Ask one of the big guys they honestly will not mind... I've done it on several occasions... I mean it's only, usually, on the last set...Specially if they see you are serious lifter.

It's unfortunate that many women don't life heavy and to failure so that we can aske them for help..... Don't be shy no one minds, I certainly don't...

Gen WELCOME to our world It is HARD work but oh so well worth it!!

Tell your Sis that it's better to be big and firm than big and flabby!! That's only my HONEST opinion tho...

This is totally off the topic but I was wondering if you ladies and gents could help. This seems to be a place of very knowledgeable people. Anyways for the last 3 evenings I have been getting horrible Charlie horses in my right leg. I was wondering if I am lacking something that I need or if I am working my leg muscles wrong or right I guess. I eat usually 2 bananas a day and I eat yogurt usually everyday. I cannot stomach milk so I take viactive and I also take a multivitamin. I really do not know what could be causing them because I have been feeling better everywhere else on my body then I have in years. So any thoughts or suggestions would be so great.
Thanks, Kearie

My first thought is, are you stretching enough before and after your workouts?...

Hi Gen!
Glad you and your sister are working out hard!
Tell your sis that # for # muscle is 'smaller' than fat. There is a pick on this webiste somewhere of 5# of fat vs. 5# of muscle but I don't know where it is. Maybe someone can offer up the link??
So, if she lost fat, gained muscle and maintained the same weight she would actually occupy less space.
FYI
Happy Lifting
XOXO
L2L

Your wish is my command:

About the spotter problem ...

Yes, by all means, ask anyone at the gym who you think could handle it. If they say no they're just telling you they are self-centered jerks, then you can go ask someone else.

But, if there's no one around who can help you, then why not use a machine in that instance? I know that "serious" lifters think machines are for wimps and beginners, but ... my fitness center is very small and the freeweight area has only dumbells and 2 benches. I use the dumbells for certain things, but for others I use the excellent machines they have and certainly work to failure each time. I know all the arguements about range of motion and stabilizer muscles and the like, but in my situation using machines for some exercises makes sense. Not only is the free weight equipment available to me limited, but I have some personal limitations. For example, I have terrible knees and, still being significantly overweight, I cannot do squats and lunges well enough to benefit. So, I use the lower-body machines which are kind to my knees but still provide a workout-to-failure.

I'm not saying use a machine every time, but when you can't find a spotter ... why not?

P.S. I carry a clipboard around with me, and while I'm not the only one, I'm definitely in the minority. My routine is fairly simple, but I wouldn't be able to keep up with everything if I didn't write it down. I gave up caring what people thought about me and what I do in the gym a loooooong time ago. As with everything, do what you need to do and don't worry about it. Most people don't even notice, and if they do and they have a negative opinion about it ... well ... that's their problem, not mine.

Hi Funniegrrl!!
I hope I may humbly consider myself a serious lifter as I have been lifting for over 10 years and competing for 4+ years.
I really beleive the longer you do it, the less you care about what everyone else thinks and the more concerned you are with just getting in a quality workout. I don't concern myself at all with what others are doing cuz it's none of my dern biznes unless they ASK my opinion, which does happen here and again.
I use the machines in addition to free weights because they all hit the muscle just a little differantly AND I 'carry around a notebook' which I have for years.
I have never once had anyone laugh at me or give me a hard time about it, ever. and even if they did, who gives a freakin' rip! It still wouldn't stop me!

More often than not they want to see what I'm writing in it !!

and guess what? many of the Pro's (Professional competitors) use the machines, sometimes 'light' weights and carry around notebooks too! Shhhhh......


Use machines or Free weights,... write it down or don't...Who cares what others think!?.
Just do your thing, Sista and in the long run people will respect you for it. I know I respect those that do what they came to do without concerning themselves with the 'audience', REGARDLESS of their experience or the shape they are in. That is the gospel truth.

