X Question...I know I know :)

[marnold]

Okay P90X Girls:

I started on January 22nd. I am having fun but have one question which has been nagging at me. I have not posted it at the beachbody site because I don't know how many of the girls over there have used Cathe as long as I have. Anyway, here goes:

When you lift weights, should you be lifting as much as you can for the amount of reps you want to do with good form? I have found that I can go very heavy with this series because he does not have the holding exercises or half way up/down exercises. I choose a weight I can handle for 8-10 reps but end up doing 12-15 reps and could have gone heavier. I realize that women cannot grow muscles like a man, but my arms are getting big and look nothing like the sleek arms on some of the women in the video. I told my DH that I feel like I am cheating when I use the weights some of the other women in the video are using.

Hope I am making sense; it is very hard to explain.
TIA!

 

[toastythemosty]

You are suppose to use as much as you can handle for at least 8 to 10 reps for building mass and 12-15 if you want to lean out more, and with good form, like you said. If you need to go heavier then you should do so, but only if you want to build more mass. Unfortunately, I do not have your problem, but I so wish I did. Ectomorph. :-(

Charlotte~~

 

[marnold]

Trust me Charlotte, I would kill for your arms! I definitely look like I have worked on the end of a shovel my whole life! Thin arms with defined muscles are what I want...but alas I think it is too late because I have lifted heavy for so long. x(

 

[toastythemosty]

Melissa,

I bet I would kill for yours, but thanks! Good luck with your workouts, and so it sounds like you would do fine doing the 12-15 reps with the lighter weights. Have fun with it.;-)

Charlotte~~

 

[marnold]

Thanks Charlotte. As for the reps with lighter weights, I guess I could do it if it didn't feel like cheating. If I do go that way, I will do it slowly.

I guess the better question would be...if I do not want huge muscle bound arms should I "cheat" and use 5 lb weights and pop out the 12-15 reps like the other girls in the video?

OR Should I continue to push myself with heavier weights (using good form of course), pump out the 12-15 reps and hope that eventually my arms will lean out?

The question started in my mind when DH said that the reason my arms were getting bigger was that I was using heavier weight. I told him that it seemed silly to me to lighten to 1/4 of the weight, it would feel like cheating. And besides I have heard so many times that women cannot build huge muscle mass just from weight lifting alone.

Now am I making sense?

 

[moni_stout]

Hi Melissa,
I responded to you on your other post in the X-ers Check-in Forum.

Monica

 

[marnold]

Thanks Monica!

 

[kathryn]

What ever rep scheme you choose, you should choose a weight that makes the last 2 reps tough to do (and, ideally, that would make it impossible for you to do more reps with good form). Sounds like for your goals, a higher rep range would be better (15-16 reps).

If you don't like the look you are getting, it may be because you have not started burning fat off yet (so you have muscle + fat), or you may be a mesomorph, which means you will grow muscle faster than either an ectomorph or endomorph. Adding more cardio could burn some of the calories that would otherwise go to muscle growth. Another option would be to do 'halfsies,'doing only 1/2 of the exercises on each weight workout.

 

[robyn6002]

Hi Mellissa -

I post mainly over on MDB (BB) and TC - though that has become quite trashy with a few very crude women - the guys are tame -I'm on BB a lot so feel free to jump in any of the threads - we have the crazy agent X going on now 100 folks doing the X so it's hard to get noticed!

Anyhow great advice - as always on this forum.

I did classic Aug-Nov and got good results. My strength increased significantly. Right now I'm doing TJ doubles and am leaning out a lot - more than ever. For me TJ gives JUST the right amount of cardio - it's not so intense that in inhibits muscle growth but enough to burn off the fat deposits!

Feel free to PM me any time!