Weight and Resistance Training Boost weight loss, and look great!

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Old 02-21-2008, 09:26 AM   #1  
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Default if you don't "feel" it afterwards...

...does that mean you're not working hard enough? I'm used to feeling my workout the next day or the day after, but lately I haven't been at all. I would think that I'm lifting at sufficient weight -- I typically do 2 sets of 8-12 reps, and by rep 12 I'm definitely squeezing out my last bit of effort. It's possible that the change reflects my switch over to a weight machine rather than free weights -- we have a weight machine at home which is a lot more convenient and cost-effective for me than joining a gym, but I know I'm missing out on all those supporting/balancing muscles in my chest presses etc.
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Old 02-21-2008, 10:34 AM   #2  
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It's probably time to change up your workout. I've noticed a pattern: start a new workout and feel a TON of muscle pain then your body gets used to the exercises and the muscle pain becomes a comfortable creak and finally, you barely even feel stiff the next day. I think it's just your body getting used to the exercises. Try changing them up and doing something different.
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Old 02-21-2008, 11:50 AM   #3  
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I'll second that. I haven't gotten into the weight lifting yet, but I know from skating that I have to change it up frequently to keep getting a workout from it. I'm sure the ladies on here will have some helpful suggestions for ways to change up your lifting workout.

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Old 02-21-2008, 06:06 PM   #4  
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I probably agree with baffled and jams. A change probably is in order, but you didn't describe whether your weights are still progressing.

A decrease in DOMS may mean that your body has adapted to the workout, but that is not always the case. You cannot always gauge the effectiveness of your workouts by your soreness. Sometimes being sore just means that you are sore.

If your workouts are still progressing and you are able to perform more work, via an increase in weight, reps, or sets, then your workout is still effective. From your post, it is clear that you are still doing the same reps and sets but it is less clear if your weights are stagnating. If they are, change things up. If your weights are still going up, then you are still getting an effective workout.

The really bad thing with home gym machines, is that many of them have limited exercise options. Hopefully, yours is pretty versatile. If it is not versatile, then you can still change set/rep schemes.

If you really want soreness and you have a workout partner (you said we in your post so I assume you have a husband or significant other to workout with) then you can do some negative work. Have the partner help you with the concentric (positive) part of the lift and then do the negative under control. You can lift more weight in the negative so this may jumpstart your plateau in weights. The negative portion of the exercise is where the majority of the microdamage to the muscle fibers occur, so if you want DOMs, this is your baby. However, if you have been training under a year, I would not try this just yet. Your connective tissues and tendinous tissue between the muscle fibers may not be strong enough to handle this type of work.
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Old 02-21-2008, 09:35 PM   #5  
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I'm really thankful to all of you for your responses! I have been increasing in strength despite the lack of soreness, I've gone up one notch in my machine exercises (chest press, lat pull down w/ wide and narrow grip, and some other things I don't know the name for). I'm also starting to outgrow my free weight sizes for bicep and tricep work, so I'm going to invest in some adjustable dumbbells. Given everyone's suggestions that I change things up, I'm thinking that I will start doing some flyes and chest presses using those dumbbells on an exercise ball.

Oh yeah, no sig other to help me here, I'm living in my parents' home to save up for medical school next year. I never knew about that negative work before, that's really interesting! Though since I started weight training only recently, I'll take your advice and save that knowledge until I've gotten some more training under my belt.

Last edited by TigerSoup; 02-21-2008 at 09:37 PM.
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