Hi there,

So, on lifting days, I can opt to eat, say, 40 grams of pure chocolate before my weight sessions? Would that work?

That is my sort of pre-workout fuel!

Thx,

Frederick

Hi there

Chocolate is actally a little to slow for this because of the cocoa butter. And 40g of chocolate doesn't have 40g of carbs.
Something sweet and lower in fat and protein are what you need here.
A rice crispy square, angel food cake, piece of fruit or some fruit juice would work well. And occasionally, if you can get away with it, something with more fat <coughdonutcough> :blush:

;)

AHHA, I dont want muscle on my LEGS! I use to workout my legs however my pants starting to shrink....? NO really, I am a wrestler, and I tore a few ligiments on my knees....doesnt really help on lifting with my legs. :(

my dream body
 

Some of the women on bodybuilding.com look awesome and very shapely. Others I think look too muscular and lose what I feel is a feminine physique. Their goals obviously aren't mine and I'm not knocking all the hard work they're definitely putting into their bodies. I just want to enhance all the feminine curves and features of my body, not just become as muscular as I can possible be. But here is the type of body I dream about having:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/photo...&cat=505&page=2

To me that's just beautiful and very much a masterpiece. That body = a whole lotta work. Am I ready to suck it up and push it hard to get it? Hell yes!!! Bring it on :yay:

:cheer: ~ Cori ~ :cheer:

Hey there Cori - thank you for that post. She really is beautiful. Balanced and proportioned, strong and lean.

Trust me, you simply CANNOT become anything but lean and enhance your feminine curves by bodybuilding unless you enhance your VERY intense lifting routine with anabolic steroids. The women you see who have the type of body I think you are talking about have done a LOT of work AND have taken chemical enhancement to look that way. It's a choice one makes about what one wants for one's own body. But it CANNOT happen by accident.

The only way to achieve anything even CLOSE to the remarkable physique you posted is to deliberately try to pack on as much muscle as your body will hold.

I swear to God.

I have been deliberately trying to pack on as much muscle as MY body will hold since the fall of 2001. Even with a deliberate "bulk" last fall, what you see is the result of a natural female bodybuilder trying her guts out to become as huge as she possibly can. And I've actually been told by competitive bodybuilders that I am somewhat genetically gifted in my ability to pack on muscle, especially at my age.

It is freaking IMPOSSIBLE to get big, and I'm really TRYING to.

So relax. You really DO want to pack on as much muscle as you possibly can. That is the furnace with which your body will burn fat.

You would be astonished how little muscle this really is once you get there.

:)

- Built

Gotta agree with Built. I've spent the last 7 months training as hard and as heavy as I possibly can and I'm getting a very nice shape but nothing that anyone would call very muscular. Even my Mum, who was conviced I'd turn into a female version of Arnie, commented the other day on how nice my shoulders looked. I'm unlikely to ever get the muscle mass I'd like but I'm d**m well going to try. ;)

This is a girl that impresses me. She's only 4'11". A whole inch shorter than me.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/photo...&cat=501&page=1

holy crap dor i love the bicep shot in your avatar!

Oh...oh...! Don't forget to mention the DELT!

I have shoulder envy :blush:

i meant BOTH!!!! :D

OK, I am now so confused. Should you eat the high glycemic carbs BEFORE or AFTER weight lifting? Some say one thing, some say the other. :confused: :confused:

Please reply!

Hey there.

It is a little complicated.

Please keep in mind that this ONLY refers to ANAEROBIC (resistance) exercise - I'll discuss AEROBIC (cardio) excercise in a moment.

Many bodybuilders have high GI carbs BEFORE lifting, and high GI carbs with fast protein (whey) AFTER lifting.

Because you actually NEED some blood sugar to lift well, and because lifting isn't a "fat burning" (aerobic) activity, this is actually a good idea.

Now, where it gets tricky and contentious is the POST lifting meal.

Pretty much EVERYONE agrees that after lifting, it is important to get fast protein into your body IMMEDIATELY. I bring a whey shake with me to the gym, so I can slam it back as soon as I finish my last set.

The issue of whether or not to add high GI carbs to your shake is the complicated bit.

Much of the research that suggests doing this was performed on men. Men have higher testosterone levels whan women, and generally more muscle mass as well.

For men, post-lifting dextrose is often a very good idea because the insulin response actually sets them up for increased testosterone, as I understand it, and this in turn stimulates more muscle growth (which, in turn, increases the metabolic rate, of course!).

In women, well, many of us, myself included, just find that too much of the post-lifting sugar "spills over" into my fat stores - in plain English, if I eat carbs after lifting, I get more muscular, but I also get fat.

Before is good for BOTH men and women. But for some men and for even more women, post workout carbs may be problematic. Your mileage may vary. It has been suggested to me that I experiment with TINY amounts of post-lifting carbs - like, 10-15 grams. I may, at some point. But for now, I just stick to my low-carb whey shake post lifting.

For cardio, because you WANT to burn fat and not just blood sugar, ideally you do it on an empty stomach, and only eat slow protein and fat afterward to stay in ketosis.

Incidentally, this is why you would NEVER want to do any cardio before lifting. After is good, because you've used up your blood sugar and will immediately start burning fat.

Or on a separate day, so you don't have to LIVE in the gym.

Does this help?

- Built

Hi Guys,

Thanks sooooooo much for answering my questions. I really appreciate it, this site is great!

A question for Dormouse: How long have you been lifting and when did you start your weight loss program?

Thanks, built! It helps a lot! And BTW, I do seem to live at the gym. :( Takes an enormous bite out of the day, but it's worth it (I think.) :rolleyes:

Love your avatar. That's Marilyn Monroe, right? :D

It is. Dumbbells are a girl's best friend!

DON'T LIFT FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR! Work short and hard, and then GO HOME!

Concentrate on your lifting. It will do more to burn fat for you than your cardio EVER will.

I generally don't like to do cardio on lifting days, but if you MUST, no more than 20 minutes, and only AFTER lifting.

I like to lift 4 times a week - minimum of 3 when my life gets crazy, and I do recreational cardio on the weekend as the weather permits.

Thanks, that's good advice, and for the most part, I do follow it. I'm still pretty new to working on my own (had a trainer there for awhile), so it's taking me time to learn the exercises, proper form, etc. Also I'm finding that setting up is very time consuming--the gym is small, I do a lot with steps, decline benches, free weights, etc., and have to keep moving things around to get out of people's way. :D And I know you're right about the lifting vs. the cardio, and am good about alternating. :)