win_chelchel

Hey Guys, I just started a bit of weightlifting and working on pull-ups/chin ups. Even though I''m not lifting too heavy yet, I'm already seeing callouses form. My friend who is "training" me suggested that I get gloves, but I'm not sure what kind I should buy and I don't want to spend a ton of money on something that won't work for me. I'm a female with very small hands and I'm afraid some of the gloves that have a lot of padding would interfere with my grip. I also don't want to go too expensive, preferably under $20. However, if the gloves are literally the best thing since sliced bread, I'll go over the $20. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

Thank you! That does clear things up!

I keep hearing conflicting information about how many reps someone should do. I'm trying to a get a strong but lean figure and I thought I read in an article somewhere on here for weight training that you should do high weight low rep for that. However, everyone I talk to/see on the internet suggests that doing that would give me "bulky muscle". Can anyone help clear this up for me?

2nd Week Update -Workouts: - Monday: treadmill interval training -- 221 calories, 2.06 miles, 25:07 minutes - Wednesday: first weight training class -- just worked on machines, began a beginner's salsa class that was in the evening for 1 hr and 1/2 - food: - I'm sticking to only one serving of grain a day pretty well, I sometimes slipped up this week. - homework: - completed every hw assignment

Homework's going well! I'm kinda cheating the system a little bit, because one class doesn't actually collect the hw so if I have too much going on I put it off till I have time to do it. But, as long as I do every assignment I consider the goal fulfilled.

First Week Update -since this week was crazy food situation wise with moving and the lack of food, I'm not counting it towards the total 6 weeks. -Workouts on Tuesday and Saturday Tuesday: 333 cal. 3.09 miles, 34:00 minutes -I received the Starting Strength book and read up on how the program works and how to properly do a squat

First mini-challenge -thinking back on my last challenge, the reason I only got a B was because some things I would just forget about or I would be so busy I'd push off a workout. -Looking at my old goals, I know they're a little too high so I'm deciding to change 2 of them. 1. the workout 3 times a week: this would be ideal however, realistically with school and other things going on in my life, I might let the third workout slip. So I'm going to change it to 2 times a week 2. cut out grains: the last week has been interesting food-wise. I was at home partially and then I was moving back to school where the house I live in gets stocked by a third party and there was basically nothing by non-perishables left over from before winter break aka grains. I'm changing this to I can have 1 grain a day, starting with this second week since before I could basically eat nothing but. -I'm leaving my life mission as is because this one is too important to relax on.

Hey everyone thanks for commenting! 1. I'm keeping my main goal vague on purpose. The main goal is basically to complete the missions. I don't have the time right now to fully devote to tracking %bf and stuff like that. It's more about how I feel about myself and less about the stats. It's good to see when I'm improving but I see that by increasing time, speed, or distance on the treadmill and increasing weights with lifts. I also do not have a caliper. I am taking measurements though. I don't want to set a goal for those however because I'm not sure how my body will react to the weight lifting and I don't want to place unrealistic expectations on myself. For technicality sake, I can edit in that I would like a pair of jeans I own to fit comfortably. 2. the lifts I'm interested are the ones in the starting strength book aka squat, press, deadlift, benchpress, power clean 3. I'm not using any apps currently. I used to use my fitnesspal for food, but it was too much of a hassle and I never stuck with it

Hi! Your goals look a handful but I believe you can do it! Especially with your desire to really get your sleep on track! With you taking your ipad to bed, I do the same, but it might be better if you could get your hands on a physical book that's not a screen. I've read a lot of articles that talk about the light from screens keeping people awake and making it harder to fall asleep. here's a short little snippet that gives a little more scientific explanation. http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/135041-study-gadgets-disrupt-sleep

Your goals look awesome! Good luck this challenge! And, good outlook for moving forward! We all sometimes go a little too far in indulging. As long as you get back in the game, that's what matters!

