Men And Abs

Men are able to lose body fat more easily than women for a variety of reasons. 2 big ones include:

- They have more lean muscle mass... so they burn more calories even at rest... which means they have a better metabolism.

- Genetics. Women are designed to have some extra padding for birth :)

Working out and eating is the same for both genders. Obviously the amount or intensity will be different. BUt there is no secret. Although... hint hint... women should learn to lift heavy ;) That's the best kept secret EVER!
 
Got that right Lynn, I will be happy when one day, lifting "real" weights is not the forbidden activity of the female population. I think most women fear growing gigantic muscles, when in reality, this is not going to happen.
 
What are the "real weights" I should be lifting? I just use five pound dumbells and strenght training exercises. But I do it more because I'm not very strong, not because I'm afraid of getting bulky or looking 'unfeminine' in the gym.:)
 
"the reral wt you should be lifting" is a challenging one...i have found that women like to stay in the easy zone (not increasing wt etc)...whether this a fear of getting big muscles or not educated enough i don't know...but if your program calls for 2 x 10 at 5kgs, the very first time you reach 2 x 10 with that wt, you must increase the wt next session for continued proegress...don't wait untill it gets easy as you would have wasted numerous workouts
 
ok, so w/me i can do 2 sets of most of the exercies fairly easy w/the 5 lb weights.........should i move up to 7 or something......or whatever the next size up is?
 
Your muscles increase when you overload them with a stress that they are not used to. It is almost like they are saying, "Wow, I was not used to that weight, I better repair myself and add a little to get ready for the next time that happens." So your muscles are always in flux of being torn down and built back up, with the correct rest and nutrition of course.

In order to keep your muscles from becoming stagnant, and used to the weight, one major way to avoid this is to your progressive resistance, meaning to always increase your weights once you hit your desired rep range. If all you are doing is using the same weights day in and day out and you are just doing 10 reps and stopping b/c you hit the magic number, then your body is not going to change. You have to make it change.
 
Well put Stroutman.
Muscles adapt very quickly so change it up with more weight and/or new movements. You can feel the difference almost imediately.
 
Great post stroutman81. I just want to add that if your program calls for 3 sets of 12 reps... then lift a weight you can do at least 10 times with PERFECT form. By the 12th rep, your muscles should be fatigued and tired... but you should still have perfect form.

If you feel like you can go more than 12 reps with perfect form... go for it. BUT only up to about 15 reps. If you can do 15 reps with perfect form... then move to a higher weight.

The point is to always work the muscle until it's fatigued and you cannot possibly do another rep without sacrificing form.
 
Ooohhhhh...

Thanks for putting that into something I could understand! Well I guess I'm done with these five pounders, I could do that all day....and I wonder why I never see results.

Hope I don't move up too fast, can't afford all those weights!:D
 
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