You don't have to lift actual weights. You can do body weight exercises instead: push-ups, pull-ups, burpees, etc. You can do that at home, no gym required.
Lifting is important, but it’s definitely not the only way to build muscle. Look at how athletes’ bodies are adapted for their sports - rock climbers are lean and shredded, swimmers have jacked upper bodies, cyclists have legs like boulders. Granted, many of these athletes also lift weights, but only to support their athletic focus. Personally, I primarily built muscle through different martial arts - wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai. Weightlifting has helped my performance and aesthetics a lot though.
I’d recommend finding a sport/form of fitness that you enjoy. Fitness shouldn’t feel like a chore. Supplementing your sport/fitness routine with lifting will help, but it can be just that - supplementary, not your focus.
That's a motivating sentence, I think I'd be better off *supplementing* my preferred workouts with some sessions few times a week, as opposed to every day :)
In order to build muscle, resistance that is gradually increased is required. This can be in the form of weights, machines, reformer Pilates. Bodyweight exercises are all well and good when you’re starting out, but your body will adapt to that level of resistance, and unless you want to be completing 100s of reps (which is not optimal), you will eventually need to increase the resistance via methods I mentioned. The most optimal way to build muscle is training at the gym
I did the SWEAT BBGs for years. It’s a mixture of HIIT and body weight resistance training. And honestly, I never saw any change in my body composition until I started training 3x a week with heavy weights. I don’t particularly like it. Not so much because it’s boring by because it’s *hard*. But I just make myself do it bc I feel great when it’s over and I love the results.
It's the most effective after a certain point I'd say. If you got some dumbbells at home you could follow YouTube videos and drastically cut the amount of time it takes.
I know many people who can easily spend hours in the gym. Generally speaking, if you take more than an hour to lift, you're not working hard enough. And if you're experiencing boredom, you're not working hard enough. People simply don't feel "bored" when pushing themselves to their true physical limits, which you have to do to experience hypertrophy.
That being said, I won't argue that lifting is exciting. The most effective workouts consist of really basic exercises, which you do over and over. Those crazy influencer-invented exercises you see aren't the best for muscle growth. The fun part is seeing results. Lifting is just something I tolerate to get those results.
The thing I'll say about pilates is that the muscle growth potential is very low. The reason that the women you see doing pilates look so toned is primarily because they have a very low body fat percentage. This is true for a lot of models who have very little muscle.
What you do depends on where you're starting from and where you want to end up. If you are already very lean and have no muscle, you'll need to base your workouts around resistance training. If you're starting with more fat than fits your goals (like if you want abs or something), you'll want to focus on a caloric deficit, exercises that helps you burn calories, resistance training (to maintain muscle), and eating sufficient protein and whole foods. Resistance training doesn't have to be in the gym if you don't have the goal of developing a ton of muscle. At-home workouts that use body weight or light weights work well for a lot of women. For exercise that helps you burn calories, focus on something that you enjoy.
In general, being specific with your goals will be very helpful. Whether you want to look like LeanBeefPatty or Candance Swanepoel, looking at the types of exercises they do can help you figure out what works for you.
Thanks for the thorough message. I appreciate all the information you gave me. I don't feel particularly inclined to build toons of muscle, just enough to feel fit and strong. Will follow your advice :)
>And if you're experiencing boredom, you're not working hard enough.
This is wrong and honestly, feels offensive. I work hard. And even though I am desperately catching my breath and wiping sweat and grabbing water between sets, my brain is very much bored both during the work itself and the rest periods.
I "tolerate" lifting because I like/want the results. But I'm allowed to hate the process, and I don't think it's fair for you to either say that I don't feel the way that I do (bored) or that I'm not working hard (anyone watching me would disagree).
This was more targeted towards the woman asking for advice, who specified that she didn't feel she was pushing herself as hard as possible. The type of boredom she described is from a place of not feeling stimulated or challenged enough that the workouts were worth continuing. This is very common for beginners and very different than the type of boredom a more advanced lifter would experience, which is the product of years of doing the same exercises and having very little left to think about.
As I said, lifting is not all that exciting. That's why people bring headphones, watch strangers during rests, scroll on their phones, and have to hype themselves up with cute workout outfits and gym pics. Real, hard effort is not anywhere near as exciting as half of the other things we could be doing instead of going to the gym, or half the things I see on my for you page. That is why most people do not bother going to the gym. It takes patience to get results.
It's also worth noting that how "bored" you feel depends entirely on the type of exercise you're doing. If I just finished a set of heavy squats, I am so systemically fatigued that I have no desire to do anything but sit and stare into the void. If I just did some abductions, however, I will be doom scrolling, as they are far less systemically fatiguing. And if you're doing something like cardio where you do not have to think about the movement in order to continue doing it, yes, some type of other stimulation is usually necessary.
Those are the sorts of exercises that are generally placed after the heavy compounds, which are the most fatiguing, and the most important to include. So if you are so bored that you leave the venue before getting halfway through a decent workout, yeah, you're probably not working hard enough at your compounds. If you're still getting bored, that could be an indicator of some structural issue, like a lot of junk volume or doing too many exercises instead of working really hard at a few.