@Jill Beat: Yea, I definitely relate to that! Organized exercise is usually what get's my butt off the couch to start with. My cardio fitness class last semester is what got me more motivated and thinking about really trying to dive into fitness, and then I stumbled upon this site. Thanks for the advice! I'm trying to not be so stressed this semester and I'm planning on taking only 12 credits so that's why I want to really do well in the classes I'm taking. @TennisGeek: That's good to hear that you could tell the difference by cutting out wheat/beans. I used to be a big bean eater because I went vegetarian for a while just to try it out, but the lack of options at school made it super difficult. Now, I'm back to lean meats and fish. Oh that's awesome, I'm always excited to meet people from different cultures! I live in a culturally diverse house, and we always have tofu available. I really enjoy it if it's prepared right. Oooh thanks for the advice! I've heard that for dairy, but I figured the amount of dairy I consume is not that much compared to the depravity I'd feel if I didn't eat it. I really rely on eggs for protein in the mornings and I do enjoy a glass of milk a day. I don't eat cheese that often, but I don't want to be restricted if I have the choice. Thanks for commenting you guys! I hope everything goes well on your side of things! Let's do this next challenge!

Hey Everyone! So this will be my 2nd challenge. I'm an undergrad studying at university looking to get a B.S. in biomedical engineering. I originally thought I was going to go to med school and then the difficulty of classes (and the amount of time it takes) hit, so right now I'm exploring options and looking into internships. Anyways with fitness, I've really been thinking about getting into weight training and the more I read about it the more excited I am to get into it. I'm not that sure on how to start, but luckily my school offers a weight training gym class and I'm taking that this spring (It starts on Jan 13th and is Mondays and Wednesdays). I'm hoping that will teach me some of the basics and I can learn the rest from research. So onto the goals! Main Goal: Start lifting and get fit! [this is kind of vague, but I've been thinking about this for so long, and I want to do it right. This goal would mean that I'm working on lifting regularly and know how to do some of the basic lifts by the end of the challenge. EDIT: for measuring sake, I would like a pair of jeans I own to fit comfortably again] Missions: Workout at least 2 times a week [2 pts STA, 2 pts CHA] [i'm purposefully leaving this unassigned so that, as I learn more about lifting I can add more of that into my workouts and I also have the ability to decide to do a cardio day] Only have at the most 1 grain a day [3 pts CON] [i'm really interested in starting Paleo, but I'm in love with dairy and I do like to snack on edamame (soybeans). I'm keeping the restriction small because when I'm at school it's really hard to keep myself to my workouts AND keep up with a diet when I have all this stress bombarding me, so that's why I'm just trying one thing slowly. I also have a lack of options for food which makes it really difficult to cut main food groups out so I have hope this will go well.] Learn how to do the basic lifts with Starting Strength program [3 pts STR, 2 pts WIS] [by the end of the challenge, I want to be able to properly do the workout outlined in the Starting Strength 3rd ed. I ordered the book on amazon and should be getting it by Jan 7th!] Life Quest: Do all my homework [3 pts WIS] [This sounds silly when you first read it, but I think it's a necessary goal. I had a lot of classes last semester that had daily homework--it all became too much, and I started skipping assignments when I was overwhelmed. I lost a lot of points that could have given me more leeway when it came to finals and I probably could have gotten some better final grades if I had done all my assignments. So, for this semester, come what may, I will do every homework assignment. God help me.] Looking forward to the new challenge! Starting Measurements 140 pounds [using the right side of the body] wrist: 5 3/4 in upper arm: 9 11/16 in 2 in above the knee: 17 1/2 in 3 in below hip joint: 23 9/16 in hips: 40 3/4 in waist: 28 6/8 in bust: 36 9/16 in

