[L_man]

(Original post by NB_ide)
What has given you this attitude towards things? I used to think the same way, you see, until I got involved in more and more sports and other pursuits and saw the same pattern emerging.



I believe this to a certain extent, but also that there are essentially cut-off ages after which our plasticity is so greatly reduced that not much new base ability can be developed, only superficial memorisation learning.



Of course, but there are several different directions and dimensions that statement can take.



I don't find that sort of thing to be motivational of meaningful. I know a lot of people do, though. It sends a lot of people to their doom but a chosen few actually make it. If we think that human "progress" as we see it today is a good thing then so are hollow, meaningless motivational forces that help the able minority (in a given field) find themselves.

I see training/practice to work on the group level, rather than the individual level. Much more than improving any given individual in the group, it selects the best individuals from that group and lets the others fall away, hopefully to find success elsewhere. Or often not.

Its partly personal experience has lead me to believe that you largely control what you achieve. In addition, I just can't see any good reason as to why anyone cannot achieve their goals with some application. If we've failed at any goal in life I think an important question to ask ourselves is "how much effort did I really put in?" if we can point to ways in which our strategies could have been greatly improved then we didn't do enough. Also, even if we did give it our all, if our goals are sufficiently ambitious, we won't always succeed but as the saying goes "if at first you do not succeed.."

Can I ask for more information about the experiences that you alluded to earlier?

I think that its often the case that superficial rote memorisation is enough for us to achieve our goals as sadly (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) it will probably be more than what the bulk of the competition are doing anyway!

Look at it this way, if you choose to believe what I'm saying and it turns out to be true then it may open up a whole new realm of possibility for you..a realm in which you can achieve your dreams. If it's not true then you'll still make some improvements and edge nearer towards your goals.

I'd say go for it. What do you have to lose?

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by emdo)
You look fantastic!

Edit: any advice for a newbie to weight lifting? I do some cardio during the week (I go for runs) and at the gym I use the weight machines, i guess they are call the assisted ones? Sorry don't know what they are called! *embarassed*

My best advice is two things.

1) Focus on doing the following lifts in the gym bench press, deadlift, squats, dips and chin ups/pull ups. This way you are guaranteed that all the muscles in your body is being worked out.
2) Check out videos on youtube or bodybuilding.com on how to lift and the right technique so that when you go to the gym you know what you are doing

(Original post by GdotL)
As in, say at the moment I have a a chubby/soft stomach plus a wide waist. If I wanted a narrower waist but still wanted a soft stomach (as in one you could grab a good chunk of! - nowhere near the flat stomachs those girls have!), would lifting at all be unnecessary? I just don't think the toned look is desirable and want a decent amount of bodyfat, like 25% minimum. Just trying to clarify!
Medium weights would entail not pushing your body to the maximum then, right? Thanks a lot for this! x

In order to get a smaller waist your main focus should be to lose weight all over. Best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat with a combination of cardio (however diet comes first). You may not need to lift in order to achieve your goal.

[Becca]

(Original post by Chrisateen)

Hi Christateen,
Great thread, I think you're really inspiring! Would it be ok to link your thread in the sticky and the Barbelles Soc 1st posts?

[NB_ide]

(Original post by L_man)
Look at it this way, if you choose to believe what I'm saying and it turns out to be true then it may open up a whole new realm of possibility for you..a realm in which you can achieve your dreams. If it's not true then you'll still make some improvements and edge nearer towards your goals.

I'd say go for it. What do you have to lose?

No one can choose what to believe just like that. Unfortunately, you being all motivational on TSR does very little to counterbalance the hulking weight of my existing ideas on this broad subject which have been built up over the course of my life so far.

It's something that people write books about, not single posts, so I cba to go into it in great depth but it's worth noting that mine is not to be seen as a negative or discouraging sort of idea. Instead, it's telling people not to waste their time, to stop banging their heads against a wall that is never going to move for them, and just walk around it and find a different path. Recognising why we "can't" do something, or find it 1000x times more difficult than someone else, is important and if it can be changed, great - if not, fine. Doesn't matter, just do something else. It takes a lot of guts to resist the relentless marketing machine trying to keep you wearing yourself away at futile pursuits, though. With regards to "bodybuilding" and related things, no one gave a **** until the last few decades. It's a modern phenomenon and the product of subtle brainwashing from an early age about what things are important. A lot of people still don't care today, and they're better off for it.