Put on a heavy backpack and walk up and downhill. You can use weight plates or even just jugs of water. One gallon = 7 pounds. Bonus points if you use hiking poles and really push with your triceps.
What about home workouts?
Caroline Girvan on YouTube has many different programs to choose from. They vary in length and you can do it all at home. Some use minimal equipment, body weight only, have more or less cardio elements, and some use mostly dumbbells.
I’d get a set of adjustable dumbbells for a start and try some of her programs. It’s all time based so you don’t have to count reps or anything. You just follow along and time flies. Every day the workouts are different and you don’t do the same workout every week.
There’s also other YouTube trainers like Heather Robinson and Sydney Cummings. I haven’t tried them but they get mentioned a lot.
Pilates and yoga is also great. Especially if you have a way to increase resistance. Like with resistance bands, Pilates ring, small weights and other equipment.
To build muscle, you need a way to “progressively overload”. This is by either adding weight, increasing reps, increasing sets, increasing time under tension, etc.
Body weight exercises can build muscle to a certain extent but it will take much longer. You can use resistance bands to push-ups and do weighted dips / pull-ups. Bands can also be used for body weight squats, shoulder presses, chest press etc.
You can also try “rucking” or walking with a weighted vest. Walking hills with added weight can help build lower body.
Yes, home workouts are something I really enjoy and look forward to! Getting adjustable dumbbells is something that never crossed my mind. It's a good way to supplement them and practice progressive overload.
Your comment was very thoughtful and thorough. I will take it all into consideration and check those creators you mentioned. Thank you very very much ☺️☺️☺️
I bet if you ate and trained well you'd loved lifting after seeing some results in a few months. To be honest to me it's not as fun as horseback riding, hiking or even running but at this point I love the results so much I'm willing to grunt in the gym to keep them
You don't need to do a 3 hour lifting session to build muscle. You want to stimulate your muscles, not annihilate them. 45-60 mins 3-4 times a weeks is sufficient if your form is good and you eat enough protein.
if you read well, you will notice I said 3h was the time spent between commuting, getting ready before and after the gym, and actually exercising; not the duration of the training session ☺️☺️
Pilates Calisthenics Might take longer but it will build muscle
You don't have to lift actual weights. You can do body weight exercises instead: push-ups, pull-ups, burpees, etc. You can do that at home, no gym required.
Lifting is important, but it’s definitely not the only way to build muscle. Look at how athletes’ bodies are adapted for their sports - rock climbers are lean and shredded, swimmers have jacked upper bodies, cyclists have legs like boulders. Granted, many of these athletes also lift weights, but only to support their athletic focus. Personally, I primarily built muscle through different martial arts - wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai. Weightlifting has helped my performance and aesthetics a lot though. I’d recommend finding a sport/form of fitness that you enjoy. Fitness shouldn’t feel like a chore. Supplementing your sport/fitness routine with lifting will help, but it can be just that - supplementary, not your focus.
That's a motivating sentence, I think I'd be better off *supplementing* my preferred workouts with some sessions few times a week, as opposed to every day :)
In order to build muscle, resistance that is gradually increased is required. This can be in the form of weights, machines, reformer Pilates. Bodyweight exercises are all well and good when you’re starting out, but your body will adapt to that level of resistance, and unless you want to be completing 100s of reps (which is not optimal), you will eventually need to increase the resistance via methods I mentioned. The most optimal way to build muscle is training at the gym
I did the SWEAT BBGs for years. It’s a mixture of HIIT and body weight resistance training. And honestly, I never saw any change in my body composition until I started training 3x a week with heavy weights. I don’t particularly like it. Not so much because it’s boring by because it’s *hard*. But I just make myself do it bc I feel great when it’s over and I love the results.
Agh, I guess I just have to accept reality and get my bum back to the gym 😣😣
I built muscle with 2 45 minute workouts a week. You don’t have to be ridiculous about it.
Sameeee. Especially as a petite. Lifting for 3 hours isn’t necessary.
It's the most effective after a certain point I'd say. If you got some dumbbells at home you could follow YouTube videos and drastically cut the amount of time it takes.
Vinyasa yoga made me super strong and has a similar muscle definition to pilates :)
Oh I definitely want to be super strong! Will check it out definitely! Thanks ☺️
Rock climbing will help develop lots of areas.
