Hello ,I'm a newby to training and to this forum and looking for advise .
I'm female . Height 177 weight now 59.8 kg and bmi 19 .
I am slim as I've always looked after weight but Im Not toned and have no visible muscle as I've done little excersise other than what bringing up 4 kids brings you . I also have to watch lower back and neck as I have issues there and migraines .
Now all the kids have left home I decided it's time for me to concentrate on myself .. First stop getting fit and I'd like to build and define a little muscle .
I joined a gym a month ago and I have a personal trainer twice a week .
We stated on floor excersise and on the ball and have now added the weight machines . I do lower body 1 day , upper body the next , then cardio and abs .. Then repeat the 3 days and have Sunday off .
trainer has gone on holiday for a month now and left me schedule .
I have a couple of things I'm unsure about .
Firstly tiredness . After training I'm exhausted and today slept for an hour once I got home as well as having a good 10 hours at night is this normal ?
Second diet .
I started at just under 65 kg so I've lost 5 kg in the month , is this normal ... I was hoping to gain muscle , I also feel quite sick and faint at times when training .
trainer recommended more calorie intake and protein whey shakes before and after training , I drink clear water during training .
general intake is for example
9 am . Herbal tea and a coffee , 2 sliced high grain toast and olive spread
Plus protein shake with 1 scoop 20 G protein
12 am After training Protein shake 20 g plus banana with 0 fat yoghurt and a little High grain cereal
3pm 1/2 chicken breast or 8 crab sticks with a 200 g carton low fat cottage cheese
5pm handful mixed nuts and a banana
7pm dinner .. Chicken breast with jacket potato with salad or chicken and brown rice , or lasagne or Salmon and couscous
I hate energy drinks and juices . I drink mainly water and some herbal tea
I'm eating more protein than before the training when I ate more carbs like jacket potato and cheese and cake . I feel full all the time now .
Maybe current diet isn't sufficient ? Should I be concerned about the tiredness and weight loss ?
Thanks in advance
X
New to weight training. advice
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: New to weight training. advice
Forgot to say . I mix the protein whey powder with skimmed lactose free milk . It gives me indigestion but it tasted nasty with water .
Re: New to weight training. advice
Hi Sally, good to talk to you.
For now I would keep the weight loss under control and see where it's going or if it become static. You don't appear to be having an underwhelming diet, but depending on what happens to the weight loss, you might need to keep things under observation.
You are just under 132 lbs, so that's not that bad for someone of around 5' 8", so for now I'd say you don't need to concerned, about dropping around 11lbs, bearing in mind some of the weight could have been water weight if your diet is now considerably less salty as excess salt can cause water retention and affect blood pressure.
As for the muscle gain, you might have gotten a little, but the first 4-6 weeks are usually an adjustment period anyway, so expecting much is unrealistic and I'm not saying you do, but added muscle can also help to burn fat, as 1lb of added muscle can burn around an extra 45-50 calories per day, due to the increase in metabolic activity from the extra calories and effort needed.
You should start to see more progress in the coming 6-8 weeks and notice a little difference with any luck, in terms of lifting ability and body shape, but I wouldn't be too concerned right now as it's only been a month.
The tiredness might just be down to the adjustment period, but does your protein powder have any carbs in it?
For now I would keep the weight loss under control and see where it's going or if it become static. You don't appear to be having an underwhelming diet, but depending on what happens to the weight loss, you might need to keep things under observation.
You are just under 132 lbs, so that's not that bad for someone of around 5' 8", so for now I'd say you don't need to concerned, about dropping around 11lbs, bearing in mind some of the weight could have been water weight if your diet is now considerably less salty as excess salt can cause water retention and affect blood pressure.
As for the muscle gain, you might have gotten a little, but the first 4-6 weeks are usually an adjustment period anyway, so expecting much is unrealistic and I'm not saying you do, but added muscle can also help to burn fat, as 1lb of added muscle can burn around an extra 45-50 calories per day, due to the increase in metabolic activity from the extra calories and effort needed.
