Gaining weight/ is cardio a waste of time?

[EYECANDY000]

So I've been trying to gain weight for the longest but never really did much about it. This past month I have been really serious about putting on the weight. I signed up for the gym yesterday and worked out today. I am already aware that I am in horrible shape considering that I have never worked out or done strenuous exercizing. I want to gain muscle in my arms,legs, and tone my abs. Do you think that its a waste of time to do cardio if I'm trying to put on pounds?

 

I am : 5'2

115

And I measured at 28% body fat . Which the trainer said is horrible.

 

I have been trying to eat more, especially more calories, I am drinking a weight gainer 2-3 times a day. Anything else that I should and shouldn't do?

 

When I was talking to the personal trainer today he was basically pressuring me to sign up for a personal trainer. And I felt uneasy. I told him I wanted to free style and and rely on some sources. Which of course his rebuttal was that he's certified and that's a bad idea for me to do it myself.

[USMCHokie]

I'm confused...you want to gain weight...? Please explain...

 

If you're trying to get in better shape and lower the body fat %, you most likely won't see much of a weight fluctuation at your current weight...you will lose the excess fat at a much higher rate than you would gain in muscle...you may actually end up losing weight but gaining a little muscle mass...

[EYECANDY000]

I'm confused...you want to gain weight...? Please explain...

 

Yes, I'm trying to gain appr. 10-15 pounds.

 

If you're trying to get in better shape and lower the body fat %, you most likely won't see much of a weight fluctuation at your current weight...you will lose the excess fat at a much higher rate than you would gain in muscle...you may actually end up losing weight but gaining a little muscle mass...

 

So, is having more body fat good then? I, of course want to put on tasteful weight. I just don't want to make the mistake of eating a lot of carbs, calories, and then going to the gym and burning it off.

[USMCHokie]

So, is having more body fat good then? I, of course want to put on tasteful weight. I just don't want to make the mistake of eating a lot of carbs, calories, and then going to the gym and burning it off.

 

 

No, a higher level of body fat is certainly not good for you. For females, 15-20% body fat is a healthy goal. What I'm trying to say is that by starting a workout program, combined with a healthy diet, you will likely start seeing your body fat % drop. Consequently, you will also see your weight drop.

 

At the same time, you will build a small amount of muscle which may counteract that weight loss. However, women are physiologically not predisposed to gain large amounts of muscle mass...so you're not going to get ridiculously huge like men would if you weightlifted. So you will lose more fat than you would gain in muscle. Therefore, it's unlikely you would gain a lot of weight...

[EYECANDY000]

No, a higher level of body fat is certainly not good for you. For females, 15-20% body fat is a healthy goal. What I'm trying to say is that by starting a workout program, combined with a healthy diet, you will likely start seeing your body fat % drop. Consequently, you will also see your weight drop.

 

At the same time, you will build a small amount of muscle which may counteract that weight loss. However, women are physiologically not predisposed to gain large amounts of muscle mass...so you're not going to get ridiculously huge like men would if you weightlifted. So you will lose more fat than you would gain in muscle. Therefore, it's unlikely you would gain a lot of weight...

 

So you think that its almost impossible to put on 15 pounds?

[USMCHokie]

So you think that its almost impossible to put on 15 pounds?

 

 

For what purpose, might I ask...?

[EYECANDY000]

For what purpose, might I ask...?

 

Sure you can ask.. I've just always felt petite.

 

Well, I know with a few extra pounds I am still going to be petite, but I won't feel skinny.

[USMCHokie]

Sure you can ask.. I've just always felt petite.

 

Well, I know with a few extra pounds I am still going to be petite, but I won't feel skinny.

 

 

I see. Well, I would certainly recommend starting a workout program that incorporates weight training. As to your original question about adding cardio, I would recommend starting with a 50/50 between cardio and weight training, as you want to build a solid foundation of physical fitness. It's important to start any fitness program slowly and carefully to avoid injury and ensure that you can handle increased intensity.

 

Taking weight gainer shakes won't necessarily help you unless you are also working out. It may help you gain weight, but all the extra calories will be stored as fat, which the bad kind of weight to gain.

 

I'm going to assume that you want to put some mass on your arms and legs and get them nice and toned?

[EYECANDY000]

I see. Well, I would certainly recommend starting a workout program that incorporates weight training. As to your original question about adding cardio, I would recommend starting with a 50/50 between cardio and weight training, as you want to build a solid foundation of physical fitness. It's important to start any fitness program slowly and carefully to avoid injury and ensure that you can handle increased intensity.