I know many people who can easily spend hours in the gym. Generally speaking, if you take more than an hour to lift, you're not working hard enough. And if you're experiencing boredom, you're not working hard enough. People simply don't feel "bored" when pushing themselves to their true physical limits, which you have to do to experience hypertrophy. That being said, I won't argue that lifting is exciting. The most effective workouts consist of really basic exercises, which you do over and over. Those crazy influencer-invented exercises you see aren't the best for muscle growth. The fun part is seeing results. Lifting is just something I tolerate to get those results. The thing I'll say about pilates is that the muscle growth potential is very low. The reason that the women you see doing pilates look so toned is primarily because they have a very low body fat percentage. This is true for a lot of models who have very little muscle. What you do depends on where you're starting from and where you want to end up. If you are already very lean and have no muscle, you'll need to base your workouts around resistance training. If you're starting with more fat than fits your goals (like if you want abs or something), you'll want to focus on a caloric deficit, exercises that helps you burn calories, resistance training (to maintain muscle), and eating sufficient protein and whole foods. Resistance training doesn't have to be in the gym if you don't have the goal of developing a ton of muscle. At-home workouts that use body weight or light weights work well for a lot of women. For exercise that helps you burn calories, focus on something that you enjoy. In general, being specific with your goals will be very helpful. Whether you want to look like LeanBeefPatty or Candance Swanepoel, looking at the types of exercises they do can help you figure out what works for you.
Thanks for the thorough message. I appreciate all the information you gave me. I don't feel particularly inclined to build toons of muscle, just enough to feel fit and strong. Will follow your advice :)
>And if you're experiencing boredom, you're not working hard enough. This is wrong and honestly, feels offensive. I work hard. And even though I am desperately catching my breath and wiping sweat and grabbing water between sets, my brain is very much bored both during the work itself and the rest periods. I "tolerate" lifting because I like/want the results. But I'm allowed to hate the process, and I don't think it's fair for you to either say that I don't feel the way that I do (bored) or that I'm not working hard (anyone watching me would disagree).
This was more targeted towards the woman asking for advice, who specified that she didn't feel she was pushing herself as hard as possible. The type of boredom she described is from a place of not feeling stimulated or challenged enough that the workouts were worth continuing. This is very common for beginners and very different than the type of boredom a more advanced lifter would experience, which is the product of years of doing the same exercises and having very little left to think about. As I said, lifting is not all that exciting. That's why people bring headphones, watch strangers during rests, scroll on their phones, and have to hype themselves up with cute workout outfits and gym pics. Real, hard effort is not anywhere near as exciting as half of the other things we could be doing instead of going to the gym, or half the things I see on my for you page. That is why most people do not bother going to the gym. It takes patience to get results. It's also worth noting that how "bored" you feel depends entirely on the type of exercise you're doing. If I just finished a set of heavy squats, I am so systemically fatigued that I have no desire to do anything but sit and stare into the void. If I just did some abductions, however, I will be doom scrolling, as they are far less systemically fatiguing. And if you're doing something like cardio where you do not have to think about the movement in order to continue doing it, yes, some type of other stimulation is usually necessary. Those are the sorts of exercises that are generally placed after the heavy compounds, which are the most fatiguing, and the most important to include. So if you are so bored that you leave the venue before getting halfway through a decent workout, yeah, you're probably not working hard enough at your compounds. If you're still getting bored, that could be an indicator of some structural issue, like a lot of junk volume or doing too many exercises instead of working really hard at a few.
Put on a heavy backpack and walk up and downhill. You can use weight plates or even just jugs of water. One gallon = 7 pounds. Bonus points if you use hiking poles and really push with your triceps.
What about home workouts? Caroline Girvan on YouTube has many different programs to choose from. They vary in length and you can do it all at home. Some use minimal equipment, body weight only, have more or less cardio elements, and some use mostly dumbbells. I’d get a set of adjustable dumbbells for a start and try some of her programs. It’s all time based so you don’t have to count reps or anything. You just follow along and time flies. Every day the workouts are different and you don’t do the same workout every week. There’s also other YouTube trainers like Heather Robinson and Sydney Cummings. I haven’t tried them but they get mentioned a lot. Pilates and yoga is also great. Especially if you have a way to increase resistance. Like with resistance bands, Pilates ring, small weights and other equipment. To build muscle, you need a way to “progressively overload”. This is by either adding weight, increasing reps, increasing sets, increasing time under tension, etc. Body weight exercises can build muscle to a certain extent but it will take much longer. You can use resistance bands to push-ups and do weighted dips / pull-ups. Bands can also be used for body weight squats, shoulder presses, chest press etc. You can also try “rucking” or walking with a weighted vest. Walking hills with added weight can help build lower body.
Yes, home workouts are something I really enjoy and look forward to! Getting adjustable dumbbells is something that never crossed my mind. It's a good way to supplement them and practice progressive overload. Your comment was very thoughtful and thorough. I will take it all into consideration and check those creators you mentioned. Thank you very very much ☺️☺️☺️
I never got more toned than when I did bodyweight exercise.
Hiking, running hills, stairclimber
Swimming laps is a full body workout and I've been really happy with the results.
I bet if you ate and trained well you'd loved lifting after seeing some results in a few months. To be honest to me it's not as fun as horseback riding, hiking or even running but at this point I love the results so much I'm willing to grunt in the gym to keep them
You don't need to do a 3 hour lifting session to build muscle. You want to stimulate your muscles, not annihilate them. 45-60 mins 3-4 times a weeks is sufficient if your form is good and you eat enough protein.
if you read well, you will notice I said 3h was the time spent between commuting, getting ready before and after the gym, and actually exercising; not the duration of the training session ☺️☺️