Strength Training Question

[fromnebraska]

So I read The New Rules of Lifting for Women and did my first workout today. I guess I'm a little skeptical if the 90% strength training approach will work. Today I walked/ran 20 min on the treadmill and then did a strength training routine (squats, seated row, push-ups, step ups and prone jackknife). Technically I was only supposed to do 5-10 min of some sort of warm up and then the strength training, but the idea of only doing 5-10 min of cardio just doesn't seem right. And the strength training didn't seem to physically demanding (compared to running). I'm wanting to lose weight (lower my body fat %) and get stronger, but I'm not sure if these workouts will be enough. Any advice?

[Ghost]

I'm not sure exactly how TNRoLfW goes, but it is only the first workout.

If the book is any good, it will provide room to progress and increase load etc.

And if you want to lower your BF% it is mostly diet at first.

So check your diet, and continue with the workouts for a month.

If it stays easy as pie, then something is wrong.

[Lachy]

Loosing fat is about calories in versus calories out. Burn more than you consume and you will loose weight. You can burn calories running and you can burn calories lifting, so yes you can absolutely atain your goals with lifting instead of running.

I'd say that your first few workouts will be geared quite easily to get you used to using weights, allow you to work on form, etc. And as you progress the workouts will get harder to the point you won't want to be running on top of you workouts.

The 5 - 10 minute warmup is just that, a warmup. Get the blood flowing around so your muscles are ready to lift. It's not a time to get sweaty and out of breath.

Just give the program time and I'm sure you'll start feeling the workouts and reaping the benefits. If in the meantime you don't feel like you've done enough by the end and want to do more, have a run, but only after the weights.

[eseng666]

try doing HIIT on your cardio but with less time. more rewarding and less boring!

[fromnebraska]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Yeah I guess I had forgotten about the calories in and calories out thing... I'll stick with my plans. Thanks again!

[spatzcat]

The first few workouts are easier, and it will progressively get more difficult. As you get more comfortable and familiar with the routines, you can up your weights alot, and get more out of the workouts.

I personally don't see an issues with a longer cardio warm up.....I run 2.5 to 3 km prior to my weight routines, 3 x a week, mon, wed, fri...and a 2 5k runs on the weekends....

[Waldo]

And the strength training didn't seem to physically demanding (compared to running).

As the weights go up and you get stronger and stronger and stronger, this will cease to be the case. At first you are just training your mind to use your muscles. Eventually your mind begins to catch up with how much muscle you actually have and the fatigue goes way up. It is a different sort of fatigue though, it feels different than running fatigue and takes a lot longer to recover from.

Pretty much everyone that keeps at it will eventually have a leg day that makes you think twice about traversing a set of stairs.

[spatzcat]

lol Waldo! that's exactly how I judge my workout! if I can barely get down the stairs, it was a good day.

[Hermione Gainser]

As the weights go up and you get stronger and stronger and stronger, this will cease to be the case. At first you are just training your mind to use your muscles. Eventually your mind begins to catch up with how much muscle you actually have and the fatigue goes way up. It is a different sort of fatigue though, it feels different than running fatigue and takes a lot longer to recover from.

Pretty much everyone that keeps at it will eventually have a leg day that makes you think twice about traversing a set of stairs.

I concur. Use this time to focus on form

But the other thing Lachy touched on is super important: your warm up is not cardio. Do not use it as such. Engaging in a cardiovascular activity to warm up your body is not the same as performing cardio for the sake of endurance/fat burning. Always do the latter form of cardio post strength training. Otherwise, you're depleting your glycogen stores, tiring the muscles and opening yourself up to injury. I believe he discusses that in book.

[rtalencar]

This is true when you first start a new lifting program, and infinitely more important when you start lifting for the first time: when you first start out, the weight shouldn't be that heavy for you.

How can you possibly hope to get solid squat or snatch form, for example, if you're struggling to even complete the repetition? You need to start at a weight you can do safely, and work your form. THEN you can build up the intensity.

Even when you get your form mostly down, when you are starting out a lot of your gains are your body learning how to execute the lift more effectively. Those sorts of gains come quickly at first, and the stress required to get them doesn't take too much of a toll on your body. As you get closer to your maximum genetic potential, lifting at say 90% RM takes more and more out of you. Some people can only deadlift once a week or less, for example, or they don't recover enough and their lifts suffer.

Weight lifting works, you just have to give it time.

And as others said, body fat and total weight are mostly governed by diet.

[Absidey]

This is the start of my fourth week doing New Rules of Lifting, and I'm pretty much putty when I finish. I can wring myself out with cardio too, but it takes me a lot longer. It's easier for me to stay focused and push hard when I'm lifting, which is part of it, I'm sure.

[weirdquark]

What other people said-- the warmup is not for cardio. You can keep doing cardio on non-lifting days if you want, and NRoLfW adds in HIIT in later workouts. That'll wear you out, believe me. But if you're finding the workouts too easy, use heavier weights.