Monday Facetime: your questions answered (video post).

by

This one is all about you.

Three of your questions and ones which I think we’ve all had at one point or another.

Hanlie asks:

How do I determine which weights are right for me?  I realize that anything too light will not produce results, but I don’t want to hurt myself either.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7O3AQyZ9hg

RickyRae asks:

I guess it is my way to avoid struggling to improve the area I know I will have the most difficult time with. How do you overcome this and work your weak points?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOWNc0qsXSA

Diana, Amanda, and Meredith asked:

Some of us are still trying to shake off the mind set of all or nothing…that you need to work out like a mad woman to be healthy. How did you realize that you needed rest? How do you make yourself do it?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5trJknHa8

So there you go.

My thoughts on three common questions & struggles and now it’s your turn.

How do you make yourself train your weak points even though it’s far more fun to train other stronger areas?

How do you know when you’re lifting weights which are too light? too heavy? any tips for evaluating the difference?

How do YOU take rest days sans-guilt and, should you not be there yet, how do you plan to start s-l-o-w-l-y implementing days of rest into your workout routine?

please to hit us all up in the comments.

Have a question you want answered?

An entire genre of fitness or healthy living youve been missing up in herre?

please to hit me up in the comments with that as well.

UPDATE: Looks like Ill be doing Dr.Rus’ radio show again.

Tomorrow.

Live streaming @ 840EST (& will also be recorded/available later should you have a burning desire to hear me stammer & miss it live).

To listen:

Go to: http://www.network1sports.com/stations/wack.asp

Once on the page, click LIVE TALK button.

What are we discussing? Your guess is as good as mine…but it’ll be my-running, movies, cold weather workout SOMETHINGS related.

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Comments

  1. Hilarious.
    I, too, remember that Arnold story with the sweat pants.

    I should cut the backs out of all my shirts.

    Fun videos, Miz.

  2. Can we call in and ask you questions?

    I would love to learn how you do goal setting and how you keep yourself accountable.

  4. I can totally relate to your explanation in question #3. Its so easy to get sucked into exercise and feel like you need to do it hard core all the time! In fact, you’ve inspired me to do a lighter workout tonight 🙂

    In terms of working the exercises I need to work, even though I may not enjoy them as much…I try to focus on how much happier good results in those areas will make me vs. just continuing to improve the areas I’m already happy with.

  5. It’s hard for me to get motivated to work my weak points so I always pair that with something I’m really good at!

    That way I work what I need to & still get a boost!

  8. Fab post… full of info as always! I have a question about knees and knee care. I don’t have knee pain as such but I do find both knees are sore/achey when I stand up after I have being sitting for a while and I’m quite aware of them when doing squats. It’s nothing unbearable but I wonder what I can do to help them more or should I be avoiding any stress on them? Walking, cycling and even light jogging (though I don’t do it often) cause no problems.

    One knee makes a gruesome crunching noise when I bend it if my full weight is on it. I’ve had it x-rayed but nothing has shown up.

  9. I look forward to Mondays and seeing your smiling face.

    I have goal questions too:

    Do you still write them?

    Or are you in a place where you no longer need to?

    If you do use them what form do they take?

    Thanks for all you do.

  10. Number 3 is definitely one that hit home for me. I don’t like to back off, and that reminds me that sometimes I need to so that I can improve.

    Crazylady’s question about knees? That would be one I’d be interested in too!

  11. Loved being able to watch you answer these questions fully! First, on the weights thing, I like to do 8-12 reps too. I used to force myself to squeeze out all 12 reps, all three sets, but now I’m going lower each time like you mentioned. I noticed my form was suffering, and I was getting beyond sore after my sessions. Now I go until it feels difficult, then squeeze out two more reps 🙂

    As for rest, I just listen to my body on that one. Some weeks I can do 6 straight days of exercise and feel awesome. Others I’m hurting after two days of workouts. And I agree on the eating thing too! I used to lower my calories on rest days, but we need all that wonderful food to help us recover!

  12. With regards to #3, I walk about 4.25 miles 5 times a week. So far, so good. I enjoy it and sort of meditate as I go. The level of intensity is low enough that I don’t feel I need a break. It’s sustainable. However, I do worry that as my weight goes down I’ll need to up my intensity. I guess I’ll have to become one of those crazy race walker types, swingin’ my arms and shakin’ my booty.

  13. I still struggle with doing less even though I know in my head I need a rest.

    I’m working to realize I deserve food even when I haven’t exercised.

    Thanks for the videos.

