Posted by Scott Ismari on December 18, 2005, 8:22 am, in reply to "muscle failure" --Previous Message-- How long have you been lifting now? Dont expect your last sets to be as strong as your starting working set. This will improve with time. Rest time between sets can make a factor but if your priority is to burn fat over building muscle at this stage, shorter rest periods can actually aid your progress by keeping your heart rate at a higher pace thrughout your workout. Another thing to rememeber is the actual size of the muscle groups you are having trouble with. The upper body on most women is significantly smaller in mass than their lower body (and to an equally trained male of your same age), so the strength and endurance that you are expecting naturually wont be there. This too will improve in time if you consitently increase your amounts from week to week. Dont get stuck in the rut of lifting the same weights because the strength you are looking for wont happen. Once you reach a certain number of reps, up the amount your next workout. Desire, Dedication, Discipline Scott Ismari
66.116.16.9
: I have been working out for a number of years, sometimes more
: faithfully than other times. I have run into a situation for
: which I need some advice.
:
: Currently, I am doing a three day split as follows: Monday upper
: body (chest, upper back, biceps, triceps), Tuesday interval
: cardio, Wednesday abs and core (erector spinae), Thursday
: interval cardio, Friday lower body (quads, hams, calves) and
: shoulders, Weekend moderate cardio; 4 exercises each workout,
: although sometimes I will add a set from a second exercise for
: one or two muscle groups. I am doing 2 warmup sets and 2-4
: intensity sets. For example the dumbbell bicep curl... 12 reps
: at 8 lbs, 12 reps at 10 lbs, then up to 6 reps at 12.5 lbs for
: 2-4 sets. I can do 5 reps at 12.5 the first time, wait a
: minute, but then only do 3-4 reps for the second set. I then
: wait 2 minutes, thinking I still might be able to match the 5
: reps, but it turns out I can only do 3. My arm just quits; it
: doesn't hurt, but stops in the middle of a rep and I can't lift
: any higher without assisting that arm. This also happens with
: the triceps, shoulders, pecs. (I separated the shoulders from
: upper body work because they get worn out if worked on the same
: day.)
:
: Is this normal? Note, I am a 63 year old female and my goals
: are to develop some muscle and strength and lose body fat. I
: have decided that maybe genetically, I cannot produce ATP
: quickly or in sufficient quantity. Or maybe it's just age, but
: I seem to progress very slowly.
:
:
I agree with Thomas, this is normal. You also have to look at your diet as well. Are you eating like you should or is your diet typical of an uninformed person trying to lose weight? If you are not eating properly, your recovery wont be like it should. Age also plays a huge role in recovery time. We just dont recover as fast as we did in our twenties and thirties.
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