exercises to gain strength

[vicky23]

Hi all,
From reading the posts I think a few people on here like to work out so I was wondering if maybe some of you could give me some advice.
I am 25, female, my BMI is around 18 so I'm quite slim meaning I don't want to do exercise that are particularly targeted to losing fat.
However, I feel really pretty weak. For example, my 3 year old niece is too heavy for me to lift for any length of time and she's in no way heavy for her age.
So I don't want to google because that will bring me up a load of bodybuilding sites which I don't want to get into.
Do I need to do a whole body work out or can I just do some knee pressups to build muscle strength?
Also I've read you need to eat protein before and after a work out, is this essential?
Thank you in advance for any insights anyone can offer

[Chem]

Hi. I'm not really into exercising, but I'm glad you haven't googled about it

There will be a trainer at your local sports center who can advise what type of exercise would be best for you. They take a full medical history so you will know that what they recomend is safe for you.

[debs71]

Hi,

I'm not an expert by any means Vicky, but I believe that the best exercises to build up strength and muscle are resistance exercises and things like weights, so lifting dumb bells or those weight machines that you get in gyms. In terms of resistance exercises, things like squats and push/ sit ups also help build strength and muscle.

I think that things like the aerobic exercises help burn calories - running machine, step machine, etc.

I wouldn't imagine you have to do the full monty, but just repetitions of the strength building things mentioned, as you say, like press ups.

I think that protein is recommended if you want to build muscle, but I wouldn't necessarily say you absolutely need to take it. I think that just simple exercises to build up your personal strength are sufficient, as it is not like you want to bulk up, just strengthen.

Swimming is really good for building muscle strength too!

Hope this helps and all the best.x

[evil monkey]

when it comes to exercise, googling isnt a bad idea. a lot of it is "bro science", ie, what people found worked for them, written as facts. Read things as a guide, not hard facts.

Basically. Before exercise you want carbs (rice/cereal). and afterwards either just carbs (if you were doing cardio) or carbs + fast acting whey protein (if you were doing resistance weights). probably true if you get some chicken and tuna in, protein shakes aren't critical.


Your body stores about 20 mins worth of energy as glycogen within muscles, so that's where the "fat burning only occurs after 20 mins" comes from. But CV also raises your metabolism for 1-2 days after as well. at any given second your body is using a combination of proteins fats and sugars for energy, so it isn't really that neat clean fat/cardio zone heart rate chart they have on the machines.

something like a rower or an elliptical trainer might be good for you. you probably want to aim for medium resistance/medium duration (20-30 mins) or even high resistance/low duration if you want to aim more for muscles than fat loss. (think lynford cristie vs steve cram)

For pure resistance weights training, generally do compound movements (ones that use lots of muscles groups) like squats. a bicep curl for eg is an isolated movement, not compound (as in, it isolates 1 muscle group). the common mens resistants ones are squats (like Debs said) deadlifts and bench press, also pullups. oh and swimming like debs said, maybe also cycling.

[Ingenious]

Vicky I found that good exercises to build strength for general day to day stuff was to buy a pair of small dumbells with various weights, the set I got was by York. The advantage of this is you can start with a small weight and add to it as you get stronger, but because they are "free weights" and not a static gym machine for example you work more muscles and it's more natural. Mine came with an exercise chart that included routines for all the major parts of the body including the back and legs not just your arms and shoulders.

I wouldn't worry about protein. Supplements are really only for serious cases of muscle building, training and professional sporty stuff. For us non-athletes it's generally considered from what I read to be pretty pointless. You can also get enough protein from food like chicken, fish, etc. However, both exercise and supplements are subjects where there are so many different opinions so if you ask ten people you'll get ten different answers. I guess more important is to find something you are comfortable with and will stick with, so consider all the suggestions you'll get here as equally worth trying.

[vicky23]

that's all really helpful thanks everyone!