  14. my morning workout? BOWING IN AWE at all the full time single mamas.

    one kid.
    husband returns today.
    I exhausted.

    & filled with admiration (and this from a woman who already THOUGHT she admired :)).

  15. It’s just so confusing…how much every day, how much per week, weights and cardio, etc. I think it’s easy to get lost. Thanks for the help 🙂

  16. Great post!!! I need to get some after workout sleep but I just wanted to chime in quickly on working weak points. Like you, my legs grew much faster than my arms.. my back grew too! Always the areas women don’t want to grow so fast. 🙂 But for bodybuilding, the leg & back growing was good!

    Anyway, once I had a few months of weight training under me & a base per se, I started prioritizing my workouts on training my weakest body parts first & strongest last. Meaning the one that grew too fast, well, I did not need as much work & those weaker ones needed more work so I trained them at my strongest, at the beginning of a workout. Sometimes these parts changed over time but I still do this to this day. I evaluate & re-evaluate & whichever body part needs the most work gets trained first. I don’t go by the rules of back/biceps or chest/triceps or bis/tris/shoulders. I put together a program based on my needs at that time & it changes over time as well maybe with which part gets trained first or just maybe how much weight or how many reps or many other factors.

    Be back later for the rest!

  17. Great Q & A. The second q cracked me up – that is why I never work my calves. Except I’m okay with that, lol! I still do my shoulders though and I don’t much like that either. My goal today is to internalize everything you said about less-is-more. Pregnancy is teaching me some of that but not as much as I need.

    Congrats on the radio show!

  18. My friend has me using a barbell for the first time ever. He had me lifting heavy enough weights that I could only do 5 reps per set (we did 3 sets total). It was a HARD workout and a couple days later I’m still kinda sore (ummmm I was neglecting strength training for a REALLY LONG TIME). Love that muscle soreness.

    And funny- he could lift all these weights but as soon as we went to core work, I could do crunches and side planks in circles around him. We all have our strong and weak points! So it’s good that he’ll be helping me with my weak part and I’ll be helping him with his.

    The stairmaster story scares me. We always need a good balance!

    Congrats about the radio!!

  19. I follow a workout plan and do those exercises I don’t like for my ‘problem’ areas, because I know I need to do them. Not always fun, but I tell myself the sooner I do those, the sooner I can get to ones I do like!

    Lifting weights without a trainer telling you how much to lift can be hard (not that they are always right, mind you). I judge on whether or not I can do several reps. If so, I can keep going. I do not believe in going to failure, but I think you should feel as if you really can’t complete another set to get full benefit.

    How much to lift also depends on the goal. If you are going for pure strength, you can lift heavier for less reps. Endurance is lower weight and more reps. I believe the key is to not be afraid to challenge yourself.

    Rest days…… this is a struggle for me. I just truly love being active now, and find days off to be hard. I cross train, so I can do active recovery with a slow bike ride after a hard day of running or lifting and feel okay. I do try to take at least 1 day where walking is the max, but it really is hard to do. The only thing that ever makes me really rest is when I have a scheduled event like a race, as I take the rest days extra seriously 😀

  20. For me, it’s mostly a matter of balance. If I start to feel run down or tired, it’s an obvious sign I’m overtraining. Beyond that, I try to make sure that I don’t spend more than an hour a day doing scheduled physical activity.

    It’s more about active rest days (walking, light yoga sessions) than sitting on my couch days.

  22. What you said made a lot of sense to me (I know you were kind of kidding with the whole Arnold thing) as I tend to cover up my weak areas when I work out.

    I do think seeing them would MOTIVATE me!

  25. Great videos, Miz! Rest days? Its always easy for me to take a rest day…but here is my problem. I work 12+ hour shifts 2-3 days per week, so the only exercise possible those days is the walk in and out of the parking lot, as well as stairs and extra around the unit (average 4 miles per day.) So on the 3-4 days I am off work, I really want to get a good work out in on those days. Is that enough of a rest day on the days I work?

    My arms are weaker than my legs. But what I can do around the house with stronger arms is VERY motivating to me–stacking firewood, raking endless leaves, lifting heavy grocery sacks and 50 pound feed sacks, etc.

  26. I always bulk up so fast – how do I keep myself lean? I use light weights and more reps but the bulk still appears… very frusterating

  27. Good reminder on the weight lifting to keep your form good – on the bicep curls, I do tend to “swing” them to get my last few in…’cause by god, I’m gonna finish a set, lol!

    And the problem areas? Yes, it can be a struggle to work them because they are so much harder, but the payoff will come…although I would never wear a cropped top to expose my problem area (belly) – some areas are easier to expose than others!