I know it is sometimes easier said than done in the beginning but, keep it up and, soon you'll have your emotional 'footing' and stop caring about anything except your workout.

Whatever happened to the old saying..
To each his (or her) own.......:

Also, I agree with the spotter advice.....ask around and if no-one is available do an excersise that you feel comfortable doing on your own or go to a machine and don't let it phase you. After awhile ,you'll get to know the 'regulars', who workout when you do and are happy to help and it will get easier....

You have all of us who got your back, anyway
Keep on keepin on...
L2L

"So, if she lost fat, gained muscle and maintained the same weight she would actually occupy less space." Love this quote, the whole space occupancy thing just cracked me up.

I am at the gym at 5:30 am and if I need a spotter I usually work out in the area with others, there are three of us who sort of help each other out. I also spot for them, I think I actually asked one of the guys if he needed a spotter when I saw him looking around. The really serious people and who isn't at 5:30 am, will be willing.

Liza

Oh my! Tell your sister she will NOT get big, only curvy and thin even if she lifts heavy! I've been lifting heavy for almost 5 years - I'm 5'7" and 125 pounds, but I can squat 245, bench 125, leg press 475, and dead lift 205.

The reason lifting to failure is so hard is because you are pushing your body out of its "comfort zone" and not too many people like doing that. That, however, is the only way to get results through your weight training. Training to failure is necessary; sure, it won't kill you if you only go to near failure on a few sets, but the more sets go to failure the higher number of times, the better!

When I tell people to lift to failure, I describe it as "not being able to lift the weight even one more time with correct form." I say this with correct form because you are then recruiting other muscles rather than the targeted muscle, as well as risking injury.

Muscle does what it's trained to do. Size means size, not necessarily strength. And not all muscle fiber is the same. Bodybuilders train to get their muscles to grow larger (hypertrophy), sprinters train for explosive power, and long distance swimmers and runners train for endurance and power over sustained time periods. To show you how the same lean mass can do different things, take me for example. I'm 5'3" and have 112 pounds of lean mass as of yesterday. A year ago, I weighed exactly the same and had the slightly less lean mass. Last year in the early fall I squatted 315 pounds for 8 reps and could leg press 540 plus the sled for 6 reps. I decided I really didn't like the way my legs looked or what putting up those numbers was doing to my joints (I'm 49), so I don't go over 200 or so on a squat or over about 350 on the leg press. But I still lift to failure: at around 15-20 reps instead of 8-10. I have no idea about what I could bench press, because my aged shoulders just won't do it- I have to use dumbbells. I have slightly more muscle mass than I had last year, slightly lower body fat, but I doubt that I could squat over 300 again now. The difference is in the type of training, and muscle fiber reacts to different training by adapting to the task. One of the ways in which I've changed my training is by adding a lot of plyometic training, both weighted and unweighted, and a lot of weighted balance training. Doing compound lifts (like squats or deadlifts) on unstable surfaces (bosu ball, airflex pad) requires you to use a lot more core and stabilizer muscles, rather than just your quads and hamstrings. You become stronger in more than one plane. But going to failure with this type of training doesn't necessarily produce hypertrophy.

Bodybuilders who are strictly interested in hypertrophy don't train that way, but as a fitness comptetitor, Alissa needs great strength, explosive power, and endurance to get through her routine. She also needs some hypertrophy and symmetry, so that's what she trains for. Not necessarily a 300 plus pound squat.

Another example of the size vs. strength issue: I teach a class in funtional fitness. At the first class, my boss who is a competitive bodybuilder attended, along with several other trainers and gym regulars. One of the exercises was to do a "chest push" with a heavy medicine ball- hold the ball at chest level and thrust it forward as fast and hard as you can. The person in the class who could launch the ball the furthest and fastest for the longest time was one of the trainers who is an amatuer boxer, NOT the bodybuilder with double the bicep and tricep mass. It's the effect of task specific training.

Hope that made some sense. What was the question?

Mel