whatever program you have should have progression built in. And that means that if you have say 2 sets of 10 reps, you not only have a reason for choosing that, but have a plan on how to change that when that is too easy, adding weight is good, but then you need to look at why you are adding weight and does that fit in with the goal or do you need to change something else.
There is a lot that goes into building an exercise program, wether its strength training or cardio or whatever. Not all exercises need to go to faliure, not all exercises benefit from higher weights. Personally I work out and design programs with a variety of sets and reps for a variety of reasons.
rests periods are going to affect a lot of things as well, shorter rests will help make a session more intense by shortening recovery time, longer rests can help "dissolve" lactic acid build up in the muscle and give more recovery, usually seen when moving the higher weights. However there is no "set" time limit for rests, it may vary individually. Again, though its going to depend on the goal of the program.
As always, if you cant do it with good form, you need to drop the weight regradless of anything else.
I think veenas lessons here are very good in that she shows and explains the begginer, intermediate and advanced postitions in many things and the site has a natural progression into it.
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I had to work to get mine under there, but had to shorten the pole, really compress it down, and then slide the pole into place on the pad. Its not super easy, but can be done. Though i dont know how it works with custom sizes.
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I see a lot of good information here, but there are some things that concern me.
Protein, in order to build and maintain muscle, you do need to eat a certain amount of protein in your diet, it is one of the most important things you need, and this is based on the science of how the body works. Without sufficent protein in the diet, your body will break down the most abundant source of protien in the body, which is the muscles. This usually happens when someone begins a "diet" and doesnot provide enough protein to the body. If you would like all of the actual science stuff…. http://scidiv.bellevuecollege.edu/rkr/biology160/lectures/pdfs/Respiration160.pdf
The other part i would like to add is that, animal products do not by themselves add a significant amount of cholesteral to the diet. Dietary cholesteral is only about 4% of total cholesteral. I eat eggs everyday and my cholesteral has been described as "beautiful" by my doctor, My numbers are very good and have gone from 158 to 136 in the last 3 years. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11111098
And actually, vegans have the hardest time of all getting healthy fats in their diet and are more at risk of being deficient.
I have found no credible proof that either milk or spinach cause problems with calcium absorbtion. In fact my daughters dietician was very concerned about the fact that my daughter could not drink milk, not only because it has lots of protein and calories, but because the calcium was needed for bone health. And yes we have had her on Hemp Protein but her dietician was really not a big fan of it either.
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This is a really great thread and some great replies. My ultimate goal is to one day open a small studio, so this has really given me some things to think about. You dont often hear this side from owners.
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A few years ago i started lifitng weights and living a much healthier lifestyle. I was 105 pounds at the time and started because, like many people who start, i was unhappy with the way i looked. A few years have passed and im really happy with my body and the progress i have made, and today i weigh 118. So yup i gained!
Had a trainer online the other day try and tell me that she was a better trainer because she "looked better" than me. Really this made me LOL at her stupidity. Looking a certain way has no bearing on either your worth as a person or as a trainer.
Also, im so over the whole need to be ZOMG 15% body fat because i can only look pretty if im lean thing.
People can only hurt you if you let them. Be happy in who you are and where you are, thats all that matters.
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Firebird, I would have told that lady maybe if she took a pole class then she wouldnt have to worry about her husband fantasizing about anything else!
Omg how rude to say something about what you wear! its not like you are wearing pole specific clothes, its just a logo for crying outloud!
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Looks like you have some nice quads going there, Hard to tell much else by that photo. Id say you have a good base at least, but take off the fat and do some heavy lifting and hope that muscle memory kicks in.
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I think poling is super great for the upper body, but for the legs, you are going to need more if you plan on maintaing mass or building.
Personally I pole 3 days a week and weight train 4, plus teach my spin classes weekly. Ive been able to maintain my weight but cals are high, protein at 120g a day.
If its been some years since you have been lifting regularly and had those stats, then your body will have changed, so agian you are still looking at taking off the fat to see what is left. Youre at an advatage from lots of people in that you should still have a nice base to cut down and see what you got.