    Rest – not a problem for me – in fact, I need to step up my home workouts. What can I say…I’m still a lazy bum!

    Great post!

  28. Thanks for the weights tips. I’m never sure how much is too much…it’s so eaasy to overdo it and be really sore…

    I’m struggling at the easing back into workouts thing. It’s hard. I jsut want to hop in and do what I did before.
    Deep breaths and bit bit bit…and now I know how to slowly bring th ewights back. Thanks 🙂

  31. I took a weight training class, and we were told that we should be able to do 8-12 reps, with our muscles feeling really tired (needing an extra push) on the last rep or 2 – and that’s how we know if it’s a good weight for us. If you can do 8-12 reps easily the whole time, it’s too light!

  32. Thanks, Miz! Great post today, and all three q&a’s are so relevant for where I’m at right now. I think the eat-clean-on-your-rest-days reminder was especially good, because weekends are my rest days, and I tend to be somewhat lax in the nutrition department those days, too. TGIM. 🙂

  33. Back again. I want to first day “go get them on the radio show tomorrow!” How very exciting! I will have to listen to the replay.

    As for your video on rest. We are a lot alike. I learned later on that rest is important. Like you, I worked out 7 days & did not get enough rest days. Now, I do work out more time than you BUT I do listen to my bod & change as need be. And like you, I love the weights! I have to control myself from doing too much cause I want to just keep doing them!

    I also learned to eat good on off days too but I adjust calories & maybe the protein/crab make-up but not necessarily the fat because I think having 20-30% healthy fat as my overall daily calories is important for me for health & feeling better.

    Again, great post!

    Oh on weights, I have been at this so lone that I can feel what is too light or too heavy based on what my goals are for that point in time. People need to be consistent in their workouts so they understand their body. That is how you learn what your bod can & can’t handle & your mind pushed thru areas that you want to say no to but you can actually do!

  34. Because of repetitive stress injuries, my upper body, especially the arms are weaker than they normally would be. One way I worked on this was yoga. Another way was I devised my own routine that give equal or probably higher billing to arms. I do want a set of guns. So, that’s motivation #1. I also need to carry around 50 lb. telescopes every weekend, so that’s another motivation. I can do it now. 😀

    Once I can do both sets fully with good form, I know I’m ready to increase weight. My legs go up faster than my arms still. The nerves in my arms will scream if the weight is too high. So, that’s how I know that one.

    I do take days off. I used to work out 4x a week. Lately, it’s been 3x. This weekend is the last at the observatory, so I will be going back to 4x shortly. If I pushed myself to do more, I’d quit. I do what works for me. Maybe it takes me longer to get there, but I still get there. And, I think my body has learned to trust me by taking a smarter and very consistent approach to it all. I’ve been at this 3 1/2 years, so it’s obviously working for me. I’ve never stuck beyond 6 months before this. So, yaaay.

  35. I schedule my workouts like you would a non-negotiable to do list for the week, and once they’re checked off, I’m done. For example, this week, I’m going to do 30 mins cardio x 4, 2 full body strength sessions, and one bike adventure over the weekend. I fully plan to take two full days off this week. I need rest days where I do nothing or I feel overextended and weak. Even training for my half I had at LEAST one day off per week, and usually 2.

  36. When I first started exercising regularly, I was a little fearful of skipping Rest Day, afraid that one missed day would lead to two, which would lead to three, and so on. Since I had sooo much to learn about healthy living, I decided to spend the Rest Day Exercise Hour exercising my brain by reading about fitness and nutrition.

    Two years later, I don’t have any problem taking a rest day. I welcome them! 🙂

  37. I like rest so much that it’s not a problem for me to take rest days 😀

    As for whether I’m lifting weights that are too heavy or too light, my thing is if I can’t complete my minimum amount of reps on a certain weight with good form, it’s too heavy. If I can complete my maximum amount of reps on a certain weight, it’s time to bump it up.

    Training weak areas, that sucks 😀 But it’s like you said, you need to find a reason to train them, to want to train them.

  38. Ah, rest days. That is something I struggled with for a bit. I think our bodies need rest, so I have started saying that I will not exercise on Sunday. That is the time I give my body to rest.

  40. Thank you for this post. I tend to not like to rest and want to ride my bike everyday. Of course, that’s what is easiest 🙂 Working my arms with weights, a whole other thing.

    After hearing your experience with working out too much and actually losing muscle and making your metabolism slow down, I’m going to try and create a better balance.

    Thanks, Carla, for such great information.

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