Today, I went weight training with my personal trainer and we started out on my first set of exercises. He notcied that it was to easy for me and he asked if the other trainers were taking me to failure. I told him no. He said that they should be. I was a little bummed that the other trainers were failing in there job with me. My trainer today told me that some of the other woman that work out in the gym don't want to be pushed to failure. they want to do 2 sets of 15 and then be done. when the weight gets heavier, they tell the trainers its to heavy. So today, the trainer told me to always tell my trainers to push me to failure. Also, he had to raise the weight on EVERYTHING because it was all to light. I have noticed that with other trainers, if they see me struggling they think the weight is to heavy and they want me to have correct form so they lower it and do more reps. I'm okay with that. but becasue I'm so new, i tend to struggle with everything! Even if it is light. I'm trying to fix it by engaging my abs in every excersice and stablelize myself. But i don't always do it perfectly.
Basically, there are no female trainers and I feel there is a biased with some of the trainers to not push girls to hard. Now, it may be because women have told them not to push them hard. But I don't want that. So from now on I'm going to tell them to push me to failure everytime! It's a little frustrating. I thought by getting personal trainers I would be held accountable but it looks like I have to hold THEM accountable. Not what I payed for.

Hey KatieAZ. I must say this quote hit home

It's annoying, but it's like our own medical care and everything else in life...WE are the ones that must be ever vigilant. Of course you rely on them to give you good advice and it sounds like this last one made a lot of sense. It is aggravating when you realize you've been doing things wrong, isn't it? But the good news is you're now on the right track, you have our support and you're doing really well. I can't believe how long I went without weight training at all...buying into the hype about cardio!! Never again. But all I can do is look forward. Thanks for sharing this with us, it's a great reminder for us all.

Hey ladies.

Went to PT today. Had a good workout. I told him to push me to failure and he did!
Went to a two hour swim practice on Sunday. Felt really good! But I was a blob the rest of the day. That's okay though. it was sunday. Hope everyone else is doing stupendous!!!

Hi babes!

Sorry been MIA from this thread. Been hitting the gym regularly though. Feel like I should add in some HIIT - I'm only doing strength work now - but we'll see!

I'm noticing some definition in my shoulders and arms. Woo hoo!

Demi I love your pic.

Sounds like a good idea. I think HIIT a couple times a week, along with your weight training would be great.
Excellent!

Thought this might be of interest, from this week's T-Nation newsletter:




... and there was also a link to a great article about Power Foods. Apart from pumpkin, I definitely eat all of those items on a regular basis



That's good to hear



Isn't that great! I love seeing the definition in my shoulders and arms (and various other places) ... though my arms would look so much better if my under-arms weren't so flabby.


Thanks


Hope everyone is working out and having fun

From Dr John Briffa's blog:



Dr John Briffa is a qualified medical doctor, with a special interest in nutritional and naturally-oriented medicine. He is also an advocate of the low carb woe:

Was directed to this site Busy Womens Fat Loss Series by a newsletter from Rachel Cosgrove.

It's a series of podcasts by various fat loss experts, including Rachel and also Craig Ballantyne (of Turbulence Training fame). You can also read more about it here.

So far, I've listened to both Valerie Waters and Chris Mohr's contributions and have picked up some really great tips from them both.

thanks Demi, for all your articles! I love reading them.
Well, I started working out at LA fitness. It's pretty nice. I plan on buying the Womens Body Sculpting Bible soon. I still have PT sessions. So I'm going to go two times a week to PT and three times on my own. Hope everyone's weight training is going well!

Thanks for sharing the link to Power Foods. Great article. Definitely great foods.

I just saw a can of pumpkin in my pantry. I don't recall off hand, but I was surprised the carbs weren't as high as I would have thought. I think it was the fiber that brought down the total amount. It seems like it would be a difficult food for people to integrate regularly into their food plan.

Galatia...I recognize you from BLC. (You'll recognize my plan in my logs as well. Built is great!)

I thought I'd join the thread since I lifting. I've only read a few pages, but I'm going to go back and read through the whole thread.

I just joined this board yesterday and I'm really liking it so far.

Hi Ladies!!