You should start to see more progress in the coming 6-8 weeks and notice a little difference with any luck, in terms of lifting ability and body shape, but I wouldn't be too concerned right now as it's only been a month.
The tiredness might just be down to the adjustment period, but does your protein powder have any carbs in it?
Re: New to weight training. advice
Hi there . Thanks so much for the reply . The powder has 5.8 g of carb of which 4.8 sugars per serving plus 40g protein .. 200 cals . I only take half per drink as It makes me feel quite sick after I've had it . Would prefer food really .
I can see a small difference already . I had some cellulite on wobbly thighs which is disappearing so I must be doing something right . trainer has been great , no trouble with neck or back under his guidence . I'd recommend anyone with back problems to invest in a proffessional .
I may cut back to 5 days not 6 tho if tiredness doesn't go . Forgot to add I'm 52
I can see a small difference already . I had some cellulite on wobbly thighs which is disappearing so I must be doing something right . trainer has been great , no trouble with neck or back under his guidence . I'd recommend anyone with back problems to invest in a proffessional .
I may cut back to 5 days not 6 tho if tiredness doesn't go . Forgot to add I'm 52
Re: New to weight training. advice
You might be doing a little too much then if you're doing 6 days instead of 5, as I don't really think you need to be doing 6 days, but a protein powder with added carbs might be more beneficial to help with energy levels.
You can also try to make protein powders better tasting by using things like cinnamon, vanilla essence, mocha powder, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and honey.
You can also try to make protein powders better tasting by using things like cinnamon, vanilla essence, mocha powder, ground nutmeg, ground ginger and honey.
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Fitafter50
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Re: New to weight training. advice
If you have a blender, you can add frozen banana or berries to your protein--that improves the flavor, too, and would give you extra carbs -- more with banana, less with berries. (I make a smoothie with lots of leafy greens, a rib of celery, frozen fruit and protein powder, with either kombucha or water as a base.)
If your goal is to build muscle, you do need a certain amount of protein. If the protein powder makes you sick, you can do real food also--maybe have steak and eggs instead of toast for breakfast. Or try other proteins--collagen powder from grass-fed beef can be a good source of protein, it's pretty tasteless, and you can add it to your coffee. (Great Lakes and Vital Proteins are two brands.) stomach can't tolerate whey, so I use a non-GMO pea protein, but I don't think it tastes as good as the organic whey I had been using. You may also need to increase your caloric intake--all that exercise takes fuel.
Your tiredness could come from decreasing your carb intake; it could also be from increasing your workouts so drastically. Or from a medical cause like anemia or a thyroid issue, so if it persists, a visit to your doctor might be a good idea.
Did your trainer have you record your resting heart rate before you started your workout program? If that has increased, that's a sign of overtraining, and cutting back on your workouts could be all that you need. There are lots of variables that you might need to tweak to see what is causing the fatigue and unwanted weight loss.
Stretching your hamstrings could help with lower back pain. I wish I knew how to get rid of migraines--I get those, too.
Meditation helps, but hasn't totally done away with mine.
If your goal is to build muscle, you do need a certain amount of protein. If the protein powder makes you sick, you can do real food also--maybe have steak and eggs instead of toast for breakfast. Or try other proteins--collagen powder from grass-fed beef can be a good source of protein, it's pretty tasteless, and you can add it to your coffee. (Great Lakes and Vital Proteins are two brands.) stomach can't tolerate whey, so I use a non-GMO pea protein, but I don't think it tastes as good as the organic whey I had been using. You may also need to increase your caloric intake--all that exercise takes fuel.
Your tiredness could come from decreasing your carb intake; it could also be from increasing your workouts so drastically. Or from a medical cause like anemia or a thyroid issue, so if it persists, a visit to your doctor might be a good idea.
Did your trainer have you record your resting heart rate before you started your workout program? If that has increased, that's a sign of overtraining, and cutting back on your workouts could be all that you need. There are lots of variables that you might need to tweak to see what is causing the fatigue and unwanted weight loss.
Stretching your hamstrings could help with lower back pain. I wish I knew how to get rid of migraines--I get those, too.
Meditation helps, but hasn't totally done away with mine.