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I'm lifting 30 using the machine that works the delts. But I've been stuck at 30 lbs since day 1 of joining a gym. Prior to that I worked months at home on light free weights but I don't think I was working my delts. The big guys at the gym dominate the free weight section and you can't even get a bench or a bar to yourself most days and they leave heavy plates on the Hammer Strengths so can't usually get a chance to use those. So I do the other machines and figure as I muscle up I will be able to muscle my way into the free weight section. Right now they stare at me weird like I have no business being over there. I can't even do squats without men staring at me I guess they are thinking what is fat girl doing over there doing the "men exercises" cause none of the other women do squats. I do them at home now.
I also notice my biceps are slow in strengthening but triceps are developing and so are pecs. I've increased in amount lifted by lower body the most going from 30 lbs to 80 lbs in 3 weeks. Still I feel intimidated/angry with myself because I see women lifting 150 with their legs.
This is getting off topic a bit but hey it is my thread. One thing I do not get is I see women who are really cut and have very nice shapely and hard looking muscles yet they barely lift 30 lbs. Whereas I lift heavier but don't look in shape. Is it because they are way skinny that they can't lift heavy even though they look buff? My whole body is getting very firm or more like hard to touch even around the delt area but doesn't look different. I don't get it what my body is doing. I'm so competitive with myself that I have to lift heavy, but I think it makes me bulk.
I would suggest you switch to free weights to work your delts... a machine only works them one way; I do 3 different exercises for my delts.
And stop feeling angry or intimidated about what other people are doing... working out is an indivual effort, what other people are doing in the gym is irrelevant!
Cardio is really hard for me. My knee is messed up and I have severe arthritis in feet and knees. I'm also recovering with a neurological disorder where I had to relearn how to walk and learn how to stand up without toppling over. So quite honestly I am scared to do much on my feet like I'm terrified to get on a treadmill plus walking/running much makes my knees scream. For cardio I do rowing machine to exhaustion, recumbant bike part of the time but I have trouble with it because even on the last adjustment my legs are too short to comfortably ride on it. I'm REALLY short and this is a problem with machines. I also do something called the Viper Rope Climber machine. It says if you set it on tension 1-2 and do 10-20 mins it works as cardio. I put it on 3 and do it as long as I can. It really takes a lot out of me.
I agree with pitt_transplant that a clean diet is more important than cardio. But assuming you are eating clean and in the right amounts, one alternative to traditional cardio is what's known as metabolic resistance training. It's basically "cardio with weights". Instead lifting to failure, you do a series of weight training exercises in rapid succession, meaning the rest periods are very short. Sometimes, you won't even rest between sets. Obviously, this type of training isn't something you do with heavy weights nor is it something you can do everyday. But it'll really elevate your metabolism and keep it elevated for some time after you're done working out. And as OngletNYC mentioned, focus on free weights instead of machines. The latter will lock you into a plane of motion. Free weights force you to use your stabilizer muscles and more effectively hit each part of your deltoids.
Would it be possible to switch gyms to one that would make you feel more comfortable? Your gym sounds like my nightmare. lol.
Nope can't switch gyms. I'm locked into a 2 year contract. The only other gym in the area only offered a 3 year contract and was $20 more a month at that! There's so few gyms in this area, actually there isn't one in this town. I drive to the next town over which is about 20 miles each way.
I agree with pitt_transplant that a clean diet is more important than cardio. But assuming you are eating clean and in the right amounts, one alternative to traditional cardio is what's known as metabolic resistance training. It's basically "cardio with weights". Instead lifting to failure, you do a series of weight training exercises in rapid succession, meaning the rest periods are very short. Sometimes, you won't even rest between sets. Obviously, this type of training isn't something you do with heavy weights nor is it something you can do everyday. But it'll really elevate your metabolism and keep it elevated for some time after you're done working out. And as OngletNYC mentioned, focus on free weights instead of machines. The latter will lock you into a plane of motion. Free weights force you to use your stabilizer muscles and more effectively hit each part of your deltoids.