Sorry I haven't posted much to you guys lately...just been way too busy in my life.

I'd like to talk a bit about what Katie speaks of here. I work with one trainer only and I do have to keep pushing him to correct my form BUT..I told him early on to push me by raising the weights...that I want to be challenged and he has complied with my wishes....now if I can get him to just show up on time!!

So if its necessary, keep telling them to challenge you....if you feel like its too much or you have an injury, then YOU are the one to say Stop!!

Yes, Lisa, its just like with the medical doctors, they will only be as good for us as we manage them to be. Same with trainers or anyone else that works with us on our bodies. we must maintain a hyper vigilance about what they do and say to us re: our bodies. Even getting a manicure...I tell them how I want it done!! Sheeesh...I do sound like a total bitch!!!

Hope that you are all enjoying the lovely spring weekend.

LOL, I'm just about to start working out at LA Fitness here in the UK too!

DD and her friend joined during the week, and I was very impressed with the list of classes and how cheap monthly membership seemed to be. So I decided to go and have a look around, and signed up there and then.

Although I will still continue using the gym at work, because I enjoy working out in my lunch hour, I’ve been feeling for a while that I need more than it can offer. It’s very basic and there aren’t any classes as such, for example.

LA Fitness, on the other hand, has everything I want and more. It has a fabulous weights room. Like many gyms it has all the various weight machines, but it also has a large free weights section … looking forward to actually using a squat rack at last.

Plus, an hour’s induction, and a ½ hour session once a month with a Personal Trainer are included in the price … additional sessions can be booked for a fee.

One of the PTs is a C.H.E.K certified trainer, and was really pleased to meet someone that actually knew what that meant … and he was also impressed that I had read, and had my own copy of Eat, Move and Be Healthy.

I’m trying out my first class later today … Body Pump, which (for those who might not know) is a resistance class using barbells and adjustable weights. I’m also planning on having a swim and a sauna.

Also looking forward to taking some Pilates classes again.

I'm planning on continuing with following Tom Venuto's Intermediate WO from BFFM, but I'll also be adding in various classes etc to take my training up a level.




You're welcome!

After reading your comment about the can of pumpkin, it did occur to me that I could perhaps mix canned pumpkin with my cottage cheese or put it in a shake. I'll have to buy a can and try it.




Hi Stacie, and welcome to the WT Babes thread It's always great to see another lifting fan posting here.

Plus, I see that you're another dog lover - which quite a few of us who post here are!



Hey Judy, good to see you posting

Interesting that everyone seems to have to keep telling their trainer to push them ... although I don't think Lisa had to with hers.

I wonder if it'll be the same with me ... though the PTs I met yesterday all seemed far too keen not to push; especially the CHEK trained guy.






BTW, saw this in the latest T-Nation newsletter … definitely one for the ladies!

I think that it has to do with the fact that as relative newbies, we can injure ourselves if we do too much too soon. They are taught to be conscious of injuries.

When I do pullups, I've got to be very aware of my right shoulder as I have an old rotator cuff injury from years of overhitting that tennis ball. The minute I said it was hurting, right in the middle of a set, he told me to stop and I already had stopped!!

I'm glad to hear that you're going to work with a trainer or trainers Demi!!

I'm going to wog with Daisy today!!

Yes, that's true with regard to newbies. I also think that it could be that they might not want to make the workout too hard in case their client doesn't come back the next week!

On the other hand, the reason I am considering using a personal trainer is that I feel I have become 'lazy' with regard to my weight training workouts, and I'm looking for someone to push me as hard as they can.

Saying that, I did work out hard last night. I took the body pump class, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. As I lift weights anyway, I really thought it would be a walk in the park … no such luck!

An hour of lifting weights is quite a slow process, with rests between sets etc. Body pump, however, is a continuous workout, no stopping … effectively a cardio workout with weights. I also made the mistake of loading up my bar with fairly high weights to start with … weights that are fine to me when I’m lifting, but, as I soon found out, overload for a body pump class.

Despite that, it was fun and I really felt that I had worked hard during that hour. The instructor was great, very helpful too. Will be taking this class on a regular basis from now on.



If anyone's interested, you can access the latest edition of Tom Venuto's newsletter here.