day off? - Exercise & Fitness Message Board

knitmeascarf · 09-24-2005, 10:23 AM

hello all

i am new to the forums and am hoping to get some answers to all my burning questions

i am an 18 year old female who is 5'9 and 137 pounds. i have lots of muscle mass in my legs but i have skinny arms, a chubby belly, no butt whatsoever, and a bony chest. i look rather odd. what exercises should i do to..

A. build muscle in my arms and chest?
B. reduce the size of my lower belly (i am genetically predetermined to have some fat there but i would be content if i could just reduce it a little)
C. build up some sort of butt?

i currently run at a moderate pace (8 minutes per mile) 7 days a week for at least 25 minutes. i feel lethargic today and i'm just wondering if it would be allright for me to skip a day and just relax? or should i still go out there and pound the pavement?

Sixbells99 · 09-24-2005, 10:37 AM

You could take two days off a week and it would have a beneficial effect. Your body needs to recover from exercise and it’s not advisable to train 7 days a week without at least one day rest. If you take two days off a week you’ll find that rather reducing your performance you’ll find your workouts easier and you’ll be able to run faster and feel much better after them.

The fact that you feel lethargic today and feel your body is telling you to take a day off, just shows that you need one. Always listen to your body, its rarely wrong.

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I suggest weight training to improve your upper body. Start with 2 sets and 12 reps you should be able to find a good basic good I suggest something like workouts that work as a great beginner book. However the correct rest periods are vitally important with weight training and I would suggest no more than 3 days a week. Also if you are going to do you’re running on the same day as your weights, do your weight training before your running and give your body two days off a week. If you can’t bare the thought of two days one day is an absolute month to ensure your body recovers and to reduce the risk of overtraining.

k8ty · 09-24-2005, 10:40 AM

Do you work out at a gym? There it's pretty easy to see which machines work which part of your body and you can tell when you've hit all the muscles. If you're not at a gym, do pushups, pullups if you can, biscept curls, tricept extensions...for all these just grab some cans of soup or dumbells or just use your body weight. Do a search on the internet for something like "upper body workout demo" or something and you will find a much more extensive explenation, and often photos, of stuff you can do w/wo weights.

For the lower belly, all you can do is reduce your bf % which will come naturally with you lifting weights and following a healthy diet--a healthy diet <I>has fat in it</I> don't be scared of fat. Don't gorge on french fries, but don't eliminate good fats in olives, avacadoes, nuts, and eggs.

For the butt, that's a lower body workout and again you will be building muscle, but the same weight of muscle takes up a smaller volume than the same weight of fat. And because most women cannot "bulk up" without taking steroids, you will likely not get much of a butt.

As for the day off.....<b>please take one!!!</b> you are not truly burning calories/building muscle during your workout, but during your rest period. Give yourself that rest period.

knitmeascarf · 09-24-2005, 06:08 PM

i despise gyms so i prefer to just go outside and run in the fresh air. (i go to school in the pine woods of east texas so it's gorgeous) i find that the endorphin rush i get after working out outdoors is much higher as opposed to indoors.

as for my lower belly, i might just have to live with it as my body fat is pretty low (21%) and i eat a very healthy, balanced diet. (yes, i do cheat every so often. it's nearly impossible not to when you're in college lol)

that really stinks about not being able to make my butt look better. ah well...God gave it to me, so i need to accept it.

thank you for your advice

i relaxed today and it was lovely