Holiday Update! Week 2 aka week before second official challenge! Monday, 30th: tried the advanced bodyweight circuit workout. Wow, that was difficult on the arms. I also had to make do with inverted body weight rows instead of pull ups and chin ups because I don't have a bar. I also just left out the dips because I didn't have anything available in my basement to do it. Also, only did one cycle since I was short on time and had to be somewhere. Friday, January 3rd: went to he gym today, did some interval hill training on the treadmill. I went up to 6.5 mi/hr and it was difficult but I was able to do it fine. Total stats were 2.03 miles, 23:59 minutes, 217 calories. So a little shorter time than last time, but I also went faster and was on a difficult level. Did some medicine ball work for the abs, arm work with the free weights (15 lb.), also used a body bar (15 lbs.) that was available to do squatting with so even though I'm not actually weight lifting yet, I'm practicing my form. also did the squat machine thing

Holiday Update! Week 1: Tuesday, 24th: Christmas Eve---worked out with my mom at the gym and got a month membership for my break. Ran about half a mile and did an ending sprint. Did some squats and arm work and then began to feel faint so I had to cut the workout short. This used to happen a lot to me in high school because of a combination of low blood sugar/low blood pressure. I think I just didn't eat enough before the workout. Friday, 27th: worked out at they gym again today. Did interval hill training on the treadmill. When I was running, I went 6 mi/hr which is really fast for me so improvement! The total stats for it was 2.41 miles, 30 minutes (including warm up and cool down), and 267 calories. Pretty good for me especially since I was running most of it! Did some medicine ball work on my abs, and arm work with the free weights, used the 15 pound ones (those are the heaviest in the "women's section" since I'm still too intimidated to head over into the weight lifting section). Also, did squats, and used one of the machines that works your calves/thighs --its basically the same motion as the squat. Saturday, 28th: Super sore today, I had a really good workout yesterday, so I'm resting today. My calves are super tight even though I stretched like crazy throughout the workout. Well, at least this lets me know I'm pushing myself.

Summary of challenge, basically copied from my thread. I started late so this is really only four weeks. For the roleplaying, I'm giving myself 1 point for WIS for completing my life goal of finishing the novel, and 1 point for STR for completing my 15 push-ups goal. I could give myself partial points for my other goals, but I don't want to bother with fractions plus I feel like I haven't really *earned* those points. Excited for the next challenge! I'll begin my journey by joining the adventurer's guild.

Hey Bad Wolf, I was just browsing through your posts and congratulations on having such good progress!! I know you said you were feeling down thinking you could have done more, but just think of how much you've already done. That's an accomplishment not to be looked down upon. As Raxie above me said, no one's perfect and everyone could always improve, try harder, just go that extra inch, but at the end of the day you have to take a step back and not beat yourself up for that last inch but rather smile looking back at the mile you just finished. I'm also a firm believer of gradual change also. I know everyone goes at their own speeds and good for you for making such dramatic changes!! I would've had an extremely difficult time with that. Anyways my point with that is you may not being seeing such a dramatic change as you wanted to, but you have to remember that huge changes will take time and you've already made big ones which is amazing! So, I know you're planning on continuing your fitness over the holidays, so good luck! I'll be following if you post! And once again, congrats!