What you describe is the exact way I work out twice a week. That's pretty much all the weight training I do anymore. I find this to be the perfect amount of "maintenance" to keep my body exactly as-is, which is what I want to do. (My weights gym time these days probably isn't enough for people who are trying to lose weight by burning fat)
The big guys at the gym dominate the free weight section and you can't even get a bench or a bar to yourself most days and they leave heavy plates on the Hammer Strengths so can't usually get a chance to use those. So I do the other machines and figure as I muscle up I will be able to muscle my way into the free weight section. Right now they stare at me weird like I have no business being over there. I can't even do squats without men staring at me I guess they are thinking what is fat girl doing over there doing the "men exercises" cause none of the other women do squats. I do them at home now.
One more thing. I swear to you I am probably right about this... 90% chance.
Men at the gym are NOT staring at you like you have no business being there. They are staring at whatever happens to be in front of them, while they focus on whatever weight-lifting activity they happen to be doing. You are wallowing in your own drama and low self-esteem when you think a bunch of people in a room not only notice you, but also care about you and are actually judging you rather than doing the thing that led them to suit up and leave the house to begin with: working out.
You are not the sun, people are not drawn to look at you when you walk in the room. This is true regardless of what you look like. Nobody cares, so stop acting as though they do, and then you can do whatever you like in the gym.
Nope can't switch gyms. I'm locked into a 2 year contract. The only other gym in the area only offered a 3 year contract and was $20 more a month at that! There's so few gyms in this area, actually there isn't one in this town. I drive to the next town over which is about 20 miles each way.
Other options could be go to the gym when it is less busy/ learn to ignore the staring (this would be hard for me)/ or buy a set of free weights to use at home and just use the gym for rowing and other stuff.
The metabolic resistance training the Denny Crane is talking about REALLY works. My gym incorporates "metcons" into our workouts 4 days/week. They are really, really challenging but also a lot of fun. This has worked so well for me that my testimonial, including body measurements (embarassing), is on the front door of my gym.
The metcon portions of my workouts so far this week:
Mon: As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of: 30 Kettlebell Clean and Jerks, 30 V-Ups, Runs "suicides"
Tues: For Time: 20 Back Squats 5 Ring Dips 1 Rope Climb 15 Back Squats 10 Ring Dips 1 Rope Climb 10 Back Squats 15 Ring Dips 1 Rope Climb 5 Back Squats 20 Ring Dips 1 Rope Climb
Wed: Five rounds for time of: 400 meter run, Overhead squat 15 reps
Men at the gym are NOT staring at you like you have no business being there. They are staring at whatever happens to be in front of them, while they focus on whatever weight-lifting activity they happen to be doing. You are wallowing in your own drama and low self-esteem when you think a bunch of people in a room not only notice you, but also care about you and are actually judging you rather than doing the thing that led them to suit up and leave the house to begin with: working out.
You are not the sun, people are not drawn to look at you when you walk in the room. This is true regardless of what you look like. Nobody cares, so stop acting as though they do, and then you can do whatever you like in the gym.
Talk about drama.
Mtneer, what OngletNYC is trying to say is: Don't worry about what other people think. You paid your dues at the gym, just like anyone else; you have every right to use any piece of equipment there, just like anyone else. Do what you need and want to do at the gym, and to hell with people who stare at you. Screw 'em, and best of luck to you as you work toward your fitness goals.
Despite that I have an extremely broad frame and wide shoulders, my delts have always been lagging, hardly developed at all. If I ever managed to build real softball delts on top of my natural shoulder width I could look amazing.
Anyway, one thing happened a couple of years ago which really blew my mind. After years of various exercises and futile attempts to focus on my delts, one day I was moving concrete blocks -- the kinds with two and three rectangular holes in them.
I moved just over a thousand blocks, by myself, two at a time up off a stack, carried them up out of an open basement and then up onto a truck where I had to stack them, each stack/wall of blocks ending at one block over head level.
I was absolutely FRIED that night, exhausted beyond belief when I drove home (this lasted from early morning until nearly midnight). The next morning I had to UNLOAD the entire thing -- again, by myself. And once more I was fried afterward. For the next three days I could feel it in my shoulders -- but in a way I'd never, ever been AWARE of my shoulders before.
I haven't lifted weights in a few years now, but in the two years since that day with the concrete blocks I actually HAVE some actual shape and definition in my delts which was NEVER there before, EVER.