 

Taking weight gainer shakes won't necessarily help you unless you are also working out. It may help you gain weight, but all the extra calories will be stored as fat, which the bad kind of weight to gain.

 

I'm going to assume that you want to put some mass on your arms and legs and get them nice and toned?

Yes, your assumption is correct..

 

Thank you I truely appreciate it. I am trying to write down a scedule of what I want to work on , and what days. So all your information is helpful.

[USMCHokie]

Yes, your assumption is correct..

 

Thank you I truely appreciate it. I am trying to write down a scedule of what I want to work on , and what days. So all your information is helpful.

 

 

Of course, anytime! If you want, PM me your schedule or workout plan when you finish it and we can discuss it further.

[Green]

I wouldn't take weight gainers if I were you. Your body fat if accurate is already high. Yes you should do cardio because it will help your heart and lungs and make you feel better. Weight training is also good and as you get older you usualy put on weight because your muslce and bone mass naturaly drop after your twenties.

[GrayClouds]

USMChokiie advice is good. You want to loose fat, gain muscle. If your working out with weights and doing some cardo, eating well then do not worry what the scale says.

 

As far paying for a trainer, where then may be helpful is making sure have proper form when it comes to lift weights which can be done in one or two work outs.

 

Also suggest buying a book on training.

[xpaperxcutx]

Incorporate weight training. Cardio will help you burn fat but weight training will give you a more defined body. Most people I know that works with weight are at least 120 -140 lbs but they have low body fat.

 

The point is that you'll automatically gain weight from muscle mass as opposed to gaining weight because of a high fat percentage.

 

You can definitely get down to a 21% BF but also gain around 5 -10 lbs of lean muscle mass and still look good.

 

Don't waste time drinking weight gaining drinks they're a waste of money. Weight train and take your protein ( egg whites, tofu, lean meat, tuna, etc) and the muscles you gain will add pounds but you'll still look lean, if not skinny.

[EYECANDY000]

I'm not sure what to do to ease my pain. My legs have been hurting since last week. I have been limping and its hard to stretch my legs out. Also, my arms hurt. I did stretch after the workout. I'm not sure if I should work out today considering I am in pain. I'm hoping that it will relax my muscles more..

[Star Gazer]

You need to weight/resistance train AND do cardio. Weights/resistance to build muscle, cardio to burn that 28% body fat off.

 

Jillian Michaels is 5'1'' and around 120 pounds. You can get to around there too, it just takes a lot of hard work.

[Green]

I'm not sure what to do to ease my pain. My legs have been hurting since last week. I have been limping and its hard to stretch my legs out. Also, my arms hurt. I did stretch after the workout. I'm not sure if I should work out today considering I am in pain. I'm hoping that it will relax my muscles more..

 

Stretch before and after work outs. Make sure you do cool downs. You might not be stretching properly so read, and ask people for how long and how to stretch properly.

 

You might want to relax your body if you are in pain. Healing up is just as much of the work out process as the actual work out. You shouldn't be in this much pain, but maybe its because your just starting and pushed to hard. Let yourself heal and take a break for a few days. I'd suggest taking a long walk but if you are limping you should just rest and if you feel better in a few days work out then. Just don't stop forever.

[just_some_guy]

You really need to do the cardio, probably need to do it first. The heart and lungs need to be in shape to support the muscles and body for the weight/resistance training.

 

Get yourself on the cardio equipment. Work on it until it becomes easy and you can maintain 30 minutes straight of 60-70% of your target heart rate. (roughly 220-age * %) .

 

Then hook up with a trainer to teach you how to do weightlifting in proper form and get you started. Once you learn how, you just repeat as necessary. What works for me is a work out every other day, consisting of 30-40 minutes of targetted heart rate cardio, followed by crunches and alternating days of upper or lower body weightlifting for about another 30 minutes.

 

That will turn the fat to muscle and leave plenty of time for the muscles to recover and rebuild between sessions.

 

Get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water and eat healthier and it will just work.

[cuppa]

What about joining crossfit program? I have been doing it for 2 months and I don't lose weight but I got leaner and I start to have muscle definitions in my abs, arms, and legs. I too 5'2 - 120 - 124 lbs (depending on the day). Lately, my scale has been going up, close to 124 lbs, but I actually fit into a size 0 jeans and there is very little fat left in my abs area.

 

Crossfit will teach you the proper posture to lift and they go with high intensity workouts that will push your body to the limit and work all kind of muscles in your body. It's not as boring as lifting weight by yourself because we do it in groups (sometimes we compete for number of reps or sometimes we compete for personal best time).

 

I love my crossfit because it's never boring.

