[HappyHousewife]

What weight would you recommend for someone new to lifting weights? I have a set of 3 lb. handweights. Is that good enough?? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[MrsJim]

Good morning...

Frankly, 3 pound weights aren't going to cut it. The interesting thing about muscle growth is that to make any progress you have to keep challenging the muscles. You will grow out of 3 pound weights VERY QUICKLY. (and don't worry about 'getting too big' or 'too muscular' - unless you have a TON of testosterone or are taking steroids, it ain't gonna happen).

It's difficult to recommend a weight for beginners - as everyone is different - that's why Bill Phillips doesn't recommend an amount of weight to lift in the book. Basic rule of thumb: if you can do more than 12-15 reps, it's time to move the amount of weight up. You want to EXHAUST the muscle - because muscles don't grow during the lifting process but rather during the recovery process!

Now, I belong to a gym and love it - my apartment is very small so I don't have the room to have weights, etc. Besides, I get a charge from working out with others...I know Susanje and a couple of other folks here do work out at home. If I was going to work out at home, I would buy a good bench and a set of PowerBlocks (see www.powerblocks.com for more info).

I would recommend checking out the gyms in your area and pricing them - see if you can get a free pass for a few days or a week and give it a whirl. Many gyms - especially the chains - tend to run lots of specials. I only pay $24 a month for my gym membership!

If you can't afford a gym or additional weights, I'd suggest checking your local community college. Many of them have really nice equipment that you can use just by coming in or signing up for a physical education class! Definitely worth a look see.

I do encourage you to read the Krista Smash website (link at the "Basic BFL Info" at the top of this forum) for some really great info for women beginners (along with the BFL book of course). Basically though, 3 pound weights aren't going to cut it.

[HappyHousewife]

Thanks! I admire your weight loss. You're proof it can be done!! It just takes FOREVER.

Anyway, Thanks again!

[CreativeDame]

I am just starting...not BFL, just weight loss in general, and I am thinking about adding dumbells in to work on my arms. What would you suggest?

You mentioned a few things above and I actually DO have pretty high levels of testosterone and I am taking hormones for PCOS. Would this really make a difference? I have 5lb weights and 10lb weights at home - do you think this is okay? I never thought about my testosterone levels and the steroids that I'm taking and lifting weights.

CD

[MrsJim]

CD - ya might want to talk to your doctor about that. I really know next to nothing about steroids other than what I've read in bodybuilding mags and sites...I guess it would depend on what kind of steroids/hormones you happen to be taking - check here ==> http://consumer.pdr.net/index.html which is the consumer website for the Physician's Desk Reference and see if you can find your medication listed.

I would also HIGHLY recommend the Krista Smash website as a great resource for ALL women who want to start weight training. She has some really great beginner's programs and tips! Here's the link: http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html DO CHECK IT OUT...Krista rocks!

[HappyHousewife]

CreativeDame,
How did your doctor determine your testosterone levels were too high? I think mine may be high too, but am afraid of going to the doctor. What signs did you have? If that is too personal, just say so. I'd really like a website where I could read more about this.

My body is very easy to "muscle up" when I start exercising. There are other factors that make me think my testosterone levels may be high as well. Thank you.

[CreativeDame]

Hi! No problem, I'll answer anything LOL!

I was having some strange symptoms like sudden hair growth on my face...I've always been very muscular and have very thick hair, etc...but in the past couple of years things just accelerated...plus I was having irregular cycles and skin trouble. Well, my general practitioner recommended an endocrinologist and after testing, they determined that I have high testosterone. Actually, I'm being treated for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome which high testosterone is a symptom of. There is a forum for PCOS here on 3FC's if you have these symptoms and want to read about it. So, most of us are taking some sort of steroid and have low metabolism and trouble with weight and insulin, etc...PCOS sort of acts like Diabetes but it's not. You can read all about it on the PCOS forum.

CD

[MrsJim]

Hey there gals -

I just put a note on the main board at Lean & Strong asking for assistance on PCOS and weight training - and bingo, already got one answer:

Hi MrsJim,

I don't have PCOS but have a few of the symptoms, so I've done some reading and here's how I look at it. My understanding is that excess male hormones are stored in fat, and in fact one of my motivations for removing the fat is that doing so may reduce androgens and with it, those symptoms. In my personal 20 year experience of diets and lifestyle changes, BFL is the best program I've found for effectively removing fat from my body. So even if I did have PCOS and elevated testosterone levels, I'd probably try it and see what happens and only look for something else when and if I didn't like my muscles for some reason.

Women seem to worry that muscle is something that flies onto your body and can never go away... actually, that's a good description of fat. In reality, muscle is a lot of hard work to both build and maintain, even for the "experts" who are good at it and enjoy working at it. How many times have we heard, "there's no such thing as maintenance, if you don't keep setting the bar higher and finding new goals, you'll go right back where you started". I don't believe muscle will hang around where it's not wanted.

At the end of my last challenge I was using two 35 pound dumbbells for bench press and dumbbell squats, whether that's heavy or light will depend on who you are... but I lost inches in every part of my body - chest, gut, butt, thighs, arms, neck. And even your "allegedly huge" muscles fit into size FOUR jeans... all I can say is, if looking like the ladies here is the worst that can happen to me, I'll take my chances!! I hope it is clear that last remark is tongue in cheek, I think...

Weekends tend to be a bit slow at the L&S board (just like here!) but if you want to keep an eye on it, here's the thread link:

http://www.leanandstrong.net/cgi-bin...=349699#349699

[CreativeDame]

Thanks MrsJim!

BTW, I think it would be cook if you added some new pics to your collage - your story has always been such a great inspiration!

CD

[spamtravels]

I was diagnosed with PCOS 2 1/2 years ago. I have experience the classic symptoms of weight gain (especially in the abs), unwanted body hair, irregular cycle and especially problems with keeping my blood sugar in control. I half-heartedly tried to control my weight through diet, but didn't have much success. This past January I started in earnest because I knew that Type II Diabetes was around the corner.

The start of this year saw me with elevated BP, weight, blood sugar problems and I knew that I was developing and popping cysts like crazy.

I started with a 21 -day detox diet, which was great, but I will never do it again because it doesn't have enough protein. Then I moved on to the Blood Type diet. I had moderate success with that one too. During this whole time I was doing 30-60 mintues of aerobic activity 5-6 times a week.

My PCOS symptoms improved during this time.

Then at the end of July I started BFL and my world changed forever.
The nutrition plan (which is a HUGE part of it) has kept my blood sugar levels normal (I normally get shaky and irritable when they aren't normal), my body fat has dropped by 10% (21 lbs) and I have gained 12 lbs of muscle. The scale only shows 9 lbs gone, but I look and feel like a new person.

I have a regular cycle, no cysts are popping on me and I have a ton of energy.

The strange part is... I am experience a resurgance of facial hair. I attribute that to all the hormones that are being released into my blood stream from the fat.

I can't urge you enough to start weight training and most of all - watch your nutrition. Get the processed food and all types of sugar out of your system ASAP. You will feel like a new person.