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by Becca)
Hi Christateen,
Great thread, I think you're really inspiring! Would it be ok to link your thread in the sticky and the Barbelles Soc 1st posts?

Yes that's fine but I am going to remove my pictures when the thread quite down though

[Dark Horse]

(Original post by NB_ide)
No one can choose what to believe just like that. Unfortunately, you being all motivational on TSR does very little to counterbalance the hulking weight of my existing ideas on this broad subject which have been built up over the course of my life so far.

It's something that people write books about, not single posts, so I cba to go into it in great depth but it's worth noting that mine is not to be seen as a negative or discouraging sort of idea. Instead, it's telling people not to waste their time, to stop banging their heads against a wall that is never going to move for them, and just walk around it and find a different path. Recognising why we "can't" do something, or find it 1000x times more difficult than someone else, is important and if it can be changed, great - if not, fine. Doesn't matter, just do something else. It takes a lot of guts to resist the relentless marketing machine trying to keep you wearing yourself away at futile pursuits, though. With regards to "bodybuilding" and related things, no one gave a **** until the last few decades. It's a modern phenomenon and the product of subtle brainwashing from an early age about what things are important. A lot of people still don't care today, and they're better off for it.

You just come across as someone who went into it with unrealistic expectations.

That's the thing. If someone goes into this expecting to look like one of those fitness models on magazine covers or to gain 30lbs+ of muscle in a year then they're just being ridiculous. Or rather, they're being sucked in by all the marketing. You just don't gain that much muscle as a natural.

[Old School]

(Original post by Dark Horse)
You just come across as someone who went into it with unrealistic expectations.

That's the thing. If someone goes into this expecting to look like one of those fitness models on magazine covers or to gain 30lbs+ of muscle in a year then they're just being ridiculous. Or rather, they're being sucked in by all the marketing. You just don't gain that much muscle as a natural.

Agree in principal but you can gain a **** load of muscle as a natural so long as you're prepared to get a little... chunky. This is why most people fail. They become so attached to their starvation packs that their ego won't let them get a little fat for 1-2 years and hence their appearance never really changes.

[josht36]

I saw a woman in the free weights area of my gym for the first time ever yesterday. Squatting 60kg with immaculate form and then doing some cleans. It wasn't that impressive a weight but I can say for sure that she had a far better bum/legs than anyone I have seen on the treadmill since joining the gym.

[JH-QC]

(Original post by Chrisateen)
x

Congrats on the transformation! Just wondering what you would class as medium weights/ heavy weights for the exercises you mentioned?
When I go to the gym I do various arm free-weight stuff, lunges, and squats with ~30kg but I'll probably raise that once I start going again.

Also, (at the risk of sounding stupid) what's a deadlift?

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by JH-QC)
Congrats on the transformation! Just wondering what you would class as medium weights/ heavy weights for the exercises you mentioned?
When I go to the gym I do various arm free-weight stuff, lunges, and squats with ~30kg but I'll probably raise that once I start going again.

Also, (at the risk of sounding stupid) what's a deadlift?

Lifting heavy is doing between 5 - 10 reps, 3 - 5 sets and on the last reps you really start to feel it (almost as if you are struggling to lift anymore)

Lifting medium would be between 12-15 reps 3-5 sets and you start to feel it on the last 2 reps

Deadlift

[goussberry]

(Original post by EonBlueApocalypse)
I wish more women weren't so ignorant about this. I'm sick of skinnyfat girls who think spending hours on the cross trainer makes them look good. Do some squats and deadlifts!

I'm sick of men assuming that all girls don't lift!! I'm a girl, and I do.. I spend some time on the cross-trainer just to warm up (5mins) then spend the next 40 mins doing weighted squats & lunges, lat pull down, tricep pull downs, push ups, sit ups on a bosu ball, weighted russian twist, trx training, dumbells...