[sunrae]

I work out almost everyday during the week... I do cardio at least 30 min in the morning before work, then go back at lunch time to do my weight training (4 times a week). In the last 4 months that I have been doing this, I have actually gained 5 lbs in muscle weight, but have dropped the body fat.

 

I have a personal trainer that I love, holds me accountable at reaching my goals (almost there)... But I agree with another poster, you can always get one for one or two sessions, tell them what your goals are and have them write you out a work out schedule.

 

Also I would drink a weight gainer, maybe a protein shake that is high in protein and low in carbs to help you build muscle, but no bulk up....

 

Your muscle will be sore, but take long warm epsome salt baths, to help. Dont over do it and hurt yourself or you will hate working out.

[Jeff1962]

28% body fat?!!!!!! OMG.

 

You have a trainer right? Listen to them.

 

You need cardio for your fat vs. muscle mass.

 

Reduce your body fat mass then concentrate on building/gaining.

 

While working on reducing your fat mass, thru strength training you should gain muscle weight.

 

I am an even 6 feet tall. I weigh 190. My body fat percentage is 3% even. I'm not a bodybuilder but I look more like a running back . There is a huge difference between fat and muscle weight. I work out 4 times per week with weights. 2 days on, 1 day off, then 2 more days on. Recooperate on the weekends. For my cardio, I run. Tomorrow is my off day at the gym so I will probably run around 6-7 miles.

 

Once you start, don't stop. Good luck to you.

[USMCHokie]

My body fat percentage is 3% even.

 

 

If this were true, then you'd probably be teetering on death...even competitition bodybuilders don't go that low...and if they do, it's probably only for the competition itself...excessive low body fat percentage is VERY unhealthy...

 

Low 10's would seem to be a more realistic number based on your workout frequency...unless you take the vitamin S...which certainly does help...

[SarahRose]

The OP is obviously a female and the body fat percentages are very different between men and women.

 

A normal range according to the American College of Sport’s Medicine, is 20-35% for a female under 40 years old.

[Soul Bear]

ok.Eye Candy. I'm a PT and i am also a hard gainer.

 

Dont do any cv work. it will really strip it off you. Stick to 5 mins for a warm up and 5 mins for a cool down. When you get bigger and stronger, you will probably also start to gain some fat, and then you can poubnd out the CV work. For now if you are really skinny it will only hold you back and turn you catabolic.

 

You want to work on your back (lats,delts,traps,rombs) to gove you a bigger appearence from the back, and for your front you want to do your chest.

Train your majopr muscle groups in the session first and then finish with the small ones (i.e arms and abs etc)

 

Keep an eye on your core too. And try to incorporate lots of body weight training too.

 

 

Dont forgert to trasin your legs. We release testosterone in mass ammounts when we train legs, and it promotes good growth for all the muscle groups in your body as it is a growth hormone.

 

 

Stay away from supplements for now except eith weight gain or egg ewhite powder.

 

Your diet is of mass importance (no pun intended!)

Protien- i.e beef contains creotine which will help repair muscles and encourage growth too.

Stay away from but dont discount in your diet - bell peppers as they promote weight loss when consumed on a reg basis.

 

Eat oats with WHOLE milk for breakfast.

 

 

After a few onmths of training, you will start to notice a diff in size. When you start to feel like you hity a wall you need to change your routines and training methods.

 

There are diff reps and sets for different training systems eg. Hypertrophy/ edurence/strength etc etc

for getting bigger, you want to be lifting about 56% of your one rep max, for 10-12 reps, 4-6 sets. Finnish each muscle group of with endurence style training and conditioning, which is 15+ reps ( to failure) of about 35-40% of your 1 rep max. for 3 sets. That will burn out the muscle and promote definition.

 

OK i think im rambing here, but if you need anything just give me a shout.

[Soul Bear]

Sorry i meant to say 65%, not 56 for gaining mas leanmuscle.

 

For strength, you want to be 80% of repmax and 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps

 

Also, make sure you rest well inbetween each new set. so if you train biceps, wait 3 mins before you train triceps, and allow yourself a good rtest period between each set. anything form 1-2 mins

[Soul Bear]

If this were true, then you'd probably be teetering on death...even competitition bodybuilders don't go that low...and if they do, it's probably only for the competition itself...excessive low body fat percentage is VERY unhealthy...

 

Low 10's would seem to be a more realistic number based on your workout frequency...unless you take the vitamin S...which certainly does help...

 

 

Hmmmm...well I am 7% on the dot, and I am a trainer. I have another trainer who i work with and she is 4%. She is a marathon runner tho as well as a PT and is very healthy indeed.

 

The higher you are, the more unhealthy it is.