I would not advise immedietly dropping to 1400 cals to drop weight. I would drop 300 cals from what you are eating now, add lifitng in and cardio for another 200 – 300 cal burn. If you are not sure what you are eating now, then journal for a few days and see. But protein should be high, moderate fats and fill the rest in with carbs (healthy ones 🙂 )
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I find it hard to believe because you are telling me that you have more muscle mass than someone who has been bodybuilding for 18 years and has one of the top figures in the world. Someone whos stage weight is 110 at 14% bodyfat, who qualified for the junior nationals in their first show and has placed top 3 in international competitions. I highly doubt you have to drop to 1200 cals immeditely, even i dont go that low and im shorter and weigh less than you.
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i would love to see pics of this.
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If youve done figure competitions then you should know the diet is the key to losing fat, not how you train.
If your 5'1 and 19% at 100 pounds, then thats not a lot of muscle my friend.
at 5'1 and a lot of muscle you should be 115 – 120 at 19%, stage weight of 105 – 110 at 15%
that would mean you would be maybe 95 lbs at stage weight.
It makes no sense. Even the smallest bikini girls are 98 lbs at 16%
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Calipers are the easiest and cheapest, but widely inaccurate. They can give you a ball park estimate but never take it as "gospel"
The best way, though expensive, is a DEXA scan, they are not available in every area and can get pricey.
http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages
leigh peele has a great blog about it, very informative and a good place to start, if the link doesnt work, google leigh peele body fat and it should come up.
After that, you can research dexa scans and compare known scans and eventually you will come to have a good understanding and be able to evaluate body fat.
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If you were a previous lifter than before, you should have some muscle under the fat, however, oly lifters typically dont do low body fat as you would need the strenght and going too low in bodt fat would sacrifice strength, So unless you have done a few bulk/cut cycles, you dont know what you have built ( and no one knows how much muscle they have managed to build until they go low in bodyfat, not even bodybuilders).
So again, you are still over estimating muscle and undersestimating fat.
Losing fat goes back to diet, not what kind of exercise or training you do.
If your diet is in check, then you will lose fat.
Doing pole wont automatically make you lose fat. Doing Hiit wont automatically lose fat. Lifitng weight doent utomaticaly make you lose fat.
This is what I do for a living, poling is a hobby, bodybuilding is a hobby, but my job is to help people lose fat and gain strength. Balance out calories and protein, fats, and carbs and any animal will lose weight. The science is the same.
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Taking a look at what pics you have up, i would say you are higher than 18% and you dont have a whole lot of muscle going on. You look pretty tall, and its harder to put muscle on a taller frame, but its easier to carry weight. You look to be in the lower 20's for body fat, its hard to tell with the pics you have up but that would be my guess.
It looks like you carry the most weight in your abs, so for you, it would be the last place for fat to drop off. However, you look like you are at a weight and body fat level where you should be concentrating on putting on muscle and not worrying about the fat.
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if your 18% body fat truly, and still have a pouch, then you need to look at posture. and muscle.
If you have low lean body mass, then it wont matter how low you go in body fat, you still will not have flat abs. You will start to look stringy and sickly. Instead you will need to build overall muscle mass and bring up lean body mass.
I have flat abs at about 23 – 24 % but i have put on about 15 pounds of muscle over the years and i dont carry much fat around my abs, so they show sooner.
Like i said, it all boils down to how much muscle you have and where you carry your fat.
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Chemgoddess is correct. Bodybuilders will go 10% Figure and Fitness about 12% and Bikini competiors will go about 15 – 16%. Not only is it extremely hard to get to these numbers, its not sustainable at all. Essential Body fat for women is 12%, going lower than that or even staying around that can create many health issues. Average body fat is considerd 25 – 30 with the 18 – 24 being "athletic".
If you are low in weight and still have a pooch, then you are carrying a higher rate of body fat and not enough muscle. No amount of dieting will get rid of the pooch until you gain muscle mass. And you dont have to have extremely low body fat to habe flat abs, most women will see the flatness in the 18 – 24 range, depending on how much muscle they have and where they carry their fat.
The ladies that i know that compete are never more than 10 – 15 pounds off their stage weight. But even they dont look stage ready all the time.
