Looks mean nothing

nancy324

nancy324

Cathlete
After 5 months of weight training I've begun to notice that my muscle groups that look the best are not necessarily the strongest. I've also noticed that I rarely increase my weights on any exercise.

My quads are looking developed, but I STILL can't walk up my three flights of stairs from the subway (which I do everyday) without complete muscle failure at the end. Also, my glutes feel like steel and have rounded out, but they do nothing to get me up those subway stairs either!! About the only thing these muscle groups are any good for is attracting my husband! (Okay, that's something).

Meanwhile, I can do 10 times as many crunches as I did when starting out, but those muscles cannot be seen at all. All I see is a big, fat middle.

It's all starting to get to me. I never imagined I could work this hard at something and make so little progress. I also thought that if a muscle looked developed, that it could do more. It's all so confusing and illogical. I may quit strength training completely this week when my step arrives, and just do cardio for awhile, until I can gain some clarity about what, if anything, I am accomplishing here. <sigh>

-Nancy
 
i know it can be discouraging, i have a spare tire around my middle and workout 5x a week. A lot of it has to do with diet, what does your diet look like?
 
I agree with Fitstick that you may benefit from taking a hard, honest look at your diet.

If you wanted to look like Cathe in five months, it ain't gonna happen. I'm not sure what your goals are, but no matter what they are, you need to be patient. Genetics will dictate to a large degree which of your muscles will show definition and which won't.

May I suggest that since you are doing strength training at home and are unhappy with the results, that you hire a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to have him/her take a look at your form. Correct form makes a BIG difference.

I worked at a place that had a killer staircase with 3 levels, and I swear after 3 years I STILL felt it when I got to the top level. So this is no real indicator of whether strength training is working for you.

Lastly, how are your clothes fitting? If you say they are getting tighter, I'll more strongly suggest you take a good look at your eating habits.

It took a heck of a lot longer than 5 months for you to get OUT of shape, so you must allow time to get INTO shape.

Just Do It! :)
 
Hi Nancy,

Honeybunch pretty much said it all, so I'll just add that although you may not see and feel as much progress as you'd like, that doesn't mean that your efforts are useless. You are strengthening your bones through strength training, which isn't something you may be thankful for now, but as you age you will be thankful, and there are just so many more benefits that we get from exercise that aren't visible in an outward way.
I guarantee you're getting something from your efforts, it may not be the "look" you want, but your efforts still have value.

Donna

Fitness~It's a journey, not a race!
 
Hi Nancy,

I had the same problem until I started forcing myself to increase my weights. It's not easy to do it on endurance workouts like MIS and PH, but try it on the PS series. I also noticed strength gains when I did Slow and Heavy. Even if you can't do all sets with the heavier weight, try the first set heavy, then lighten up for the second set.

Just a suggestion, take it or leave it...;-)

P.S. the S&H series also helped me with pushups. I can do them no problem now!

Donna M
 
You know, Nancy, it seems like every time I get frustrated with my progress, if I push through a couple more workouts, I'll notice something pretty significant. Something that was difficult before now seems easier. Or I can increase my weight without being totally wasted when I'm finished. Or I'll get through a section I was having trouble with before and wonder what's next, only to find out we're finished! Give it a few more workouts before you give up. I think you'll see the same thing happening to you. I hope so, anyway.
 
Hi Nancy. I've been weight training for almost six months now and I still have problems with the stairs. I always try to take the stairs instead of the elevator and by the time I get to the top I'm panting like I'm totally out of shape. One thing I noticed though was that my muscles would get extremely tired by the top of the stairs if I was overtraining. For awhile I was working my lower body three times a week and the stairs were really hard for me. Now I've cut back to working my legs only two times a week and I don't have that muscle failure feeling from the stairs anymore. Maybe that's your problem???

One more thing...one of the main benefits for us women from weight training is the prevention of osteoparosis (sp?). So you might not see results now but you'll be glad you did this when you get older.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-12-03 AT 01:16PM (Est)[/font][p] I really appreciate the encouragement from all of you. In reading my own post again I had a thought. I've been trying to do PH twice during the week and then do MIS on the weekend. Is it possible that I may be overtraining? Maybe I can't get the desired performance from my muscles because they never get to fully recover? I know Cathe said to do PS only once a week, but that always sounded like too little to me, and I always tried to do twice per week.

Is it possible that this may be the problem?? Any thoughts on this?

Donna, do you have your new daughter yet???

-Nancy
 
Jennifer Ann-

Great minds think alike!!! I was just speculating on the same thing while you were writing your post! See above, and thank you so much for your comment!

-Nancy
 
Nancy..
Don't fret. I could have posted your exact post!! I do know that the longer you have been strength training..the harder it is to see poundage increases. Stength gains and great in the begginning, but seem to taper as you build strength.

And the stair thing..well, don't worry about that at all!! I use very heavy weights for legs and my legs are VERY strong, but every time I go up stairs, it is hard. I now totally believe that my legs are just always in a state of chronic fatigue. When I haven't worked out for 3 or 4 days, my legs feel awesome and stairs are easy. I can also do hover squats and sit and stands with excess of a 40 lb barbell, many reps, so I know my legs are not weak!!