[EonBlueApocalypse]

(Original post by goussberry)
I'm sick of men assuming that all girls don't lift!! I'm a girl, and I do.. I spend some time on the cross-trainer just to warm up (5mins) then spend the next 40 mins doing weighted squats & lunges, lat pull down, tricep pull downs, push ups, sit ups on a bosu ball, weighted russian twist, trx training, dumbells...

I understand your anger but my post didn't say all women don't lift, I said I wish more (I actually mean the majority I suppose) did. It's impossible to deny that the majority of women don't lift weights, but good for you for doing so, I wish there was a million more like you.

[goussberry]

(Original post by EonBlueApocalypse)
I understand your anger but my post didn't say all women don't lift, I said I wish more (I actually mean the majority I suppose) did. It's impossible to deny that the majority of women don't lift weights, but good for you for doing so, I wish there was a million more like you.

Fair enough then no I agree, I see a lot of the "skinny fat" women on the treadmill too and would recommend then some weight training - I'm not making out I'm some goddess in a bikini, I have some improvements to make too ofc but yeah...

PS: wasn't angry, sorry for the confusion, was simply recasting your words for effect

[EonBlueApocalypse]

(Original post by goussberry)
Fair enough then no I agree, I see a lot of the "skinny fat" women on the treadmill too and would recommend then some weight training - I'm not making out I'm some goddess in a bikini, I have some improvements to make too ofc but yeah...

PS: wasn't angry, sorry for the confusion, was simply recasting your words for effect

I'd say that the fact you lift weights (compounds: squats, lunges, deadlifts etc) guarantees you have a better physique by default to cardio only women.

[Michael XYZ]

**** well done.

[goussberry]

(Original post by EonBlueApocalypse)
I'd say that the fact you lift weights (compounds: squats, lunges, deadlifts etc) guarantees you have a better physique by default to cardio only women.

Yeah I suppose you'd be right if you took me and another women of my height and weight who only did cardio. And hopefully when I lose a bit of my padding then I'll have an even better physique:P sometimes tho, very difficult to not wonder "Why do I do this to myself?!?" the next day after being to the gym lol

[21stcenturyphantom]

(Original post by Chrisateen)
OK So my personal experience.

Well as you know I went from this

Pics DELETED

to this

Pics DELETED

Please note though that this is how I look when I am flexing my muscles. I also look like this because my bodyfat percentage is very very low. I also look bigger than I actually am when I flex but in actual fact even though I am 5ft 10 and 10st 10lbs I wear a size 6 on top and a size 10 on bottom.

When I am not flexing and in normal clothes I look more like this
Pics DELETED

So feel free to discuss what I have posted and I hope that more women on here jump on the lifting heavy bandwagon

Why have you deleted the pictures?

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by 21stcenturyphantom)
Why have you deleted the pictures?

Sorry I didn't reply sooner I've been busy with exams. I don't want to leave my photos on the net for too long hence why I deleted it.

I have posted pictures on my profile so that you can have a look at my progress pics which I will delete tomorrow evening.

[21stcenturyphantom]

(Original post by Chrisateen)
Sorry I didn't reply sooner I've been busy with exams. I don't want to leave my photos on the net for too long hence why I deleted it.

I have posted pictures on my profile so that you can have a look at my progress pics which I will delete tomorrow evening.

I just viewed them, amazing! A good example of what you can achieve with discipline and hard work. I bet you feel much happier with your new and more athletic body! How long has it taken you to achieve this and what sort of diet were you following?

[Chrisateen]

(Original post by 21stcenturyphantom)
I just viewed them, amazing! A good example of what you can achieve with discipline and hard work. I bet you feel much happier with your new and more athletic body! How long has it taken you to achieve this and what sort of diet were you following?

I took me exactly a year to lose 7st 7lbs then I didn't lose till Jan and since Jan I have lost 5lbs (I'm stuck trying to lose a few more pounds of bodyfat before going on a bulk to gain a bit of muscle). In order to lose the weight I count calories and recently been trying to eat a decent amount of protein in my diet as well. Yes I feel tons better and wished I lost the weight much earlier