Hi everybody,
I could use some counseling from you experienced ladies on upper body work with heavier hand weights. Since reaching goal with my weight I have been concentrating on upper body resistance exercises in addition to my cardio. (My legs are already rather tree-trunk-like from hiking so I don't worry about those so much.) I am interested both in functional fitness and combatting an emerging combination of middle-aged flabbiness-boniness: prominent collarbones, shoulder bones, and ribs combined with batwings.
The gym I go to is not very big. It is actually the gym of the local expatriate rugby league, but they also sell memberships to non-players. It is well equipped with cardio machines, a very full set of hand weights (going up to 100 in 5lb stages), a few resistance machines and some mysterious cages with bars that no one ever seems to use. One is labelled "Smith machine". I kind of would like to try them but I don't know how to work them, and I'm a bit scared of injuring myself (I can't even figure out what mechanism fixes the weights to the bars).
So I use the handweights and the lat pulldown machine mostly. I would really like to hear from others here about how much they are lifting in terms of hand weights, because I don't have any comparison and don't know what to shoot for. The other women members only use the cardio machines and the pink weights, and do some pilates type moves, so I am starting to feel a bit freakish. Do you do any of these? Can you tell me what you lift? Any advice?
This is what I'm on right now:
1) lat-pulldown machine (8 -10 reps, 3 sets): I am kind of stuck at 35lb, and the next one is 47lb, which I have not managed more than partially so far.
2) bent-over rows (I do them with hand and knee on a bench, is this right?) 30lb hand weight each arm. 8 -10 reps, 3 sets)
3) tricep extensions (over the head, both hands) 25 lb, 8 -10 reps, 3 sets.
4) bicep curls 25lb each hand (5-8 reps, 2 sets). My biceps are already kind of prominent in a way which is not fashionable locally, so I'm not focusing on those very much.
I do some others at high-rep, lower weight (5-10lbs) at home with my Jillian Michaels video: front raises, presses, chest fly. Are there any exercises that develop the muscles over the sternum to do something about my ribs? Do women have pecs there, or is it just men?