I can totally relate to you though but I don't know what advice to give except DON'T GIVE UP!! AND DON'T QUIT WEIGHT TRAINING!! Then it will be even harder!! But maybe give yourself a week off and then see how stairs are!!!
Janice


http://www.picturetrail.com/thrashej
 
Nancy:

1. Don't ever give up;

2. Keep your goals in mind, revise them periodically, maybe you can't stomp up three flights of stairs in the subway without fatigue, but you are probably still ticking off some of your other goals that you originally listed;

3. Remember that very few people could climb up three flights of stairs in the subway without some fatigue creeping in: but ask yourself, how quickly do your legs recover? Are you falling to the floor with legs of rubber, or calmly striding along the NY streets right after? If it is the latter, then I see no problem here.

(It is four flights of stairs up to the Spanish department in my building on campus, I NEVER take the elevator, I work out with Cathe and can do Imax and Imax 2, PH, PS legs, MIS and the new LBP , but that does not mean that my body fails to register muscle effort when climbing those four flights of stairs. However, unlike the undergrads who accompany me to my office via the stairs, I am not wheezing, gasping for air and peuce in the face when I get there.

I bet any amount of money you and I are completely alike in this. Take a look around at the other commuters.....);

3. You need to construct for yourself a well-rounded program.
For the moment, you have been working in a very focussed fashion with strength. Recently, you shifted to endurance work with PH and MIS. I think probably only two workouts of this type are really necessary per week when you are on an endurance phase. Consider changing your perspective a little to mix your new step cardio work with PH and MIS every week. You will see that the two types of workout feed off eachother: the cardio work will also help with assisting your muscles in improving their endurance, especially cardio tapes of Cathe's that just go on and on, like Bodymax, MIC, Imax 1 and 2.

4. Vary all the time the challenge that you pose to your muscles. Try to include in each week, along with your weight training of either a Strength or an endurance focus, cardio workouts that are different in emphasis: i.e. one long cardio for stamina (Powermax or MIC for example, or Rythmic Step), an intense shorter cardio burst (CTX All Step, CTX 10 110 10 and/or CTX Kickbox), an Interval style cardio sesssion (Imax 1 or 2, Reebok's Intense Moves) and a Circuit style cardio session (CTX Power Circuit is particularly well done, also the new Cardio with Weights and also Circuit Max).

AS you do this you are training your body to respond to the different functions it performs throughout the day, i.e. climbing 4 flights of stairs to grab photocopies for class, dash for the train or bus, stand cleaning teeth for hours without tiring, haul 10 loads of laundry to the basement, carry in the week's family shop single handed, whatever.

5. After all this, then pick a day when you feel strong and experiment with upping the poundage. Tell yourself "I am just going to see if I can squeeze out one set of reps" and always be self-forgiving enough to allow yourself an escape clause if it doesn't work out, and/or the space in which to keep at it and increase the weight if you find it's not challenging enough.

6. Caveat; when I say pick a day when you are feeling strong, I mean that both mentally and physically. If it's been a bad day at the office, if PMS looms on the horizon, if you are feeling underconfident for whatever reason, hold off on trying for gains on such a day. You may set yourself up for failure and that, psychologically-speaking, is not what we need here!


Hope some of this can help Nancy, rooting for you here in Michigan!

Clare
 
Nancy, I think other people have touched on this, but I just wanted to reiterate something. Walking up the stairs is an extremely strenuous activity for your body. Lots of people who are extremely fit still get out of breath when walking up only a few flights of stairs.

I have been on a quest for the last few months to improve my stair climbing abilities. :) I want to be able to walk up the stairs without huffing and puffing and generally feeling embarrassed. So, several times a day at work I walk up at least 2 flights of stairs. When 2 flights get easy, I will increase it to 3 and so on.

My goal is to someday be able to make it up all 7 flights of stairs to my office without dying. :)

Course, everyone in my office thinks I'm crazy when I get off the elevator a few floors early so I can walk the stairs the rest of the way. :)

So hang in there! Stair climbing is extremely strenuous in many ways and is not a good measure of your general health and fitness level.
 
I totally agree. I huff and puff my way up the stairs to the 4th floor but can do Intense Moves. Doesn't make sense. I think age might be a factor too because the 22 year olds I'm in school with aren't out of breath at the top of the stairs like me and most of them are smokers who never work out.
 
Also keep in mind that when you're climbing those subway stairs, you're not dressed the same as when you're at home working out. I know that when I'm on my way to work at this time of year, I'm probably carrying an extra 20 lbs of street clothes, full length coat, purse, books and papers, etc., compared to being at home in my shorts and sports bra. Imagine trying to climb stairs with a 20-lb barbell on your shoulders -- it would make a difference.

Audrey
 
Climbing stairs is almost anaerobic, if you are doing it somewhat fast. I go everywhere fast and often climb 2 stairs at a time, so it sometimes is anaerobic for me. HOWEVER....

Nancy is saying that she has complete "muscle failure", and I assure you Nancy, this is from chronically fatigues leg muscles!! You are not "out of breath" right. If so, that might be another issue unless of course you are running up. I do not get out of breath really, but my legs do burn pretty bad..even after 1 flight!!!
To prove this point, seriously, try it sometime after you have had a week off or something. You will fly up the stairs. The difference is amazing for me...
Janice

http://www.picturetrail.com/thrashej
 
You are exactly right, Janice. I haven't worked out for at least a week now for various reasons and I am flying up my four flights of stairs - right past everyone with no muscle failure and without being winded. If Jennifer Ann had not suggested it, it would never have occurred to me that I may actually be overtraining! When it comes to working out, I think of myself as eons behind most of the people who post on this forum.

Thank you for your insightful comment. We are flying up those stairs together, girlfriend!! Yay us!!

-Nancy


Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself. -Eleanor Roosevelt
 
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