First attempt at "lean out" phase

[erindgh]

Hi all,

Earlier in the summer, after a lot of running/cardio, and reaching a good goal weight for myself (after baby #2 in less than 2 years!), I got some great routine ideas from Marty, Tom, etc. I was doing a high weight (for me) low rep routine that looked like this:

Bench press, 8x25, 6x30, 4x40
Overhead shoulder press: 8x15, 6x20, 4x25
Tri Cable Pulls: 8x30, 6x35, 4x40
Preacher curls: 8x15, 6x20, 4x25 (those last 4 HURT!)
Upright Row: 8x35, 6x40, 4x45
Squat: 8x30, 6x40, 4x50 (first time doing this regularly, kept the weight low to work more on form)
Deadlift: 8x30, 6x40, 4x50
Calf lift: 8x25, 6x35, 4x45

For about 3 months, I did this routine weekly, some weeks it took 2 days to get thru, others 3. And, I did 30-40 minutes of cardio before each weight workout. Another staple of my week is yoga. I maintained my weight -- eating pretty clean. There were some weekends that saw too much beer! And vacation was a diet wash! But saw dramatic improvements in strength, new (good!) curves in my arms and shoulders.

Now I'd like to lean things out a bit. A bit more definition, long runs, maybe a bit of weight loss. I'm 5'8", 145 lbs, not the typical female pear shape, more apple. I carry my weight around my middle and chest. Hmm, wonder if that has something to do with the beer! : ) I was thinking of longer runs, yoga and something like this (trying to change the exercise for each muscle group and lower weight, higher rep).

Shoulder fwd raises: 3x12x7.5lbs DBs
Chest Flyes: 3x12x15 lbs DBs
Tri Overhead press: 3x12x15
Hammer Bi curls:3x12x12.5 DBs
Squat: 3x12x30
Dead: 3x12x40
Seated Row: 3x12x40

Sorry for the long post, thanks for your input

[CinnamonGirl]

Congrats on the weight loss, erindgh!

I don't have any experience with "leaning out," but I bet someone, either Lisa Shaffer or Lorrie Gunde would be able to offer you some advice. They're both responsive to PM's.

I know you mentioned advice from Marty in achieving your weight loss . . . Tuesday is practically around the corner, you could ask him a question about your specific new goals and get updated advice . . .

[Lorrie]

Hey Erindgh! I'm just getting the kids on the bus and will be back with an answer for you shortly. I've got a few ideas, I hope they help.

Lorrie

[Lorrie]

It looks like you did really well over the summer. If I remember correctly you lost 10 lbs and it says here you got much stronger. That's really great, you must be eating clean and working hard. Now just keep that clean eating and cut back on carbs a bit. Not too much all at once or you'll lose that muscle you worked so hard for. Your aim should be to lose 1.5#, or thereabouts, per week. The first week you might see a little more because of water loss from less carbs, so don't worry about that too much. Then every week add in a Little more cardio and a few less calories. Keep the protein and fiberous veggies up. If you don't eat the protein, you won't keep the muscle. If you don't eat enough in sheer bulk, you metabolism will slow down. If you don't get the nutirents you will feel lousy. What you do eat is just as important as what you don't.
Don't forget about cheat day. it keeps your metabolism up. As you progress, cheat day might get smaller, shorter and more controlled, but now, in the begining, have at it. Cheat day is the only time you get that beer. Sorry.
Try to get a few different forms of cardio. Since you are already pretty active, you might end up doing lots toward the end of this cycle to see the results you want. If you do just one type of cardio, you'll be putting lots of stress on the same places in the same ways all the time. Also you body will adjust to it and become more efficent at that form of cardio. Please mix it up as much as you can. Add in a little more each week, longer sessions and greater frequency. Your body is going to get more efficienct each week and you'll have to do more to keep getting results. Brutal isn't it? Just not fair.
I like what you wrote out for the weights. It looks to me like before you were mostly using those little pre-loaded barbells. I like them too, very handy if you've got them. And now you have switched to mostly dumbells. Good, nice contrast. With that and the higher reps and lower weight, your form should improve, really pay attention to that. You'll be doing a lot for muscle memory, neural pathways and all that which should make a dramatic difference when you go back to heavy weight.
As for what lifts you did before and what you are doing now, I'm not very good at planning those out. Maybe a little more assitance stuff for legs and back. I don't know.
BTW what are the results you want? It doens't look like you've got too much fat to lose. What is the goal exactly? And if you give me more imput into what you are eating I can give you more suggestions there.

Now keep in mind that I'm not a certified anything! I'm trying to parrot Marty closely and give you the benefit of my expierence, but I certainly don't set myself up as an authority. If anyone out there disagrees with anything here, please chime in! I'm sure there is lots I've left out too.
Like timing! HOw did I forget that? Don't eat carbs past 6:00. Then absolutly no carbs before your morning cardio. You can have an egg or three or a protein only drink, but no carbs before cardio. Yes, your performace will suffer, you will suffer, it will be uncomfortable and you might get a bit of a headache, but you will burn tons more fat. Any carbs you eat will have to be burned off before your body will dip into fat stores.
There. Sorry for the treatise, but I didn't know what you needed so I threw it all at you.

Lorrie

[CinnamonGirl]

Wow, Lorrie - there's lots of good information in your answer! While your answer is directed at Erindgh's question, I'm sure many others will find it useful. By the way, I don't think you have to be certified anything to be a role model, you know. Besides, you've been to fitness boot camp twice, right? Thanks for sharing what you know with all of us!

