new member-want to get some input

M

midwifehc

0
Hi all,
I'm a 41yo female currently 134lbs, 5'4'', 16%Bf (3 months ago by calipers done at gym-am going to have that rececked next week). I've lost 135lbs after a gastric bypass 1/05 and go to the gym average of 5 days per week. I do cardio on cybex arc trainer 4-6 times a week for 60-75 min (I read someone post about doing long cardio and plodding along-believe me I don't plod along-I burn over 900 cal/hr and am really fast with sprints interspersed).
I work out with mostly free weights 3x/week upper body and 2-3X per week lower.
Upper workout:
Assisted dips/chins,pulls (22lb assist)
Lat pulls-2 inner and outer grips
Tricep pulls with rope
2nd tricep exercise-looks like a bicep curl but for tris with cable crossover
bicep curl with straight bar
bicep curls with dumbells
shoulder presses
tricep-over head-behind back with dumberr (what's this called?)
bicep-hammer I think its called
25 pushups currently- increasing every week
abs on roman chair

lower
squats
leg presses
calf raise on leg press machine
separate calf raise
leg extetion I think it is--for hamstrings

I eat about 2400cal/day average--mostly healthy-no sugar, no junk food, 5-9 fruits/veg/day, all my fiber etc. I probably average about 80-90g protein/day.

Frankly I work out so much because I love it-a little bit of a gym addiction-plus I'm really happy about all my gains-I'm actually the most defined, muscular woman at the gym and I'm very happpy about it and want to improve.
Short term goals--
I want to do chins/ dips unassisted-are there any exercises I am missing that can bring me closer to that faster?
I wouldn't mind getting my BF down to about 14%-what improvements might I make in that regard?Supplements? etc?
The front of my tricep looks excellent but the part in the back of my arm is not nearly as well defined. What specifically can I do to improve that?

Thanks for reading-I know it's a really long post.
 
I wouldn't mind getting my BF down to about 14%-what improvements might I make in that regard?Supplements? etc?
Click to expand...

mostly your diet. more protein, lower carbs, lower calories, plenty of healthy fats.

The front of my tricep looks excellent but the part in the back of my arm is not nearly as well defined. What specifically can I do to improve that?
Click to expand...

Ummm, the tricep is the back of your upper arm, and a little of the sides. the front of the upper arm is the bicep.


I notice you're only doing push-ups for chest, and lots of reps. I would decrease the number of days a week you do pushups, and start hitting the chest with heavier weight, and thus lower reps. high reps don't build lean muscle, nor increase strength...it builds endurance.


60mins of cardio a day??? that much cardio is fine if you're training to run marathons. if you wanna burn fat and work the heart, try 30 mins of interval cardio instead.

do NOT think of cardio as 'the answer to burning fat' because its not. the more cardio you do, the more you train the body to get more energy out of less fat burned...kinda defeating the purpose.

plus, interval training with high intensity burns less muscle, and still improves your aerobic conditioning.

more info: Bodybuilding.com - Alwyn Cosgrove - Energy System Training For Fat Loss!
 
Malkore is right. Nutrition should be the key if you want to shed some body fat right now.

Your training needs some work, I have not looked over it in detail yet to give specific recommendations, but get rid of the high rep training.

Lastly, HIIT is the way to go. To lose fat you need to be in a caloric deficit. That said, you burn more calories and more fat with long duration, steady state cardio like you are currently doing. So you might think to yourself, "Well then, why on earth would I ever stop doing it?"

With HIIT, there is a larger "after burn" HIIT is primarily an anaerobic exercise. You stress your body to a great degree with HIIT. This results in greater excess post exercises oxygen consumption. With this, your metabolism will stay elevated for hours after your HIIT session. Some studies show as many as 24 hours! So while you burn more calories and fat during the exercise when looking at steady state for HIIT, in the long run, you burn more total calories following a good HIIT routine. And remember, recomposition of body fat is primarily a function of energy balance.

I know Malkore said 30 minute sessions, but I really believe you could get by with 20 minute sessions if you are really pushing yourself, which you are supposed to be with HIIT.
 
Re tricep development-obviously I know the difference between the bis and the tris-I was referring to the fact that the tricep is sort of an inverted V shape and the part that's more toward the back of my arm is less well developed than the other side-perhaps there are specific exercises to improve that development.
Re the cardio-it's not really for fat burn-more of a mental high-if I could run and train for a marathon I would but ACL repair and ankle problems make high impact running out of the question. Not to mention the CV and cholesterol lowering benefits of aerobic exercise which is greated with longer duration.
 
If you implemented more HIIT you would lose more body fat and therefore have a more "defined" tricep. I would only recommend 2 sessions per week. You could add steady state cardio to the mix if you want, but HIIT also improves cardiovascular fitness...don't be fooled.

Secondly, I would never spend a lot of time working with weights to improve your tricep. Isolation exercises are a deadend road. If anything, focus on a full body routine or an upper/lower routine, with a specialization section for your arms.

Just my opinion.
 
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