Dec. 22 Wow, finally here. Finished off the challenge with a vitamin and workout totaling 54 points. I was able to do 17 push-ups today! That's a grand total of 69 points which is a B on my grading scale. I'd have to agree with that because while I finished my goals of 15 push-ups, and finished my novel. I wasn't quite consistent with the vitamins everyday and the 5 workouts a week goal --> it was more sporadic than that. Even though I didn't do the challenge perfectly, I'm pretty proud with how far I've come. Exercise and fitness are lifestyles however, and I can't just stop now that I've started. I'm going to keep posting till the next challenge so I can keep track of my progress. I also took my measurements and weight today. Though, I can only really guess at whether my measurements improved from memory and for some I don't have numbers. So, I guess these can just be used for future reference with continuing the workouts. Initial weight: 137.8 Current weight: 139ish (I have a dial scale at home so the number isn't totally precise) --though I've technically gained weight, I'm pretty sure this is just muscle because when I look at the pictures below, I see a (good) difference, and I definitely feel one, too! Past (rough) measurements: waist: 29 in. (73.7 cm) bust: 36 in. (91.4 cm) hips: low 40ish in. (102ish cm) New measurements: waist: 29 in. (73.7 cm) bust: 37 in. ( 94 cm) hips: 42 3/8 in ( 107.6 cm) thigh: 18 in ( 45.7 cm) upper thigh: 24 in (61 cm) upper arm: 10 1/4 in (26 cm) --> the only difference I can know for sure is the bust area where I've gained an inch. I haven't gone up in cup size so I'm going to assume I've toned up my pectorals! Pretty happy with that! Otherwise not too shabby. Below I have side-by-side pics of the gradual change, and the first day/last day. Here's the gradual: And here's the initial/last: I'm really happy with how this ended up. I remember when I used to go about fitness as just a way to lose weight and get "skinny", but now I'm going for strength/health. Looking at these two pictures, I feel a lot of pride for coming so far. I couldn't even do a real push-up at the beginning! Now, I'm squatting and getting fit like a fiend and taking a weight training class next semester. I'm so grateful to this site as a medium for me to get fit and for the support received! This makes me excited to keep on going even though it's not an official challenge.

Recap: Dec. 16 -vitamin -workout Total Points: 36 Dec. 17 -vitamin -workout Total points: 38 Dec. 18 -vitamin -went home today for the holidays, didn't get a workout in Total points: 39 Dec. 19 -vitamin -didn't work out today, was super tired -However, I finished my novel! Total Points: 49 Dec. 20 -vitamin -work out Total Points: 51 Dec. 21 -vitamin -went christmas shopping today, was pooped. Total Points: 52

Hey Bad Wolf! Thanks! I've felt the improvement which is nice and its great to hear that I'm not just imagining differences . My finals went well! The exercise helped though I didn't get to work out as often as I probably should have. I have noticed that the exercise helps keep the stress down, and I tend to get less headaches too. I know I'm definitely going to power through Christmas, I can't just stop working when I finally see some improvements! I hope everything went well on your end now that the challenge is "officially" over.

Dec. 15 -took vitamin -rest day, I'm a bit sore from the last couple days/I have a final tomorrow! Total Points: 34

Dec. 14 -took vitamin - interval training for 20 min - body circuit with the abs at the end Total Points: 33

Dec. 13 -took vitamin -interval training for 20 minutes. Noticed it was easier to run at faster speed for longer -bodyweight circuit training -I have completely replaced what I was originally doing for the push-ups section of this circuit (10 girl push-ups) to 10 real push-ups. Progress! -I've also added a little bit of ab work, I've been doing a balancing/twist ab exercise that works on your obliques with an 8 pound weight (i forget what it's called)--taught to me by my ROTC friend and straight leg crunches with an 8 pound weight in my hands. (I do 30 of each after the circuit) It's been officially 3 weeks and 3 days since I started. I decided to take another picture to see if I'm getting anywhere size-wise (I've since realized the scale I have available is neither consistent nor accurate, and shape/tone is more important to me regardless) Comparing the Pictures side-by-side, there is definitely more tone in the chest and shoulder area, and the torso/thighs seem to be a bit leaner. It's a small improvement but improvement nonetheless! Total Points: 30

Dec. 12 -took vitamin Total Points: 27

Dec. 11 Last final of this week today, the last one of the semester is Monday -did interval running today -bodyweight circuit *I've noticed that I've been feeling stronger but not really noticing that much of a difference in my appearance. It hasn't been that long so I'm going to assume that's why along with inconsistency with my workouts *I have noticed my arms are way more defined then they used to be though and I'm seeing a little bit more muscle showing in my legs. I think the only thing holding me back from seeing really noticeable differences is my diet. I'm pretty sure I'm eating too much especially of unhealthy foods, so I'm going to try and work on that but cutting back on the late night snacking. Total Points: 26