[Tom]

Your program looks good, and Lorrie covered the diet aspect quite well. Things that I try to keep in mind when getting lean are:

1) You will lose some strength. It'll come back quickly when you start a "building up" phase. On the other hand, if you find yourself gettng really weak, really fast, that may be a hint that you're dropping weight too fast and burning muscle. For me, I typically lose a good bit in the first couple weeks, then things tend to stabilize.

2) Make sure you keep the scale moving downward. Set weekly goals and hit them. If you don't lose any weight this week, and didn't lose any last week, it follows that you're not really losing weight.

3) Don't get all mental. :) Some people really pile the stress on themselves about losing weight. I try to look at it objectively, as if I were tuning up a car or adjusting some sort of electronic device. You fiddle with the inputs (diet) and outputs (cardio and weights) and see if you get the desired result. If not, fiddle some more. Eventually you'll find a combination that works.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[CinnamonGirl]

3) Don't get all mental. :) Some people really pile the stress on themselves about losing weight. I try to look at it objectively, as if I were tuning up a car or adjusting some sort of electronic device. You fiddle with the inputs (diet) and outputs (cardio and weights) and see if you get the desired result. If not, fiddle some more. Eventually you'll find a combination that works.
Tom
I'm a good example of a person that gets mental about weight loss. :-'

Tom is the voice of rationality.

Erindgh, you may want to consider starting a training log if you have the time to do it. This is a very supportive community.

[Marty]

lorrie you are the best -

1. when going for lean, eating is everything
2. cut the junk
3. cut the starch carbs to a minimum
4. when you eat starch eat fiber to dampen the insulin
5. lean protein/fiber/protein powder/sport nutrition bars if you have a sweet tooth

6. kick up the cardio
7. high rep weight training goes nicely with all of the above
8. get active in your life - activity burns calories - see my post on thurs/fri

[erindgh]

Wow! Lorrie -- what a huge help you've been! I apologize for not getting back to you sooner, was in Philly since Sat for sales conference.

What great feedback! Thanks so much. A bit more background -- my youngest baby just turned one a few weeks ago. I lost all the baby weight 35+ lbs in June. 145 is a pretty good weight for me. 140 would be fine, not sure how much under that I could go. But I'm really going more for "look" now. I don't really know exactly how much weight I want to lose b/c I have no idea what 140 would look like. 145 before my 2nd pregnancy looked a LOT different than it does now. I looked a lot thinner then. Which surprised me b/c I know I'm more muscular now.

I know that makes hard and fast goes difficult to pinpoint. Maybe I'll have my body fat % done at the gym and use that as a benchmark. I would guess it's up around 24-25%, but that's a pretty rough estimate. What's a good lean # for active women? 18-19?

Again, thanks to all of you for all the great feedback. I'll keep in touch.

[Lorrie]

You lost all your baby weight in a year! You go girl! 18-19% bf sounds good. Once you get in a healthy range, which you certainlyseem to be, it's all a matter of taste. For instance my husband likes me a good 10 lbs fatter than I like me. Just go till you like how you look. Let us know how it goes.

[ms_irreverent]

Erin, that is quite an accomplishment. I think Lorrie is right--18 to 19 percent is probably a good ballpark number. But don't obsess over that, either. The only truly accurate way to measure is the hydrostatic chamber (water); scales and hand-helds can be wildly inaccurate. Just keep doing what you are doing and watch what you eat, and you will be fine.

[CinnamonGirl]

Erin, I can't offer advice any better than what Lorrie and Ms_I have given . . . except to say that we're here to support you on your low days and to celebrate your victories, too!

[paperboy]

Erin, keep us posted on your progress!

[erindgh]

Well, I think I need a "do-ver"! I recently returned to work after the babies, and the wild change in routine did not help my training and diet. I managed to maintain my weight, workouts were okay -- 3x/week. But my diet was not great -- not REALLY bad, but not great.

We've adjusted and I feel ready to take on this new challenge. I have to get my diet act together. Here's what my workouts have been looking like lately (not including running, yoga, other cardio):

Hammer curls: 1x10 lbs x 10 reps, 2x12.5x10 reps
Chest Flyes: 1x7.5 lbs x10 reps, 2x10 lbs x10 reps
Seated Row: 1x30lbsx10 reps, 1x40lbsx10reps, 1x50x10 reps
Deadlift: 1x30lbsx10reps, 1x40x10, 1x45x10
Squat: 1x80x10, 1x90x10, 1x100x8
Tri Overhead: 1x12.5x10, 2x15x10
Shoulder Flyes: 1x7.5x10, 2x10x10
Assorted Ab work

I get this routine in weekly, some days I do 2 exercises per workout, other days I have to jam most of it in due to time constraints. I'm committed to getting my diet cleaned up GOOD before the holidays roll around.

Thanks again to all of you for all of your help, suggestions, and support. I do log on my own, but just the facts and figures, not how I felt, etc. Maybe I'll try to start logging that here.

[paperboy]

Erin, thanks for checking back in! I know a lot of us would be very interested to see your "journal!"

[CinnamonGirl]

Thanks again to all of you for all of your help, suggestions, and support. I do log on my own, but just the facts and figures, not how I felt, etc. Maybe I'll try to start logging that here.
Erin, why don't you join us over in the Training, Cardio and Nutrition Logs Forum?