Try working with some small, small weights. Move them around until you become AWARE of what feels like your delts really reacting -- not just flexing and being able to feel it with your other hand but flexed in such a way you feel the muscle itself BY itself, the way you can feel your bicep IN your bicep when you flex it really hard.
Study the movements, try to replicate them. When you can replicate them successfully, then try them with increased weight. "Learn" the muscle, not just the motion. Once you get a feel for the muscle you should make progress -- but give a try to a day when you FRY the muscle, really well throughout the course of the day, followed by a real break for a few days.
One more thing. I swear to you I am probably right about this... 90% chance.
Men at the gym are NOT staring at you like you have no business being there. They are staring at whatever happens to be in front of them, while they focus on whatever weight-lifting activity they happen to be doing. You are wallowing in your own drama and low self-esteem when you think a bunch of people in a room not only notice you, but also care about you and are actually judging you rather than doing the thing that led them to suit up and leave the house to begin with: working out.
You are not the sun, people are not drawn to look at you when you walk in the room. This is true regardless of what you look like. Nobody cares, so stop acting as though they do, and then you can do whatever you like in the gym.
Two things... the guy staring at me was not even working out. He was standing in a group with two other guys who were talking. I was in another section of the floor where most people go to stretch and do light weights, balancing, etc and he wouldn't stop staring. And no I'm not attractive. I guess he just found a fat girl doing squats amusing or something. And people do compare at my gym. I've had others women ask how much I was lifting and then try to do it themselves, had men make comments like you probably can't lift that much and then I notice its not uncommon for men to change the weight after they get up and leave the machine as if to make it look like they lifted more to the next person. So yeah people compare themselves to one another.
I've had a lot of funny experiences at this gym. One odd encounter was this woman that approached me in the locker room and said I looked like her deceased daughter. Which is odd because we are not even ethnically the same so I don't see how I could look like her daughter. But the woman seems to be pained by seeing me. We ended up working out at in the same section one day and I noticed she kept looking at me then rushed out. So I feel awkward like I make her uncomfortable.
And I'm not wallowing in anything when I say women get the stare down for going into the free weights section. Some of the other women have told me they feel the same way as if the men think the free weights and Hammer Strengths are *only* for them.
Mtneer, what OngletNYC is trying to say is: Don't worry about what other people think. You paid your dues at the gym, just like anyone else; you have every right to use any piece of equipment there, just like anyone else. Do what you need and want to do at the gym, and to hell with people who stare at you. Screw 'em, and best of luck to you as you work toward your fitness goals.
No, that's not what I was trying to say at all. I said what I meant, and I meant what I said. Said harshly? Perhaps. But I meant it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mtneer
Two things... the guy staring at me was not even working out. He was standing in a group with two other guys who were talking. I was in another section of the floor where most people go to stretch and do light weights, balancing, etc and he wouldn't stop staring. And no I'm not attractive. I guess he just found a fat girl doing squats amusing or something. And people do compare at my gym. I've had others women ask how much I was lifting and then try to do it themselves, had men make comments like you probably can't lift that much and then I notice its not uncommon for men to change the weight after they get up and leave the machine as if to make it look like they lifted more to the next person. So yeah people compare themselves to one another.
I've had a lot of funny experiences at this gym. One odd encounter was this woman that approached me in the locker room and said I looked like her deceased daughter. Which is odd because we are not even ethnically the same so I don't see how I could look like her daughter. But the woman seems to be pained by seeing me. We ended up working out at in the same section one day and I noticed she kept looking at me then rushed out. So I feel awkward like I make her uncomfortable.
And I'm not wallowing in anything when I say women get the stare down for going into the free weights section. Some of the other women have told me they feel the same way as if the men think the free weights and Hammer Strengths are *only* for them.
Sorry, I don't buy this. I think you and other women are assuming you are getting stared down for being out of place when in fact nobody cares. Not only have I been working with free weights for years, but I've also done it regularly in gyms in almost every major city in this country. (My job entails a lot of travel.) You have a self-defeating attitude and trust me it is holding you back.
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Talk about drama.
Which is odd because we are not even ethnically the same so I don't see how I could look like her daughter. But the woman seems to be pained by seeing me. We ended up working out at in the same section one day and I noticed she kept looking at me then rushed out. So I feel awkward like I make her uncomfortable. 
