What is average for a newbie?

[Carolien81]

Hi,

I am a 5ft 7, 170lbs (BMI 27) female who wants to loose 25lbs (=BMI 22.5).

I just started in the gym this week and doing great, already feel like I have a lot more energy!

3 times a week:
20m cardio (cross-trainer) and weights (see bellow) at alternating days

2 times a week:
35 min cardio (cross-trainer)

Also cutting down on calories, which mainly means less junk, fat and sugar and more fruit and whole grains. Probable eating about 1600 calories a day now.

So what I am wondering about is if the weights I use during workout in the weight room are average for a beginner or not? I determined the weights with a fitness counselor, but just wondering how it relates to other people who just start working out.

Legs:
Seated leg curl: 3x12 reps @ 70lbs
Hip abduction pressing inwards: 3x12 reps @ 110lbs
Hip abduction pressing outwards: 3x12 reps @ 125lbs
Calf extension: 3x12 reps @ 75lbs
Straight leg press: 3x12 reps @ 85lbs

Arms:
Shoulder press: 3x12 reps @25lbs
Biceps curl: 3x12 reps @ 30lbs
Triceps press: 3x12 reps @ 70lbs
Chest press: 3x12 reps @ 20lbs
Seated row: 3x12 reps @ 55lbs

And then I add some ab exercises:
Reg. plank 3x 35 sec
Ab hold 3 x 30 sec
Reach up 3x15 reps
Ankle grabs 3x20 each side
Single leg jack-knife 3x10 each side

Please let me know what you think... Thanks!!

[zenphitness]

Sounds like you are off to a totally awesome start! Keep up the good work/play. Every time I talk to someone who has any kind of fitness goal at all I have to bring up one thing that I think is the key to weight loss, strength gain, etc. and that is the concept of hormone control. The principle is that hormones control every activity that your body performs, muscle development, fat loss, fat gain, cell growth, cell death, and everything you can possibly think of. To keep it simple, because let's face it, we want to get fit, not go back to school and become a doctor, there are a few key things that will help calibrate your hormones for weight loss:

Workouts:
- high intensity circuits > slow go cardio. If you take the weight exercises you are currently doing and put them together in a circuit and do them at a moderate pace with minimal rest you will get great results. It is not so much about how much you can lift, but keeping your reps per set in an optimal range of 12-15 reps for fat loss and lean muscle development (lean muscle is great it eats fat)
- mix it up: doing a different work out every time will keep your body from getting "used to" your routine. The human body is designed to adapt and become more efficient at whatever you do, so the more often you do the same thing the more efficient your body gets. This is not a good thing for weight loss, because 'efficiency' is the conservation of energy, and you want to burn burn burn that potential energy stored as fat. So keeping your body on its toes so to speak will help you keep optimal results.

Nutrition:

Insulin is the big hormone that is responsible for how food is stored in our bodies, the higher the insulin reaction we have to certain foods, the higher the amount of fat is stored from those foods. 1600 calories a day is good, but keep in mind that it is not just how many calories you are consuming, but what kind of foods they are contained in. You seem like you are pretty serious about meeting your goals, so I am sure that you are eating a pretty healthy 1600 calories. You can use the 'body confusion' technique with your diet as well. That could be something you play around with to find out what is the best way for you, since everyone's body chemistry and metabolism are different.

Hope this helps with your question and good luck! Stick with it and you will really love the results you get! I just put up a blog post on MRT:
http://zenphitness.blogspot.com/2012/02 ... -made.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.zenphitness.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;